Review: Annaleigh Ashford and Jake Gyllenhaal Star In City Center's SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE

In Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's 1985 Pulitzer Prize winning musical SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, the "art of making art" can be less about applying paint to a canvas as it is about applying a signature to a check.

Inspired by Georges Seurat's pointillism masterwork "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte," the musical's first act envisions identities for the anonymous figures painted by the artist, with an emphasis on his rocky relationship with his latest lover, Dot. Though regarded today as an innovator for the illusions he created with color and light, Seurat died in 1891 at age 31 with his accomplishments unrecognized by his contemporaries.

The musical's authors present Seurat as a cold and antisocial genius who challenged the art world with a new form of abstraction that few could understand. In the second act, they create a 1980s art sensation named George, a fellow who questions his grandmother Marie's claim that she was the daughter of Seurat and Dot.

George considers himself more of an inventor, having created a series of electronic "sculptures" he calls chromolums (after a Seurat painting technique), which work their own magic with color and light. While Seurat's signature moment in the musical is the song "Finishing The Hat," where, alone in his studio, he sings of his obsession with creating at the expense of developing human relationships, the 20th Century George's big musical scene is "Putting In Together," where he plunges into a cocktail reception populated by curators, funders and journalists, glad-handing and chatting his way to support for his next chromolum.

With its evocative themes, engaging language and gorgeous choral harmonies, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE requires little in production values to get its points across, making it an excellent choice for a concert staging, particularly at New York City Center, where the Encores! and Encores! Off-Center programs excel in concertizing musical theatre history.

This week's City Center Benefit Concert production, directed by Sarna Lapine (niece of James Lapine, who wrote the book and directed the original production), has music director Chris Fenwick and his thirteen-piece orchestra situated upstage, with the actors awaiting their entrances seated at two sides of an elevated platform. Behind them, designer Wendall K. Harrington's projections set locations and show us Seurat's painting in various stages of development.

The four-performance run and limited amount of rehearsal time generally used for such concert stagings allows for some impressive name talents to be involved, not just in the leading roles but throughout the ensemble. Naturally, the actors are not expected to deliver fully-realized performances under such circumstances, but Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford seems raring to go for a Broadway revival. Her pin-point comic delivery, based in realistic pathos is put to great use as both Dot and Marie, blending beautifully into more sincere moments, such as a heart-melting rendition of "Children and Art," the quiet ballad about the most important things we leave after we pass on.

Jake Gyllenhaal's Seurat is a softer interpretation of the role than what is usually done, uncomfortable around people but bursting with enthusiasm when left alone to work. Conversely, his second act George is masterful at laying on the charm, though, as a lyric suggests, he's aware that it's too-often himself, not his work, that's on exhibition.

The wonderful supporting cast, packed with Tony winners and nominees, includes Phylicia Rashad, Lisa Howard, Zachary Levi, Carmen Cusack, Phillip Boykin, Lauren Worsham, Gabriella Pizzolo, Gabriel Ebert, Ruthie Ann Miles, Claybourne Elder, Jordan Gelber, Brooks Askmanskas and Liz McCartney. It's unlikely a company of such pedigree could ever be assembled for a full production, though the lure of doing such exceptional material eight times a week could be enticing.

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