Sunday in the Park with George to play at Studio 54

Roundabout Theatre Company is to present The Menier Chocolate Factory�s Olivier Award winning production of Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine�s Pulitzer Prize winning musical Sunday in the Park with George.

Directed by Sam Buntrock, the musical will be co-produced by Boyett Ostar and David Babani. Babani is the artistic director of The Menier Chocolate Factory.

Sunday in the Park with George will begin previews on 18 Jan 2008 and open 0n 14 Feb 2008 at Studio 54. This will be a limited engagement.

The design team and cast members will be announced shortly.

Directed by Sam Buntrock, the production originally opened at the Menier Chocolate Factory on the 29 Nov 2005 and extended its sold-out limited run before playing its final performance on 12 Mar 2006.

Due to its success at the box office, and critical acclaim, the musical transferred to London's West End, playing at the Wydham Theatre from 13 May - 2 Sep 2006.

The original London cast was headed by Daniel Evans (George) and Anna Jane Casey (Dot) at the Menier Chocolate Factory, when the show transferred to London's West End, Jenna Russell took over the role of Dot.

The London production of Sunday in the Park with George swept the board at the 2007 Laurence Olivier Awards, which were announced on Sunday 18 Feb 2007. The musical won five awards: Outstanding musical production; best musical actor (Daniel Evans) and actress (Jenna Russell); and best lighting & set design.

The Georges Seurat painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jette, is the inspiration for this musical fantasy which celebrates the art of creation and the creation of art.

The first half of Sunday in the Park with George, set in 1884, sees the painting and its rich comic tapestry come to life in a world where, for Georges, art comes before love, before everything. In the second half, set in 1980s New York, we see the great grandson of Georges and his search for inspiration amongst the unfolding world of contemporary art.

Roundabout has a long relationship with Stephen Sondheim having produced four Tony Award nominated Sondheim revivals including Company (1995), Follies (2001), Tony Award winning Assassins (2004) and Pacific Overtures (2004).

This production of Sunday in the Park with George marks the third Sondheim musical produced by Roundabout Theatre Company at Studio 54, where Assassins and Pacific Overtures both played in 2004.

Sunday in the Park with George premiered at the Booth Theatre on Broadway in 1984 starring Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters, directed by James Lapine. The Tony nominated production won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (one of only six musicals in history).