George Seurat's work honored by IU Theater show

There’s a saying that art imitates life, and in “Sunday at the Park with George,” art imitated the life of famed artist Georges Seurat and influenced the lives of his family members for generations to come.

IU Theatre’s production of “Sunday at the Park with George” kicked off Friday night at the Ruth N. Halls Theatre. The musical will be the theater’s last production of the 2012-13 season.

“Sunday at the Park with George” tells the story of Seurat as he works on his most notable painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.”

Seurat interacts with many unconventional characters while working on his painting, most importantly rival artist Jules and on-again-off-again lover, Dot. The first act shows how Seurat’s encounters with these people influence his painting.

Act II fast-forwards to present day and focuses on Seurat’s great-grandson, an up-and-coming artist who uses modern technology to pay homage to Seurat’s painting. Seurat’s great-grandson, also named George, struggles to find balance between work and a personal life, similar to the struggles Seurat faced.

The musical featured many comedic songs that received a warm reception from the audience. In “The Day Off,” Seurat, played by senior Colin Schreier, imitates the dogs he’s sketching and acts out a hypothetical conversation the two could be having, which earned lots of laughter from the weekend audience.

The musical balanced out the humor with more dramatic numbers. Seurat and Dot talked about their dissolved love in “We Do Not Belong Together,” and a vision of Dot visits George, telling him to not worry about his critics in “Move On.”

Freshman cast member Cameron Mullin said he felt opening night went very well, due in part to all the cast members putting forth their best effort throughout rehearsals and in the live show.

“I believe the cast was overjoyed because we have been working so hard to put this show together,” Mullin said. “We were all so excited coming in for our opening night because we were just ready to share our story to the audience.”

Masters student and cast member Preston Orr said there were many moments in the show that received unexpected reactions from the audience, which made the performance feel even better.

“My favorite moments were the little unexpected things that happened,” Orr said. “Unexpected laughs from the audience, moments of spontaneous applause, a connection with a fellow cast member that feels especially real. It validates the work we’ve done so far and motivates us to keep exploring in the future.”

“Sunday at the Park with George” will run at 7:30 p.m April 16 through the 19 and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. April 20. Tickets can be purchased through the IU Theatre website, theatre.indiana.edu.

Mullin said he hopes the energy put forth by the cast and reciprocated by the audience on opening night will continue throughout the rest of the show’s run.

“I felt great about the opening night of our show,” he said. “My hopes for the show are that we continue to grow as an ensemble and tell a beautiful story to as many people as we can.”