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Overview
Synopsis
Inspired by George Seurat’s magnificent painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s soaring musical is itself an artistic masterpiece. The musical begins with the story of George and his model and lover Dot. As George struggles to find his artistic voice, he becomes more and more distant from the one woman who truly sees him for who he really is. Meanwhile, the characters that inhabit George’s painting have lives unto themselves, which George captures with his paintbrush. A century later, George and Dot’s descendants, themselves struggling artists, grapple with the same issues of artistic ingenuity, and a public who just doesn’t understand.Through melodic and heartbreaking music, poetic lyrics, and quick, jaunty wit, Sunday in the Park with George reveals universal truths about the nature of art, love, and passion, with the breadth and depth of art’s most enduring masterpieces.
Show Information
- Book
- James Lapine
- Music
- Stephen Sondheim
- Lyrics
- Stephen Sondheim
- Category
- Musical
- Age Guidance
- Thirteen Plus (PG-13)
- Number of Acts
- 2
- First Produced
- 1983
- Genres
- Drama
- Settings
- Multiple Settings
- Time & Place
- act one: paris, 1884, act two: 1984, an art museum
- Cast Size
- large
- Orchestra Size
- Medium
- Dancing
- None
- Licensor
- Music Theatre International
- Ideal For
- College/University, Community Theatre, Large Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Star Vehicle Female, Star Vehicle Male, Mostly Female Cast, Includes Adult, Young Adult, Mature Adult, Child Characters
Context
Born in Paris in 1859, painter Georges Seurat became famous for his new styles and techniques of painting. As a post-Impressionist, he was more concerned with the use of color (rather than the naturalistic representations of light prized by Impressionists like Monet). Instead, Seurat created new techniques of mixing colors: pointillism (using small dots of color to create an image) and chromoluminarism (arranging contrasting colors in small dots to optically mix them). His most famous work
to read the context for Sunday in the Park with George and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Plot
ACT ONE
It is 1884, on La Grande Jatte, and painter Georges Seurat (known as “George”) is creating sketches for his new work. The stage is bare, a “blank page or canvas,” but as he works, a park along the River Seine appears. People begin to fill in the landscape, including his lover Dot, who is posing for him. She is hot and uncomfortable in her stiff dress, upset that she must stand in the sun as George admonishes her to concentrate (“Sunday in the Park With George”). In her
to read the plot for Sunday in the Park with George and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
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Lead |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
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Lead |
Male |
Tenor |
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Supporting |
Male |
Baritone |
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Supporting |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
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Supporting |
Male |
Baritone |
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Supporting |
Female |
Soprano |
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Supporting |
Female |
Soprano |
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Supporting |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
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Supporting |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
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Featured |
Male |
Baritone |
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Featured |
Male |
Baritone |
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Featured |
Female |
Soprano |
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Featured |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
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Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
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Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
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Featured |
Male |
Baritone |
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Featured |
Male |
Baritone |
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Featured |
Male |
Baritone |
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Featured |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
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Featured |
Female |
Soprano |
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Featured |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
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Featured |
Male |
Baritone |
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Featured |
Male |
Baritone |
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Featured |
Male |
Baritone |
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Featured |
Female |
Soprano |
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Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
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Featured |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
Songs
Act One
- Sunday in the Park with George – George & Dot
- No Life – Jules, Yvonne
- Color and Light – Dot, George
- Gossip – Celeste #1, Celeste #2, Boatman, Nurse, Old Lady, Jules, Yvonne
- The Day Off – Company
- Everybody Loves Louis – Dot
- The One on the Left – Soldier, Celeste #1, Celeste #2, Georges
- Finishing the Hat – Georges
- We Do Not Belong Together – Dot, Georges
- Beautiful – Old Lady, Georges
- Sunday – Company
Act Two
- It's Hot Up Here – Company
- Chromolume #7 - Orchestra
- Putting It Together – Company
- Children and Art – Marie
- Lesson #8 – George
- Move On – George, Dot
- Sunday (Reprise) – Company
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
An award for an achievement in American journalism, literature, or music
A brief scene or episode.
Videos
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Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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