Ragtime's Sutcliffe Will Play Seurat in Shaw Festival's Sunday in the Park

By Kenneth Jones
January 7, 2009

Steven Sutcliffe, a 1998 Drama Desk Award nominee and Theatre World Award winner for Ragtime, will return to the Shaw Festival, where he acted in his formative years, to play George in Sunday in the Park With George.

Canadian actor Sutcliffe played Mother's Younger Brother in the musical Ragtime when it premiered in Toronto, and moved to Broadway with it. He's also heard on the cast album. As a younger actor, he appeared in plays by Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. He starred in the Encores! concert of A Connecticut Yankee and was the Schoolmaster in the Chicago world premiere of the Kander and Ebb musical The Visit in 2001.

Sutcliffe will also appear in the Play, Orchestra, Play portion of the Shaw's ambitious staging of the Noel Coward cycle Tonight at 8:30.

Sunday in the Park with George, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's rumination on making art, including a fictional account of Georges Seurat's pointillist work and troubled love life in the late 19th century, begins previews April 1, opens May 22 and continues in repertory through Nov. 1 at the Royal George Theatre, one of four venues at the festival.

Alisa Palmer directs a cast that also includes Julie Martell as Dot/Marie, Sharry Flett as Old Lady/Blair, Jay Turvey as Jules/Greenberg, Mark Uhre as Boatman/Billy, Kawa Ada as The Soldier/Alex, Neil Barclay at Mister/Redmond, Kyle Blair as Franz/Dennis, Saccha Dennis as Celeste 2/Waitress, Melanie Janzen as Missus, Gabrielle Jones as Nurse, Anthony Malarky as Louis, Melanie Phillipson as Frieda/Betty, Jacqueline Thair as Woman/Photographer, Patty Jamieson as Yvonne/Naomi, Robin Evan Willis as Celeste 1/Elaine and Kelly Wong as Man/Museum Assistant.

The creative team features musical director Paul Sportelli, scenic designer Judith Bowden, lighting designer Alan Brodie and choreographer Bill Coleman.

For more information about the Shaw Festival, visit www.shawfest.com.