A new "Sunday"

(Above: Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell in the imported revival of Sunday in the Park with George; Bernadette Peters as Dot in the original production.)

I wanted to love the new revival of Sunday in the Park with George. After all, the friend who took me the first time years ago thought paramedics were going to have to be summoned at intermission --- I was practicaly hyperventilating. When all the suffering and sacrifice and wasted love comes together into a thing of permanent beauty... it pushes every button on my console.

So the somewhat disappointing revival now at Studio 54, via London, let me down as often as it delighted. I had heard it was a marvelous, inspired rethinking. Much of it, though, simply struck me as something of a budget tour production. Daniel Evans is excellent as George, Jenna Russell less so as his muse, Dot. It's tough going up against the memory of Bernadette Peters. Ms. Russell is talented, compentent, creative in choices, just lacking the zap that makes a star turn a star turn. Also uneven are the design's much-publicized projections. Sometimes they are glorious, sometimes just cheesy.

There are moments, though, when I shivered with thrill, none moreso than the very final moment --- a new one --- breathtakingly put over by Mr. Evans. I won't tell. But it is gorgeous.