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Bernadette Peters: "Sunday in the Park With George"

 Some people wring their hands about the large number of fictional sex workers who have lent their stories to Oscar-winning performances. Characters played by Emma Stone, Anne Hathaway, Mikey Madison, Jane Fonda, Charlize Theron, and so on. I have no doubt that there is something prurient at work here. 


But also....It's just interesting to follow a character who exists on the margins, whose life is unsettled. It's easier to spin a story from this than from the life of a character who is established, who has made many major choices, who has secured some form of comfort and stability. To me, this seems like stating the obvious.

Stephen Sondheim's Dot is not a sex worker, but she is a marginal figure:

Well, if you want bread
And respect and attention--
Not to say connection--
Modeling's no profession...

Dot is smart, and yet she doesn't know how to read. She is almost literally muzzled by her employer, who is also her lover. Her sole source of revenge is her own wittiness.

Not even a nod--
As if I were trees.
The ground could open...
He would still say, "Please..."
Never know with you, George.
Who could know with you?
The others I knew, George.
Before we get through--
I'll get to you, too--
God, I am so hot.

Dot's first soliloquy ends in a memorable way. George is tired of Dot's disobedience. "Don't move the mouth," he shouts. And Dot--having landed on her final note--tries to comply. Then, she thinks, fuck it. And her face opens up; she makes a full-throated sound. With this subtle choice, Sondheim is showing us that the next two hours will be rocky (at the least).

"Old Friends"--the newest Bernadette Peters vehicle--promises (through ads) that *something* from "Sunday" will make its way into the program. I suspect it's the big choral number. It would be fun to hear from Dot, as well. We'll have to see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbqpVU6bo7A&list=PL5NYp-LSd3jibcPv0yt_9NZCG46urshir
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