SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE Runs At Big Noise 4/24-5/17

Big Noise Theatre Company, a division of Winnetka Theatre, presents Sunday in the Park with George April 24 through May 17 Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at The Prairie Lakes Theater 515 E. Thacker Street, Des Plaines.

The 1984 Sondheim-James Lapine musical play uses inspiration from Georges Seurat's famous pointillist painting "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" to explore art, emotional connection, and community. In 1884 Paris, artist Georges-Pierre Seurat is immersed in single-minded concentration while painting his masterpiece. The people in his life provide inspiration for the characters in the painting, springing to life on the canvas and melding life and art. 100 years later, his great-grandson George, also an artist, struggles in the world of modern art.
Director Rick Frendt has similarly created a work of art in his new millennium recreation of Seurat's piece using 21st century art, technology, animation, and projection.

Frendt says "Seurat, because of his early adoption of pointillism, is often considered the artistic originator of the "pixel", and revered by those who currently work in digital media." In an explosion of digital art that would no doubt have delighted Seurat, Big Noise's production of Sunday in the Park with George will employ a large series of networked projectors in displaying his evolving masterpiece in an animatEd Manner that surrounds the actors on stage. "In this way," says Frendt, "Seurat's every paint stroke and pencil sketch can be seen to come to life before the eyes of the audience, becoming characters in themselves." Frendt is joined by his creative team Ryan Brewster-Music Director, Jonathon Lynch-Vocal Director, and movement by Nancy Flaster.

The initial Broadway production famously used cut-outs to recreate the painting. Similar to the current Broadway production, Frendt conceived an idea to have seven 10,000 watt projectors delivered to the theater, comparable to the level of technology regularly conceived for national touring productions. For nine months before the actors ever began rehearsing their first scenes, Frendt learned software and animation techniques to create the animated characters and landscapes, and in conjunction with live-action video and green screen filming and a unique lighting design, Sunday in the Park with George promises to provide a unique theatrical experience never before seen in a Chicagoland production.
The acclaimed original production of Sunday in the Park with George won two of its nominated 10 Tony awards and featured Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin. In addition, it won an additional eight Drama Desk awards (including Best Musical), a Drama Drama Critic's Circle award (Best Musical), an Olivier award (Best Musical), and the current 2008 revival has been nominated for another nine Tony Awards. Most prestigious of all, Sunday in the Park with George won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, only the sixth time awarded to a musical at that point.
Big Noise Theatre Company's productions continue to be known for bringing Downtown quality to the suburbs at reasonable rates. Big Noise strives to produce high-quality shows that stretch the creative talents of their actors and staff as well as surpass the expectations of their audience and Sunday is sure to fit the bill!
Starring Scott Sumerak ( Chicago) as Georges/George , Jeny Wasiliewski (Palos Heights) as Dot/Marie , Mark Anderson (Winnetka) , Sarah Jane Blevins (Streamwood) , Emilie Frake (Gurnee) , Ron Goldstein (Chicago) , David Laub (Skokie) , Julia Macholl (Niles) , Steve Malone (Chicago) , Morra Miller-Preiss (Hawthorn Woods) , Ashley Stricker (Schaumberg) , Ann Stuart (Evanston) , Mia Vaananen (Deerfield), Mike Weaver (Glencoe), and David Whitlock (Northbrook) , Sunday in the Park with George is filled with a beautiful "pointillistic" score featuring "Sunday in the Park with George", "Finishing the Hat", "Putting It Together", "Children and Art", "Move On", and the majestic hymn "Sunday".
Tickets for Sunday in the Park with George are $20 for Adults, $18 for Seniors and $12 for Kids 12 and under and can be purchased by going to www.bignoisetheatre.org or by calling 847-604-0275.

 

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