Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

SimonJack This Public Broadcast System film of an American Playhouse production just wasn't very interesting or entertaining to me. "Sunday in the Park with George" is billed as a comedy, drama and romance. Perhaps there was some insight in the promoters who didn't list it as a musical. It is a musical, but one that is very short on music and talent. The script for this play and film is very slow. The comedy is very little. And the music is sparse. The method used, of the painter set a little off-stage with the players on stage is so theater-bound as to be a distraction for film. It's one thing to go to a theater to see a live play, and another to see a story on film that should eliminate all the periphery. In live stage, it is part of the setting. In film, it's a distraction The story itself isn't that good or interesting. The talent is so-so. I enjoy Bernadette Peters as an actress. As a singer, she is mediocre. But musicals should have excellent singers. Alas, this production was an early indication that the days of truly great singers for films (and stage) had passed. Musicals since the last couple decades of the 20th century have had scores with jazzy numbers that tend to play over the vocals of the singers. So, better singers aren't as necessary. But this seems to create a type of artificial musical. No longer do we have films with glorious voices and songs that made up many of the grand musicals of the past. Are there no singers to replace Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand and their likes? Are there no new singing actresses to replace Judy Garland, Deanna Durbin, Doris Day, Mitzi Gaynor or Shirley Jones?There seem to be no male singers either to replace Gordon MacRea, Howard Keel, Nelson Eddy, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, or Bobby Darin. Nor are their modern song and dance talents the likes of Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Ginger Rogers. This filmed stage production just is not my cup of tea. One suspects it plays to a very narrow audience. Unless one is used to live theater and less than great musical entertainment, this film isn't very likely to be very enjoyable.

TheLittleSongbird Thought-provoking, emotionally soulful and extremely clever, Sunday in the Park With George is another Stephen Sondheim hit. Not his masterpiece(Sweeney Todd, though that is a subjective and very difficult choice to make) or his most accessible(Company), but it is a great show that will make you appreciate Sondheim more perhaps. Like a previous reviewer, some very close friends of mine disliked Sondheim initially but after hearing Sunday in the Park With George they converted and while not fans as such they appreciate him highly now. To get yourself acquainted or to re-visit the magic of this musical it doesn't get better than this production. Lushly produced, very intelligently staged and directed and well-photographed, this production of Sunday in the Park With George is a must see for Sondheim fans and admirers. The songs and score are wonderful, beautifully structured and highlights like Move On, Putting it on and Finishing the Hat are memorable. They are also very clever, because not only do they make an emotional impact but they interweave so well with the story and the characters' motivations and actually enhance them, often telling us what's happening within the music and lyrics. The arrangements are just beautiful and played and conducted just as much. Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin don't just have great voices but they are also great actors, and put real emotion into what they're singing and acting. Patinkin's voice is in slightly better shape, Peters occasionally sounds tired but mostly her singing is fine. And while Patinkin gives one of his best and accomplished performances, Peters is a revelation playing two different characters- sometimes in very quick changes- and is incredibly heartfelt. The supporting cast that include the likes of Dana Ivey and Charles Kimbrough are also on point, Frank Kopyc and Judith Moore are hilarious as ignorant American tourists with the over-exaggerated hand gestures and such. Also look out for Brent Spiner as a German servant, he's a pleasant surprise. In conclusion, beautiful, clever and affecting, couldn't be recommended more highly enough. 10/10 Bethany Cox

hanksank Yep, this is just absolutely brilliant. The new DVD has great quality as well, that's the way to see this if you missed it on stage. There's a reason this musical got the Pulitzer Prize, and it's evident in this astonishing film of the play. Patinkin and Peters are perfectly cast and do brilliant work. I can't speak highly enough of this- go and rent it, you'll see. True, it's a bit thick in the beginning, but it's worth the ride.

Greedorr This is a masterpiece. Sondhiem and Patinkin: American theatre's greatest talents in their fields, join forces in a show of tremendous complexity and humanity. For the uninitiated this can be a hard one to warm up to; but stick with it. It's a play about how disjointed pieces of life and art, some of which are individually unappealing, can come together with such beauty, if the eye arranges them in a certain way. Patinkin is, as usual, amazing, Peters is heartbreaking, and Sondheim's score and lyrics take musical theatre to a new level. "Finishing the Hat" is the best marriage of song and singer in the history of the stage. What a wonderful meditation on art and life!