James Lapine directed this television adaptation of his acclaimed musical, which he created in collaboration with the great composer
Stephen Sondheim. In the first act, artist Georges Seurat (
Mandy Patinkin) is working on his latest painting with the woman he loves, Dot (
Bernadette Peters), posing for him. The work is to become the impressionist masterpiece
Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grande Jatte, and along with Dot, Georges interacts with the various people who happen through the park and become characters in his painting. In act two, Seurat's great grandson George (also played by Patinkin) and his grandmother Marie (also played by Peters) return to the place where Seurat had created his masterpiece 100 years earlier. George, a sculptor, is in dire need of inspiration, and the visit leads both him and Marie to ponder their ideas of what is art, and what is life. This performance of Sunday in the Park with George also features
Charles Kimbrough, Barbara Byrne, and
Brent Spiner (the latter before he gained fame as Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide