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MUSIC & LYRICS BY STEPHEN DIRECTED BY SONDHEIM PETER DUBOIS

SUBLIME PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING MUSICAL

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS

Standards 3

Guidelines for Attending the Theatre 4

Artists 5

Themes for Writing & Discussion 8

Mastery Assessment 10

For Further Exploration 12

Suggested Activities 15

© Huntington Theatre Boston, MA 02115

September 2016

No portion of this curriculum guide may be reproduced without written permission from the Huntington Theatre Company’s Department of Education & Community Programs

Inquiries should be directed to: Donna Glick | Director of Education [email protected]

This curriculum guide was prepared for the Huntington Theatre Company by: Marisa Jones | Education Associate with contributions by: Alex Smith | Manager of Curriculum & Instruction COMMON CORE STANDARDS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS: Student Matinee performances and pre-show workshops provide unique opportunities for experiential learning and support various combinations of the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts. They may also support standards in other subject areas such as Social Studies and History, depending on the individual play’s subject matter. Activities are also included in this Curriculum Guide and in our pre-show workshops that support several of the Massachusetts state standards in Theatre. Other arts areas may also be addressed depending on the individual play’s subject matter.

Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 1 Reading Literature: Craft and Structure 5 • Grade 8: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports • Grades 9-10: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and drawn from the text. manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks), create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. • Grades 9-10: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to sup- port analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences • Grades 11-12: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how drawn from the text. to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic • Grades 11-12: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences from resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as from the text, including where the text leaves matters uncertain. well as its aesthetic impact. Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 2 Reading Literature: Craft and Structure 6 • Grade 8: Analyze how differences in the points of view of the • Grade 8: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the analyze its development over the course of the text, including use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor. its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide and objective summary of the text. • Grades 11-12: Analyze a case in which grasping point of view required distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what Determine a theme or central idea of a text and • Grades 9-10: is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement). analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific Reading Literature: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 7 details; provide an objective summary of the text. • Grade 8: Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live produc- • Grades 11-12: Determine two or more themes or central ideas of tion of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or including how they interact and build on one another to produce actors. a complex account; provide and objective summary of the text. • Grades 9-10: Analyze various accounts of a subject told in Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 3 different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and • Grade 8: Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a charac- account. ter, or provoke a decision. • Grades 11-12: Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, • Grades 9-10: Analyze how complex characters (e.g. those with or poem (e.g. recorded or live production of a play or recorded multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or source text (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one develop the themes. play by an American dramatist). • Grades 11-12: Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regard- ing how to develop related elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the charac- ters are introduced and developed).

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE 3 MASSACHUSETTS STANDARDS IN THEATRE ACTING • 2.11: Read plays from a variety of genres and styles; compare and contrast the structure of plays to the structures of other forms of • 1.7: Create and sustain a believable character throughout a scripted literature (Grades 9-12). or improvised scene (By the end of Grade 8). • 1.12: Describe and analyze, in written and oral form, characters’ TECHNICAL THEATRE wants, needs, objectives, and personality characteristics (By the • 4.6: Draw renderings, floor plans, and/or build models of sets for end of Grade 8). a dramatic work and explain choices in using visual elements (line, • 1.13: In rehearsal and performance situations, perform as a shape/form, texture, color, space) and visual principals (unity, productive and responsible member of an acting ensemble variety, harmony, balance, rhythm) (By the end of Grade 8). (i.e., demonstrate personal responsibility and commitment to a • 4.13: Conduct research to inform the design of sets, costumes, collaborative process) (By the end of Grade 8). sound, and lighting for a dramatic production (Grades 9-12). Create complex and believable characters through the • 1.14: CONNECTIONS integration of physical, vocal, and emotional choices (Grades 9-12). • Strand 6: Purposes and Meanings in the Arts — Students will • 1.15: Demonstrate an understanding of a dramatic work by describe the purposes for which works of dance, music, theatre, developing a character analysis (Grades 9-12). visual arts, and architecture were and are created, and, when • 1.17: Demonstrate increased ability to work effectively alone and appropriate, interpret their meanings (Grades PreK-12). collaboratively with a partner or in an ensemble (Grades 9-12). • Strand 10: Interdisciplinary Connections — Students will apply READING AND WRITING SCRIPTS their knowledge of the arts to the study of English language arts, • 2.7: Read plays and stories from a variety of cultures and historical foreign languages, health, history and social science, mathematics, periods and identify the characters, setting, plot, theme, and and science and technology/engineering (Grades PreK-12). conflict (By the end of Grade 8). • 2.8: Improvise characters, dialogue, and actions that focus on the development and resolution of dramatic conflicts(By the end of Grade 8).

AUDIENCE ETIQUETTE Attending live theatre is a unique experience with many valuable educational and social benefits. To ensure that all audience members are able to enjoy the performance, please take a few minutes to discuss the following audience etiquette topics with your students before you come to the Huntington Theatre Company. • How is attending the theatre similar to and different from going to the movies? What behaviors are and are not appropriate when seeing a play? Why? • Remind students that because the performance is live, the audience’s behavior and reactions will affect the actors’ performances. No two audiences are exactly the same, and therefore no two performances are exactly the same — this is part of what makes theatre so special! Students’ behavior should reflect the level of performance they wish to see. • Theatre should be an enjoyable experience for the audience. It is absolutely all right to applaud when appropriate and laugh at the funny moments. Talking and calling out during the performance, however, are not allowed. Why might this be? Be sure to mention that not only would the people seated around them be able to hear their conversation, but the actors on stage could hear them, too. Theatres are constructed to carry sound efficiently! • Any noise or light can be a distraction, so please remind students to make sure their cell phones are turned off (or better yet, left at home or at school!). Texting, photography, and video recording are prohibited. Food, gum, and drinks should not be brought into the theatre. • Students should sit with their group as seated by the Front of House staff and should not leave their seats the performance has begun.

4 SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE ARTISTS : it to the memory of Oscar Hammerstein, who died in 1960. A LIFETIME IN THE Sondheim then composed which closed THEATRE after only performances. Out of loyalty to Hammerstein, but against his better judgement, Sondheim then agreed to write Considered the father of the lyrics to ’ music for Do I Hear a Waltz? Although modern musical, Stephen the show ran only four months, Sondheim received his first Tony Sondheim’s contributions to Award nomination for his work. After he had contributed music the field of and lyrics to the television musical Evening Primrose, Sondheim are as significant as any of his began the collaboration with , , and contemporaries. His journey as Michael Bennett that resulted in Company which opened in 1970. an artist began in childhood and Critics called the work “groundbreaking” and “the first modernist led to one of the most prolific musical.” It won the New York Drama Critics’ Award and received writing careers in American 12 Tony Award nominations, winning six including Best Musical and theatre history. Sondheim Sondheim’s first for Best Music and Best Lyrics. was born on March 22, 1930 Stephen Sondheim in New York City, the only During the 1970s, Sondheim wrote music and lyrics for , child of Herbert Sondheim, a , and , before beginning work prominent dress manufacturer, and Janet Fox Sondheim, Herbert’s on Sunday in the Park with George in the early 1980s. He also former chief designer. A highly intelligent child who loved puzzles, co-wrote a screenplay called The Last of Sheila and contributed games, and anagrams, Sondheim picked out tunes on the piano new lyrics to Leonard Bernstein’s score for . His first at the age of four. Aware of his advanced intellect and ability, his major hit song, “Send in the Clowns,” was a part of the score parents moved him past kindergarten and into the first grade, from , which the Huntington Theatre Company during which time he happily read The New York Times. His parents produced in 2015. In the subsequent decade and a half, Sondheim divorced when he was 10 years old and Sondheim moved with his produced words and music for Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in mother to Doylestown, Pennsylvania where he met and became the Park with George, , , and . In close with Broadway lyricist Oscar Hammerstein and his family. 1995, he co-authored a non-musical play with George Furth called The Hammersteins became surrogate parents to Sondheim, and Getting Away with Murder which unfortunately closed after only Oscar served as a role model. Enrolled at the George School, from two weeks on Broadway. which he graduated in 1946, Sondheim composed his first musical, By George! a satire of campus life. He showed it to Hammerstein In recent years, Sondheim’s work has been represented throughout who gave him a four-hour critique. “I learned more that afternoon Broadway and regional theatres with revivals of Candide and about song writing and musical theatre than most people learn A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, as well as in a lifetime,” Sondheim later recalled. Hammerstein tutored productions of Passion and Sunday in the Park with George. His Sondheim in the art and craft of writing for musical theatre and musical (previously known as Bounce) also had an Off outlined a course of study that would last for six years. Broadway run in 2008. Tim Burton, a director known for the films Beetle Juice (1988) and Edward Scissor Hands (1990), negotiated In 1951, Sondheim won a two-year fellowship to study with the rights to Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd and directed his own avant-garde composer Milton Babbitt in New York City. Babbit t

later remarked that “[Sondheim] wanted his music to be as . sophisticated and as knowing within the obvious restraints of a charles Broadway musical.” In 1955, Sondheim secured his first professional job in the theatre composing the score for the show Saturday erickson Night, intended for Broadway. The project collapsed in pre- production, but after hearing Sondheim’s score, Leonard Bernstein asked him to write the lyrics for his new musical based on Romeo and Juliet. Sondheim hesitated but was convinced by Hammerstein to accept the offer. The musical, titled , opened in 1957 to critical and audience acclaim, and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical. The production ran for nearly two years and is one of the most famous musicals in Broadway history.

Teaming with composer , Sondheim wrote the lyrics for in 1959, followed by A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 1962, which was the first musical for which The cast of the Huntington Theatre Sondheim was both composer and lyricist. Sondheim dedicated Company’s A Little Night Music (2015).

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE 5 graphic “slasher film” of the musical in 2007. More recently, later enrolled in the prestigious Sondheim’s Into the Woods, adapted for the screen by James École des Beaux-Arts Academy. Lapine, was released in 2014 and directed by Rob Marshall. During this time he read the Grammaire des arts de Dessin At the age of 86, Sondheim continues to write and work. In (1867) by Charles Blanc. Blanc the spring of 2015, Playbill published an article highlighting his suggested that colors obeyed upcoming musical collaboration with David Ives on the new very specific rules, a theory musical entitled All Together Now. The musical is based on two centered on concepts which Spanish films with plots centered on an unusual evening for could be intellectualized and guests at a dinner party. The pair has been working on the piece taught. These ideas would since 2012 when the show was first announced, but state that it greatly influence Seurat and is “coming along slowly” despite their best efforts to complete it. Georges Seurat his contemporaries. Once he Sondheim and Ives plan to workshop the piece before launching a fulfilled his military obligation, full scale production at in New York City. a compulsory year of service, at the Brest Military Academy, Seurat returned to his drawing and painting and exhibited his QUESTIONS: first work, a crayon drawing, at the Salon of 1883 (see “Art in 1. Continue your research of Sondheim and his body of work. Transition” on page 12 for more details on the Paris Salons). His Select a song from each of his musicals in chronological order first major painting, Bathers at Asnières, depicts young working- and evaluate the progression of his musical and lyrical forms. class men relaxing by the Seine. His use of color and light, as well How has Sondheim’s work evolved over the past 60 years? In as the depiction of a moment from modern life, shows the heavy what ways has it remained the same? influence of Impressionism on his own creative process. 2. Next, listen to examples of music from musicals written by artists Seurat became one of the founding members of the Groupe des other than Sondheim. Compare and contrast Sondheim’s work Artistes Indépendants and exhibited Bathers at Ansières at the with earlier musical theatre composers and lyricists such as first exhibition, the Salon de Artistes Indépendants, in the summer Leonard Bernstein, Richard Rodgers, and Oscar Hammerstein. of 1884; however, the work was displayed in a back room under Which songs are structured in the traditional Rodgers and poor lighting and did not garner much attention. Later that year Hammerstein “character sings his/her emotions while advancing another exhibition was held and Bathers at Ansières was once the storyline,” and which exemplify the Sondheim “concept again exhibited. In 1886, French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel took it musical” influence which broke with the more traditional structure? to New York where it was shown in an exhibition of Impressionist 3. Read The Washington Post article from August 2, 2016, about works and it received mixed reviews. One stinging critique decried, Sondheim’s announcement that All Together Now would finally “The great master, from his own point of view, must surely be premiere at the Public Theater in 2017 at huntingtontheatre.org/ Seurat whose monstrous picture of The Bathers consumes so large SondheimWashingtonPost a part of the Gallery D. This is a picture conceived in a coarse, vulgar, and commonplace mind, the work of a man seeking a. Given Sondheim’s artistic development over the course of distinction by the vulgar qualification and expedient of size. It is his career, do you expect that All Together Now will follow a bad from every point of view, including his own.” traditional structure or a more contemporary one? b. What does Sondheim mean when he says, “You don’t take a Seurat began work on his most famous piece, A Sunday Afternoon topic and write about it. The topic arises out of whatever story on the Island of La Grande Jatte, in the summer of 1884, taking you tell”? two years to complete it. Painted on a huge canvas, 7 x 10 feet in size, the painting debuted at the final Impressionist exhibition in 1886 and was immediately hailed as the founding of a radical GEORGES SEURAT new style of painting. The painting is composed of tiny dots “I want to make modern people, in their essential traits, move about layered together to create depth and texture, a technique that as they do on those friezes, and place them on canvases organized would later be dubbed Pointillism. Art historian Robert Lehman, by the harmonies of color. Art is harmony.” reflecting upon Seurat’s leadership in this new artistic movement, – Georges Seurat, December 2, 1859 – March 29, 1891 declared: “Led by the example of Georges Seurat, artists of the Neo-Impressionist circle renounced the random spontaneity of Georges Pierre Seurat, the center of the neo-impressionist Impressionism in favor of a measured painting technique grounded movement, spent his life creating art. He was the youngest of in science and the study of optics. Encouraged by contemporary three children born into a wealthy Parisian family. While his writing on color theory — the treatises of Charles Henry, Eugène parents were not practicing artists themselves, they allowed their Chevreul, and Ogden Rood for example — Neo-Impressionists son to pursue his creative interests. At the age of 16, Seurat went came to believe that separate touches of interwoven pigment to study art at the École Municipale de Sculpture et Dessin, and result in a greater vibrancy of color in the observer’s eye than is

6 SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884), currently housed at the Art Institute of Chicago achieved by the conventional mixing of pigments on the palette. was kept secret at the time of its exhibition. Knobloch moved into Known as mélange optique (optical mixture), this meticulous paint Seurat’s studio and then quickly became pregnant with their son application would, they felt, realize a pulsating shimmer of light on Pierre-Georges, who was born on February 16, 1890. On March 29, the canvas.” 1891 Georges Seurat died in Paris at the age of 31 at his parents’ home. It is believed that the illness that killed Seurat, which is Seurat wrote in a letter to a friend, “Art is Harmony. Harmony is still unknown, also killed his son two weeks later. At the time of the analogy of opposites, the analogy of similar elements of tone, color, and line, considered according to their dominants and under his death, Knobloch was pregnant with Seurat’s second child. the influence of light, in gay, calm, or sad combinations.” However, the child died shortly after birth. Seurat’s final large- scale painting, left unfinished, was The Circus. Despite its status as the beginning of the Neo-Impressionist style, La Grande Jatte did not gain favorable reviews from most QUESTIONS: contemporary critics. As art historian Martha Ward believed, 1. Compare and contrast Seurat’s biography with the plot of Sunday “Reviewers interpreted the expressionless faces, isolated stances, in the Park with George. How did Sondheim and Lapine alter the and rigid postures to be a more or less subtle parody of the “facts” of Seurat’s life? Would the musical be as interesting if banality and pretensions of contemporary leisure.” Sondheim created a strictly historical account of Seurat’s life? Seurat continued to produce works throughout the 1880s using 2. Do you agree with Seurat’s 19th century art critics? Do you think his Divisionist or Chromoluminarism technique, which was a style that when something unique, new, or different occurs, whether in of painting defined by the separation of colors into individual art or other fields, it takes time for observers to accept it? Or do dots or patches. The observer’s naked eye combines the colors; perceptions and tastes simply change over time? Divisionists believed they were achieving the maximum luminosity in their work by employing this technique. Jeune femme se 3. How did Sondheim and Lapine weave the Chromoluminarism poudrant was the subject study of Seurat’s mistress, Madeleine painting technique into the story for the second act of their Knobloch, and one of Seurat’s last exhibited pieces; his relationship musical?

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE 7 THEMES FOR WRITING & DISCUSSION THE TRUE COST OF MAKING ART How does funding impact how much and which art gets made and seen? Is securing arts funding a bigger challenge now than Seurat does not break his focus while painting. As a result, other it has been historically or do artists of today have freedoms that areas of his life become of secondary importance to his primary their predecessors did not? one. Dot desperately wants Seurat to tell her to stay in Paris, to put down his paintbrush for just a moment, and commit to building a 4. D o certain professions require those who pursue them to make family and a life with her. It is a tragic irony that she knows Seurat sacrifices when it comes to their quality of life? What major life is “special” because of his great artistic talent, but his art ultimately events might a person serving in the military be required to prevents him from loving her fully. As she admits, Dot may not miss? What flexibility to return home does an athlete training be able to have what she wants but she can have what she needs for the Olympics have when she hears her mother is sick? Might by marrying Louis the baker. Seurat, although wounded by Dot’s months of living on a movie set or traveling the world for a decision to leave the country with his child and another man, does concert tour take its toll on a romantic relationship? not stop her. He is unable to comprehend why Dot must leave him, and he instead paints over his portrait of her, a piece she begged BROADENING PERSPECTIVE him to allow her to take. Many theatre critics have argued that Sondheim’s Sunday in the Seurat’s relationship failings do not start and end with his lover. He Park with George is a one-act show at best, lacking the depth has difficulty within the art community and cares very little what and character development necessary to carry the show into the his contemporaries think of him much less what strangers in the next century. Some claim that the female protagonist’s name park think of him. In Sunday in the Park with George, Seurat dies “Dot” is too obvious in its symbolism, and the invention of the without any worldly success, beyond the personal relationships he “Chromolume” for the production, necessitated by the musical’s loses as result of making art; he also reaped none of the financial book, is also a stretch for a sophisticated audience to accept. rewards of the fame that would come after his death. The double-casting from the first act of the show to the second requires an audience to suspend their disbelief, though it has been In Act II Seurat’s great-grandson, also named George, seems pointed out that there is no better role to be double-cast as the to struggle with many of the same pitfalls with one distinct “art critic” in act two than Seurat’s own mother, as everyone’s advantage: George’s artistic career comes with a significant mother is their own biggest critic! amount of attention and, with a little advocacy, the funding necessary to make a successful career during his lifetime. However, Others argue that most of these criticisms simply miss the point: George is forced to consider the possibility that he is stuck, Seurat is working in two-dimensions. He is recreating the scene producing the same type of artwork repeatedly, art for which he is from outside of it with very little connecting him to the action receiving financial support but that is not bringing him any great he is observing. Especially as it pertains to his relationship with sense of pride or fulfillment. While George is seemingly more Dot, Seurat must keep himself detached in order to have the best equipped to manage his personal relationships in a way his great- vantage point from which to capture a particular moment in time. grandfather could not and is careful to “work the room” in order While it is true that Seurat simply cannot engage with others as to secure funds for the next stage of his work, he has lost sight of a result of his work, it is also true that he suffers as a result of his his true artistic integrity. It is through listening to the concerns of isolation. He needs only to know the world around him enough to his collaborator Dennis that George opens himself up to the idea put it on the canvas. Anything in his peripheral vision will cost him of taking his art in a new direction. With that awareness, George the gift of being a great artist. Seurat is forced to choose one or takes on the challenge of dissecting his great-grandmother’s the other. journal and securing the family legacy. Without Act Two, George’s story would be incomplete. There QUESTIONS: would be no resolution to any of the questions the audience is left 1. Is Seurat right that he has no choice but to pursue his artistic grappling with at the end of , stuck with a cliché view of vision? Is there no room for anything else? What could his great- Georges Seurat’s life and work. It is through the introduction of his grandson George teach him about living in the world as opposed great-grandson that the opportunity for the family story to be told to simply observing it? finally arrives. Seurat has a clear vision for his art, but no ability to connect with the world around him, while George, his great- 2. Seurat refuses to give Dot the painting of her in the dressing grandson, is able to navigate through his personal relationships but room. Do you agree that she has a right to keep the portrait? Is it he does not have a purpose for his art until he is connected to the “your” art if you are the subject of the work? past. 3. Securing funding is hard work for artists and artistic institutions. In many instances, artists are commissioned to create work for a QUESTIONS: specific purpose. Research the sources from which nonprofit arts 1. I n what ways do Seurat and George share a similar perspective institutions and individual artists receive funding and compare on life? How do they differ? At the beginning of Act Two, what and contrast these models with traditional “patronage” systems. does George believe about his own family tree?

8 SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE George 1884 and George 1984 costume sketches by costume designer Robert Morgan

2. Does Seurat’s friend Jules really see Seurat’s artistic vision? Did It is no coincidence that Seurat’s great-grandson, George, is also commercialism, jealousy, or something else influence his views of an artist who is making art out of color and light. Like his great- Seurat’s work? grandfather, George has struggled to find a balance between 3. Do you think critics of film, fine arts, music, etc. get it right most loving personal relationships and his work, having suffered through of the time? (How often do you agree with the “rotten tomatoes” a divorce and devoted energy to caring for an aging family ratings when selecting a movie to see?) Do you think critics member while still pursuing his art. George must also navigate should have as much influence as they do? the art community’s judgment, albeit with more skill than his very famous great-grandfather. As Marie laments that the ancestral line stops with him, George must set out to connect with his family’s FAMILY CYCLES past. If he can see Dot as she needed to be seen, will the circle of In Sunday in the Park with George, Stephen Sondheim suggests their family finally be complete? that the family story is constantly repeating itself. The environment and culture may change, but the universal struggles affecting QUESTIONS: humanity continue to run their course. This cycle holds true 1. What family relationships from Act One of Sunday in the Park whether you are a mother or a great artist; Seurat and his heirs are with George repeat in the second act? What tensions with regard no exception. to family and family planning play out in both acts?

In Act One, Seurat protests that he must “finish the hat,” which 2. Why is it especially important to the Old Lady that Seurat paints means that he must maintain total focus on his creative process. If a picture that she can understand? How do the changes happening he leaves his work for any distraction it will all be lost. Dot pushes around her make her life challenging? back: she is also in the middle of creating, not art, but a child and 3. What does the future hold for George in Act Two? His life is at asks him to see the greatness in the life they have made together. a turning point and he seems to have a blank slate before him. Seurat, however, cannot understand her point of view and Will he create a new family and perhaps ignite the old flame with disregards her requests. Marie, of course, two hundred years later his ex-wife Elaine? Or will he pursue his research of the family reconciles this tension. She declares that it is great to make both lineage? Use evidence from the text to predict what you believe children and art, and Seurat did both. George will do next.

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE 9 MASTERY ASSESSMENT STAGING NOTES 29. Why does the Boatman mistrust Seurat’s interpretation of what is happening in the park? 1. At which theatre was Sunday in the Park with George originally performed? 30. How does Dot compare Louis and Seurat? 2. Does the production of this musical necessitate a large theatre 31. What does Louis do for a living? space? 32. Describe the Americans’ opinion of French culture and art. 3. Why do you think Sondheim gave his musical the title Sunday in What do they like most about their visit? the Park with George? 33. Celeste #1 and Celeste #2 notice newcomers to the park. Who are they and how do Celeste #1 and Celeste #2 get their ACT ONE attention? 4. Why is Dot unhappy? What is she doing for Seurat? 34. How does the soldier describe his friend’s condition? 5. Why is the Old Lady troubled? Who helps her? 35. How does Seurat explain his behavior especially as it relates 6. Which acquaintances of Dot are interested in and talk about to Dot? Seurat? 36. What does Dot reveal to Seurat? How does she know when she 7. According to the nurse, what will soon be built? will be “finished”? What is the purpose of her visit to see him? 8. What is the nature of Seurat and Dot’s relationship? 37. Why does Seurat believe Louis must love Dot “very much”? 9. Which visitors to the park startle Dot and what does she think 38. What is Yvonne’s criticism of Seurat’s work? they are doing? 39. What new technique in painting does Seurat reveal to Jules? 10. Describe the relationship between Yvonne, Jules, and Seurat? 40. How does Jules react to Seurat’s new painting? What do they think of Seurat as an artist? 41. What further news does Dot share with Seurat? Why is 11. What does Seurat think of Jules’ artistic work? Seurat angry? 12. How are Seurat and the Old Lady related? What seems to be 42. What does Dot want Seurat to say? Why does he refuse and happening to her? how does he explain his position? 13. According to Dot, is she worthy of Seurat’s love? 43. In what ways do Seurat and the Old Lady disagree about the past? 14. Does Seurat respect Dot? 44. What has Seurat done to the “Powdering” painting of Dot? 15. Why might Sondheim have chosen the name “Dot” for the lead female protagonist in this story? 45. Why is the Old Lady concerned about Seurat? 16. Where does Seurat promise to take Dot in the evening? What 46. Why are Celeste #1 and Celeste #2 in a fight? happens to their plans and how do they each react? 47. What has happened to Louise and who does Yvonne call upon for help? 17. On the following Sunday, what observations do Celeste #1 and Celeste #2 make about Dot? 48. What secret does Louise share with Yvonne and how does Yvonne react? 18. Why does the Boatman prefer his dogs to people? 49. Why does Jules fire Frieda and Franz? 19. Why is the Old Lady startled by Louise and upset by what she sees in the park? 50. Why is the soldier offended by Celeste #1? 20. What is the Boatman’s opinion of George? 51. What order does Seurat make out of the chaos at the end of Act One? 21. Why might Dot be hoping to improve her reading and writing skills? ACT TWO 22. What did Louis make for Dot? 52. Why is Dot in the stage picture dissatisfied with Seurat’s work? 23. Why does the nurse care for Seurat’s mother? 53. What are the struggles for the subjects of Seurat’s painting? 24. What does Louise want to do? 54. What has happened to Seurat? How do the people who knew 25. Who does Louise want to play with and why is she having him best respond to the news? trouble getting their attention? 55. In 1984, what does one of Seurat’s heirs produce? How does he 26. How do Frieda and Franz compare their work to what others do? introduce this work? 27. What is unique about Seurat’s painting technique? What is Jules’ 56. List three facts about Georges Seurat. opinion of Seurat taking this approach? Does Seurat care about 57. Initially, how was A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grande what others think of him and his art? Jatte received by the artistic community and the public? 28. What does Seurat ask of Jules? Why is this request important to 58. Describe the “new” George’s artistic presentation. both of their careers? 59. Describe the Chromolume. Why does it fail?

10 SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE RELATED WORKS & RESOURCES Continue your research of Stephen Sondheim and his contributions to the world of musical theatre. The following suggested works were also used in the development of this curriculum guide.

OTHER MUSICALS BY STEPHEN SONDHEIM: Company (with book by George Furth) Into the Woods (with book by James Lapine) Sunday in the Park with George (with book by James Lapine West Side Story (with music by Leonard Bernstein and book by )

VIDEO Reich and Sondheim: In Conversation and Performance (Lincoln Center’s American Songbook), youtube.com/ watch?v=6Zbobkioa8E Stephen Sondheim on “Sweeny Todd” and His Process for Writing a Musical (The New Yorker), youtube.com/ watch?v=rKZGIwZvexw (HBO Documentaries)

FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Kenrick, John. Musical Theatre: A History. Bloomsbury Academic, 2010. Maslon, Laurence. Broadway: The American Musical. Applause Theatre & Cinema Book, 2001. Sondheim, Stephen. Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decisions. Scarecrow Press, 2010. Sondheim, Stephen. Look, I Made a Hat. Knopf, 2011. Secrest, Meryle. Stephen Sondheim: A Life. Vintage, 2011.

James Cordon and Emily Blunt in the movie Swayne, Steve. How Sondheim Found His Sound. U of adaptation of Sondheim’s Into the Woods. Michigan Press, 2007.

60. What proof of Seurat and Dot’s relationship does Marie reveal? 69. Would Marie have approved of Seurat’s view of relationships How does Marie say she is related to Seurat? and family? Use evidence from the text to support your ideas. 61. What challenges from his critics is George facing with his 70. How does Marie describe her mother? latest show? 71. What location will George visit in the hopes of setting up his 62. How does George classify himself in the art world? Do you own art exhibition? think his labeling is accurate? 72. For what reason(s) did George turn down the commission for 63. Describe the trip Marie and George have planned. his next Chromolume exhibition? 64. How is Elaine connected to George? 73. What has happened to Marie? 65. Why is George frustrated by the process of securing funding 74. What does Dennis suggest George do? for his work? What makes it difficult? 75. When Dot appears to George, what message does she have 66. Dennis is upset and very apologetic. Why is Dennis leaving his for him? job? 76. Upon reflection, what did Dot learn through her relationship 67. Why did Daniels agree with the decision to add Marie to with Seurat? George’s presentation? 77. What do George and Dot read together? 68. How are Daniels and George alike? 78. What is the significance of the final line of the play?

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE 11 FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION HANDOUT: A SHORT HISTORY OF MUSICAL THEATRE An evening of musical theatre … “when everybody has a good time — even in the crying scenes.” – Bob Fosse, Director/Choreographer

Musical theatre is often considered the most collaborative art form. To measure a work of musical theatre accurately means to weigh the contributions of many different artists, including the librettist, composer, lyricist, director, choreographer, actors, singers, dancers, musicians, and designers of scenery, costumes and lighting. In his book The Musical, Richard Kislan writes that “musical theatre offers an intricate and colorful puzzle for the senses with each piece complete enough in its artistry to fulfill a prescribed function, while subservient enough to submit to the assimilation necessary for the total effect of a work that in performance loses, as if by magic, the seams that separate the parts.” Bob Fosse on the set of Sweet Charity, 1969 Musical theatre is also as old as western theatre itself. From its beginnings as ritual chanting of a dithyramb addressed to the theme – a hint of the message or purpose of the story is Greek god Dionysus, to the musically underscored pantomime of introduced the pre-Christian days of the Roman Empire, to the origins of the opera during the Renaissance, musical theatre has combined music conflict – obstacles that the characters must endeavor to and drama to create a union that enhances the power of each overcome art to create a unique theatrical experience. Over the centuries, tone – mood of the musical (serious, comedic, etc.) different formulas combining music and theatre have led to myriad alternative forms ranging from oratorio to operetta to the rock The Lyrics: The lyrics are the words written to accompany the musical. Many scholars believe that Americans’ contributions to score. Lyrics must be compact and meaningful. Song lyrics differ the evolution of musical theatre are perhaps our nation’s greatest from all other forms of literature because lyric form and musical artistic achievement. form must synchronize. Sondheim explains, “Lyrics exist in time — as opposed to poetry. You can read a poem at your own ELEMENTS OF MUSICAL THEATRE speed, but on the stage the lyrics come at you and you hear them once. Second, lyrics go with music and music is very rich. Lyrics The Book: Sometimes called the , the book of a musical therefore have to be underwritten.” is typically written first. The book generates the “theatre” in the musical theatre form. It is the glue which binds the other elements The Score: The music! Music expresses and reinforces the emotion together. The book encompasses the necessary components of the in the drama and stimulates or serves the dramatic action. Music dramatic form, such as: establishes the tone and sets the mood of the story. Its component characters – the people in the story parts are melody, which represents an aural image of the lyric, harmony, which creates tones that color the aural image, and plot – the sequence of actions and events that drive the rhythm, which contrasts the dramatic values of character and action. characters, ideas, or situations situation – any moment within the plot that generates drama, Elements of the score include: the overture, opening number, sustains audience attention, and begs for resolution establishing songs, patter songs, rhythm songs, chorus numbers, musical scenes, underscoring, segues and reprises. Songs with dramatic dialogue – speech; generally a companion in tone and style functions are often called: ballads, charm songs, comedy songs, to the lyrics of the musical “I am” songs, and “I want” songs. Consider Sunday in the Park with theme – main idea (or ideas) of the story George and identify one song for each of these dramatic functions. In a traditional musical book the following dramatic elements are generally established within the first five minutes of the ART IN TRANSITION (1870-1890) performance, either through action or exposition: The fine arts community underwent a remarkable period of time – morning, afternoon, or night advancement in France during the 1870s. The Impressionist movement broke traditional concepts of subject study and place – geographical setting technique, and expanded the use of light and color in painting. characters – social identity, status, relationships Claude Monet’s “Impression, Sunrise” (1872) was appraised by

12 SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE TERMS TO KNOW Impressionism: A French art movement of the 19th century. Impressionist work is characterized by small, thin brush strokes, open composition, and realistic use of color and light. Neo-Impressionism: Following the Impressionist movement led by Georges Seurat, Neo-Impressionism was characterized by Pointillism, Divisionism, and the desire to capture landscape scenes through scientifically based painting techniques. Pointillism: A technique of painting in which tiny dots of color are applied in a specific pattern to create an image. Divisionism/Chromoluminarisum: A painting technique employed by Neo-Impressionists which separated colors into Monet’s Impression, Sunrise (1872), at individual patches which the eye interprets, allowing them to the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris combine optically.

Louis Leroy, an influential art critic, who described the painting based on the use of small points of color, called Pointillism and as an impression rather than a completed piece. As a result of Divisionism. Paul Gauguin worked in a style known as Primitivism, this critique, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pisarro, and Odilon Redon worked in Symbolism. While each of these artists among others, were categorized as “Impressionists.” This gave maintained distinctly different techniques, they are usually classified a name to a new kind of painting which broke traditional forms. as Post-Impressionist, having broken away from the naturalism of While exploring new painting techniques, these artists were also Impressionism and focusing instead on the expression of emotions fighting the art establishment of the time. The expositions in and symbols. As a result of the Post-Impressionist era, during which the famous Paris Salons were an absolute necessity for artists artists pushed through accepted boundaries and limitations of their desiring to be recognized by the larger arts community, but the art form, abstract art ultimately fell into the mainstream, making way Impressionists began to disregard these events in favor of showing for the Modernist art movement. their work independently. In 1874, the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers, organized an exhibition in Paris QUESTIONS: separate from the annual Paris Salon, which typically honored 1. What are the differences between Impressionism, Neo- more traditional work. Between 1874 and 1886, the Impressionists Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism? Why are these organized eight exhibitions of their own, highlighting an artistic distinctions important? Why is the classification of art work style which emphasized modern life in contrast to the depictions of important to the people who study artists and artistic movements? royalty, religious subjects, and Greek mythology favored by more traditional artists, and departed from the muted color palettes of 2. Study Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grande Jatte. the time, opting instead for brighter colors and careful attention to What details and effects are created by the brush strokes and light. Impressionist painters favored short or broken brushstrokes color palette? Should this work be exhibited under the same that implied the general shapes they depicted over ones that labeling as Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night? provided precise details and forms. Impressionist painting was 3. How might an artistic movement “happen”? Did Impressionism considered casual in comparison to the realistic style which happen as a result of artists coming together to share their work preceded it; however, by the last Impressionist exhibit in 1886, at and critique each other or did artists coincidentally break with which Georges Seurat first revealed A Sunday Afternoon on the traditional forms at the same time? Why might collaboration or Isle of La Grande Jatte, most artists were transitioning into a style sharing work with others be undesirable for an artist? Why might called Neo-Impressionism. Seurat himself led this movement with it be helpful and necessary? his focus on Pointillism and Divisionism, and expanded artistic ideas about the use of forms and color. This movement would be THE HUNTINGTON’S OWN GEORGE: immediately followed by the Post-Impressionist era. ADAM CHANLER-BERAT Post-Impressionism included a variety of styles, and while artists A self-proclaimed “theatre rat,” actor Adam Chanler-Berat spent such as Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and much of his school-age years pursuing his theatre passions at others did not consider themselves part of a collective movement, Clarkstown High School in the town of Nyack, a suburb of New they were later categorized together by art critics and historians. York City. Chanler-Berat found great professional success even as Artists like Georges Seurat and Paul Signac adopted a technique a very young actor when cast as part of the youth ensemble and

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE 13 sara

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Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine Adam Chanler-Berat and Celia Keenan-Bolgerin the Broadway production of Peter and the Starcatcher. performed on Broadway for the first time at the final performance in 1985 for Sunday in the Park with George. To his credit, Lapine’s of Les Miserables in 2003. “The adrenaline,” he says of this impressive theatrical career has also garnered three experience, “left my memory bare.” for Best Book of a Musical (Into the Woods, , Passion) and multiple Drama Desk Awards. He was inducted into the American Chanler-Berat spent two important years of his career at the Booth Theater Hall of Fame in 2010. His resume also includes television Theater on Broadway, where he originated the role of Henry in the and film with credits, including the HBO documentary Six by Pulitzer Prize-winning musical . When this show Sondheim for which he won a Peabody Award. closed he moved on to the role of Mark Cohen in an off Broadway production of at New World Stages, followed by the role of Lapine was born in 1949 in Mansfield, Ohio, where his family Peter in the original production of Peter and the Starcatcher. lived until they moved to Stamford, Connecticut, when he was a teenager. After high school he enrolled as a history major at Franklin Fun facts about Chanler-Berat: he is colorblind, loves the Food and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, before doing Network, is afraid of the dark, and was born on New Year’s Eve, graduate work in photography and graphic design at the California December 31, 1986. He is not only an actor in the theatre world, Institute of Art where he received his MFA. He moved to New York but has also had success in television and film, as well as starring City where he held a number of odd jobs including a freelance in the web series, “It Could be Worse.” designing gig for the magazine Yale/Theatre. Wholly impressed with Lapine’s work, the Dean of the School of Drama offered him a QUESTIONS: full time job with teaching responsibilities at Yale. Lapine’s students 1. Adam Chanler-Berat is currently 30 years old. Georges Seurat encouraged him to pursue additional theatre work, and while at was 31 years old when he died. Is it important to cast actors the university he adapted and directed the play Photograph by according to the age of the character they will play? How might . A friend of Lapine’s secured a small performance an actor’s age in relation to their character’s age inform their space for Photograph in New York City’s Soho neighborhood, and performance? Do you think age is more or less important on film the production received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike than it is in theatre? during its three-week run. Lapine won an Obie Award for his work, an auspicious beginning to his career in theatre. 2. Adam Chanler-Berat grew up a short distance from Broadway. Might his experience living outside of New York City have Lapine met Sondheim in 1982 and they worked on a number of influenced his desire to pursue the stage? What role does musicals together including Sunday in the Park with George, Into geography play when it comes to finding success in a difficult the Woods, Passion, and the musical revue . career field? Must actors live in Los Angeles in order to work in film? Is it better to live in Canada for those who want to play QUESTIONS: hockey for the NHL? Or is it possible to “get anywhere from here”? 1. Undertake additional research on James Lapine’s career. Does he regularly collaborate with any other artists besides Sondheim? JAMES LAPINE — A GREAT COLLABORATOR How does Lapine measure success? Has Lapine enjoyed more Staging a musical is a highly collaborative process and often the success with his stage or screen work? If you had to make a coordination among artists begins before the show is even written. guess, which project brings him the most pride? In creating Sunday in the Park with George, Stephen Sondheim 2. What qualities characterize successful working relationships? Do worked with many theatre artists, including James Lapine, a friendships make it easier or more difficult to work on a group screenwriter, filmmaker, playwright, librettist, and theatre director. project? Who would you choose for a lab partner or companion This creative partnership won the two a to take on a three-legged race? Why?

14 SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES BREAKING DOWN PLOT Part 1: Chart the plot structure of Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George (using a piece of graph paper can be helpful for this exercise). Use the model below to help notate the rising and falling action, central conflict, climax, and finally the musical’s resolution.

Climax (a decision must be made about the conflict)

Rising Action Falling Action (events that (events in which lead to the the conflict conflict) unravels)

Exposition Resolution (intro of (a new status characters, quo is setting, etc.) established)

BEGINNING OF STORY END OF STORY

Part 2: Complete this exercise for a musical of your choosing, post 1970s. Suggestions include: Les Miserables (1980), Assassins (1990), Rent (1996), Next to Normal (2008), (2015).

EXTRA CREDIT: Compare and contrast style and content for a musical written before 1970 with one written after (for example Oklahoma! vs. Hamilton). How have the plot structures, content, themes, and musical compositions in the American musical theatre evolved over the last few decades?

Original Broadway cast of Oklahoma! (1943) Original Broadway cast of Hamilton (2015)

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE 15 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES RESEARCH/GROUP STUDY OF MUSICAL THEATRE HISTORY 1. Ask students to work in groups to research and define each of the following musical theatre forms, citing examples of the influence of earlier forms. Students should be encouraged to present recorded examples that will allow the class to appreciate the variety of music, songs, artists, and musical facts that represent their findings. Assign teams to one or more of the following categories:

Opera Operetta Ballad Opera Minstrelsy Vaudeville Burlesque Revue Follies Oratorio Musical Comedy Rock Musical/Rock Opera

2. Create student teams and assign one of the following musicals as the subject for a research project to be shared in class.

Show Boat Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, 1927 Porgy and Bess George and , 1935 Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, 1949 West Side Story Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, 1957 Hair Galt MacDermott, Gerome Ragni and James Rado, 1968 Jesus Christ Superstar and , 1971 Les Miserables Claude-Michel Schönberg and , 1980 Assassins Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman, 1990 , , and , 2003 Next to Normal and , 2008 and , 2013

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER: 1. Who are the composers, lyricists, directors, and producers? 2. What themes are prevalent in these musicals? 3. What historical relationships do these musicals have with their themes? 4. Why were these “serious” musicals popular, resonating with wide audiences? 5. What social impacts did these musicals have on their first audiences? 6. Why were these musicals considered controversial at the time of their world premieres? nile

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Cast of Sunday in the Park with George

16 SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES VISUAL ART AND CREATIVE WRITING Georges Seurat was inspired to paint by his time spent on the Isle of La Grande Jatte and composer Stephen Sondheim was inspired by Seurat’s artistic interpretation of the park scene. One artist’s work often inspires others to create.

Part One: Team up with a partner and travel together to a park in your community. For example, if you live in Boston, you could visit Boston Common, the Public Garden, Franklin Park, the Arnold Arboretum, etc. When you arrive, take a few moments to sit in a location that provides a wide view of the people and scenery around you. In the artistic medium you prefer (pencil sketching, watercolors, ink, etc.) create a visual representation of what you see in this location. Once you have captured the scene, share your artwork with your partner and discuss what you have each created. What did you each choose to depict in your art? What techniques did you use to capture the light, colors, movement, people, sounds, and objects around you? What do you see through your partner’s artistic interpretation?

Part Two: Use your partner’s artwork as the basis for a piece of creative writing. Reflect on your conversation about your partner’s art. How does the experience of viewing a piece of visual art inspire other artists to create in their own preferred creative forms? Choose a written artistic form such as a short story, monologue, or poem that you feel would help bring the visual image your partner created to life. Share your final written work with your partner and your class.

ACTING AND TABLEAUS A tableau is a theatrical performance technique in which actors create a live, frozen image that tells a story. Actors playing roles Boston Public Garden in Sunday in the Park with George need to exercise extreme concentration in their tableau work, as the stage directions at beginning of the musical’s second act read: Lights slowly fade up, and we see EVERYONE frozen in the tableau. There is a very long pause before we begin. The audience should feel the tension as they wait for something to happen.

In this moment, the actors onstage bring Seurat’s most famous art work to life through a tableau — now YOU will do the same!

Step One: In small groups, consider why it is essential that actors execute Act One’s finale staging with extreme precision. Closely examine the “Stage Placement of Characters for Finale: Act I” page of the stage directions and work together as a group to recreate a portion of Seurat’s painting. Share this tableau with the class. How long can the group hold the pose without breaking? Does the audience recognize the characters from the painting that the group members represent?

Step Two: Each group should select a new piece of artwork from a selection of famous paintings to represent through a tableau. Allow time for all stage pictures to be shared with the larger group. Which tableaus were easiest to recognize? Did understanding the representation have more to do with the popularity of the art work or the actor’s ability to hold the pose?

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE 17 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES DESIGN REQUIREMENTS The scenic notes for Sunday in the Park with George are extensive and detailed:

The Set: Originally designed in forced perspective, using portals and deck, should space be a limitation, the action can also play effectively in front of a drop of the island as background. For Act Two, a second drop, depicting the island as it appears today, could be used in the last scene, and rolled up at the finale.

Cut-Outs: Though many of the cut-outs of the painted figures came up magically from the deck…George [could also] carry and place them on stage. Another effective way to get cut-outs on stage is to track the deck (or floor) and have them slide onstage with a push-stick.

ACTIVITY #1 Create designs for drops for Act I and Act II. Begin by researching: • What is a “drop”? • Why does the same background image need to repeat at the beginning of both acts? Why does the drop design need to change? Create a drawing of what should go on the two drops and share both designs with your class. Do your classmates agree the design is appropriate for the production?

ACTIVITY #2 On a model scale, design cut-outs to represent the figures needed in the production and answer the following questions: 1. What is a “cut-out”? 2. Which characters need to be represented by a cut-out? 3. Why is it important how the cut-outs get onstage? What is a push-stick? 4. How do you intend for the cut-out to get on stage? Does this choice affect your design choices? 5. Should the cut-outs be white, black, or something else? 6. Display your cut-outs for the entire class to see. How did the design choices vary from model to model?

EXTRA CREDIT: Do you think the technical elements of this show make it a difficult one to produce or is their enough flexibility within the staging notes to be produced anywhere on any type of budget? todd

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Director Peter DuBois and Adam Chanler-Berat (who plays George) visit Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte at the Art Institute of Chicago

18 SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES QUOTABLE MOMENTS Option A: Choose one of the following quotes from Sunday in the Park with George. Write an essay analyzing the quote’s meaning. Consider: 1. Which character said it? 2. Does the character mean it literally or is there an unspoken subtext? 3. What does this statement reveal about the character’s way of looking at the world? 4. How do the character’s actions support or contradict the quote? 5. Do other characters seem to agree or disagree? 6. How does the quote contribute to the forward progression of the scene and of the plot as a whole?

• The challenge: bring order to the whole. • George taught me all about concentration. “The art of being still.” • There’s only color and light. • Still, Sunday with someone’s dotty mother is better than Sunday with your own. • I should have been an artist. I was never intended for work. • Because I do not paint for your approval. • You don’t know me! Go on drawing. Since you’re drawing only what you want to see, anyway! • I don’t think I can have what I really want. Louis is what I need. • I cannot divide my feelings up as neatly as you, and I am not hiding behind my canvas — I am living in it. • That’s the challenge of our work. You never know what movement is going to hit next. Which artist to embrace. • It’s not enough knowing good from rotten. • Advancing art is easy — financing it is not. • Now they’re becoming more and more about less and less. • There are only two worthwhile things to leave behind when you depart this world: children and art.

Option B: Choose one of the following quotes by Stephen Sondheim and write an essay in which you argue for or against Sondheim’s perspective. Use evidence from musicals both by Sondheim and others to support your opinion.

• “Although one can’t underestimate the importance of songs, it’s the book that the musical theatre is all about, and I’m not being modest.” • “At least half my songs deal with ambivalence, feeling two things at once…I like neurotic people. I like troubled people.” • “I usually write lying down, so I can go to sleep easily. I write about ten minutes and sleep for two, on the average.” • “Obviously the hardest kind of lyric in the world to set is often the best kind to read. Iambic pentameter is wonderful to read and terrible to set. I learned from Oscar and : as you’re writing a lyric, get a rhythm even if you don’t have a tune in your head.”

• “We Americans have a special tendency to ignore history. We remember only what is pleasant. We must have a sense of the past. Without it the present is meaningless and stupid.”

• “As for humor in lyric writing, it’s always better to be funny than clever — and a lot harder.”

• “People mistake sentimentality for feeling. I believe in sentiment but not sentimentality.”

• “I believe it’s the writer’s job to educate the audience…to bring them things they would never have expected to see. It’s not easy, but writing never has been.”

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUM GUIDE 19 NOTES

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2016-2017 OCT.28STUDENT JAN.19 & NOV.3 MAR.17 MATINEES APR.13 & 30 SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE TIGER STYLE! A DOLL’S HOUSE TOPDOG/UNDERDOG 22 SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE CURRICULUMTHE GUIDE WHO & THE WHAT