passing the torch

Mandy Patinkin Reportedly ‘Burst Into Tears’ Watching Jake Gyllenhaal in Sunday in the Park With George

Jake Gyllenhaal. Photo: ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images

It’s never easy being the second, third, or fourth person to try your hand at an iconic Broadway role, no matter how effortlessly and beautifully filmed your singing might be. It is, however, okay to feel okay about your performance if your most famous predecessor signs off on it — and so it was for Jake Gyllenhaal tonight, according to “Page Six.†Apparently Mandy Patinkin, who made famous the role of painter Georges Seurat in the original production of the Sondheim musical, saw Gyllenhaal’s well-received take tonight and approved. And how, one may ask, does a master approve of a young apprentice in this case? Well, naturally, with a strong show of emotion: Patinkin reportedly came to see Gyllenhaal backstage after the show and “grabbed him into a tight embrace,†whereupon “both actors burst into tears.†Consider yourself blessed, Jake.

Mandy Patinkin is Emotional About Jake Gyllenhaal’s George