[NEohioPAL]Lakeland's Sunday in the Park review from Plain Dealer

Tue Jul 18 03:58:43 PDT 2006

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Lakeland Theatre lets `Sunday' beauty shine through
"Sunday in the Park with George"
Lakeland Theatre
July 15

By Linda Eisenstein
Special to The Plain Dealer
There may be no greater local lover of Stephen Sondheim musicals than Lakeland Theatre director Martin Friedman. He deserves the “climbing Everest” award for even attempting the fiendishly difficult “Sunday in the Park with George”. 

Friedman’s coup includes scoring drops and cutouts from Broadway designer Tony Straiges’ touring set -- a representation of painter Georges Seurat’s “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte” that functions as a major character.

With impressionistic lights by Keith Nagy and lush costumes by Craig Tucker and John Larger, the production is physically beautiful enough to make a statement about the enduring power of art. 

The Pulitzer Prize-winning “Sunday” takes place in two worlds. The first act is set in 1880’s Paris, where the obsessed loner Seurat (Andrew Tarr) is at odds with his pregnant mistress Dot while he works on his masterpiece. 

Amiee Collier’s star turn makes the first part hers -- her sympathetic Dot is a mix of sensuality and pragmatism, and her brass trumpet voice has shimmering tones that sometimes overpower Tarr’s light tenor. 

Tarr comes into his own in the second act, a satiric look at the shark pond of the contemporary art world. He is appealing as the successful but alienated George, an artist who has lost his way, while Collier plays his 98-year-old grandmother Marie, who may be Seurat’s child. 

The non-Equity ensemble is uneven, but there are several standouts. As the Old Lady (Seurat’s mother), Mary Jane Nottage prompts tears with her simple rendition of “Beautiful”. Jim McCormack and Tina Burgett-Krause get gales of laughter as the comic Ugly Americans Mr. and Mrs.

“Sunday in the Park with George” has one of Sondheim’s most complex and accomplished scores. He builds up and repeats small motifs and themes, like Seurat’s brushstrokes, until they come together with a beauty of aching intensity. Musical director Larry Goodpaster gets his cast and large backstage orchestra to shine in the big ensemble numbers; at solo moments, some have trouble with the difficult intervals. 

But then, “art isn’t easy”, as they sing in “Putting It Together”. This musical, more than any other, is a passionate exploration of the highs and lows of an artist’s struggle, of its challenges and glories. Despite production flaws, the show’s beauty and depth shines through.

Info: Through Sunday, July 30. Lakeland Theatre, Lakeland Community College, 7700 Clocktower Dr., Kirtland. 1-440-525-7034.

To reach Linda Einsenstein: entertainment at plaind.com

  PRODUCTION DATES:

  Friday, July 21 @ 8pm
  Saturday, July 22 @ 2pm and 8pm
  Sunday, July 23 @ 8pm
  Friday, July 28 @ 8pm
  Saturday, July 29 @ 2pm and 8pm
  Sunday, July 30 @ 2pm

  For ticket reservations call 440.525.7034. 

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<div> </div>  <div> </div>  <div><IMG height=1 src="http://www.cleveland.com/images/spacer.gif" width=1 vspace=2><BR><FONT face=arial,sans-serif size=2><A name=161664></A><B>Lakeland Theatre lets `Sunday' beauty shine through</B><BR>"Sunday in the Park with George"<BR>Lakeland Theatre<BR>July 15<BR><BR>By Linda Eisenstein<BR>Special to The Plain Dealer<BR>There may be no greater local lover of Stephen Sondheim musicals than Lakeland Theatre director Martin Friedman. He deserves the “climbing Everest” award for even attempting the fiendishly difficult “Sunday in the Park with George”. <BR><BR>Friedman’s coup includes scoring drops and cutouts from Broadway designer Tony Straiges’ touring set -- a representation of painter Georges Seurat’s “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte” that functions as a major character.<BR><BR>With impressionistic lights by Keith Nagy and lush costumes by Craig Tucker and John Larger, the production is physically beautiful
 enough to make a statement about the enduring power of art. <BR><BR>The Pulitzer Prize-winning “Sunday” takes place in two worlds. The first act is set in 1880’s Paris, where the obsessed loner Seurat (Andrew Tarr) is at odds with his pregnant mistress Dot while he works on his masterpiece. <BR><BR>Amiee Collier’s star turn makes the first part hers -- her sympathetic Dot is a mix of sensuality and pragmatism, and her brass trumpet voice has shimmering tones that sometimes overpower Tarr’s light tenor. <BR><BR>Tarr comes into his own in the second act, a satiric look at the shark pond of the contemporary art world. He is appealing as the successful but alienated George, an artist who has lost his way, while Collier plays his 98-year-old grandmother Marie, who may be Seurat’s child. <BR><BR>The non-Equity ensemble is uneven, but there are several standouts. As the Old Lady (Seurat’s mother), Mary Jane Nottage prompts tears with her simple rendition of “Beautiful”. Jim
 McCormack and Tina Burgett-Krause get gales of laughter as the comic Ugly Americans Mr. and Mrs.<BR><BR>“Sunday in the Park with George” has one of Sondheim’s most complex and accomplished scores. He builds up and repeats small motifs and themes, like Seurat’s brushstrokes, until they come together with a beauty of aching intensity. Musical director Larry Goodpaster gets his cast and large backstage orchestra to shine in the big ensemble numbers; at solo moments, some have trouble with the difficult intervals. <BR><BR>But then, “art isn’t easy”, as they sing in “Putting It Together”. This musical, more than any other, is a passionate exploration of the highs and lows of an artist’s struggle, of its challenges and glories. Despite production flaws, the show’s beauty and depth shines through.<BR><BR>Info: Through Sunday, July 30. Lakeland Theatre, Lakeland Community College, 7700 Clocktower Dr., Kirtland. 1-440-525-7034.<BR><BR>To reach Linda Einsenstein: <A
 href="mailto:entertainment at plaind.com">entertainment at plaind.com</A><BR></FONT></div>  <div><FONT face=arial,sans-serif size=2>PRODUCTION DATES:</FONT></div>  <div><FONT face=arial,sans-serif size=2></FONT> </div>  <div><FONT face=arial,sans-serif size=2>Friday, July 21 @ 8pm</FONT></div>  <div><FONT face=arial,sans-serif size=2>Saturday, July 22 @ 2pm and 8pm</FONT></div>  <div><FONT face=arial,sans-serif size=2>Sunday, July 23 @ 8pm</FONT></div>  <div><FONT face=arial,sans-serif size=2>Friday, July 28 @ 8pm</FONT></div>  <div><FONT face=arial,sans-serif size=2>Saturday, July 29 @ 2pm and 8pm</FONT></div>  <div><FONT face=arial,sans-serif size=2>Sunday, July 30 @ 2pm</FONT></div>  <div><FONT face=arial,sans-serif size=2></FONT> </div>  <div><FONT face=arial,sans-serif size=2>For ticket reservations call 440.525.7034. </div></FONT><p> 
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