Sunday in the Park with George, 1984 Tony Awards

[@jenniferschillig3768]

The line that chokes me up is "on an ordinary Sunday." Because it's true. This WAS an ordinary Sunday. And this man made it extraordinary. That's the gift the artist gives the world.

[@singabob1]

What a genius. Even after 91 years, Sondheim left us too soon.

[@gottasing7]

Exceptional. Sublime. There are no proper words. Just a gargantuan loss for us all. But, thank goodness we will have his music forever.

[@colleen3107]

I totally agree. We are beginning to lose people whose music has shaped our musical landscape for decades.

[@Kristine_202]

I've always thought that this was one of the most beautiful songs ever written. It still gives me chills.

[@patrick_dy3r]

"These people don't know they're going to be immortal, and so I'm going to write a song about that. They're going to be singing about themselves, and they're going to be acknowledging that they're immortal. And it all leads to the word 'forever' which is, when I wrote that word, I cried because I thought, 'That's what it's about.' ... Then I could see that they would all be singing that one idea: here we are in a park and we're going to be here forever." -Stephen Sondheim, Six by Sondheim (HBO)

[@tallactordude]

Quite possibly the most beautiful song in all of Sondheim, in the middle of a masterpiece. Breathtaking.

[@jacobfoster6003]

This song is brilliant. Also, it always stuck in my head for days after I listen to it.

[@gottasing7]

Sublime. On an Ordinary Sunday. I cannot comprehend that we have lost him.

[@ericbrown1750]

No quite possibly about it. It is.

[@Jesterswords]

This and Someone in a Tree. Gorgeous.

[@colleen3107]

This video is 38 years old, how many others are here after the incredibly gifted Stephen Sondheim passed away? A nod to Bernadette and Mandy for bringing this to life.

[@mister_vegas]

So many great moments (the parasol, etc.) but for me, it's the reappearance of the tree at 2:52 and his mother's joy. In the show's opening scene, George says, "I hate this tree," erases it from his sketch pad and the tree disappears. Moments later, his mother enters and says to her nurse, "Where is our tree, the tree we always sit near?" In this climactic song, George gives his mother back her favorite tree so she can sit in its shade "forever." Gets me every time.

[@deannanewman7965]

I've seen this show so many times and never even noticed that part! Now I'm sobbing 😭😭💕 I love this show. So much love was put into this production.

[@eyerisdee]

me too. i can’t watch it without weeping.

[@bnorem09]

I can’t count how many different productions, bootlegs, and clips on KZbin I’ve seen of this show. Hell, I even named my first dog Seurat. And yet I’ve never caught this detail. Thank you!

[@AKoooooooo]

wowza, hits very differently now. thanks for pointing that out 💗

[@chimayai]

that song just paralyzes me, no matter how often I hear it or how often I perform it. Wow.

[@smallworld1624]

Agreed. It's my favorite Sondheim show and song. It has eternity in it. Never fails in performance to make me weep.

[@Ayden_B]

I couldn’t have put it any better. I think this song is unequivocally the best song Sondheim has ever written

[@anaisbarrosodgh5790]

Sazp

[@anaisbarrosodgh5790]

Azamadh

[@kahlilnelson]

I’m not crying in a Starbucks, you are.

[@howardshulman6147]

There are giants in the sky. RIP to the magnificent Stephen Sondheim.

[@susanfennimore3152]

Absolutely

[@FloraWest]

It's impossible to watch this now and know it didn't win the Tony this night. It's so sublime and transcendent and everything art can be.

[@kathleenscullion8348]

The piece transcends awards,if you understand it. I worked on it in producer's office. Stood back of house countless times and it changed my life. Sent me out of business side and to my dream of being a creative person. Mandy finished my hat.

[@scorpioninpink]

It was between this and La Cage Aux Folles. Both tremendous musical if you ask me but La Cage Auz Folles is a landmark musical of its time.

[@FloraWest]

@@kathleenscullion8348 I do understand it and of course awards aren't what defines great art--numerous examples through award history. I'm afraid I still get a bit frustrated when greatness isn't acknowledged, even knowing the politics, the "he just got it last year", etc. I can be a bit petty and still understand art.

[@FloraWest]

@@scorpioninpink I think it has more about him winning the year before. No shade to La Cage.

[@FloraWest]

@@scorpioninpink Perhaps. I do feel like Sunday in the Park is an atypical musical in many ways and maybe that made it less "of the moment" than La Cage was.

[@andrewstivelman]

Here I am sitting almost 40 years later and watching this over and over, and crying each time. I wonder if we'll ever be able to have these types of productions after the pandemic. Gives me the chills.

[@gottasing7]

How unfathomable it is that we have lost him. But, he will live on in his music forever. He was just sublime in every possible way.

[@linhiril664]

It never ages. It is immortal. I ADORE this musical and have loved Mandy ever since i saw it. This is what it is like to love someone who is in love with beauty.

[@watercolornyc]

Just watched the wonderful doc "Six by Sondheim" on streaming...it ends with this magnificent song, which had me sobbing over his death and the beauty he left for us all. The power of this music! It has only increased since I was lucky enough to see the original cast perform it. We miss you, Steve.

[@dougcargill6730]

The most mesmerizing four minutes in theater. They are burned in my memory from Sunday, December 23, 1984 (the day I saw it at the Booth).

[@stanleyshelmire]

I was so blessed to live in NYC for 35 years and saw almost every musical with the original cast....Evita, Dream Girls, Nine, Ragtime, The Wiz, etc and never missed a Stephen Sondheim show. But when I saw Sunday in the Park with George I was blown away. The chemistry between Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin was brlliant as was the show. I saw the show 7 times and each time was magical! Thank you so much Mr. Sondheim for sharing your genius with us! R.I.P.

[@AndrewRudin]

God... this is so beautiful in every way. It always brings me to tears.

[@WillScarlet16]

How perfect that Sondheim's 90th birthday falls on a Sunday!

[@kmetzz1]

NOTHING will ever surpass the beauty of this piece or the talents who brought it to life. NO one will ever be as wonderful as Mandy.

[@BrendanClifford]

brings me to tears every time. just breathtaking. and the underlying emotion of it, if you've seen act 1...

[@andrewstivelman]

Me too.

[@2011littleguy]

This is the DEFINITIVE VERSION for me.

[@guyaonline6385]

“I’ll take musicals that should have won best musicals for $1000 dollars Alex”

[@richardmayora5310]

Giving it to La Cage was downright criminal. And to not award Patinkin was insane. This show was great art.

[@JoanBette]

But it did win the Pulitzer, which is much more distinguished.

[@beaellie9766]

@@richardmayora5310 Actually, having seen both, I would have given it to George Hearn as well. But "SITPWG" should have gotten score and probably Best Musical. It was years.... DECADES ... ahead of its time.

[@Nickabod79]

@@richardmayora5310 This masterpiece losing to La Cage says everything Sondheim was trying to say about art, especially in the second act. Oh the irony. He was a genius. The camera cutting to him at 4:55 damn near broke me. You can just see it all in his eyes.

[@buckjohnson3748]

@@Nickabod79 i disagree. while i think Sunday In The Park is way better than La Cage, Sondheim's message of originality and passion is present in La Cage. La Cage was one of the first shows to openly put forward gay charachters, a masterful choice still impactful today.

[@kellydepaz525]

It made me so happy so see this musical (and this scene in particular) commemorated in Tick, Tick, Boom! This was the also the perfect song to honor Stephen Sondheim with today. Thank you Mr. Sondheim for leaving us with so many meaningful works ❤️

[@katrinadefelice6388]

How I love this performance. Mandy Pitinkin has the warmest sexiest voice ever and Bernadette Peter's voice is pristine - thats the only word I can think of.

[@Budcat101]

brilliant theatre I´ve seen this out of breath watching again

[@Muttonchop57]

The two times I was most blown away in the theater (as well as the rest of the audience) was this and Diana Rigg as Media.

[@mzmiller52]

You mustn’t have seen Zoe Caldwell in Medea. Patinkin is always intense. Evita, in previews, was his show, though I heard lupone got better later on.

[@kittkat42]

I remember watching this with my parents and thinking it was so beautiful. It still touches me deeply. Sondheim was brilliant.

[@jimsonnenberg1221]

Transcendent. Still moves me to tears. You can hear the pointillism in the music. And that chord right after the word “park.” Chills. Highly conceived, everything abt this production, especially the inventiveness of the stage imagined as the canvas of the painting itself, makes this one of my very fav Sondheim works.

[@rubyangel9707]

Mr. Sondheim, you took a masterpiece, and brought it to life in front of us. in doing so, you made your own masterpiece. we sing our sundays and hope you can hear them all the way up there. we'll miss your songs and your magic.

[@muffinamy83]

I've never seen this Tony performance "Sunday" before! It's so lovely and subtly different in a bunch of ways from the original cast version of the show I've seen literally hundreds of times. Gorgeous.

[@tomshea8382]

This is the original cast. The PBS broadcast was filmed later in the run when some cast had changed.

[@muffinamy83]

@@tomshea8382 It's not, though. Bernadette Peters was the original witch, Rashad replaced her by this point.

[@tommytimp]

Don't forget Dean Jones left Company after only about a month and Larry Kert stepped in.

[@TheSunPost]

@@muffinamy83 You've got the wrong show. You're thinking of Into the Woods. There's no witch in Sunday in the Park.

[@muffinamy83]

@@TheSunPost HAHAHA, you are correct. I was commenting on two separate show threads and mixed them up. On that thread someone was insisting Phylicia Rasha was the original witch. My bad.

[@Madmen604]

This is a beautiful beautiful performance . Manny has the perfect voice e

[@mediamamachick]

God bless you Stephen Sondheim. What a wonderful musical treasure you were. You will not be missed because through your music you will forever live on.

[@barbararey-constantin5679]

I know this song by heart and I literally still got chills watching this, so beautiful.

[@michaelnugent890]

Thank you for everything, Stephen. RIP

[@Mrjaffy]

Just one more AMAZING piece by Mr Sondheim. You will live on forever, through your music

[@juliaforest9225]

I think la cage aux folles is a good show, but it’s nowhere near Sunday in the park with George. This show is a masterpiece and it’s a shame that it was robbed at the Tony awards.

[@scorpioninpink]

It didn't wom because it is a Sondheim creation. Prior to this, Sondheim has won a lot of awards already and La Cage was pretty grounbreaking at the time. If you ask me though, La Cage aux Faux and Sunday in the Park with George should both have won with a tie.

[@juliaforest9225]

@@scorpioninpink yes totally!! Both shows are great!! La Cage Aux Folles definitely broke boundaries and Sunday in the park is just so smart!! A tie would have been splendid between the two shows!!

[@shrimpymacdougall3134]

Thank you Sondheim

[@Emily-tx3jw]

crying

[@andrewstivelman]

Sobbing.

[@trex1563]

God. Given. Genius.

[@fabianafab598]

Sondheim applauding 😍

[@nancygaston4095]

Just came from the film so this , and the Company Broadway's Times Square Tribute : I have so many goose bumps but can't get enough .

[@davidvantosky3623]

This song makes me sob, but it's a cathartic cry!🥲 Thank you Mr. Sondheim for all your glorious inspiring artistry! ORCHESTRA, PLAY ON!🎶🎹

[@f33rcetv34]

such a magical song/scene

[@martinfreeman6491]

5th row. was over the top for this. loved La Cage but Sunday was like YES

[@jondavwal13]

I didn't love the second act of SITPWG. I saw the original cast. It felt thrown together and extraneous. But giving La Cage best musical was ridiculous. Compare this beauty to the nonsense of I am what I am. Blech.

[@kevinmcguire5696]

Such a beautiful piece of musical theatre. Glad I saw the original production. PS - Can you point out Commander Data?

[@becky20513]

Brown suit, top hat and red bow tie

[@jandreidrn]

4:51 you could see Jerry Herman clearly clapping enthusiastically.

[@cindykalionzes4259]

Wow so many cast in common with Into The Woods. I see Red, Jack’s Mom, and of course, the Witch.

[@lilyevans6046]

There's Prince Charming as well, playing the soldier!

[@scryspjce]

im a crying mess 😭

[@gottasing7]

Even moreso now that we have lost him.

[@jenniferlapidus8635]

Chills!

[@Doc893]

finding out because of this that the Tick Tick Boom song sunday was a riff on this song. Incredible!

[@chrismorgan9154]

So wonderful!

[@paullukasiak4844]

can someone explain why this is so affecting? I, like so many others, find myself with tears in my eyes every time I see it -- yet I can't understand why.

[@beaellie9766]

So much from nothing. The creative process. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Immortality. -- So many reasons to be found for the emotions it brings up. Seeing it live in the theatre in the 80s, I remember gasping when they struck the final pose and had no idea why.

[@GriffGriffith]

@@beaellie9766 Yes! That happened when I saw it as well. The entire audience gasped! Then that horn 6th interval, and then shocked stunned silence before the applause. We were all in tears during the interval.

[@FloraWest]

I know I have old and very good associations with it but I'm also wondering about the physics of the sounds and how that is affecting me as I listen. Wish I knew more about music or acoustics....

[@kevinkell7151]

Cannot watch this without sobbing.

[@BrianaMurray]

This show is a masterpiece! James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim were robbed at the tony awards that year! Everything about this work of art is sublime!

[@scotchguru]

My chills have chills!!!!

[@rongross309]

Absolutely Stunning! Brilliant.

[@The22on]

If this doesn't move you, you're a philistine!

[@tejaswoman]

Etched in my memory as the first Tony performance I know for a fact I watched. Been an avid viewer of the townies ever since, only skipped the year _Six_ had six phenomenal stars and not a goddamn one of them was nominated.

[@okgoodness1709]

Remember, George. [GEORGE, spoken] Order Design Tension Balance Harmony [COMPANY] Sunday, by the blue, purple, yellow, red water On the green, purple, yellow, red grass Let us pass Through our perfect park Pausing on a Sunday By the cool, blue, triangular water On the soft, green, elliptical grass As we pass through arrangements of shadows Towards the verticals of trees, forever By the blue, purple, yellow, red water On the green, orange, violet mass Of the grass In our perfect park [GEORGE] Made of flecks of light And dark And parasols Bum, bum, bum Bum, bum, bum Bum, bum, bum [COMPANY] People strolling through the trees Of a small suburban park On an island in the river On an ordinary Sunday Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

[@The22on]

Yet another masterpiece that makes me think the human race might be worth saving. I have a very low opinion of our species (myself included) and feel that little would be lost if something happened to make us go extinct (war, plague, AI, famine, ozone depletion, asteroid, etc.). As science has shown, we're a young species living on a 'pale blue dot' in the cosmos. We're probably one of billions of civilizations, many of which have evolved, and then perished, leaving no trace. If another asteroid like the one that killed all the dinosaurs hit us, it might end humans. In the cosmic stage, who would care? No one. No one at all. So what does it matter if our species vanishes? I usually say it doesn't matter in the least. But when I see a performance like this, I temporarily lose my cynicism and see that we are capable of short moments of beauty. Georges Seurat lived a hard and short life and created a lasting work of beauty. And Stephen Sondheim took George's artwork and turned it into a thing of musical beauty. It's almost enough to make me feel we have something to offer the universe. If only we could jettison our reptile brain instincts for war and dominance we may one day earn the right to join other advanced civilizations.

[@Hollyrock712]

Instant tears

[@susanfennimore3152]

Absolutely beyond genius

[@mariem24601]

That is the original Little Red Riding Hood from Into the Woods that he snatches the glasses off at the end!

[@mountinmike]

And, if you didn't catch it, she was also the product focus group woman on left in Netflix "Tick, tick..."

[@michaelmiller1215]

BRAVO

[@Gnostic72]

They gave the Best Musical to LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, as a “more practical business choice” of what would bring audiences to NYC in the 80’s when Broadway was said to be dying. It was not an “artistic choice”. It was what would be more commercial and make more money. I just wish they broke the rules and gave the Best Musical Tony to both.

[@nutbutter1410]

Rest easy

[@rachelwhitman21]

EXCUSE ME?! SINCE WHEN CAN INIGO MONTOYA/JASON GIDEON SING?!

[@InvalidFingerprint]

Hahahahaha Gideon started on the stage!!

[@jacobfoster6003]

You should look up the original production of The Secret Garden. He has a beautiful and haunting duet.

[@rachelwhitman21]

@@jacobfoster6003 Stage musical or movie?

[@jacobfoster6003]

@@rachelwhitman21 Broadway production...the whole show is a beautiful adaptation of the book...if you know Marsha Norman's work, she penned the book for the musical.

[@rachelwhitman21]

@@jacobfoster6003 I will have to look into that. I remember reading the book in grade school. The movie the teacher showed us later was a little weird (in my mind), but I liked it.

[@Mxyzptlksac]

With Brent Spiner aka Lt Com Data on Star Trek The Next Generation as Franz

[@chocolatesouljah]

Does anyone know if Paul Gemignani did the vocal arrangments?

[@TexasPhoneMan]

Doubtful. Paul Gemignani had his hands full with finding an orchestra who did not think the music too difficult. Plus nothing in the original program for "vocal arrangements by" so one must assume that Stephen Sondheim did most of the arrangements himself.

[@chass1771]

Sondheim writes all the vocal parts. Michael Starobin did the orchestral arrangements.

[@TheKingOfAmazement]

That's actually not quite true! 'Sunday' was originally only in unison, so Gemignani added harmonies in rehearsals, and showed it to Sondheim, who is famous for being incredibly collaborative. Gemignani even came up with the descending line on "verticals of trees". This video (and entire series) is incredibly insightful - kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2aVkJWHZbhllaM

[@AdventuresAwait123]

Should have won. But that we're here watching it makes me think it does win. ❤

[@briandoolittlegonzalez]

was this on the stage that the tony's was on? how would they have set up the scenery so fast? it must've been recorded on their own stage right???

[@Janen74]

Prerecorded, yes. I didn't get that at the time (I Washington 10!), but for fun, compare it to the 1986 PBS recording!

[@jamesa.fitzpatrick1566]

Data!

[@FabinhoFlapp]

❤💫🙏🏻💫

[@fairamir1]

I have never understood the purpose of the cardboard cut outs....

[@nickj7335]

Are you aware of the painting that this musical is based on?

[@fairamir1]

@@nickj7335 Of course.... I was just wondering why for example there were 2 soldiers one an actor and one a cut out...why did the musical creators do this...

[@FELIXB3]

@@fairamir1 there are 2 soldiers in the painting they couldn't have a live person for everyone so they made one soldier a cutout

[@Frenchmisto]

The whole show is genius. Sondheim gave musicals class and relevance.

[@MsPea]

Great to see Sondheim in his prime.

[@aziragoramo]

I had no idea Mandy Patinkin could sing....jeez

[@jasonemanuel8169]

Lyrics don't make any sense: "triangular water", "elliptical grass". Could someone explain what these metaphors mean?

[@jandreidrn]

Google the painting that inspired this musical.

[@TheSunPost]

Watch the show some time.

[@BigDaddyDracula]

a true crime that it lost

[@chrudolf]

Mon Dieu! Quelle purge!

[@DansChan995]

If you liked this, go watch the Tick Tick Boom tribute "Sunday": kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpvZaamEeMuXi6M

[@KenDanieli]

If you liked this, don't go there.

[@markmywords2840]

My God, Mandy Patinkin's voice is excruciating to listen to. I'm convinced it qualifies as a form of cruel and unusual punishment under the rules of the Geneva Convention.

[@tonybythesea1]

:

[@lattetown]

TBH, this is not my favorite Sondheim piece. It's a schmaltzy and pretentious ode to a control-freak, that borrowed its "living paintings" staging from the old fashioned 19th Century Tableaux vivant diorama performances. Being Alive from Company is a much better lyric and song, in my opinion.

[@ms.gabrieladelcarmenprecia6425]

Don’t kill me…I like John Larson-Andrew Garfirld’s version more….but also I heard it there first.

[@ms.gabrieladelcarmenprecia6425]

@@jandreidrn I know. But I still like Larson-Garlfield’s version better. It doesn’t matter who is singing it. It is the beat.

[@ms.gabrieladelcarmenprecia6425]

@@jandreidrn I think I am not making myself understood. It is not who sang it, or if they received awards for it. I just like the sound from Larson-Garfield better. The song is faster.

[@ms.gabrieladelcarmenprecia6425]

@@jandreidrn ok, so I don’t see the relation to my comment and to what you are saying.

[@bman342a]

Not a very hum hum hummable melody

[@beaellie9766]

Nope. And that's the beauty of it. Listen to Jerry Herman accept his Tony that year in a snipe at "Sunday" and Sondheim ("....rumor around Bwy for a couple of years that the simple, hummable showtune was no longer welcome on Bwy...well, it's alive and well at the Palace..."). It was an insultory comment and created quite a rift at the time.

[@TheSunPost]

I disagree. I can hum it, no problem.

[@beaellie9766]

@@TheSunPost Most theater goers, after seeing one viewing, could not hum it.

[@bman342a]

@@TheSunPost okay, then just leave your name with the girl.

[@jandreidrn]

@@beaellie9766 Shortly after the Tonys that year, Sondheim attended a Q&A in Houston. An audience member asked if he thought Herman's acceptance speech was directed at him. Sondheim's response "You should be embarrassed for asking that question."

[@avolite719]

FART.

[@jayvigdior6844]

I disliked it when I first saw it. Pretentious unmusical nonesense.