Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...The respect Griffin now enjoys in the Sondheim arena means he can attract formidable talent to Chicago, especially for manageable engagements. This "Sunday" is beholden to a formidable performance from Carmen Cusack, whose superb work dominates. Some Dot/Maries manage the coquettish sexuality of Dot, who is bored a lot, but flounder when it comes to asserting the moral authority of Marie, the unstinting older woman in Act 2. Cusack has, remarkably, mastered both. It's a dazzling performance that gets better and better, but its zenith comes during the song "Children and Art" which I've never seen more movingly performed, and I include the otherwise excellent 2008 Broadway revival, which similarly used digitized environments, as does Griffin's show."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Even if “Sunday in the Park With George” were the only musical Stephen Sondheim had ever written, he could easily stroll across a grassy field, lie down beneath a great shade tree, and enjoy the human circus passing by, happily relaxed in the knowledge that he had created a work of art that would last as long as the practice of theater itself."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Order. Design. Tension. Balance. Harmony." Those are the words Georges Seurat uses to describe the vision in his head as he paints his pointillist masterpiece, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte—1884, during the first act of Sunday in the Park With George. They also describe the musical itself. There's a classical symmetry to this 1984 Pulitzer Prize winner by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, as if it was worked out according to a Broadway version of the Golden Ratio."
Centerstage - Highly Recommended
"... The Chicago Shakespeare production boasts gorgeous backdrops that bring the central painting and other works of art to life. A terrific cast brings the characters to life, led by Daniely and Cusack, who have wonderful chemistry."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Griffin’s new revival in CST’s larger Courtyard Theater, though, uses every paintbrush Sondheim and Lapine provided and then some. Jason Danieley’s Seurat is an artist at an intense remove from his world, blessed with new ways of seeing the light and colors around him but cripplingly unable to engage emotionally."
Chicago Theatre Addict - Highly Recommended
"...ChiShakes’ deeply satisfying production meets all these challenges with masterful perfection. It’s worth noting that Griffin’s work here isn’t revelatory — i.e., there are no overt staging gimmicks like in his 2002 effort which placed the action in a runway flanked by audience members. Aside from a few smartly chosen surprises, this Sunday follows the template created by Lapine in the original 1984 Broadway production (which can easily be revisited thanks to it being filmed and released commercially on DVD). However, two key things make this iteration so completely satisfying."
Chicago On the Aisle - Highly Recommended
"...The quintessential experience of autumn 2012 in Chicago, for visitors and locals alike, has got to be the pairing of a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago to see Georges Seurat's grand assemblage of dots - "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" — with a ticket to a live performance of the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical "Sunday in the Park with George" at Chicago Shakespeare, starring Carmen Cusack as a singular Dot."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
".. Creating costumes based on a painting is not easy work, but Mara Blumenfeld brings them to vivid life; the dappled lighting of Philip S. Rosenberg is its own triumphant work of art, and the sound design by Dan Mead and Ray Nardelli is (and I’m not kidding) the best balance of performer and musician and sound effects that I remember in the theater —it was as if I had headphones on. But what is remembered most is the spectacular projection design by Mike Tutaj: The back wall is used as a sketch pad, with images either in sharp focus or blurring like a water color caught in the rain; even leaves on the island’s trees shimmer and sway—you can almost feel a breeze on your face."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...Under Gary Griffin’s fine direction, the cast matches the brilliance of the inspiration. Danieley captures the obsessed artist while Cusack skillfully handles the transition from dismayed mistress to practical woman able to leave her lover to enjoy a more viable — if prosaic — future with a willing baker (Michael Aaron Lindner). The leads are matched by a supporting cast which takes on all the nuances of the portraits in the painting. Sean Fortunato as rival artist Jules; McKinley Carter as his wife, and Madison Olszewski as their young daughter are especially effective."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Unlike the painting that inspired it, Stephen Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park With George" is not a perfect masterwork. There is a slow and scaly section of Act 1 in which both plot and character development always comes to a standstill. But with a score that is anchored by two of the greatest musical theater numbers in history, the choral triumph "Sunday" and the stirring Act 2 duet "Move On," "Sunday In the Park With George" achieves a level of brilliance that few other works of art can do. And the new Chicago Shakespeare production will delight in every way."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Highly Recommended
"...Griffin makes art with this show. From the orchestra placement above the stage to revolving framed projections of art (Kevin Depinet-scenic, Mike Tutaj-projections) to the colorful and all-white costumes (Mara Blumenfeld), Griffin connects all the dots to make the big picture gawk-worthy. In the leads, Jason Danieley (George) and Carmen Cusack (Dot) have powerhouse passion individually and collectively. A charismatic Danieley plays it both cavalier and endearing. A spirited and determined Cusack inspires with her ability to belt out an emotional melody and shut down a relationship. Their duet “Move On” is unforgettably gorgeous. The entire ensemble is portrait perfect in this tribute to artistry."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Brilliant! This is probably the one word that could sum up the new production of “Sunday in the Park with George” now onstage at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier. Under the skillful eye of Director Gary Griffin ( whose name might be synonymous with Brilliance) this is by far the most sparking cast I have ever seen assembled to bring to life this wonderful musical that depicts the work by Georges Seurat, “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte”."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...This musical sparkles with color, comedy and compassion speaking to audiences through very recognizable images and situations. Sondheim reduces the nature of creativity to its basic elements finding parallels between art and ardor. Prolific CST director Gary Griffin, who’s become Chicago’s go-to director for Sondheim’s musicals, follows his last year’s triumph, “Follies” (and a previous production of this very musical) with an emotional interpretation of this often controversial piece. Like Sondheim’s fairy tale-based “Into the Woods,” audiences sometimes view the musical’s two acts as separate plays."
