STAGE TUBE: In Rehearsal with the Cast of EPAC's SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE

Reinvention has always been a necessity for those with endless creative passion. When artist George Seurat painted A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, he employed a new and somewhat controversial method of applying small dots of pigment to the canvas. When observed from a distance, these pixels would create a shimmering combination of color and light in a way never seen before.

Artistic expression in any form can have a profound effect on those who take the time to appreciate it. Stephen Sondheim took notice of the power of artistic transformation in 1984 when he, along with James Lapine, penned the Broadway masterpiece Sunday in the Park with George. Thirty years after Sunday won two Tony Awards, numerous Drama Desk Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for drama, EPAC will once again reinvent a modern classic.

In this wonderfully rich and romantic tale, Sunday travels to 19th century Paris, where Georges Seurat endeavors to capture on canvas the eccentric souls he encounters on a series of Sundays in a park on La Grande Jatte. George's rampant passion for his work ultimately threatens to quash his relationship with Dot, the woman he loves, and forces him to make the hardest choice he will ever face.

The musical score and book combine with a synergy that is considered by many to be Sondheim's most romantic and emotionally rewarding creation. This entertaining journey transcends both time and space while exploring the deepest meaning of how we live, but more importantly how we love. In the end, Sunday in the Park with George speaks to both the power of love merged with the beauty of art and to how little difference there is between the two.

Sunday in the Park with George will run May 1 through May 17. Tickets can be purchased at ephrataperformingartscenter.com or by calling 733-7966 x 1.