In one of those strange and wonderful coincidences that often make theater scheduling more than the sum of its parts, St. Louis is home right now to two classic musicals, "Sunday in the Park With George," which opened at the Rep last night, and "La Cage aux Folles," which is running at the Fox. This provides us all with the opportunity to see two splendid shows and to re-create 1983 on Broadway, when they were the most decorated.
"La Cage" won six Tonys to two for "Sunday," but the latter won the more prestigious award, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the following year.
'Sunday," with Stephen Sondheim offering magical music and lyrics, is brilliantly staged by Rob Ruggiero, who is hereby redeemed for last season's "High." As a show that re-creates a painting, Ruggiero, with help from scenic designer Adrian W. Jones, costume designer Alejo Vietti and lighting designer John Lasiter, puts everything together just the way artist Georges Seurat would have wanted it. Ron Bohmer, in a glorious performance as the artist, handles the ultra-complex Sondheim lyrics perfectly to put the stamp of completion on it. And as usual, Sondheim does things with the English language that no one else can or could, like a throwaway line about puddles from poodles who piddle. The cast responds with power, and even a sense of glee at their success.
Ruggiero also has made a 19-person company into a perfectly cohesive unit, an ensemble performance that is one of the best in the 40 seasons I've been writing about the Rep. Choreographer Ralph Perkins, music director F. Wade Russo and sound designer Michael Hooker also deserve high praise for this facet of the diamond-sharp production.
On the other hand (and, unfortunately, there has to be one), I still have problems with James Lapine's book, though fewer than I used to have. I still think that Act I is glorious, though I've never believed it was a complete story. I've said that just the first acts of "Sunday" and "Into the Woods" would be a perfect evening of Sondheim entertainment, but they would not comprise a show. But the second act's George's crass commercialism and cheapening of the art form of the original Georges is a straw man for a cheap shot, and the concept of moving everything to America does not work. The final-scene change of heart doesn't save the Lapine-Sondheim creation.
Why did I have fewer problems last night? Maybe the passage of nearly 30 years has tempered my impatience. . . .
The cast, as noted, is wonderful. The last time we saw Bohmer he was in the Studio, a physician busy titillating women out of hysteria and into highly stimulated enjoyment with his vibrator. He's equally successful as a painter, and Bohmer sings and acts with real style. It's a long and difficult part, and Bohmer, a Webster alum who earned a B.F.A. in the early 1980s and learned to be a Central Park carriage driver while breaking into a fine theatrical career as a singer and actor, scores high. His intensity as George is considerable. By the way, George at the Rep bears no resemblance to the real Georges Seurat. This is a totally fictional character, both in the19th and 20th centuries, except for the creation of "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte."
Erin Davie is a delightful Dot, fighting to keep the relationship alive, considering herself "unfinished," while Georges is "complete." But eventually she realizes that while paint may be beautiful, bread is vital, and she runs off with Louie the baker, which does not seem to bother George at all. Her second act performance as her own grand-daughter is weaker, mainly because she is forced to sing and talk at an extremely uncomfortable level. I chortled, hower, as she ran offstage after the final curtain call grabbing at a bustle that obviously was coming loose.
But there's lovely work from Zoe Vonder Haar as the querulous elderly mother, and some other people, with Kari Ely as her maid, and even if Whit Reichert does very little, he lights a stage for me. Some Webster students like Nyssa Duchow, Charlie Ingram, Jacob Lacopo, Audrey Rae McHale and Jordan Parente get a chance for a major production and carry it off nicely. Deanne Lorette, as Yvonne and Naomi, was a fine presence, as were Chris Hietikko as Jules, Steve French as the limping, bad-tempered Boatman, Sean Montgomery as one of the Soldiers (his buddy was rather flat), Maggie Cansler, Mark Emerson, Jamie LaVerdiere and Rebecca Watson.
And then there was little Abbey Friedmann, the youngest in the cast and a delightfully irritating child.
"Sunday in the Park With George" is a happy new year greeting from the Rep, a highly entertaining production that will run through Jan. 29.
Sunday in the Park With George, a Repertory Theatre of St. Louis production, opened Jan. 6 at the Loretto-Hilton Center and will run through Jan. 29
—Joe