Class Preparation

• On Monday,October 29, we will backtrack a bit to watch the sections of Six By Sondheim that deal with Merrily We Roll Along--particularly the song "Opening Doors," which Sondheim calls his one "autobiographical" song.
• Our main topic will be on Sunday in the Park with George. We will watch a good chunk of the original cast production. If you'd like to read up on the show, check out the Wikipedia article on the show. There is a DETAILED synopsis, a list of songs, and a chart showing everyone who has ever performed in the show in New York or London.
• The first act of the show depicts the painting of Georges Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" (at least a part of which is shown above). The Wikipedia article on the painting goes into great detail about it, and from there you can follow links to learn more about Seurat and pointillism. (Note: Class member Jerry McNiff shared that there is an error in the article. The Art Institute of Chicago didn't purchase the painting--it was bequeathed to it.)
• Treat yourself to "Finishing the Hat" sung by Jake Gyllenhaal.

Handouts

• Notes and Lyrics (corrected)
• Class Slides (corrected & expanded)

 Links to Videos Referenced in Today's Class

• I think I mentioned in class a couple of weeks ago that BBC radio and TV personality Graham Norton had hosted Stephen Sondheim and Patti LuPone on his podcast recently. Broadway World has provided a link to that episode. You may have to subscribe (it's free), but you can unsubscribe easily if Graham is not your thing. Their conversation is mainly about the new production of Company in London. The opening bit of the podcast is called "Grill Graham" and involves people writing in about their person problems and asking for advice. This is sometimes funny, but always odd, so you may want to skip over it. 
• Jerry Herman's acceptance speech for Best Original Score at the 1985 Tony Awards. Presenter is Larry Kert.
• I corrected the notes and slides because I had provided the wrong name for one of the costume designers. She is Ann Hould-Ward. The expanded slides handout includes the "spoiler" slides as well as additional paintings by Seurat that you may have spotted in the video.

Class Evaluation

What worked?

• People expressed pleasure with the level of detail presented.​
• People sharing reasons they didn't like Sunday in the Park with George ​ "back then" (or even now).

What would make it even better?

• Figure out a way to have the whole screen visible.