Sunday in the Park With George

"There are worse things than Sunday in the windy city with George." This was what I put on my Facebook post in excitement from having seen Sauret's painting at the Art Institute of Chicago.

I was referring to a line in Stephen Sondheim's musical Sunday in the Park with George that I had seen at the Guthrie Theater this summer.

After I saw the painting I had to download and read the script. Since I love ekphrasis, which is literature inspired by art, this seemed very appropriate to do.

Reading the script I was reminiscing how much I loved the Guthrie production and how they interpreted that script.

The memory of the painting and the memory of the professional production was etched in the back of my mind as I read the script. I also found myself highlighting lines about the nature of the life as an artist that seemed poignant to me.

Though I do remember not initially liking the play when i saw a community theater production of it. The reason why I loved it at the Guthrie more is because what is excellent is its visual qualities. It takes the budget for an excellent choreographer and a lavish set for it to be pulled off well. Sondheim's music and lyrics only tell part of the story.

As a reader of the script I was relying on my memory of my positive experience s at the museum and at the Guthrie. But it was definitely worth reliving those experiences through reading the script.