Caldwell Theatre: Sunday in the Park With George Concert Version (reviews)

Sure, it's not a full-blown production, but it's being produced over a weekend, at a major company, with a lot of serious players in the cast. Why shouldn't it be reviewed?

Caldwell Theater opened its "concert version" of Sunday in the Park with George on October 8, 2009. Clive Choleron directed a cast that included Wayne LeGette, Kim Cozort, Jim Ballard, Brian Minyard, Melissa Minyard, Elzabeth Dimon, Laura Turnbull, and Bruce Linser. Jon Rose accompanied on keyboards.


Jan Engoren reviewed for the Palm Beach ArtsPaper:

This is the first time this show, which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1985, has been produced in any form in South Florida. And while the unstaged version does leave one wishing for more visuals, this Caldwell Sondheim has to be counted a success. It has a standout performance from Wayne LeGette as the single-minded, work-obsessed Seurat, and the rest of the 14-person cast ably handles Sondheim’s tricky melodies and lyrics (without once getting tongue-tied).

...more interesting, perhaps, would be if the actors interacted more while on stage. Mostly, they were aligned in a long row of chairs, stepping forward only when interacting with Seurat.

LeGette effortlessly inhabits the character of a driven artist. His comedic ability and talent are evident in the musical number, The Day Off, where he takes on the personalities of the dogs in the painting, barking, ruffing, sniffing and snorting. His voice and presence carry the show and cast.

Other performances of note include Elizabeth Dimon in the dual role of Old Lady/Blair Daniels, who possesses an extraordinary voice, and Laura Turnbull, another Carbonell winner who shines as Yvonne in the first act. Bruce Linser puts in a good effort and passable German accent as the coachman Franz. And a good word needs to be put in for Jon Rose, who proved to be a very adept keyboardist.

One of the most haunting numbers of the evening was the song, Beautiful, the duet sung by Dimon, whose rich voice lent clarity and resonance, and LeGette, whose deep baritone provided a counterpoint of emotional depth.

To paraphrase a lyric from the show -- “It’s certainly fine for Sunday” – it’s certainly fine for me.

The concert version of Stephen Sondhiem's Sunday in the Park with George plays through this Sunday, October 11, 2009 at the Caldwell Theatre Company in Boca Raton.