Theatre Talk: Sunday in the Park with George

Elizabeth Youngman-Westphal

Special to The Village News

James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize with two Tony Awards for their play, “Sunday in the Park with George.” That same play is now making its West Coast debut at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido.

Lapine used neo-impressionist George Seurat's 1886 pointillist magnum opus, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" for his inspiration. Seurat’s painting technique, using tiny dots of paint to create this masterpiece, possibly explains why it took two years to finish. (It continues to hang in...