Jenna Russell & Daniel Evans in Sunday
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Sunday in the Park Finishes West End Run, 2 Sep

The Menier Chocolate Factory’s award-winning revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George will finish its West End season at Wyndham’s Theatre on 2 September 2006, at the end of its current booking period, and ahead of a possible Broadway transfer.

Sam Buntrock’s revival - the first major London production since the National staged the musical’s UK premiere in 1990 – stars Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell. After an extended sell-out run, from 29 November 2005 (previews from 18 November) to 12 March 2006, at the 150-seat Menier in Southwark, the musical opened at Wyndham’s on 23 May 2006 (previews from 13 May), where it was initially booking to 22 July. Last month, it added the six weeks to September to its limited schedule (See News, 8 Jun 2006).

Exploring the creative process of French impressionist George Seurat (Evans), the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1984 musical begins in 19th-century France, where the impoverished painter battles with his art and his personal life. His engrossment in his work drives his pregnant girlfriend Dot (Russell) to leave him. The action then shifts to modern America where George’s great-grandson is facing similar problems.

Sunday in the Park with George has music by and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by James Lapine. The set design by David Farley and Timothy Bird features ground-breaking, computer-generated animations, which won the pair this year’s Critics’ Circle Award for Best Designer (See News, 31 Jan 2006). The revival also won Best Off-West End Production in this year’s Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers’ Choice Awards (See News, 31 Jan 2006).

No further productions have yet been officially announced for Wyndham’s, although Thea Sharrock’s revival of John Mortimer’s autobiographical play Voyage Round My Father, starring Derek Jacobi, is expected to transfer from the Donmar Warehouse, subject to final confirmation. (See News, 5 May 2006).

- by Caroline Ansdell

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