Tony-Winning SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE Comes to Los Altos Hills; Opens February 19 at Lohman Theatre

Multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. Inspired by the iconic pointillist painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat, this funny, heartfelt musical delves into the inner-lives of both the artist and his subjects. With a colorful cast ranging from introspective artists to indifferent American tourists, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE tells of the inspiration and agony faced both by George (a fictionalized Georges Seurat) and, in the second act, his great-grandson, also an artist named George. This masterful painting-come-to-life won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as multiple Tony Awards for its original run and subsequent Broadway revivals. The show will play February 19-March 8 at the Lohman Theatre, 12345 El Monte Rd., Los Altos Hills. For tickets ($12-$32) and more information please visit www.foothillmusicals.com or call (650) 949-7360.

A musical exploration of the nature of creativity, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE opens with George in an empty white space, which per his instructions begins to fill with the requisite scenery and characters of his park. A robustly visual piece, elements of Georges Seurat's paintings play an important role in the show, punctuating the tumultuous romance between George and his model and lover, Dot. In the second act, set one hundred years in the future, George's great-grandson unveils his latest piece in gallery reception, to mixed and confused reactions. The younger George, a post-modern sculptor/inventor, shares with his predecessor a brooding devotion to his work and a difficulty connecting with the people in his life. Permeated by a lively score and a passionate, fast-paced book, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE is at its core an examination of art, romance, and the complexities of the creative spirit.

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE opened May 2, 1984 at the Booth Theater in New York, where it went on to play 604 performances. Originally starring Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin, notoriously difficult New York Times critic Frank Rich wrote, "Mr. Sondheim and Mr. Lapine have created an audacious, haunting and, in its own intensely personal way, touching work...Sunday in the Park is setting the stage for even more sustained theatrical innovations yet to come." SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE has remained resonant over time, and was revived in London in 2005, later transferring to New York's Studio 54 in 2008, to rave reviews.

Stephen Sondheim (Music and Lyrics), the prolific American composer and lyricist, is known for his modern classics such as A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, and Into the Woods. He also wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy. Sondheim has been hailed as one of the greatest lyricists of all time and Frank Rich once wrote, "[Sondheim] has changed the texture of the musical as radically as Oscar Hammerstein, and may yet leave our theatre profoundly altered."

James Lapine (Book) garnered attention for his breakthrough stage comedy Table Settings (1978).

After the success of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, Lapine and Sondheim collaborated on subsequent productions including Into the Woods, the Tony Award-winning fairy-tale inspired musical, and Passion. In addition to his work as a librettist and playwright, Lapine has also directed works for theatre, television, and film, and won a Drama Desk Award for his direction of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in 2005. Lapine recently wrote screenplay for the Into the Woods feature film, which premiered in December 2014. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2010.

Tyler Bennett and Sergey Khalikulov will share the role of "George," and Katie Nix will co-star as "Dot" in the Foothill Music Theatre rendition of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. Bennett is a Bay Area actor and director who has worked both onstage and off at theatres around the Bay Area including Hillbarn Theatre and Broadway By the Bay, recently appearing as "Tateh" in the Hillbarn production of Ragtime. This will be his first time performing with Foothill. Khalikulov returns to Foothill after playing "Lt. Cable" in last summer's production of South Pacific, and was most recently seen in the title role of Don Giovanni with Waffle Opera. He has also been seen in several San Francisco Conservatory Opera Theatre and Musical Theatre productions including Trouble in Tahiti, Postcard from Morocco, Le Nozze di Figaro, Serse, Little Women, Into the Woods, and Gianni Schicchi. Nix also makes her Foothill debut with this role. She has performed extensively in both musical theatre and opera, with recent roles including "Magdalena" in Bernarda Alba and "Amy" in Little Women at San Francisco Conservatory, as well as "Zerlina" in Don Giovanni and "Matt of the Mint" in Threepenny Opera at Waffle Opera.

The cast also features: Chloe Allen, Vanessa Alvarez, Dee Baily, Megan Coomans, Adam Cotugno, Sara Frondoni, Katherine Goldman, Mary Hill, Kevin Kirby, David Kirk, Katherine Levya, Mylissa Malley, Joey McDaniel, Sam Nachison, Caitlin Lawrence Papp, Linda Piccone, Jerris Ramirez, John Rinaldi , Holly Smolik, Anthony Stephens, Michael Weiland, and Chloe Zeldin.

Milissa Carey (Director) joined the Foothill faculty in 2003 and teaches in both the Theatre and Music Departments. An award-winning Bay Area actress, Carey has performed leading roles with many Bay Area theatre companies including TheatreWorks, Center Repertory Theater of Walnut Creek, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Pacific Alliance Stage Company, San Francisco Playhouse, CentralWorks, Thick Description, 42nd Street Moon, TheatreFIRST, American Musical Theatre of San Jose, and many others. She was in the cast of the 25th Anniversary Broadway National Tour of Evita under the direction of Hal Prince. Carey has performed with Foothill Music Theatre as "Kate" in Kiss Me Kate, "Golde" in Fiddler on the Roof, and "Lily" in Twentieth Century, directed by Jay Manley, and directed Foothill Music Theatre productions of Working, All Shook Up, Spring Awakening, Little Shop of Horrors and most recently South Pacific. She directed It's A Wonderful Life, A Radio Play for Broadway By The Bay, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Bus Barn Stage Company, Sylvia at California Conservatory Theatre and has worked on projects at American Musical Theatre of San Jose, the A.C.T. Young Conservatory and Opera Academy of The West. She is also on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as Stage Director in the opera Department and the Head of Acting.

Dolores Duran-Cefalu (Musical Direction) returns to Foothill after serving as Musical Director for Little Shop of Horrors. She has worked as a music director and conductor extensively throughout the Bay Area, and credits include The Snow Queen at San Jose Rep, Guys and Dolls at Broadway By The Bay, and Stuck Elevator at ACT and Next to Normal and A Minister's Wife at San Jose Rep. She has played for several touring shows in San Francisco, including Book of Mormon, Wicked, Shrek, In The Heights, and Mamma Mia!, and has music directed or played more than 60 different productions around the Bay Area. Duran-Cefalu has two Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award nominations, and is currently Music Director for California's Great America.

Amanda Folena (Choreography) is Artistic Director of Broadway By the Bay, and holds a BA in Theatre from the University of Southern California and an MFA in Acting from Purdue University. She returns to Foothill after choreographing Spring Awakening and has worked with many Bay Area companies including San Jose Repertory Company, Opera San Jose, Center REP, Diablo Theatre Company, California Theatre Center and Summer Repertory Theatre in Santa Rosa. Directing and choreography credits include The Producers, Kiss Me Kate, The Full Monty, Dead Man Walking, Annie, Gypsy and Compleat Female Stage Beauty.

Foothill Music Theatre has won Bay Area Theatre Critics' Circle Awards for Outstanding Production, Outstanding Ensemble Production, and Best Direction, among others. The company has also garnered numerous awards from the Los Angeles-based Drama-Logue, and kudos from myriad Bay Area critics for its sharp, handsomely mounted productions of Little Shop of Horrors, Damn Yankees, Spring Awakening, Damn Yankees, The Producers, Bat Boy: The Musical, The Pajama Game, Sweeney Todd, and many other musicals.

FOR CALENDAR EDITORS:

WHAT: Multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. Inspired by the iconic pointillist painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat, this funny, heartfelt musical delves into the inner-lives of both the artist and his subjects. With a colorful cast ranging from introspective artists to indifferent American tourists, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE tells of the inspiration and agony faced both by George (a fictionalized Georges Seurat) and, in the second act, his great-grandson, also an artist named George. This masterful painting-come-to-life won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as multiple Tony Awards for its original run and subsequent Broadway revivals.

WHEN: February 19 - March 8

Press opening: 8pm Friday, February 20

Thursdays at 7:30pm; Friday - Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 2pm

WHERE: Lohman Theatre, Foothill College

12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022

Parking in Student Parking Lots 8 for direct and easy access to the theatre. Visitors must purchase the required parking permit for $3. Foothill College is located off I-280 on El Monte Road in Los Altos Hills.

TICKETS: For tickets ($12 - $32) and more information, please visit www.foothillmusicals.com. Tickets also available by phone at (650) 949-7360.

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