By Randy Gener
NEW YORK CITY | It’s been tremendously difficult to see and hear film-turned-stage actor Jake Gyllenhaal make his musical Broadway debut in the revival of Stephen Sondheim‘s SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE.
Tickets are expensive. The show was set for a short run, beginning previews at Broadway’s historic Hudson Theatre this past February 11, and officially opening February 23rd. But the excitement was high.
If you missed it, what follows is the next best thing. The actor turned to Facebook to share rehearsal footage from the production. Check out the videos below, created and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (“True Detective”).
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE ran for a strictly limited 10-week engagement. Directed by Sarna Lapine, the show closed this past Sunday, April 23rd.
Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal (in his Broadway musical debut) and Tony Award winner Annaleigh Ashford joined by Tony Award nominee Brooks Ashmanskas, Jenni Barber, Tony Award nominee Phillip Boykin, Mattea Marie Conforti, Erin Davie, Claybourne Elder, Tony Award nominee Penny Fuller, Jordan Gelber, Tony Award winner Robert Sean Leonard, Liz McCartney, Tony Award winner Ruthie Ann Miles, Ashley Park, Jennifer Sanchez, David Turner, Max Chernin, MaryAnn Hu, Tony Award nominee Michael McElroy, Jaime Rosenstein, Julie Foldesi, and Andrew Kober.
Although this next video looks similar to the one above, it actually features Gyllenhall singing a different Sondheim song.
Sondheim and Lapine’s masterpiece follows painter Georges Seurat (Jake Gyllenhaal) in the months leading up to the completion of his most famous painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
Consumed by his need to “finish the hat,” Seurat alienates the French bourgeoisie, spurns his fellow artists, and neglects his lover Dot (Annaleigh Ashford), not realizing that his actions will reverberate over the next 100 years.
