The Reader | The Nonpareil | Omaha World Herald

Sunday at the Chanticleer with George
It's a Pulitzer Prize-winning night of pointillist theater from beloved composer Stephen Sondheim
by Julien R. Fielding

Wanting to stage Stephen Sondheim’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Sunday in the Park with George on the community theater level seems almost beyond comprehension. Not only does it require skilled singers and musicians, it also necessitates nearly two dozen period costumes, a miracle working stage construction team and a tremendous amount of funding. Somehow the impossible has been made possible, by the husband—and—wife team Don Nguyen and D. Laureen Pickle. Their production, onstage at the Chanticleer Community Theater through June 8, is undisputedly the show to see this season. This production of Sunday shatters everything typically associated with community theater.

Part history, part fiction, Sunday recounts the story of Georges Seurat, a 19th century French artist who conceived of the painting technique known as pointillism (called so because instead of blending the color on a palette, he created images and color by carefully placing tiny dots next to one another). He believed color would appear more luminous if mixed by the eye. It also postulates how his "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte," an imposing and complicated oil-on-canvas, came to be.

It goes without saying that art connoisseurs will be thrilled to finally see Sunday onstage but then so will lovers of the musical theater. That’s because so few do it as well as Sondheim. A witty, thought-provoking lyricist, he creates music that takes root in your mind; songs like "Beautiful," "Children and Art," "Move On" and "We Do Not Belong Together," simply don't grow tiresome. In addition, he is terribly innovative; rarely does he repeat himself. If unfamiliar with Sondheim's Sunday, which premiered in 1983 on Broadway, it is a good place to get acquainted.

Director Nguyen has found the perfect cast to carry out this challenging piece of theater. Pickle, who plays Dot, Seurat’s (Todd Brooks) voluptuously simple mistress and model, gives her character the emotional core she needs — contrary, pouty, playful, self-doubting and aching when required. (She is, after all, the heart to Seurat’s head.) Bernadette Peters originated this role, so Pickle has some gigantic shoes to fill. But she is no slouch herself. With a doctorate in music and several Theatre Arts Guild nominations under her belt, she’s one to make Peters proud. But what’s more commendable is the fact that although she could have simply copied the Peters' intonations, Pickle makes this character her own.

Originating the role of Seurat was another Broadway giant, Mandy Patinkin. However Brooks in the role seems to have a warmer, lower tone that is more pleasing to the ears. In Act 1 he conveys well the artist’s obsessive, perfection-seeking personality that excludes everything and everyone else. In Act 2 he loosens up to become George, an artist, and Seurat’s descendant.

Other standouts in the cast include Mary Carrick, who plays Seurat’s mother and a pretentious art critic; Denny Maddux, who does a fine job as the harried museum director and a jealous contemporary of Seurat; and Sara Planck who portrays the put-upon nurse, the pastry-loving American tourist and the art patron.

Sunday is such a massive undertaking that the technical people are as, if not more, important than those "strutting upon the stage." Bringing the neo-impressionist music to life is a fantastic five-piece orchestra, composed of keyboards, percussion, harp and violin and directed by Lynne Marie Boyd.

Visually, the eight-person set construction team and set painter Jeffrey Weber constructed a spectacular set, rivaling some of the finer ones whipped up in the past by the Omaha Community Playhouse.

The costumes, which took a team of at least 10 people to design, cut and assemble — from the armor like suit Dot crawls in and out of in Act 1 to the simple outing costumes for everyone to stroll by La Grande Jatte — are sumptuous.

Finally Carol Wisner does her bit with lighting design. This work speaks volumes about how important art and artists are in our lives and what art means to our culture. But, more significantly, to anyone who has ever written, painted or filmed something, this musical offers encouragement to keep creating, even when doubt floods the mind.

Daily Nonpareil
Column for June 2, 2003

Written by Norm Filbert

In the normal course of events, I don’t critique the shows at Chanticleer. The conflict of interest or point of perspective would most likely be too suspect. But I need to say a few words about the current musical gracing the stage at 830 Franklin Avenue and feel it’s proper because I had nothing to do with its preparation.

Those of you whose umbilical cords are connected primarily to the Omaha Playhouse should slip out of them for a few moments and see the Stephen Sondheim “Sunday in the Park with George.” It‘s as professional a job in all areas as any I’ve seen in the Council Bluffs/Omaha Metro area. In addition to which it’s a premier production for the region and a counter balance for those on both sides of the footlights who are ready for something beyond “Annie,” “Music Man,” “Oklahoma” and “Sound of Music.”

I’ve seldom seen such a uniform, highly talented ensemble on stage as this one. The show is almost operatic and the musical patterns so complex that a very high level of expertise is required. Dancing is not a mainstay required, but all other performance values are shared by everyone in the cast, down to the smallest roles. Most of these folks I’ve seen in other works from time to time and -believe me- here they are all superb. D. Loreen Pickle and Todd Brooks in particular, handling the leading roles, are simply wonderful. And that is not to demean the rest.

The set, a professional one from the traveling company, has been so seamlessly integrated into the Chanticleer stage requirements by Technical Director Bill Van Deest one would think it was built specifically for this venue. And Staging Director Don Nguyen and Musical Director Lynne Boyd have exploited it in a manner Sondheim himself would approve. Carol Wisner’s lighting and Travis Halsey’s costume designs are of Broadway quality;- both required and provided. As well as a huge, competent staff of unseen dozens who have made the backstage clockwork operate flawlessly. When the Guild Awards are announced this Summer, this show is certainly destined to be represented.

There is a number of fine productions being presented throughout the area at several theaters, shows that entertain, showcase talents, make you laugh or cry, well produced. The area should be proud of its colony of little theaters presenting so much in the way of good, live stage works. And proud of the literally hundreds of talented volunteers that make this creative machinery work.

But this time, Chanticleer’s “Sunday” is a step above its competitors, in my opinion. It’s so good, in fact, that I’m jealous.

You have one more weekend to see it if you wish;- this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. And you’d better call 323-9955 for reservations. If you go to theater at all, don’t miss this one.

This is as good as it gets at the Chanticleer. Top-tier community theater.

Bob Fischbach, Omaha World Herald

With production values rivaling the Omaha Community Playhouse, director Don Nguyen's "Sunday in the Park With George" distinguishes itself in nearly every aspect of musical theater. If you love musicals, and especially if you love Sondheim, you're in for a treat.

A cast of 19 is replete with skill, from leads to bits.

Stephen Sondheim's music is movingly sung, thanks to extra weeks of rehearsal with music director Lynne Marie Boyd. And Boyd's five-piece orchestra - harp, percussion, violin, two keyboards - beautifully renders the complex score.

The scenery, created for the national tour of this Pulitzer and Tony winner, re-creates an 1880s masterpiece of French impressionist George Seurat, the show's central character, in soft, vibrant colors.

Paring the set to custom-fit the Chanticleer, tech director Bill Van Deest had to jettison many pieces because of inadequate fly space. But his adaptations are seamless.

Sumptuous original costumes by Travis Halsey look as if they also could have come from the national touring company.

The result is theatrical ambrosia, thanks in large part to D. Laureen Pickle in the role of George's mistress, Dot. At turns funny and poignant, furious and serene, Pickle is a sheer delight. As good as she is playing a Parisian model, she's just as good as a Southern grandmother, age 98, in Act 2.

Todd Brooks, as Seurat, matches her, especially in his goofy rendering of "The Day Off," in which he wigs out talking to, and as, dogs in his painting.

Great character acting brings alive the painting's figures:

Mary Carrick, as George's dignified mother, sings great alto to his baritone, she fearing change and he thrilled by it in "Beautiful." Yet she soars as a soprano in the chorus, demonstrating impressive vocal range.

Cameron Van Cleave, as an angry one-eyed boatman, is terrific as he chafes over class distinctions and wars with a bratty 12-year-old, also well played by Rose Daugherty.

Paul Rath and Sara Planck are a true stitch as a pair of South Carolina tourists who hate Paris, love the pastries. Denny Maddux, as a jealous rival painter, and Ruth Rath, as his haughty wife, also stand out.

They're all good, and it's unfair there's not room for a paragraph on each. And all do double roles, taking on present-day characters for Act 2.

What this show isn't is candy-coated schlock. Sondheim stretches the musical genre with a wistful, conflicted emotional palette and lyrics from the inner soul, such as when Dot explains her wrenching choice between the neglectful George and a kind baker in "Move On."

In Act 2, George's modern- artist great-grandson is creatively blocked. It's all been done before, he says. Dot appears to him with words of encouragement: "Anything you do, let it come from you. Then it will be new."

Spare, incisive, insightful. That's art, Mr. Sondheim.

Bravo, Nguyen and cast.