Jake Gyllenhaal has shared a Cary Joji Fukunaga-directed video in which he sings “Finishing the Hat,” one of the best-known songs from “Sunday in the Park With George,” the Broadway musical in which he’ll star this spring.
“This is what happens when Riva Marker (the badass president of NineStories) and I invite Cary Joji Fukunaga to rehearsals for our new Broadway musical. Check out this video we made! #SundayintheParkWithGeorge,” he wrote in the Facebook post accompanying the video. Marker is the president of Nine Stories, Gyllenhaal’s production company.
In addition to offering a glimpse of Gyllenhaal singing a signature tune with the backing of a full orchestra, the video also gives viewers a peek at the newly-renovated Hudson Theater, which will reopen as a Broadway venue when “Sunday in the Park” begins previews Feb. 11, with an opening night set for Feb. 23.
Gyllenhaal first played the lead role in “Sunday in the Park” in an Encores! concert staging of the Stephen Sondheim musical last year. A group of producers led by Ambassador Theater Group, the U.K.-based theater giant that owns the Hudson, subsequently picked up the staging for a commercial transfer to Broadway, where Tony winners Annaleigh Ashford and Robert Sean Leonard also are among the cast. Producers recently announced that they have opted to remove the entire production, including performances by cast members like Gyllenhaal, from contention for the Tony Awards, in a decision most likely motivated by financial considerations.
Gyllenhaal previously starred on Broadway in a 2015 run of the play “Constellations,” but “Sunday in the Park” will mark his first Broadway stint in a musical. Also in 2015, he appeared as Seymour in an Encores! concert version of “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Fukunaga (“True Detective,” “Beasts of No Nation”) is currently at work on TV projects, including “The Alienist” and “Maniac,” as well as a number of brewing film projects.
