Hubbard Hall Theater Company

Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George

By: Chris Buchanan - Jun 11, 2026

 

 

 

Hubbard Hall Theater Company presents Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Sunday in the Park with George, bringing together a talented company of professional actors, emerging artists, and community performers in a production that celebrates the collaborative spirit at the heart of both theater and artistic creation. 

This rarely performed production is inspired by Georges Seurat's iconic painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, and explores the tension between life, love, legacy, and the ongoing pursuit of artistic truth. Widely regarded as one of the greatest musicals ever written, the work follows Seurat as he struggles to complete his revolutionary masterpiece while balancing his artistic ambitions and personal relationships. A century later, the story shifts to his fictional descendant, George, an artist facing his own creative crisis and searching for inspiration in an increasingly disconnected world. 

Director Dianna Heldman, a Hubbard Hall Opera Theater veteran, brings an extraordinary artistic and educational background to the Hall. A mezzo-soprano who performed for more than three decades with major opera companies throughout the United States, Heldman made her New York debut at Weill Hall before joining the New York City Opera, where she performed principal roles and completed three national tours. Today, she serves as Associate Professor of Vocal Performance and Associate Director of Applied Voice at New York University, where she has spent decades mentoring and training the next generation of performers.  Richard Cherry, a longtime musical director at Hubbard Hall and staff accompanist at Skidmore College, will musically direct and lead the six-piece band for this full and yet intimate production. 

"Returning to Cambridge feels like coming home," says Heldman. "Years ago, while collaborating with talented young performers and this passionate community, I found deep fulfillment in stripping opera down to its pure, intimate storytelling roots. Watching the community embrace these artists and experience opera as a deeply engaging, accessible art form is a memory I’ve carried with me ever since. To return now with Sondheim's masterpiece, Sunday in the Park with George, we take a step further into crossroads of community and art both on and off the stage. We hope you will join us for an evening where you might ask yourself - does art imitate life or does life imitate art?"