Review: Cast, set paint artful play

The Fine Arts Center Theatre Company’s production of “Sunday in the Park with George” ranks with the center’s best productions.

It’s the most beautiful show I’ve seen on that stage, fitting when the subject is pointillist pioneer Georges Seurat and his famous painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.”

The orchestra, conducted by Sandi Shroads, has never sounded mellower or more delicate, shimmering colors matching the visual splendor.

And the cast members — especially leads Brian Hutchinson and Carmen Mock — make Stephen Sondheim’s challenging music and lyrics sound as effortless as a walk in the park.

So my reservations have to do with the work itself, which is an odd bird despite its Pulitzer Prize for drama.

To get a sense of “Sunday in the Park with George,” imagine the opposite of the typical Broadway musical. It’s thoughtful, even cerebral: Sondheim and scriptwriter James Lapine aim at the mind as well as at the heart. The story is loose and episodic, with the two acts set nearly a century apart. There are few opportunities even for effective movement, much less dances.

And it ends quietly, with George, a fashionable contemporary artist who has finally realized he’s the great-grandson of Act 1’s Georges, standing alone in front of a white scrim.

This atypical scheme makes sense because the show’s theme is the search for an art that’s both honest and new. A conventional show about defying convention would have been, well, “Footloose.”

But it also means that Sondheim and Lapine had to invent the rules as they went along, and the strain shows. Act 2’s characters are underdeveloped relative to Act 1’s, and at times the show isn’t just slow-paced but actually dead in the water.

The large, expert cast gets you through those bumps. Hutchinson’s voice combines beauty and power, and he’s equally convincing as the obsessive Georges and the vaguely dissatisfied George. Mock delivers Sondheim’s intricate patter with a bright, buoyant voice.

The production team is due equal praise: Director Alan Osburn, scenic designer Christopher Sheley, lighting designer Lloyd Sobel, costume designers Susan Rose and Elizabeth Fry — and scenic artist Brian Jude Beacom, whose set painting evokes Seurat’s spirit.

They’ve created an amazing wealth of detail, from a dress that parts to release Mock (it’s funny, not racy) to Act 2’s hilarious ’80s-style light machine.

I can’t promise you’ll like “Sunday in the Park with George.” But you’ll be intrigued by this courageous and intelligent production of a courageous and thought-provoking piece — and the ticket prices ($26-$31) are cheap for a production of this quality.

details

The Fine Arts Center Theatre Company presents “Sunday in the Park with George”

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through Feb. 17

Where: Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St.

Tickets: $26-$31; 634-5583 or csfineartscenter.org