NY Theater: “Sunday in the Park with George”
cleverly satirizes the art marketby Lucy Komisar Most people think of Steven Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Sunday in the Park with George” as a treatise on post-impressionist painter George Seurat’s pointillist art and on his creative obsession with his work. Sam Buntrock’s production is artistry itself, as projections by Tim Bird move actors in and out of the “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” the work Seurat is creating and which now hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago. Georges (Daniel Evans) can’t relate to his model and lover, the pointedly named Dot (Jenna Russell), and she leaves him for a baker and moves to America.
But there’s another facet to the play, first produced in 1983, and that is about commerce, which is the subject of the second act. It’s a clever satire about the art market, about the patrons who finance artists, about the museums that offer commissions, and about the angst of the creators who must schmooze the money people. Seurat died at 31, five years after finishing the work; he never sold a painting. Act One takes place on an island in the Seine outside Paris 1884 to 1886 and in Seurat’s studio. He is painstakingly putting tiny brush strokes of different colors next to each other so that seen from a distance they blend into new colors and shapes. Art Two occurs in1984 in a US art museum. George (Evans), the great-grandson of Seurat and Dot, is at a museum party following an exhibit of his light machines, a bit of visual post-impressionism meant to suggest a modern version of Seurat’s dots. While George chats up the guests, he thinks about the miserable job of raising funds for his work.  The first act of the play is aesthetically stunning, as the figures of the painting come to life while Seurat paints them and they talk to him and each other.
The second act – with its serious critique of the art business -- is so scarcely highlighted, that the press agent could provide no production photos of the scenes. But read here what transpires at that museum party to understand the art market critique that Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics and James Lapine’s book are making. Harriet Pawling (Anne L. Nathan) is an effusively rich patron whose appreciation of art is that it’s something to buy. “Art isn’t easy,” says her friend Billy Webster (Drew McVety). “Even when you’ve amassed it,” declares Harriet. George chats up Harriet and Billy. He think to himself: “Say ‘cheese,’ George. And put them at their ease, George. You’re up on the trapeze, George. Machines don’t grow on trees, George……Advancing art is easy---Yes. Financing it is not.” He notes to himself: “I put the names of my contributors on the side of each machine.” The name game has moved from the plaque in the exhibition room to the work of art itself! So how do you manage this? George muses, with lots of word-play: “First of all, you need a good foundation, otherwise it’s risky from the start. Takes a little cocktail conversation…..Link by link making the connections…Drink by drink fixing and effecting the design. Adding just a dab of politician (always knowing where to draw the line). Lining up the funds but in addition lining up a prominent commission, otherwise your perfect composition isn’t going to get much exhibition.” Well, artists get a bit angry at this distraction. But George understands, “Every time I start to feel defensive, I remember lasers are expensive. What’s a little cocktail conversation if it’s going to get you your foundation, leading to a prominent commission and an exhibition in addition?” Some exaggerated publicity and promotion is also useful. George thinks, “A little bit of hype can be effective, long as you can keep it in perspective. After all, without some recognition, no one’s going to give you a commission, which will cause a crack in the foundation. You’ll have wasted all that conversation.” The first act focuses on the color-dot elements of Seurat’s work. But George has other elements to “mix”: “Lining up a prominent commission, and an exhibition in addition. Here’s a little dab of politician, there a little touch of publication, till you have a balanced composition. Everything depends on preparation, even if you do have the suspicion that it’s taking all your concentration.” Copying the style of pointillism, Sondheim reminds that, “The art of making art is putting it together bit by bit, link by link, drink by drink, mink by mink. And that is the state of the Art!” It’s enough to make some rich theater-patrons squirm a bit or perhaps even laugh if they recognize themselves. “Sunday in the Park with George.” Book by James Lapine. Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Directed by Sam Buntrock. Starring: Daniel Evans, Jenna Russell, Michael Cumpsty, Alexander Gemignani, Jessica Molaskey, Mary Beth Peil, Ed Dixon, Santino Fontana, Kelsey Fowler, Jessica Grove, Alison Horowitz, Stacie Morgain Lewis, Drew McVety, Anne Nathan, Brynn O'Malley, David Turner. Sets by David Farley. Lighting by Ken Billington. Costumes by David Farley. Projections by Tim Bird. Musical staging by Christopher Gattelli. Menier Chocolate Factory's London production produced by Roundabout Theatre Company at Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street. Tue - Sat 8pm; Wed, Sat, Sun 2pm. Running time: 2:40. $36.25 - $121.25. 212-719-1300. Through June 29, 2008. http://sundayintheparkonbroadway.com/ Photos by Joan Marcus. | 