Sunday in the Park with George, subtitled A New Musical and Original Cast Recording,The album's covers and labels. is an album containing a recording of the 1984 musical Sunday in the Park with George made by its original Broadway cast. The album was released on RCA's Red Seal Digital label in the same year.

Background The album was produced by Thomas Z. Shepard.

Critical reception

The High Fidelity reviewed the album back in 1984, writing: "Sunday in the Park with George is a state-of-the-art musical, and here is a state-of-the-art recording of it. Don't be put off by the word 'musical': This is not a collection of vapid Jerry Herman show, brassily performed and harshly recorded. Rather Sunday in the Park with George is musical theater at its finest, a sensitive, witty play by James Lapine that is deepened and expanded by the words and music of Stephen Sondheim."

The Films in Review magazine called Sunday in the Park with George "one of the most unique experiences in modern theatre music".

Saturday Review reviewed the album as well, calling Sondheim "as accomplished a composer as anyone on the classical side of the tracks."

In a contemporary review for AllMusic, Bruce Eder wrote: "Clearly we're not talking about Gypsy or A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum here, in terms of entertainment [...], but Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters turn in brilliant performances together on "Color and Light," "We Do Not Belong Together," "Move On," "Children and Art"; the entire ensemble excels in "Sunday," and his work on "Finishing the Hat" is worth the price of the CD by itself. The sound is clean, although the quiet passages could have been mastered at a slightly higher volume level."

Chart performance The album reached number 149 on Billboards Top 200 Albums chart.

Track listing LP – RCA Victor 5042 (Red Seal Digital HBC1-5042)

Charts Chart (1984) Peakposition US Billboard Top 200 Albums 149 US Billboard Top Classical Albums 5

Awards Year Award type Categories Results 1985 Grammy Awards Best Cast Show Album

References