SUNDAY IN THE PARK in Paris

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 4/16/13 at 8:55am

Oh, how I wish I could be in Paris right now, seeing the new Chatelet production of SUNDAY IN THE PARK featuring Julien Ovenden in the lead. The clips look amazing, and having missed Jason Danieley in Chicago (another thing to thank Hurricane Sandy for), I am so primed to see a good production of this amazing show. Anyone going over for it?

[sadephram]

Posted: 4/16/13 at 11:10am

I'm seeing it on Friday... from the front row !
It's a great seat because the pit is huge at the Chatelet, it has to fit 50 musicians after all ! Sondheim was in attendance Monday.
I will report back.

[Owen22]

Posted: 4/16/13 at 7:10pm

I am (HOPEFULLY) seeing it next week, though the website to book tickets wouldn't work for me, so I'm praying it isn't sold out by the time I arrive...

[sadephram]

Posted: 4/20/13 at 12:23pm

I saw the show last night.
Overall, it's well worth seeing but it's far from perfect.
Let's start with the not-so-good :
As often with the Chatelet, the stage and that barn of a theater are too big for the show, I was in the front row and the action felt distant, that pit must be like the equivalent of 10-12 rows. But sightlines are so bad in that theater that it remains the best seats. Anyway, the staging felt too big, they were obviously trying to fill that huge stage but the actors looked a bit swallowed by the set. The end of the first act in particular didn't feel as magical as it could. I also was disappointed by Julian Ovenden at first. His take on Seurat was a bit one-note, and his singing, while serviceable, felt uninspired. Especially "Finishing the Hat." However, Sophie-Louise Dann was a perfect Dot : funny, touching, pathetic yet full of dignity. And her singing was on par with her acting : simple and elegant. I was only familiar with the filmed version of the original production, and I preferred Act One so I was disappointed when intermission came. The first act, despite SLD's great performance, left me somewhat cold. And then, when the second act started, the show seemed to take life. The staging looked less busy, more effective, but above all, Ovenden was charming, quirky, nuanced and ultimately heartbreaking. "Putting It Together" was the highlight of the show for me, he looked genuinely excited and it felt he had a perfect grasp on the character this time. I never thought I'd ever like the second act better, but it was a joy from start to finish, as if the creative team had been freed from the constraints of the first, usually considered as the "superior" one.

So overall, I'm really happy I made the trip to Paris to see it despite a somewhat lackluster first act. It's hard for me to comment on the new orchestrations since I'm not very familiar with the old ones, but they sounded great, though not as "full" as I expected with 46 musicians in the pit. The front row is bad for acoustics, though, so that might explain it.

Don't hesitate to ask me if you have any questions, and I'd love to read what others thought !
Updated On: 4/20/13 at 12:23 PM

[Owen22]

Posted: 4/20/13 at 12:50pm

Except for Mandy, every Seurat I've seen has been "one note" in the beginning of Act 1 (except for Jason Daniely who was one note through ALL of Act 1). It might just be the way the role is written.

I have (finally) booked for Wednesday (fly out Monday) and am really excited by the pictures I've seen. Plus I saw the "Night Music" there a couple years ago and it was meticulously and imaginatively directed. Just having Anne, Desiree and Charlotte contemplating their Act 2 lot while Petra sang "Miller's Son" gave that number an extra frisson making it land as it has never had before.

[ajh]

Posted: 4/20/13 at 3:21pm

I saw this on Wednesday and overall I had a wonderful time, despite some misgivings. This really is "Sunday In The Park -The Grand Opera Version" and there are benefits and negatives to that.

On the upside, the choral singing and orchestral playing are terrific: Sunday (at the end of each act) is utterly thrilling, and the painting is realised with a full cast of bodies instead of some live people and some cutouts. The other advantage to having a large cast is that,even on the Chatelets' vast stage, there is a genuine sense of a party in Putting It Together.

The show looks extremely handsome, and the -apparently inevitable- use of projections is beautiful although they will give anybody who saw the Studio 54/Menier version a sense of deja vu, despite being much more elaborate here. There are several revolves.....somewhat overused imho

Whether it's because of the huge house or the fact that the cast are predominantly opera singers, much of the acting is fairly broad although that is easy to forgive when they start singing and it is all more than passable.

Julian Ovenden is a fine George, sensitively acted, and superbly sung. He seems, even in Act 1, way more tortured than any other I've seen and overall I liked him better than either of the others I've seen 'live' -Philip Quast and Daniel Evans. I didn't like the way he was directed to ACT as well as sing the dogs in The Day Off, but others loved it. Best performance I've seen him give though.

Personally I was very disappointed with Sophie Louise Dann as Dot, at least in Act1. I found her vocally very affected singing and speaking and, again in Act1 only, just didn't believe she loved George that much. We Do Not Belong Together seemed to come from nowhere. She also reads as too mature, and also too upmarket (she can't read? really??!) Her Marie was fine, and she was very moving when Dot "comes back"; but she certainly wasn't a patch on Bernadette Peters, Jenna Russell or even Maria Friedman.

I am so glad I saw this and, although not my dream Sunday, I would still recommend it and would buy a Cast Album in a heartbeat.

[lemiz3001]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 4:24pm

Not sure if anyone is tuned in, but you can listen to the broadcast on this link.
Sunday Stream

[StageStruckLad]

Posted: 4/25/13 at 4:45pm

Just finished listening to the broadcast. The new orchestrations were impressive although I think I like the smaller, shimmering ones better.

I wish that George had not yelled out "So many possibilities!" at the end of the show like a carnival barker or an Al Jolsen impersonator, though.