Thursday night, February 23, Sunday in the Park with George, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford, re-opened the historic Hudson Theatre with its first Broadway opening in almost 50 years. Directed by Sarna Lapine, the cast also includes Brooks Ashmanskas, Jenni Barber, Phillip Boykin, Penny Fuller, Robert Sean Leonard and Ruthie Ann Miles.

 

Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and James Lapine’s (book) masterpiece follows painter Georges Seurat (Gyllenhaal) in the months leading up to the completion of his most famous painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Consumed by his need to “finish the hat,” Seurat alienates the French bourgeoisie, spurns his fellow artists and neglects his lover Dot (Annaleigh Ashford) , not realizing that his actions will reverberate over the next 100 years. See Theater Pizzazz’s review of this production of Sunday in the Park with George here.

 

Theater Pizzazz’s JK Clarke was on hand to photograph the red carpet arrivals, curtain call and after party. Notable first nighters gracing the red carpet included Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Rosie O’Donnell, Gayle King, Rita Moreno, Bernadette Peters, Zoe Kazan, Paul Dano, Fran Drescher and Cary Joji Fukunaga.