By Steven Suskin
11 Jun 2006
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This week's column discusses the Menier Chocolate Factory recording of Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George and the briskly tuneful "Jule Styne in Hollywood."
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE [PS Classics PS-640]
Director Sam Buntrock's acclaimed production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George, which opened last November at the 170-seat Menier Chocolate Factory, has just triumphantly moved to Wyndham's Theatre in the West End. Just about any successful Sondheim production nowadays is sure to bring us a new cast recording, so PS Classics — the adventurous independent label from Bronxville — has obliged. Daniel Evans, who originated George in this production, has been joined by Jenna Russell, who took over the role of Dot for the transfer.
Every Sondheim fan must of necessity have a least favorite among the master's 15 musicals, or 18 if you wish to include the shows for which he wrote lyrics only. Fifteen or eighteen, Sunday in the Park with George is the winner on my personal list; I have always found it to be admirable but, in the words of Dot herself, "bizarre, fixed, cold." This is based on viewings of the original production at Playwrights Horizons, the Broadway production at the Booth (both with Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters) and the Kennedy Center Sondheim Festival production (with Raul Esparza and Melissa Errico). Hopefully, a viewing of this new production will permanently raise Sunday in the Park with George in my estimation; several hearings of this recording have not quite done the trick. Even so, I find this new CD more enjoyable (and less abrasive) than the Grammy Award-winning original cast album. (The original Sunday CD, oddly enough, appears to be temporarily out-of-print just now.) I especially enjoy the performances of Mr. Evans and Ms. Russell.
The album is well-recorded, has a handsome booklet with lyrics and contains material not heard on the earlier album. This two-CD Sunday in the Park runs about 90 minutes, compared to the 70-minute original. The major addition is the soldier song, "The One on the Left." Not once but twice, as heard in the show and in the more extended, original version that was used at Playwrights.
The score has been reorchestrated by Jason Carr for five pieces, which have been supplemented with three for this recording; perhaps this explains why the new album sounds less abrasive (and more enjoyable) than the other. I already foresee the Evans-Russell Sunday becoming my Sunday of choice, and I am glad to pass on an unqualified recommendation for this CD. I shall look forward to seeing Buntrock's production, in the hope that it finally takes me from admiration to enjoyment. Continued...
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