University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2006 Portraying Pointillism: An Actress's Journey Through Pointillism To Define The Role Of Dot In Sondheim And Lapine's Musical Sunday in the Park with George Chris Staffel University of Central Florida Part of the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Staffel, Chris, "Portraying Pointillism: An Actress's Journey Through Pointillism To Define The Role Of Dot In Sondheim And Lapine's Musical Sunday in the Park with George" (2006). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 983. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/983 PORTRAYING POINTILLISM: AN ACTRESS’S JOURNEY THROUGH POINTILLISM TO DEFINE THE ROLE OF DOT IN SONDHEIM AND LAPINE’S MUSICAL SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE by CHRIS ELAINE STAFFEL B.M. Wheaton Conservatory of Music, 2004 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in the Department of Theatre in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2006 © 2006 Chris Elaine Staffel ii ABSTRACT Upon receiving a role, an actor must research the major themes, concepts, and relationships associated with the play, its collaborators, and the character they are to portray. Only by layering this combination of research and analysis to the rehearsal process and performances in a detailed format can an actor cohesively transform the learned knowledge from the performer’s training and research to a finished product on stage. Many forms of art are created using a similar process. This thesis will explore the similarities between the Post-Impressionist technique of pointillism and the actor’s process in developing a role. Upon observing the basic process of each technique, one can conclude that the method of consistently adding many specific elements eventually creates a finished product whether it is in the form of a painting on a canvas or a performance on a stage. By paralleling these two artistic techniques, a new contribution to musical theatre is made by presenting a fresh outlook for performers in their approach to creating roles. Research on pointillism and George Seurat’s painting technique when interwoven with Stephen Sondheim’s techniques in music theory (specifically the examples derived from the score of Sunday in the Park with George), and compared to my technique and process as the actor playing the role of Dot in the University of Central Florida Conservatory Theatre’s 2006 Spring production of Sunday in the Park with George, demonstrates how the theories of pointillism and the actor’s process are clearly comparable and arguably inseparable. iii “Grazie, Signore, For Your lips twisted in love to accommodate my sinful self, For judging me not by my shabby good deeds, But by Your love that is Your gift to me, And for Your unbearable forgiveness and infinite patience with me. When the final curtain falls and You summon me home, May my last whispered world on earth be the wholehearted cry, ’Grazie, Signore’.” - Brennan Manning iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To Earl Weaver and Jim Brown for serving as my thesis committee members To John Bell for casting and directing me through this entire process To the cast of Sunday in the Park with George: I could not have asked for a more supportive and enjoyable cast to share my final performance with in my UCF graduate experience To my classmates: Jo Leffner, Debbie Tedrick, Courtney Winstead, Michael Swickard, and Paul Gebb for joining and supporting me through this two year journey To Lester Malizia for your constant support, mentoring, and friendship To Kristina Tollefson for being my thesis committee head, mentor, and friend To Rhys for encouraging me to pursue my career even though it keeps our love on distant shores To my family for always supporting me in following my dreams and true purpose v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .....................................................................................................................viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION............................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER TWO: DESIGN ........................................................................................................... 4 The Origins of Pointillism .......................................................................................................... 4 George Seurat.............................................................................................................................. 8 The Technique of Pointillism.................................................................................................... 11 Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte................................................................. 14 CHAPTER THREE: COMPOSITION......................................................................................... 19 Sunday in the Park with George: Conception........................................................................... 19 James Lapine............................................................................................................................. 20 Stephen Sondheim .................................................................................................................... 21 The Collaborative Process ........................................................................................................ 25 The Original Broadway Production: Reviews and Response................................................... 28 The Libretto .............................................................................................................................. 29 The Score .................................................................................................................................. 31 CHAPTER FOUR: BALANCE................................................................................................... 38 Portraying Pointillism through Music Theory .......................................................................... 38 Color and Light Scene Analysis ............................................................................................... 45 Color and Light Musical Analysis ............................................................................................ 48 Color and Light Lyric Analysis ................................................................................................ 55 CHAPTER FIVE: LIGHT ............................................................................................................ 60 Portraying Pointillism through the Actor’s Process.................................................................. 60 Pre-Production Preparation....................................................................................................... 60 Character Analysis: Dot............................................................................................................ 63 Character Analysis: Marie ........................................................................................................ 70 Rehearsal Process...................................................................................................................... 73 Portraying Pointillism in Color and Light ................................................................................ 75 vi Portraying Pointillism through Rehearsal................................................................................. 78 Portraying Pointillism through Performance ............................................................................ 83 CHAPTER SIX: HARMONY ...................................................................................................... 87 APPENDIX A REHEARSAL JOURNAL ................................................................................... 97 APPENDIX B PERFORMANCE JOURNAL ........................................................................... 167 APPENDIX C EXAMPLES OF SEURAT’S WORKS ............................................................. 182 APPENDIX E COLOR AND LIGHT MUSIC ANALYSIS...................................................... 193 APPENDIX F COLOR AND LIGHT LYRIC ANALYSIS....................................................... 196 APPENDIX G COLOR AND LIGHT PERFORMANCE CHART........................................... 205 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 208 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte ..................................................... 15 Figure 2: Chromatic scale. ............................................................................................................ 40 Figure 3: Chromatic Scale on the Keyboard................................................................................. 41 Figure 4: The Chromatic Circle .................................................................................................... 42 Figure 5: The Color Wheel. .........................................................................................................