OMNIBUS: SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH . . . STEPHEN (TV)
Summary
This BBC documentary, never shown on American television, follows Stephen Sondheim's activities in England as he guides the Royal National Theatre through rehearsals for his musical "Sunday in the Park with George" and teaches at Oxford University as the first holder of the Cameron Mackintosh Chair of Contemporary Theatre. First, Sondheim discusses his musical based on French Post-Impressionist painter Georges Seurat and his masterpiece, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of la Grande Jatte" and examines the following topics: how he and the musical's American director James Lapine developed the show's concept; his time spent viewing the actual painting in a museum setting and learning from visitors' reactions; the play's musical, dramatic, and scenic parallels to the pointillist painting technique of Seurat; the extreme importance of scenery to the success of the production; differences between the British and American productions of the play; and the meanings behind the show's significant phrases, "art isn't easy" and "putting it together." Lapine comments on his vision for the musical and the rationale behind changing certain portions of dialogue into segments that are sung, and Steven Pimlott, director of the British production, explains why his role in the production is different from Lapine's. Pimlott also touches on the challenge of translating a two-dimensional painting into a three-dimensional performance. The production itself, featuring leads Philip Quast and Maria Friedman, is seen in various stages of rehearsal, including segments of the musical numbers "Color and Light," "Everybody Loves Louis," "Finishing the Hat," "It's Hot Up Here," "Putting It Together," "Move On," and "We Do Not Belong Together." During Sondheim's Oxford seminars he talks about the following topics: the necessity for conscious decisions about all aspects of a play's development; the process by which he decides which ideas are sung and which are spoken; the "intelligibility" of theater; and the concept of "finding a button." The program ends with the Act I finale of "Sunday in the Park with George," in which the "picture" comes together.
Details
- NETWORK: BBC1 (United Kingdom)
- DATE: March 20, 1990
- RUNNING TIME: 0:49:59
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:59528
- GENRE: Arts documentaries; Music
- SUBJECT HEADING: Composers; Documentary; International Collection - United Kingdom; Music, popular (songs, etc.); Musical revues, comedies, etc. - Excerpts; Neo-impressionism (Art); Theater
- SERIES RUN: BBC (England) - TV series, 1970-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Bob Portway … Producer, Director
- Anthony Lee … Producer, Director
- Steven Pimlott … Director, For "Sunday in the Park with George"
- Stephen Sondheim … Composer, Lyricist
- James Lapine … Librettist
- John Jansson … Conductor
- Jeremy Sams … Music (Misc.), Music Director
- Michael Starobin … Music (Misc.), Orchestrations by
- Philip Quast … Cast, George
- Maria Friedman … Cast, Dot and Marie
- Barry Atkinson … Cast
- Michael Attwell … Cast
- Sheila Ballantine … Cast
- Di Botcher … Cast
- Clare Burt … Cast
- Nicolas Collcos … Cast
- Buffy Davis … Cast
- Nyree Dawn Porter … Cast
- Simon Fielder … Cast
- Stephen Hanley … Cast
- Aneirin Huws … Cast
- Megan Kelly … Cast
- Vivienne Martin … Cast
- Michael O'Connor … Cast
- Gary Raymond … Cast
- Ellen van Schuylenburch … Cast
- Erika Vincent … Cast
- Nuala Willis … Cast
- Matt Zimmerman … Cast
- Georges Seurat