Graham Phillips and Talia Suskauer Star in Eamon Foley’s Production at the Axelrod PAC

Sunday in New Jersey with George! The Axelrod Performing Arts Center in collaboration with Grind Arts Company will present a bold new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Sunday in the Park With George. This production will be directed and choreographed by Broadway veteran Eamon Foley and starring TV and film star Graham Phillips and Broadway’s Talia Suskauer.

Music director Jacob Yates will conduct the 11-piece orchestra.

The Axelrod production is the first time a live staging of this concept will happen: six ballet dancers from the Axelrod Contemporary Ballet Theater (AXCBT) join the company to bring Foley’s vision to life. “With Sondheim’s most personal and soaring score, Sunday remains the sentimental favorite of every Sondheim fan and yet it is rarely revived, due to its auspicious demands. We are thrilled to be partnering with Grind Arts to mount Eamon’s brilliant conceptualization of this musical, and we are certain that audiences will be awe-struck with this staging that incorporates both movement and light.” says Axelrod’s Executive Artistic Director, Andrew DePrisco.

Foley is not just choreographing dancers; he’s also choreographing lights, working with Broadway lighting designer Paul Miller. His inspiration for the visuals of the show came while attending electronic music concerts: “I’d see the choreography of moving lights and how they interacted with the music, and it reminded me of how George was trying to paint with beams of light…The goal with the light, as with the dance, is to be able to see the score take shape before you, and feel George’s passion.”

In addition to Phillips and Suskauer as George and Dot, the company features Joy Hermalyn as the Old Lady, and Bernard Dotson. Also included in the cast are Kevin Arnold, Giuliana Augello, Anthony Cataldo, Katie Davis, Bernard Dotson, Bridget Gooley, James C. Harris, Isabel Lagana, Ella Mangano, Dylan Randazzo, and Allie Seibold. The AXCBT dancers include Giana Carroll, Alyssa Harris, Lindsay Jorgensen, Olivia Miranda, Sarah Takash and Gillian Worek.

The production team includes: associate director-choreographer Devin Richey, lighting designer Paul Miller, sound designer Ian Wehrle, projections designer Brad Peterson, scenic designer Ryan Howell, costume designer DW, puppet designer Eric Wright of Puppet Kitchen International, prop designer Susan Bloir and production stage manager Jason Brouillard.