Exclusive: Get A First Look at Graham Phillips & Talia Suskauer in SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE

Get an exclusive first look at The Axelrod Performing Arts Center's bold reimagining of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, Sunday in the Park With George. Get a first look at the company in action below.

Sunday in the Park With George stars Graham Phillips (13: The Musical on Broadway; TV's "The Good Wife," "Riverdale"), in his first return to the stages of the Tri-state in 16 years, as George, and Talia Suskauer (Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway) as Dot.

Eamon Foley brings a bold, new, dance-forward reimagining of the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine masterpiece to the stage. Inspired by the Georges Seurat painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” Sunday in the Park With George is one of the most acclaimed musicals of our time; it won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize and garnered 10 Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical. As George completes his most ambitious work, the artist struggles to create meaningful art and meaningful connections with those he's closest, including his lover, Dot. Misunderstood by the artistic community, George has the capacity to engage with the subjects on his canvas, but not with the people in his life. A century later, Seurat's great grandson – also an artist named George – is lost and in search of direction. He finds his path forward, illuminated by the color and light of the past.

Phillips and Suskauer share the stage with Joy Hermalyn (Fiddler on the Roof, Caroline or Change on Broadway) as the Old Lady, Bernard Dotson (Paradise Square on Broadway) as Jules, Kevin Arnold, Giuliana Augello, Anthony Cataldo, Katie Davis, Bridget Gooley, James C. Harris, Isabel Lagana, Ella Mangano, Dylan Randazzo, Allie Seibold and six dancers from the Axelrod Contemporary Ballet Theater Company (AXCBT); Alyssa Harris, Giana Carroll, Lindsay Jorgensen, Olivia Miranda, Sarah Takash and Gillian Worek.

The production features Music Direction by Jacob Yates (Only Gold, Hadestown, Rock of Ages), who will conduct an 11-piece orchestra; Scenic Design by Ryan Howell (Teenage Dick, I Am My Own Wife); Costume Design by DW Withrow (Broadway Bares, The Rockae, The Apple Tree); Projection Design by Brad Peterson (Cats, Larry David’s Fish in the Dark), Lighting Design by Paul Miller (Legally Blonde, Amazing Grace), and additional Wig Design by J. Jared Janas (Wicked, Prayer for the French Republic, & Juliet). Dave Zuckerman is the Executive Producer, and Robin Foley, Nancy Karpf, and Katie Birenboim are Co-Producers. 

Sunday in the Park With George plays a limited engagement through March 24 at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center (100 Grant Avenue, Deal, NJ).

Photo Credit: Michael Hull