Feature: Take a Look at SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE's Road Back to Broadway

The most recent revitalization of Sunday in the Park with George, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford, opens this today at the Hudson Theatre.

This revival is a product of the New York City Center Benefit Concert in October. The production was so well received that it made its way to Broadway. Jake Gyllenhaal was originally engaged to perform in the revival of BURN THIS to reopen the long dormant Hudson, but it was postponed specifically to bring SUNDAY IN THE PARK back to Broadway.

The beloved Stephen Sondheim musical, that touched audiences' hearts with its beautiful imagery, heartbreaking characters, and its gorgeous score, made its Broadway debut May 2, 1984 at the Booth Theatre, where it ran for 604 performances. The original production starred Mandy Patinkin as George and Bernadette Peters as Dot/Marie, directed by James Lapine, who also wrote the show's book. Although it did not win Best Musical at the Tony's, it did take home the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1985.

The show is a fictionalized examination of the 19th Century French painter George Seurat's attempt to reinvent painting with his masterwork "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte," and the impact of the painting on a 1980s artist, who may (or may not) be his great-grandson.

The show was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical in 2008 for the Roundabout Theatre Company Production starring Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell.

What began as a short preview run with a half-finished show in 1983, Sunday in the Park with George has become one of the most beloved pieces by Stephen Sondheim, and one of the most beloved musicals in the canon. It's Off-Broadway preview at Playwright's Horizon only ran for 25 performances, and there wasn't even a second act until the last three. In fact, the layout of the production as we know it today was not finalized until a few days before opening at the Booth Theatre, after the show transferred to Broadway in 1984.

The first London production opened on March 15, 1990 at the Royal National Theatre starring Philip Quast as George and Maria Friedman as Dot/Marie. The production was nominated for six Olivier Awards and won Best New Musical. The production was revived in London at the Wyndham Theatre in London's West End, opening May 23, 2006, and starring Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell. The revival received six Olivier Award nominations overall, and won five in total including Outstanding Musical Production, Best Actor in a Musical and Best Actress in a Musical. Evans and Russell would go on to star in the 2008 Broadway Revival as well.

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE has been reimagined many times over the years, across continents and theatre companies. One of the most recent productions of note was the 2013 production at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

The show starred Julian Ovenden as George and Sophie-Louise Dann as Dot/Marie. The production was described as "supersized" by the New York Times for its grandiose set, use of advanced theatre projections, and massive orchestra. In fact, one of the features of the production was Michael Starobin's re-orchestrations, taking a score intended for an 11 piece chamber orchestra and reimagining one for a full orchestra.

Due, in part to it's origins as a concert, this latest production, which is directed by James Lapine's niece, Sarna Lapine, takes a much simpler approach. In its first week and a half on Broadway, the production has been welcomed by enthusiastic and sold-out audiences, as New York is reintroduced to the show that stole it's heart more than 20 years ago.

As all SUNDAY IN THE PARK fans begin to celebrate tonight's opening, enjoy the beauty that only George Seurat and Stephen Sondheim could create.

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Banner Image: Jake Gyllenhaal. Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy