BWW Q&A: Eamon Foley On Directing SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE at Axelrod Performing Arts Center

We sat down with director Eamon Foley, who is currently staging The Axelrod Performing Arts Center's bold new production of Stephen Sondheim’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE.

The show is directed and choreographed by Foley (Broadway’s Gypsy, Assassins, 13: The Musical) and stars TV and film star Graham Phillips (CBS’s The Good Wife, CW’s Riverdale) and Broadway’s Talia Suskauer (Wicked’s Elphaba). Music director Jacob Yates (Broadway’s Hadestown, Rock of Ages, Alice By Heart, Only Gold) will conduct the 11-piece orchestra.

Sunday in the Park with George first appeared on Broadway in 1984 starring Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters, with a book and direction by James Lapine.

The Axelrod production is the first time a live staging of this concept will happen: six beautiful dancers from the Axelrod Contemporary Ballet Theater (AXCBT) join the company to bring Foley’s vision to life. But Foley is not just choreographing dancers; he’s also choreographing lights, working with Broadway lighting designer Paul Miller (Legally Blonde, Amazing Grace). His inspiration for the visuals came while attending electronic music concerts.

Graham Phillips makes his Axelrod debut as George, having recently played the role at the Tony Award-winning Pasadena Playhouse. Audiences will know Phillips from his breakout TV role as Zach Florrick, the son of Julianna Margulies’ character in The Good Wife. In addition to his role as Nick St. Clair in the CW’s Riverdale, he’s appeared in Universal's The Pact, Paramount's Staten Island Summer, Netflix's XOXO and Goats opposite David Duchovny, and The Little Prince at the Metropolitan Opera.

Talia Suskauer recently completed her run as Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway and in the national tour. She also appeared in Be More Chill both on and Off Broadway and Ratatouille: The Tik Tok Musical along with Wayne Brady, Andre DeShields and Adam Lambert.

The company also features Joy Hermalyn (Broadway’s Fiddler on the Roof, Candide, Caroline, or Change) as the Old Lady, Asbury Park’s Bernard Dotson (Broadway’s Chicago, Ragtime, Paradise Square), Kevin Arnold, Giuliana Augello, Anthony Cataldo, Katie Davis, Bridget Gooley, James C. Harris, Isabel Lagana, Ella Mangano, Dylan Randazzo, and Allie Siebold. The AXCBT dancers include Giana Carroll, Alyssa Harris, Lindsay Jorgensen, Olivia Miranda, Sarah Takash and Gillian Worek.

The production team includes associate director-choreographer Devin Richey, lighting designer Paul Miller, sound designer Ian Wehrle, productions designer Brad Peterson, scenic designer Ryan Howell, costume designer DW, puppet designer Eric Wright of Puppet Kitchen International, prop designer Susan Bloir and production stage manager Shana Ferguson. DePrisco and Foley serve as co-producers. The show is being Executive Produced by David Zuckerman and produced by Katie Birenboim, Nancy Karpf, Midnight Theatricals, and Cason Crane and Fran McGill.

Stephen Sondheim's Pulitzer Prize-winning Sunday in the Park with George blazes with color, light, and dance in this vivid reimagining of the beloved musical - starring Broadway favorites Graham Phillips (The Good Wife, Riverdale) and Talia Suskauer (from Broadway’s Wicked), Sunday in the Park with George begins at the Axelrod PAC on March 8 and runs through March 24. 

Directed and choreographed by Broadway veteran Eamon Foley, this new production takes the audience even deeper into the mind of trailblazing painter, Georges Seurat, as he creates his pointillism masterpiece “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte.” The show’s use of movement and cutting-edge lighting and projection design fuses with Sondheim’s transcendent score to finally give audiences a window into the soul of the artist, revealing not only how George creates but also how he loves. Experience the world through his eyes, and experience this musical in a never-before-seen way.

What made now the right time for you to finally tackle Sunday... after years of planning and inspiration?

The Axelrod PAC opened the door for me. Artistic director Andrew DePrisco saw "Color and Light," the concept film Graham Phillips and I made in 2016, which explores how George's colors could come to life as contemporary ballet dancers on pointe. He reached out and informed me that The Axelrod is affiliated with a wonderful contemporary ballet company, and the pieces fell into place from there.

Can you elaborate on how you plan to bring the music to life with dance in this production?

The goal of this production is to help people feel where George goes when he's in process, and feel his passion. The contemporary ballet dancers embody the colors on George's palette, so when he's immersed in his world of color and light you can see it swirling around him in a kinetic way. The rules are simple: when George is in the throes of his process, dance enters the storytelling. There's a sensuality and excitement about dance that I think will help people understand the feeling of being enveloped by the creative process, and hopefully that will help them understand George and the choices he makes. It's our tether to the creative realm.

How has your inspiration for this production evolved over the years?

I was first introduced to the show at nine years old when I was in the Bernadette Peters production of Gypsy. We would watch the PBS special in our upstairs dressing room, and the dance element immediately jumped out at me. The music sounded like color coming to life, and I felt that the marrying dance to the colors could help people feel what George feels when he's creating. As I started seeing more EDM concerts I started to understand how light could also illuminate a score, and I found a connection between the way the beams danced and what George Seurat was attempting to do with his unique style of painting. But also, with time I've learned about love and sacrifice and what it means to be an artist, and that's where the heart of the story lies.

How did your short film "Color and Light" play a part in shaping this production?

It was our first attempt at seeing if dance could help people understand George, and it was successful. It motivated me to keep going. It was also a great lesson in listening to Sondheim's music through the lens of choreography. Bringing such a complex piece of music to life through dance helped me create a set of rules of choreographing to Sondheim music.

What was the process like of choreographing not just the dancers, but also the lights for this production?

I take no credit for choreographing the lights. That's all Paul Miller, our lighting designer. But the collaboration has been terrific. The goal is to bring Sondheim's score to life in a visual way, and to help the audience see the world through George's eyes. The rules for how we use dance are reflected in our lighting design. Also, the Chromolume in act two inspires our design. In act one, our world of colored moving lights is an allegory for the inside of George's mind, and for how he sees the park, and then in act two it becomes a diegetic art piece.

How has it been working with Graham Phillips and Talia Suskauer?

Graham and Talia are such incredibly passionate, generous actors. They're bringing the love between these two characters to the surface in such an electrifying way. They've illuminated that the connection between George and Dot is a timeless, past-lives sort of attraction. So even throughout the pain, their love simmers through. I'm inspired by them every day.

What should audiences expect from this production of Sunday?

They should expect a direct line into George's heart and mind. They should expect George's passion to explode around them in unexpected ways. And they should expect thrilling performances from this incredible company of actors and dancers.

Why must everyone come and see the show?

Because it's a beautiful piece of theater, and it will be exciting to experience this story and score not only with beautiful singer-actors, but also brought to life by brilliant dancers.

How To Get Tickets

Tickets are $32-65 and are available by calling 732-531-9106 ext. 14 or visiting www.axelrodartscenter.com. The Axelrod Performing Arts Center is located at 100 Grant Ave., Deal Park, just five minutes from downtown Asbury Park, with plenty of free parking.

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