A Little Night Music
Encyclopedia
A Little Night Music is a musical
with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
and book by Hugh Wheeler
. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman
film Smiles of a Summer Night
, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart
's Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major
, Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The musical includes the popular song "Send in the Clowns
".
Since its original 1973 Broadway
production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End
, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor
, Len Cariou
, Lesley-Anne Down
and Diana Rigg
starring.
throughout the show – enter, tuning up. Gradually, their vocalizing becomes an overture blending fragments of "Remember," "Soon," and "The Glamorous Life," leading into the first "Night Waltz". The other characters enter waltz
ing, each uncomfortable with their particular partner. After they drift back off, the aging and severe Madame Armfeldt and her solemn granddaughter, Fredrika, enter. Madame Armfeldt tells the child that the summer night "smiles" three times: first on the young, second on fools, and third on the old. Fredrika vows to watch the smiles occur. Middle aged Fredrik Egerman is a successful lawyer. He has recently married an 18-year-old trophy wife
, Anne, a vain girl who is in love with Fredrik, but too immature to grasp the concept of marriage. The two have been married for eleven months, but Anne still protects her virginity
. Fredrik laments his inability to make love
to his wife ("Now"). Meanwhile, his son Henrik, a year older than his stepmother, is feeling extremely frustrated. He is a seminary
student and everyone is always teasing him, never taking him seriously or letting him talk ("Later"). Anne is intrigued by him, but fails to understand his real meaning. Anne promises her husband that she will consent to have sex shortly ("Soon"). Anne's maidservant Petra, an experienced and forthright girl, slightly older than the teen herself, offers her worldly but crass advice.
Desiree Armfeldt is a prominent and glamorous actress who is now reduced to touring in small towns. Madame Armfeldt, Desiree's mother, has taken over the care of Desiree's daughter Fredrika. Fredrika misses her mother, but Desiree continually puts off going to see her, preferring, somewhat ironically, "The Glamorous Life". She is performing near Fredrik's home, and he brings Anne to see the play. While there, Desiree notices Fredrik; the two were lovers years before. Anne, suspicious and annoyed because of Desiree's amorous glances, demands that Fredrik bring her home immediately. Meanwhile, Petra has been trying to seduce Henrik.
That night, as Fredrik remembers his past with Desiree, he sneaks out to see her; the two share a happy but strained reunion, as they "Remember". They reflect on their new lives, and Fredrik tries to explain how much he loves Anne ("You Must Meet My Wife"). Desiree responds sarcastically, boasting of her own adultery, as she has been seeing the married dragoon
, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm. Upon learning that Fredrik has gone for eleven months without sex, she agrees to accommodate him as a favor for an old friend.
Madame Armfeldt offers advice to young Fredrika. The elderly woman reflects poignantly on her own checkered past, and wonders what happened to her refined "Liaisons". Back in Desiree's apartment, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm proclaims his unannounced arrival in his typical booming voice. Fredrik and Desiree fool the gullible Count into believing that their disheveled appearance was entirely innocent, but he is still suspicious. He instantly dislikes Fredrik and returns to his wife, Countess Charlotte. Charlotte is quite aware of her husband's infidelity, but Carl-Magnus is too absorbed in his suspicions of Desiree to talk to her ("In Praise of Women"). When she persuades him to blurt out the whole story, a twist is revealed—Charlotte's little sister is a school friend of Anne's.
Charlotte visits Anne, who is talking with Petra. Charlotte describes Fredrik's meeting with Desiree; Anne reacts with shock and horror. The older woman explains to Anne that such is the lot of a wife, and that marriage brings pain ("Every Day A Little Death"). Meanwhile, Desiree asks Madame Armfeldt to host a party for Fredrik, Anne, and Henrik. Though reluctant, Madame Armfeldt agrees. She sends out a personal invitation; its receipt sends the women into a frenzy, imagining "A Weekend in the Country". Anne does not want to accept the invitation, but Charlotte convinces her to do so to heighten the contrast between the older woman and the young teenager. Meanwhile, the Count has plans of his own — as a birthday present to his wife, the pair will attend the party uninvited. Carl-Magnus plans to challenge Fredrik to a duel
, while Charlotte hopes to seduce the lawyer to make her husband jealous and end his philandering. The day of the party dawns.
At dinner, Charlotte attempts to flirt with Fredrik, while Anne and Desiree trade insults. Soon, everyone is shouting and scolding everyone else, except for Henrik, who finally stands up for himself. He shrieks at them for being completely amoral
, and flees the scene. Stunned, everyone reflects on the situation and wanders away. Fredrika tells Anne of Henrik's secret love, and the two dash off searching for him. Meanwhile, Desiree meets Fredrik and asks if he still wants to be "rescued" from his life. Fredrik answers honestly that he loves Desiree, but only as a dream. Hurt and bitter, Desiree can only reflect on the nature of her life ("Send in the Clowns"). Anne finds Henrik, who is attempting to commit suicide. The clumsy boy cannot complete the task, and Anne tells him that she has feelings for him, too. The pair begins to kiss, which leads to Anne's first sexual encounter. Meanwhile, not far away, Frid sleeps in Petra's lap. The maid thinks of the joy and freedom that she longs for before becoming trapped in marriage ("The Miller's Son"). Henrik and Anne, happy together, run away to start their new life. Charlotte confesses her plan to Fredrik, and the two commiserate on a bench. Carl-Magnus, preparing to romance Desiree, sees this and challenges Fredrik to Russian Roulette
, in which he grazes Fredrik's ear. Victorious, Carl-Magnus begins to romance Charlotte, granting her wish at last.
After the Count and Countess leave, Fredrika and Madame Armfeldt discuss the chaos of the recent turns-of-events. The elderly woman then asks Fredrika a surprising question: "What is it all for?" Fredrika thinks about this, and decides that it "must be worth it". Madame Armfeldt is surprised, ruefully noting that she rejected love for material wealth at Fredrika's age. She praises her granddaughter and remembers true love's fleeting nature.
Fredrik finally confesses his love for Desiree, acknowledges that Fredrika is his daughter, and the two promise to start a new life together ("Finale"). Armfeldt sits alone with Fredrika. Fredrika tells her grandmother that she has watched carefully, but still has not seen the night smile. Armfeldt laughs and points out that the night has indeed smiled twice: Henrik and Anne, the young, and Desiree and Fredrik, the fools. As the two wait for the "third smile". Armfeldt closes her eyes, and dies peacefully.
Act 2
Additional musical numbers
Stage:
Screen:
at the Shubert Theatre
on February 25, 1973, and closed on August 3, 1974 after 601 performances and 12 previews. It moved to the Majestic Theatre on September 17, 1973 where it completed its run. It was directed by Harold Prince with choreography by Patricia Birch
and design by Boris Aronson
. The cast included Glynis Johns
(Desiree Armfeldt), Len Cariou
(Fredrik Egerman), Hermione Gingold
(Madame Armfeldt), Victoria Mallory
, Judith Kahan
, Mark Lambert
, Laurence Guittard
, Patricia Elliott
, George Lee Andrews, and D. Jamin Bartlett. It won the New York Drama Critics' Circle
Award and the Tony Award
for Best Musical
.
as Desiree Armfeldt, George Lee Andrews as Fredrik Egerman and Margaret Hamilton
as Madame Armfeldt headed the cast.
at the Adelphi Theatre
on April 15, 1975 and starred Jean Simmons, Joss Ackland
, David Kernan, Liz Robertson
, and Diane Langton
, with Hermione Gingold reprising her role as Madame Armfeldt. It ran for 406 performances. During the run, Angela Baddeley
replaced Gingold, and Virginia McKenna
replaced Simmons.
, directed by Ian Judge, designed by Mark Thompson, and choreographed by Anthony Van Laast
. It starred Lila Kedrova
as Madame Armfeldt, Dorothy Tutin
as Desiree Armfeldt, Peter McEnery
as Fredrick, and Susan Hampshire
. The production ran for 144 performances, closing on February 17, 1990.
opened at the Olivier Theatre on September 26, 1995. It was directed by Sean Mathias
, with set design by Stephen Brimson Lewis, costumes by Nicky Gillibrand
, lighting by Mark Henderson and choreography by Wayne McGregor
. It starred Judi Dench
(Desiree), Siân Phillips
(Madame Armfeldt), Joanna Riding
, Laurence Guittard
and Patricia Hodge
. The production closed on August 31, 1996. Dench received the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
from November 22, 2008 until March 8, 2009. The production was directed by Trevor Nunn
, with choreography by Lynne Page, sets and costumes by David Farley and new orchestrations by Jason Carr. The cast included Hannah Waddingham
as Desiree, Alexander Hanson
as Frederik, Jessie Buckley
(Anne), Maureen Lipman
(Mme. Armfeldt), Alistair Robins (the Count), Gabriel Vick (Henrik), Grace Link and Holly Hallam (shared role Fredrika) and Kasia Hammarlund (Petra). This critically acclaimed production transferred to the Garrick Theatre
in the West End for a limited season, opening on March 28, 2009 running until July 25, 2009. This production transferred to Broadway on December 13, 2009, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones
as Desiree and Angela Lansbury
as Madame Armfeldt. Alexander Hanson again played Frederik.
production opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre
in previews on November 24, 2009 and officially on December 13, 2009, with the same creative team. The original cast starred Angela Lansbury as Madame Armfeldt and, in her Broadway debut, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Desiree. Also featured are Alexander Hanson as Frederik, Ramona Mallory as Anne, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka as Henrik, Leigh Ann Larkin
as Petra, Erin Davie
as the Countess, Aaron Lazar
as the Count, and Bradley Dean
as Frid. Zeta-Jones won the Tony for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for 2010.
The production temporarily closed on June 20, 2010 when the contracts of Zeta-Jones and Lansbury ended and resumed on July 13, with new stars Bernadette Peters
as Desiree Armfeldt and Elaine Stritch
as Madame Armfeldt. In an interview, Peters said that Sondheim had "proposed the idea to her this spring and urged the producers of the revival to cast her." Trevor Nunn directed rehearsals with the two new stars, and the rest of the original cast has remained. Peters and Stritch extended their contracts until January 9, 2011, when the production closed with 20 previews and 425 regular performances. Before the production closed it recouped its initial investment.
played Madame Armfeldt in the original Austrian staging (in 1975) as well as in the original Swedish staging in Stockholm
in 1978 (here with Jan Malmsjö
as Fredrik Egerman), performing Send In The Clowns and Liaisons in both stagings. The successful Stockholm-staging was directed by Stig Olin
. In 2010 the musical is scheduled to return to Stockholm
and the Stockholm Stadsteater. The cast includes Pia Johansson
, Dan Ekborg
, Yvonne Lombard
and Thérese Andersson.
The Théâtre du Châtelet
, Paris production ran from February 15, 2010 through February 20, 2010. It was to originally star Kristin Scott-Thomas (Désirée) and Leslie Caron
(Madame Armfeldt). Lee Blakeley directed and Andrew George was the choreographer. It was subsequently announced that Scott-Thomas was unable to appear in the production due to a foot injury. Italian-born actress Greta Scacchi
took the role of Désirée.
was the first major American opera company to present the work in 1983, and again in November 2009. Light Opera Works (Evanston, IL) produced the work in August 1983. New York City Opera
staged it in 1990, 1991 and 2003, the Houston Grand Opera
in 1999, and the Los Angeles Opera
in 2004. New York City Opera's production in August 1990 and July 1991 (total of 18 performances) won the 1990 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival
and was telecast on the PBS
show "Live at Lincoln Center" on November 7, 1990. The cast included both stage performers: Sally Ann Howes
and George Lee Andrews as Desiree and Frederick and opera regular Regina Resnik
as Madame Armfeldt (in 1991).
Opera Australia
presented the piece in Melbourne in May 2009, starring Sigrid Thornton
as Desiree Armfeldt and Nacye Hayes as Madame Armfeldt. The production returned in 2010 at the Sydney Opera House with Anthony Warlow
taking on the role of Fredrik Egerman. The production was directed by Stuart Maunder, designed by Roger Kirk, and conducted by Andrew Greene. Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
performed the musical in June 2010. Designer Isaac Mizrahi
directed and designed the production, with a cast that starred Amy Irving
, Siân Phillips
, and Ron Raines
. A production is scheduled at the Mill Studio in Guildford in September 2010, to be staged by PH Productions.
The piece has also become a popular choice for amateur musical theatre and light opera companies.
, Lesley-Anne Down
and Diana Rigg
, with Len Cariou
, Hermione Gingold
and Laurence Guittard
reprising their Broadway roles. The setting for the film was moved from Sweden to Austria. Stephen Sondheim
wrote lyrics for the "Night Waltz" theme ("Love Takes Time") and wrote an entirely new version of "The Glamorous Life", which has been incorporated into several subsequent productions of the stage musical. However, other songs, including "In Praise of Women", "The Miller's Son" and "Liaisons", were cut and remain heard only as background orchestrations. The film marked Broadway director Hal Prince
's second time as a motion picture director. Critical reaction to the film was mostly negative, with much being made of Taylor's wildly fluctuating weight from scene to scene. Some critics talked more positively of the film, with Variety
calling it "an elegant looking, period romantic charade". There was praise for Diana Rigg's performance, and orchestrator Jonathan Tunick
received an Oscar for his work on the score. A soundtrack recording was released on LP, and a DVD release was issued in June 2007.
noted that "The score of 'Night Music' ...contains patter songs, contrapuntal duets and trios, a quartet, and even a dramatic double quintet to puzzle through. All this has been gorgeously orchestrated by Jonathan Tunick; there is no rhythm section, only strings and woodwinds to carry the melodies and harmonies aloft."
Sondheim's engagement with threes extends to his lyrics. He organizes trios with the singers separated, while his duets are sung together, about a third person.
Another of the show's signature elements is that many songs end on a single brief note played by one or more instruments.
The work is performed as an operetta
in many professional opera companies. For example, it was added to the New York City Opera
Company repertoire in 1990.
such as 12/8. Passages in "Overture", "Glamorous Life", "Liaisons", and "The Miller's Son" are in duple meter
.
maintains coherence even as it extends the notion of a round
, familiar in songs such as the traditional "Frère Jacques
", into something more complex. Sondheim said: "As for the three songs... going together well, I might as well confess. In those days I was just getting into contrapuntal and choral writing...and I wanted to develop my technique by writing a trio. What I didn't want to do is the quodlibet
method...wouldn't it be nice to have three songs you don't think are going to go together, and they do go together... The trick was the little vamp on "Soon" which has five-and six-note chords." Steve Swayne comments that the "contrapuntal episodes in the extended ensembles... stand as testament to his interest in Counterpoint."
Polyphony
is very different from harmony
, which Sondheim rarely employs in this work. When multiple singers sing the same phrases, he has them sing mostly in unison.
, was able to sing (she had a "small, silvery voice") but could not "sustain a phrase", he devised the song "Send in the Clowns
" for her in a way that would work around her vocal weakness, e.g., by ending lines with consonants that made for a short cut-off. "It is written in short phrases in order to be acted rather than sung...tailor-made for Glynis Johns, who lacks the vocal power to sustain long phrases."
In analyzing the text of the song, Max Cryer
wrote that it "is not intended to be sung by the young in love, but by a mature performer who has seen it all before. The song remains an anthem to regret for unwise decisions in the past and recognition that there's no need to send in the clowns-they're already here."
reference in the title—A Little Night Music is an occasionally used translation of Eine kleine Nachtmusik
, the nickname of Mozart's Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525. The elegant, harmonically
-advanced music in this musical pays indirect homage to the compositions of Maurice Ravel
, especially his Valses nobles et sentimentales
(whose opening chord is "borrowed" for the opening chord of the song "Liaisons"); part of this effect stems from the style of orchestration that Jonathan Tunick
used.
In addition to the original Broadway and London cast recordings, and the motion picture soundtrack (no longer available), there are recordings of the 1990 studio cast, the 1995 Royal National Theatre
revival (starring Judi Dench
), and the 2001 Barcelona cast recording sung in Catalan
. In 1997 an all-jazz version of the score was recorded by Terry Trotter
.
The 2009 Broadway revival with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury recorded a cast album on January 4, 2010 which was released on April 6.
in the New York Times called the musical "heady, civilized, sophisticated and enchanting." He noted that "the real triumph belongs to Stephen Sondheim...the music is a celebration of 3/4 time, an orgy of plaintively memorable waltzes, all talking of past loves and lost worlds...There is a peasant touch here." He commented that the lyrics are "breathtaking".
In its review of the 1989 London revival, the reviewer for The Guardian wrote that the "production also strikes me as infinitely superior to Harold Prince's 1975 version at the Adelphi. Mr Judge's great innovation is to transform the Liebeslieder Singers from the evening-dressed, after-dinner line-up into 18th century ghosts weaving in and out of the action...But Mr Judge's other great realisation is that, in Sondheim, the lyrics are not an adornment to a song but their very essence: understand them and the show will flow. Thus Dorothy Tutin as Desiree, the touring thesp eventually reunited with her quondam lover, is not the melting romantic of previous productions but a working mother with the sharpness of a hat-pin."
The Independent review of the 1995 National Theatre revival praised the production, writing "For three hours of gloriously barbed bliss and bewitchment, Sean Mathias's production establishes the show as a minor miracle of astringent worldly wisdom and one that is haunted by less earthy intimations." The review went on to state that "The heart of the production, in both senses, is Judi Dench's superb Desiree Armfeldt...Her husky-voiced rendering of "Send in the Clowns" is the most moving I've ever heard."
In reviewing the 2008 Menier Chocolate Factory production, The Telegraph reviewer wrote that "Sondheim's lyrics are often superbly witty, his music here, mostly in haunting waltz-time, far more accessible than is sometimes the case. The score positively throbs with love, regret and desire." But of the specific production, the reviewer went on to note: "But Nunn's production, on one of those hermetic sets largely consisting of doors and tarnished mirrors that have become such a cliché in recent years, never penetrates the work's subtly erotic heart. And as is often the case with this director's work, the pace is so slow and the mood so reverent, that initial enchantment gives way to bored fidgeting."
The Times reviewer gave the Menier Chocolate Factory production four stars and wrote: "The tiny Menier, and the hazy glass panels surrounding a mostly bare stage, suit the composer's intimate ode to the frustrations of love better than the vast acreage of the Olivier, where the musical last received a major outing." He went on to say "There's something about the overall tone that subverts anything upbeat. Minor-key numbers merge into songs, and sometimes patter-songs, which largely consist of wry reverie and ravelled internal debate. Add ruefully sardonic lyrics and wickedly adroit rhymes and you’ve as sharply sophisticated a musical as even Sondheim has written or, indeed, Nunn has staged. That means it's well worth seeing, despite some uneven acting."
In his New York Times review of the 2009 Broadway production, Ben Brantley
noted that "the expression that hovers over Trevor Nunn's revival...feels dangerously close to a smirk...It is a smirk shrouded in shadows. An elegiac darkness infuses this production." The production is "sparing on furniture and heavy on shadows", with "a scaled-down orchestra at lugubriously slowed-down tempos..." He goes on to write that "this somber, less-is-more approach could be effective were the ensemble plugged into the same rueful sensibility. But there is only one moment in this production when all its elements cohere perfectly. That moment, halfway through the first act, belongs to Ms. Lansbury, who has hitherto been perfectly entertaining, playing Madame Armfeldt with the overripe aristocratic condescension of a Lady Bracknell. Then comes her one solo, "Liaisons", in which her character thinks back on the art of love as a profession in a gilded age, when sex 'was but a pleasurable means to a measurable end.' Her face, with its glamour-gorgon makeup, softens, as Madame Armfeldt seems to melt into memory itself, and the wan stage light briefly appears to borrow radiance from her. It's a lovely example of the past reaching out to the present..."
The show was reviewed when the two new leads, Peters and Stritch, joined the Broadway cast in July 2010. Reviews for the two stars were generally positive. The New York Post reviewer wrote that "They -- especially Peters -- have transformed the entire show. Trevor Nunn's production felt murky and undernourished when it opened back in December. Now, a coherent whole has emerged...With everybody firing on all cylinders, Nunn's spare, twilit staging finally makes sense, and even the smallness of the orchestra feels appropriate" The Hollywood Reporter
wrote "Bottom Line: New leads Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch bring a whole new level to a show that demands a repeat visit." Steven Suskin, reviewing for Variety
, wrote "What a difference a diva makes. Bernadette Peters steps into the six-month-old revival of 'A Little Night Music' with a transfixing performance, playing it as if she realizes her character's onstage billing -- "the one and only Desiree Armfeldt" -- is cliched hyperbole. By figuratively rolling her eyes at the hype, Peters gives us a rich, warm and comedically human Desiree, which reaches full impact when she pierces the facade with a nakedly honest, tears-on-cheek 'Send in the Clowns.'" The AP reviewer wrote "Devotees of Stritch, who earned her Sondheim stripes singing, memorably, "The Ladies Who Lunch" in "Company" 40 years ago, will revel in how the actress, who earned a huge ovation before her very first line at a recent preview, brings her famously salty, acerbic style to the role of Madame Armfeldt." The New York Times review, while positive for Peters and Stritch, was not favorable for the production: "The nuanced truth Ms. Peters brings to this scene is not, unfortunately, the overall hallmark of this production, originally seen at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London. For long stretches Mr. Nunn’s staging, on a minimal set by David Farley that suggests a hallway in a dreary summer hotel, seems to be waltzing in cement shoes. The coarser elements in Mr. Wheeler’s book are underscored with an off-putting snigger, as if this romantic roundelay were little more than a galumphing sex farce."
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
and book by Hugh Wheeler
Hugh Wheeler
Hugh Callingham Wheeler was an English-born playwright, screenwriter, librettist, poet, and translator. He resided in the United States from 1934 until his death and became a naturalized citizen in 1942. He had attended London University.Under the noms de plume Patrick Quentin, Q...
. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
film Smiles of a Summer Night
Smiles of a Summer Night
Smiles of a Summer Night a.k.a. Smiles on a Summer Night is a 1955 Swedish comedy film directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was the first of Bergman's films to bring the director international success, due to its exposure at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival...
, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
The Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787. The work is more commonly known by the title Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The German title means "a little serenade", though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as "a little night music"...
, Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The musical includes the popular song "Send in the Clowns
Send in the Clowns
"Send in the Clowns" is a song by Stephen Sondheim from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music, an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night. It is a ballad from Act II in which the character Desirée reflects on the ironies and disappointments of her life. Among other things, she...
".
Since its original 1973 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
, Len Cariou
Len Cariou
Leonard Joseph “Len” Cariou is a Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street...
, Lesley-Anne Down
Lesley-Anne Down
Lesley-Anne Down is a British film and television actress, former model and singer.Down achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs...
and Diana Rigg
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....
starring.
Act One
The setting is Sweden, around the year 1900. One by one, the Liebeslieders – five singers who comment like a Greek chorusGreek chorus
A Greek chorus is a homogenous, non-individualised group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action....
throughout the show – enter, tuning up. Gradually, their vocalizing becomes an overture blending fragments of "Remember," "Soon," and "The Glamorous Life," leading into the first "Night Waltz". The other characters enter waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
ing, each uncomfortable with their particular partner. After they drift back off, the aging and severe Madame Armfeldt and her solemn granddaughter, Fredrika, enter. Madame Armfeldt tells the child that the summer night "smiles" three times: first on the young, second on fools, and third on the old. Fredrika vows to watch the smiles occur. Middle aged Fredrik Egerman is a successful lawyer. He has recently married an 18-year-old trophy wife
Trophy wife
Trophy wife is an expression used to describe a wife, usually young and attractive, who is regarded as a status symbol for the husband, who is often older and affluent.-History:The term's etymological origins are disputed...
, Anne, a vain girl who is in love with Fredrik, but too immature to grasp the concept of marriage. The two have been married for eleven months, but Anne still protects her virginity
Virginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
. Fredrik laments his inability to make love
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
to his wife ("Now"). Meanwhile, his son Henrik, a year older than his stepmother, is feeling extremely frustrated. He is a seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
student and everyone is always teasing him, never taking him seriously or letting him talk ("Later"). Anne is intrigued by him, but fails to understand his real meaning. Anne promises her husband that she will consent to have sex shortly ("Soon"). Anne's maidservant Petra, an experienced and forthright girl, slightly older than the teen herself, offers her worldly but crass advice.
Desiree Armfeldt is a prominent and glamorous actress who is now reduced to touring in small towns. Madame Armfeldt, Desiree's mother, has taken over the care of Desiree's daughter Fredrika. Fredrika misses her mother, but Desiree continually puts off going to see her, preferring, somewhat ironically, "The Glamorous Life". She is performing near Fredrik's home, and he brings Anne to see the play. While there, Desiree notices Fredrik; the two were lovers years before. Anne, suspicious and annoyed because of Desiree's amorous glances, demands that Fredrik bring her home immediately. Meanwhile, Petra has been trying to seduce Henrik.
That night, as Fredrik remembers his past with Desiree, he sneaks out to see her; the two share a happy but strained reunion, as they "Remember". They reflect on their new lives, and Fredrik tries to explain how much he loves Anne ("You Must Meet My Wife"). Desiree responds sarcastically, boasting of her own adultery, as she has been seeing the married dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm. Upon learning that Fredrik has gone for eleven months without sex, she agrees to accommodate him as a favor for an old friend.
Madame Armfeldt offers advice to young Fredrika. The elderly woman reflects poignantly on her own checkered past, and wonders what happened to her refined "Liaisons". Back in Desiree's apartment, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm proclaims his unannounced arrival in his typical booming voice. Fredrik and Desiree fool the gullible Count into believing that their disheveled appearance was entirely innocent, but he is still suspicious. He instantly dislikes Fredrik and returns to his wife, Countess Charlotte. Charlotte is quite aware of her husband's infidelity, but Carl-Magnus is too absorbed in his suspicions of Desiree to talk to her ("In Praise of Women"). When she persuades him to blurt out the whole story, a twist is revealed—Charlotte's little sister is a school friend of Anne's.
Charlotte visits Anne, who is talking with Petra. Charlotte describes Fredrik's meeting with Desiree; Anne reacts with shock and horror. The older woman explains to Anne that such is the lot of a wife, and that marriage brings pain ("Every Day A Little Death"). Meanwhile, Desiree asks Madame Armfeldt to host a party for Fredrik, Anne, and Henrik. Though reluctant, Madame Armfeldt agrees. She sends out a personal invitation; its receipt sends the women into a frenzy, imagining "A Weekend in the Country". Anne does not want to accept the invitation, but Charlotte convinces her to do so to heighten the contrast between the older woman and the young teenager. Meanwhile, the Count has plans of his own — as a birthday present to his wife, the pair will attend the party uninvited. Carl-Magnus plans to challenge Fredrik to a duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
, while Charlotte hopes to seduce the lawyer to make her husband jealous and end his philandering. The day of the party dawns.
Act Two
Armfeldt's country estate is bathed in the golden glow of perpetual summer sunset at this high latitude ("Night Waltz One and Two"). Everyone arrives, each carrying their own amorous purposes and desires—even Petra, who catches the eye of Armfeldt's fetching manservant, Frid. The women begin to act against each other. Fredrik is astonished to learn the name of Desiree's daughter. Henrik meets Fredrika, and confesses his deep love for Anne to her. Meanwhile, in the garden, Fredrik and Carl-Magnus reflect on how difficult it is to be annoyed with Desiree, agreeing "It Would Have Been Wonderful" had she not been quite so wonderful. Dinner is served, and the characters' "Perpetual Anticipation" enlivens that meal.At dinner, Charlotte attempts to flirt with Fredrik, while Anne and Desiree trade insults. Soon, everyone is shouting and scolding everyone else, except for Henrik, who finally stands up for himself. He shrieks at them for being completely amoral
Amorality
Amorality is an absence of, indifference towards, or disregard for moral beliefs. Any entity that is not sentient may be considered amoral. In addition, it can be argued that sentient but non-human creatures, like dogs, have no concept of morality and are therefore amoral...
, and flees the scene. Stunned, everyone reflects on the situation and wanders away. Fredrika tells Anne of Henrik's secret love, and the two dash off searching for him. Meanwhile, Desiree meets Fredrik and asks if he still wants to be "rescued" from his life. Fredrik answers honestly that he loves Desiree, but only as a dream. Hurt and bitter, Desiree can only reflect on the nature of her life ("Send in the Clowns"). Anne finds Henrik, who is attempting to commit suicide. The clumsy boy cannot complete the task, and Anne tells him that she has feelings for him, too. The pair begins to kiss, which leads to Anne's first sexual encounter. Meanwhile, not far away, Frid sleeps in Petra's lap. The maid thinks of the joy and freedom that she longs for before becoming trapped in marriage ("The Miller's Son"). Henrik and Anne, happy together, run away to start their new life. Charlotte confesses her plan to Fredrik, and the two commiserate on a bench. Carl-Magnus, preparing to romance Desiree, sees this and challenges Fredrik to Russian Roulette
Russian roulette
Russian roulette is a potentially lethal game of chance in which participants place a single round in a revolver, spin the cylinder, place the muzzle against their head and pull the trigger...
, in which he grazes Fredrik's ear. Victorious, Carl-Magnus begins to romance Charlotte, granting her wish at last.
After the Count and Countess leave, Fredrika and Madame Armfeldt discuss the chaos of the recent turns-of-events. The elderly woman then asks Fredrika a surprising question: "What is it all for?" Fredrika thinks about this, and decides that it "must be worth it". Madame Armfeldt is surprised, ruefully noting that she rejected love for material wealth at Fredrika's age. She praises her granddaughter and remembers true love's fleeting nature.
Fredrik finally confesses his love for Desiree, acknowledges that Fredrika is his daughter, and the two promise to start a new life together ("Finale"). Armfeldt sits alone with Fredrika. Fredrika tells her grandmother that she has watched carefully, but still has not seen the night smile. Armfeldt laughs and points out that the night has indeed smiled twice: Henrik and Anne, the young, and Desiree and Fredrik, the fools. As the two wait for the "third smile". Armfeldt closes her eyes, and dies peacefully.
Musical numbers
Act 1- Overture — Mr. Lindquist, Mrs. Nordstrom, Mrs. Anderssen, Mr. Erlanson and Mrs. Segstrom
- Night Waltz — Company
- Now — Fredrik Egerman
- Later — Henrik Egerman
- Soon — Anne Egerman, Frederik Egerman and Henrik Egerman
- The Glamorous Life — Fredrika Armfeldt, Desiree Armfeldt, Madame Armfeldt and Quintet
- Remember? — Mr. Lindquist, Mrs. Nordstrom, Mrs. Anderssen, Mr. Erlanson and Mrs. Segstrom
- You Must Meet My Wife — Desiree Armfeldt and Fredrik Egerman
- Liaisons — Madame Armfeldt
- In Praise of Women — Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm
- Every Day a Little Death — Countess Charlotte Malcolm and Anne Egerman
- Weekend in the Country — Company
Act 2
- Entr'acte — Orchestra
- Night Waltz I (The Sun Won't Set) — Mr. Lindquist, Mrs. Nordstrom, Mrs. Anderssen, Mr. Erlanson and Mrs. Segstrom
- Night Waltz II (The Sun Sits Low) — Mr. Lindquist, Mrs. Nordstrom, Mrs. Anderssen, Mr. Erlanson and Mrs. Segstrom
- It Would Have Been Wonderful — Fredrik Egerman and Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm
- Perpetual Anticipation — Mrs. Nordstrom, Mrs. Segstrom and Mrs. Anderssen
- Dinner Table Scene — Orchestra
- Send in the ClownsSend in the Clowns"Send in the Clowns" is a song by Stephen Sondheim from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music, an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night. It is a ballad from Act II in which the character Desirée reflects on the ironies and disappointments of her life. Among other things, she...
— Desiree Armfeldt - The Miller's Son — Petra
- Reprises — Mr. Lindquist, Mrs. Nordstrom, Mrs. Anderssen, Mr. Erlanson and Mrs. Segstrom
- Send in the Clowns (reprise) — Desiree Armfeldt, Fredrik Egerman
- Last Waltz — Orchestra
Additional musical numbers
Stage:
- Two Fairy Tales — Henrik and Anne Egerman (cut for time)
- Silly People — Frid (cut for time)
- Bang! — Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm (replaced by 'In Praise of Women')
- My Husband the Pig — Countess Charlotte Malcolm (replaced by the second half of 'In Praise of Women')
Screen:
- Love Takes Time - Company (lyrics added to Night Waltz)
- The Glamorous Life - Fredrika (solo version)
Characters
- Fredrik Egerman: A successful widowed middle-aged lawyer. He is married to the 18-year-old Anne and has one son from his previous marriage, Henrik.
- Anne Egerman: Fredrik's new, naive wife.
- Henrik Egerman: Fredrik's son, 20 years old and Anne's stepson. He is serious but confused, as he reads the works of philosophers and theologians as he studies for the Lutheran priesthood.
- Petra: Anne's maid and closest confidante.
- Desiree Armfeldt: Self-absorbed, once-successful actress, now touring the country-side in what is clearly not the "glamorous life".
- Fredrika Armfeldt: Desiree's thirteen-year-old daughter, who may or may not be the product (unbeknownst to Fredrik) of the actress's and Fredrik's affair.
- Madame Armfeldt: Desiree's mother, who has had "liaisons" with royalty.
- Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm: A military dragoon who is Desiree's latest lover.
- Charlotte Malcolm: Carl-Magnus' wife.
- Frid: Madame Armfeldt's manservant.
- The Liebeslieder Singers: Mr. Lindquist, Mrs. Nordstrom, Mrs. Anderssen, Mr. Erlanson and Mrs. Segstrom. A group of five singers that act as a Greek chorusGreek chorusA Greek chorus is a homogenous, non-individualised group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action....
. (Prince said that these characters represent "people in the show who aren't wasting time ... the play is about wasting time.")
Original Broadway production
A Little Night Music opened on BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
at the Shubert Theatre
Shubert Theatre (Broadway)
The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States.Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family...
on February 25, 1973, and closed on August 3, 1974 after 601 performances and 12 previews. It moved to the Majestic Theatre on September 17, 1973 where it completed its run. It was directed by Harold Prince with choreography by Patricia Birch
Patricia Birch
Patricia Birch is an American choreographer and director for musical theatre and film.Born in Englewood, New Jersey, Birch began her career as a dancer in Broadway musicals, including Brigadoon, Goldilocks, and West Side Story . She has directed and choreographed music videos for Cyndi Lauper, the...
and design by Boris Aronson
Boris Aronson
Boris Aronson was an American scenic designer for Broadway and Yiddish theatre. He won the Tony Award for Scenic Design six times in his career.-Biography:...
. The cast included Glynis Johns
Glynis Johns
Glynis Johns is a South African-born Welsh stage and film actress, dancer, pianist and singer . With a career spanning seven decades, Johns is often cited as the "complete actress", who happens to be a trained pianist and singer...
(Desiree Armfeldt), Len Cariou
Len Cariou
Leonard Joseph “Len” Cariou is a Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street...
(Fredrik Egerman), Hermione Gingold
Hermione Gingold
Hermione Gingold was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric persona, an image enhanced by her sharp nose and chin, as well as her deepening voice, a result of vocal nodes which her mother reportedly encouraged her not to remove. She starred on stage, on radio, in films, on...
(Madame Armfeldt), Victoria Mallory
Victoria Mallory
Victoria Mallory is an American singer and actress. She was born September 20, 1949 in Virginia. She is sometimes credited as Vicki Morales, her birth name....
, Judith Kahan
Judith Kahan
Judith Kahan , is a longtime American actress and television writer. Although she has been mostly seen on film and television, she has done a number of theatre shows, including a co-starring role as Fredrika Armfeldt on the original Broadway show of A Little Night Music from 1973-1974.-Actress:*...
, Mark Lambert
Mark Lambert (actor)
Mark Lambert is an American film, television and theatre actor; he is also a singer.-Early life:He was born Mark Luebke and grew up in San Jose, California, where he graduated from Oak Grove High School in 1970.-Career:...
, Laurence Guittard
Laurence Guittard
Laurence Guittard is an actor and singer, mostly appearing on the Broadway stage. He made his Broadway debut in Baker Street in 1965. Notable appearances include Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, Curly in the 1979 revival of Oklahoma!, and as Don Quixote in...
, Patricia Elliott
Patricia Elliott
Patricia Elliott is an American actress. She graduated from South High School in Denver.With many appearances on television, film and stage, Elliott currently portrays Renee Divine Buchanan on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, a role she has played on-and-off since 1987...
, George Lee Andrews, and D. Jamin Bartlett. It won the New York Drama Critics' Circle
New York Drama Critics' Circle
The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 24 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization was founded in 1935 at the Algonquin Hotel by a group that included Brooks Atkinson, Walter Winchell, and Robert Benchley...
Award and the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Musical
Tony Award for Best Musical
This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack...
.
United States tour
A US national tour began on February 26, 1974 at the Forrest Theatre, Philadelphia, and ended on February 13, 1975 at the Shubert Theatre, Boston. Jean SimmonsJean Simmons
Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...
as Desiree Armfeldt, George Lee Andrews as Fredrik Egerman and Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
as Madame Armfeldt headed the cast.
West End premiere
The musical premiered in the West EndWest End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
on April 15, 1975 and starred Jean Simmons, Joss Ackland
Joss Ackland
Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland CBE , known as Joss Ackland, is an English actor who has appeared in more than 130 films and numerous television roles.-Early life:...
, David Kernan, Liz Robertson
Liz Robertson
Liz Robertson is an English actress and singer. She is the widow of Playwright and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner.Robertson began training at the Finch Stage School at the age of three. Her first professional employment was as a cabaret dancer at London's Savoy Hotel at the age of sixteen...
, and Diane Langton
Diane Langton
Diane Langton is an English actress and singer.She has appeared in numerous TV shows like Only Fools and Horses, where she played Junie, an old girlfriend of Del Boy's, in the 1980s....
, with Hermione Gingold reprising her role as Madame Armfeldt. It ran for 406 performances. During the run, Angela Baddeley
Angela Baddeley
Angela Baddeley, CBE , born Madeline Angela Clinton-Baddeley, was an English actress best remembered for her role as Mrs Bridges in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs...
replaced Gingold, and Virginia McKenna
Virginia McKenna
Virginia A. McKenna OBE is a British stage and screen actress, author and wildlife campaigner.-Early career:McKenna trained as an actress at the Central School of Speech and Drama then worked on stage in London's West End theatres before making her motion picture debut in 1952...
replaced Simmons.
1989 West End revival
A revival opened in the West End on October 6, 1989 at the Piccadilly TheatrePiccadilly Theatre
The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, England.-Early years:Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A...
, directed by Ian Judge, designed by Mark Thompson, and choreographed by Anthony Van Laast
Anthony Van Laast
Anthony Van Laast is a choreographer, mainly for the stage, concerts, television and film. His works have appeared in the West End and on Broadway.-Career:Van Laast was born in Sussex, UK...
. It starred Lila Kedrova
Lila Kedrova
Lila Kedrova was a Russian-born French actress.-Biography:Kedrova claimed to have been born in 1918, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Her parents were Russian opera singers. Lila Kedrova's brother was Nikolay Kedrov, Jr...
as Madame Armfeldt, Dorothy Tutin
Dorothy Tutin
Dame Dorothy Tutin DBE was an English actor of stage, film, and television.An obituary in The Daily Telegraph described her as "one of the most enchanting, accomplished and intelligent leading ladies on the post-war British stage...
as Desiree Armfeldt, Peter McEnery
Peter McEnery
Peter McEnery is an English stage and film actor. His daughter Kate, by his first marriage to British actress Julie Peasgood, is an actress....
as Fredrick, and Susan Hampshire
Susan Hampshire
Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, OBE is an English actress, best-known for her many television and film roles.-Early life:Susan Hampshire was born in Kensington, London, the youngest of four children. She had two sisters and one brother...
. The production ran for 144 performances, closing on February 17, 1990.
1995 London revival
A revival by the Royal National TheatreRoyal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
opened at the Olivier Theatre on September 26, 1995. It was directed by Sean Mathias
Sean Mathias
Sean Gerard Mathias is a British theatre director, film director, writer and actor.Mathias was born in Swansea, south Wales. He is known for directing the film, Bent, and for directing highly acclaimed theatre productions in London, New York, Cape Town, Los Angeles and Sydney...
, with set design by Stephen Brimson Lewis, costumes by Nicky Gillibrand
Nicky Gillibrand
Nicky Gillibrand is a theatrical costume designer who was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design for Billy Elliot the Musical. She won the Gold Medal for Costume Design at the 2003 Prague Quadrenale for the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of A Midsummer Night's DreamGillibrand...
, lighting by Mark Henderson and choreography by Wayne McGregor
Wayne McGregor
Wayne McGregor CBE is a British choreographer of contemporary modern dance. His work is highly distinctive in its vocabulary of movement, for its integration of dance with film and visual art, and for his active interest and incorporation of computer technology and biological science...
. It starred Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
(Desiree), Siân Phillips
Siân Phillips
Jane Elizabeth Ailwên "Siân" Phillips, CBE, is a Welsh actress.-Early life:Phillips was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, the daughter of Sally , a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman...
(Madame Armfeldt), Joanna Riding
Joanna Riding
Joanna Riding, is an English actress. For her work in West End musicals, she has won two Laurence Olivier Awards, and has been nominated for two others.-Biography:...
, Laurence Guittard
Laurence Guittard
Laurence Guittard is an actor and singer, mostly appearing on the Broadway stage. He made his Broadway debut in Baker Street in 1965. Notable appearances include Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, Curly in the 1979 revival of Oklahoma!, and as Don Quixote in...
and Patricia Hodge
Patricia Hodge
Patricia Ann Hodge is an English actor.-Early life:The daughter of the Royal Hotel owner/manager Eric and his wife Marion , Hodge attended Wintringham Girls' Grammar School on Weelsby Avenue in Grimsby and then St...
. The production closed on August 31, 1996. Dench received the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
2008 London revival
The third London revival ran at the Menier Chocolate FactoryMenier Chocolate Factory
The Menier Chocolate Factory is an award-winning 180 seat fringe studio theatre, restaurant and gallery. It is located in a former 1870s Menier Chocolate Company factory in Southwark Street, a major street in the London Borough of Southwark, central south London, England. The theatre stages plays...
from November 22, 2008 until March 8, 2009. The production was directed by Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
, with choreography by Lynne Page, sets and costumes by David Farley and new orchestrations by Jason Carr. The cast included Hannah Waddingham
Hannah Waddingham
Hannah Waddingham is an English actress and singer. She is best known for her contribution to West End theatre, particularly her original performance in Spamalot and in A Little Night Music...
as Desiree, Alexander Hanson
Alexander Hanson (actor)
Alexander Hanson is a British stage actor who has appeared in numerous plays and musicals in the West End, and recently on Broadway.-Personal life:Hanson is an alumnus of Guildhall School of Music and Drama...
as Frederik, Jessie Buckley
Jessie Buckley
Jessie Buckley is an Irish singer and actress who came second place in the BBC talent show-themed television series I'd Do Anything, and subsequently played Anne Egermann in the West End revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music.-Background:The eldest of five children, Buckley comes from...
(Anne), Maureen Lipman
Maureen Lipman
Maureen Diane Lipman CBE is a British film, theatre and television actress, columnist and comedienne.-Early life:Lipman was born in Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, the daughter of Maurice Julius Lipman and Zelma Pearlman. Her father was a tailor; he used to have a shop between the...
(Mme. Armfeldt), Alistair Robins (the Count), Gabriel Vick (Henrik), Grace Link and Holly Hallam (shared role Fredrika) and Kasia Hammarlund (Petra). This critically acclaimed production transferred to the Garrick Theatre
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster. It opened on 24 April 1889 with The Profligate, a play by Arthur Wing Pinero. In its early years, it appears to have specialised in the performance of melodrama, and today the theatre is a...
in the West End for a limited season, opening on March 28, 2009 running until July 25, 2009. This production transferred to Broadway on December 13, 2009, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of...
as Desiree and Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
as Madame Armfeldt. Alexander Hanson again played Frederik.
2009 Broadway revival
The 2008 Menier Chocolate FactoryMenier Chocolate Factory
The Menier Chocolate Factory is an award-winning 180 seat fringe studio theatre, restaurant and gallery. It is located in a former 1870s Menier Chocolate Company factory in Southwark Street, a major street in the London Borough of Southwark, central south London, England. The theatre stages plays...
production opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre
Walter Kerr Theatre
The Walter Kerr Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre. Located at 219 West 48th Street, it is owned and operated by Jujamcyn Theaters. One of the smaller auditoriums in the theatre district, it seats 975....
in previews on November 24, 2009 and officially on December 13, 2009, with the same creative team. The original cast starred Angela Lansbury as Madame Armfeldt and, in her Broadway debut, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Desiree. Also featured are Alexander Hanson as Frederik, Ramona Mallory as Anne, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka as Henrik, Leigh Ann Larkin
Leigh Ann Larkin
Leigh Ann Larkin is an American actress and singer, best known for her performance as June Havoc in the 2008 Broadway revival of the musical, Gypsy.- Early life and education :...
as Petra, Erin Davie
Erin Davie
Erin Davie is an American actress and singer, best known for her performance as the young Edith Bouvier Beale in the Broadway production of the musical Grey Gardens, taking the part for the slightly revised version on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre, after its initial run at Playwrights Horizons...
as the Countess, Aaron Lazar
Aaron Lazar
-Early life and education:Lazar was born in Cherry Hill, New Jersey to a Jewish family. He graduated from Cherry Hill High School West in 1994. Lazar attended Duke University where he earned a BA in music in 1998, while completing the prerequisite classes for medical school and taking the MCAT...
as the Count, and Bradley Dean
Bradley Dean
Bradley Dean is an American stage and screen actor. On March 25, 2008, Dean succeeded Christopher Sieber in the role of Sir Galahad in the musical comedy Spamalot on Broadway. Prior to performing the role on Broadway, Dean played the same role in the show's touring company.Dean has had other...
as Frid. Zeta-Jones won the Tony for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for 2010.
The production temporarily closed on June 20, 2010 when the contracts of Zeta-Jones and Lansbury ended and resumed on July 13, with new stars Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
as Desiree Armfeldt and Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch is an American actress and vocalist. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs...
as Madame Armfeldt. In an interview, Peters said that Sondheim had "proposed the idea to her this spring and urged the producers of the revival to cast her." Trevor Nunn directed rehearsals with the two new stars, and the rest of the original cast has remained. Peters and Stritch extended their contracts until January 9, 2011, when the production closed with 20 previews and 425 regular performances. Before the production closed it recouped its initial investment.
Europe
Zarah LeanderZarah Leander
Zarah Leander was a Swedish actress and singer.Leander began her career in the late 1920s, and by the mid 1930s her success in Europe, particularly in Germany and the Scandinavian countries, led to invitations to work in the United States...
played Madame Armfeldt in the original Austrian staging (in 1975) as well as in the original Swedish staging in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in 1978 (here with Jan Malmsjö
Jan Malmsjö
Jan Wilhelm Malmsjö is a Swedish stage and actor, musical star and singer. He is married to Marie Göranzon and father to Jonas Malmsjö.-Biography:...
as Fredrik Egerman), performing Send In The Clowns and Liaisons in both stagings. The successful Stockholm-staging was directed by Stig Olin
Stig Olin
Stig Olin was a Swedish actor, theatre director, songwriter and singer. Father of actress Lena Olin and Swedish singer Mats Olin...
. In 2010 the musical is scheduled to return to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
and the Stockholm Stadsteater. The cast includes Pia Johansson
Pia Johansson
Pia Johansson born Pia Ann-Kristin Johansson on November 16, 1960 in Umeå, is a Swedish actor, lecturer and examinator.Johansson studied at the Skara scene school, which was followed by a degree from Stockholm Theatre school in 1989. After studying she was employed at Stockholm City Theatre's...
, Dan Ekborg
Dan Ekborg
Dan Ekborg is a Swedish stage and film actor. He is the son of actor Lars Ekborg and older brother of actor Anders Ekborg.He has starred in many of the Swedish Jönssonligan films.-External links:...
, Yvonne Lombard
Yvonne Lombard
Yvonne Lombard, is a Swedish actress. Born in Stockholm, Lombard studied at the Royal Dramatic Theatre there, where she trained between 1948 and 1951 with the likes of Max von Sydow, and Ingrid Thulin. She has performed in several films, in TV series and in the theatre...
and Thérese Andersson.
The Théâtre du Châtelet
Théâtre du Châtelet
The Théâtre du Châtelet is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.One of two theatres built on the site of a châtelet, a small castle or fortress, it was designed by Gabriel Davioud at the request of Baron Haussmann between 1860 and...
, Paris production ran from February 15, 2010 through February 20, 2010. It was to originally star Kristin Scott-Thomas (Désirée) and Leslie Caron
Leslie Caron
Leslie Claire Margaret Caron is a French film actress and dancer, who appeared in 45 films between 1951 and 2003. In 2006, her performance in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit won her an Emmy for guest actress in a drama series...
(Madame Armfeldt). Lee Blakeley directed and Andrew George was the choreographer. It was subsequently announced that Scott-Thomas was unable to appear in the production due to a foot injury. Italian-born actress Greta Scacchi
Greta Scacchi
Greta Scacchi is an Italian-Australian actor.-Early life:Scacchi was born Greta Gracco in Milan, Italy, on 18 February 1960, the daughter of Luca Scacchi Gracco, an Italian art dealer and painter, and Pamela Carsaniga, an English dancer and antiques dealer...
took the role of Désirée.
Opera companies
The musical has also become part of the repertoire of a few opera companies. Michigan Opera TheatreMichigan Opera Theatre
Michigan Opera Theatre is Michigan's principal opera company. The company is based in Detroit, where it performs in the Detroit Opera House. Each year it presents an opera and dance season. The company usually presents five operas in their original language with English supertitles and hosts five...
was the first major American opera company to present the work in 1983, and again in November 2009. Light Opera Works (Evanston, IL) produced the work in August 1983. New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
staged it in 1990, 1991 and 2003, the Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
in 1999, and the Los Angeles Opera
Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.-Current leadership:...
in 2004. New York City Opera's production in August 1990 and July 1991 (total of 18 performances) won the 1990 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors. It honors the Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, or legitimate not-for-profit theater revival of a production previously staged in New York City.It...
and was telecast on the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
show "Live at Lincoln Center" on November 7, 1990. The cast included both stage performers: Sally Ann Howes
Sally Ann Howes
Sally Ann Howes is a British actress and singer, who currently holds dual British-American citizenship. Her career on stage, screen and television has spanned over six decades...
and George Lee Andrews as Desiree and Frederick and opera regular Regina Resnik
Regina Resnik
Regina Resnik is an American operatic singer.Regina Resnik, the American mezzo-soprano, started a dramatic career ten months after earning her B.A. in Music at Hunter College. The role was Lady Macbeth under Fritz Busch in December, 1942 with the New Opera Company. A few months later, she sang...
as Madame Armfeldt (in 1991).
Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
presented the piece in Melbourne in May 2009, starring Sigrid Thornton
Sigrid Thornton
Sigrid Thornton is an Australian multi-award winning actress.-Early years:Thornton was born in Canberra, the daughter of Merle, a teacher of women's studies and writer, and Neil Thornton, an academic. She spent most of her formative years growing up and attending school at St. Peter's Lutheran...
as Desiree Armfeldt and Nacye Hayes as Madame Armfeldt. The production returned in 2010 at the Sydney Opera House with Anthony Warlow
Anthony Warlow
Anthony Warlow is an Australian opera and musical theatre performer, noted for his character acting and considerable vocal range ....
taking on the role of Fredrik Egerman. The production was directed by Stuart Maunder, designed by Roger Kirk, and conducted by Andrew Greene. Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is a summer opera festival held in St. Louis, Missouri. Typically four operas, all sung in English, are presented each season, which runs from late May to late June. Performances are accompanied by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, which is divided into two...
performed the musical in June 2010. Designer Isaac Mizrahi
Isaac Mizrahi
Isaac Mizrahi is an American TV presenter, fashion designer, and was the creative director of Liz Claiborne. He is best known for his eponymous fashion lines.-Early life:...
directed and designed the production, with a cast that starred Amy Irving
Amy Irving
Amy Davis Irving is an American actress, known for her roles in the films Crossing Delancey, The Fury, Carrie, and Yentl as well as acclaimed roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and has won an Obie award...
, Siân Phillips
Siân Phillips
Jane Elizabeth Ailwên "Siân" Phillips, CBE, is a Welsh actress.-Early life:Phillips was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, the daughter of Sally , a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman...
, and Ron Raines
Ron Raines
Ron Raines is an American actor. He is known for the role of Alan Spaulding on the long-running television soap opera Guiding Light. Raines also performs in musical theatre and in concert with symphony orchestras....
. A production is scheduled at the Mill Studio in Guildford in September 2010, to be staged by PH Productions.
The piece has also become a popular choice for amateur musical theatre and light opera companies.
Film adaptation
In 1977, a film version of A Little Night Music was released, starring Elizabeth TaylorElizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
, Lesley-Anne Down
Lesley-Anne Down
Lesley-Anne Down is a British film and television actress, former model and singer.Down achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs...
and Diana Rigg
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....
, with Len Cariou
Len Cariou
Leonard Joseph “Len” Cariou is a Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street...
, Hermione Gingold
Hermione Gingold
Hermione Gingold was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric persona, an image enhanced by her sharp nose and chin, as well as her deepening voice, a result of vocal nodes which her mother reportedly encouraged her not to remove. She starred on stage, on radio, in films, on...
and Laurence Guittard
Laurence Guittard
Laurence Guittard is an actor and singer, mostly appearing on the Broadway stage. He made his Broadway debut in Baker Street in 1965. Notable appearances include Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, Curly in the 1979 revival of Oklahoma!, and as Don Quixote in...
reprising their Broadway roles. The setting for the film was moved from Sweden to Austria. Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
wrote lyrics for the "Night Waltz" theme ("Love Takes Time") and wrote an entirely new version of "The Glamorous Life", which has been incorporated into several subsequent productions of the stage musical. However, other songs, including "In Praise of Women", "The Miller's Son" and "Liaisons", were cut and remain heard only as background orchestrations. The film marked Broadway director Hal Prince
Hal Prince
Harold Smith Prince is an American theatrical producer and director associated with many of the best-known Broadway musical productions of the past half-century...
's second time as a motion picture director. Critical reaction to the film was mostly negative, with much being made of Taylor's wildly fluctuating weight from scene to scene. Some critics talked more positively of the film, with Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
calling it "an elegant looking, period romantic charade". There was praise for Diana Rigg's performance, and orchestrator Jonathan Tunick
Jonathan Tunick
Jonathan Tunick is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer, one of twelve people to have won all four major American show business awards: the Tony, Oscar, Emmy and Grammy. He has also worked with all of the other eleven people. His principal instrument is the clarinet...
received an Oscar for his work on the score. A soundtrack recording was released on LP, and a DVD release was issued in June 2007.
Music analysis
The score for A Little Night Music has elements not often found in musical theater, presenting challenges for performers, with complex meters, pitch changes, polyphony, and high notes for both males and females. The difficulty is heightened when songs merge, as in "Now"/"Later"/"Soon", because all three have to be performed in the same key, limiting the ability to pick a comfortable key for each singer. Critic Rex ReedRex Reed
Rex Taylor Reed is an American film critic and former co-host of the syndicated television show At the Movies. He currently writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for The New York Observer.-Life and career:...
noted that "The score of 'Night Music' ...contains patter songs, contrapuntal duets and trios, a quartet, and even a dramatic double quintet to puzzle through. All this has been gorgeously orchestrated by Jonathan Tunick; there is no rhythm section, only strings and woodwinds to carry the melodies and harmonies aloft."
Sondheim's engagement with threes extends to his lyrics. He organizes trios with the singers separated, while his duets are sung together, about a third person.
Another of the show's signature elements is that many songs end on a single brief note played by one or more instruments.
The work is performed as an operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
in many professional opera companies. For example, it was added to the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
Company repertoire in 1990.
3/4 time
Virtually all of the music in the show is written in waltz time (3/4). Some parts adopt compound meter, with a time signatureTime signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
such as 12/8. Passages in "Overture", "Glamorous Life", "Liaisons", and "The Miller's Son" are in duple meter
Duple meter
Duple meter is a musical metre characterized by a primary division of 2 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 2 and multiples or 6 and multiples in the upper figure of the time signature, with 2/2 , 2/4, and 6/8 being the most common examples...
.
Counterpoint and polyphony
At several points, Sondheim has multiple performers each sing a different song simultaneously. This use of counterpointCounterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
maintains coherence even as it extends the notion of a round
Round (music)
A round is a musical composition in which two or more voices sing exactly the same melody , but with each voice beginning at different times so that different parts of the melody coincide in the different voices, but nevertheless fit harmoniously together...
, familiar in songs such as the traditional "Frère Jacques
Frère Jacques
"Frère Jacques" , in English sometimes called "Brother John" or "Brother Peter", is a French nursery melody. The song is traditionally sung in a round. When the first singer reaches the end of the first line the next person starts at the beginning...
", into something more complex. Sondheim said: "As for the three songs... going together well, I might as well confess. In those days I was just getting into contrapuntal and choral writing...and I wanted to develop my technique by writing a trio. What I didn't want to do is the quodlibet
Quodlibet
A quodlibet is a piece of music combining several different melodies, usually popular tunes, in counterpoint and often a light-hearted, humorous manner...
method...wouldn't it be nice to have three songs you don't think are going to go together, and they do go together... The trick was the little vamp on "Soon" which has five-and six-note chords." Steve Swayne comments that the "contrapuntal episodes in the extended ensembles... stand as testament to his interest in Counterpoint."
Polyphony
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
is very different from harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
, which Sondheim rarely employs in this work. When multiple singers sing the same phrases, he has them sing mostly in unison.
"Send In The Clowns"
The show's best-known and Sondheim's biggest hit song was almost an afterthought, written several days before the start of out of town tryouts. Sondheim initially conceived Desiree as a role for a more-or-less non-singing actress. When he discovered that the original Desiree, Glynis JohnsGlynis Johns
Glynis Johns is a South African-born Welsh stage and film actress, dancer, pianist and singer . With a career spanning seven decades, Johns is often cited as the "complete actress", who happens to be a trained pianist and singer...
, was able to sing (she had a "small, silvery voice") but could not "sustain a phrase", he devised the song "Send in the Clowns
Send in the Clowns
"Send in the Clowns" is a song by Stephen Sondheim from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music, an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night. It is a ballad from Act II in which the character Desirée reflects on the ironies and disappointments of her life. Among other things, she...
" for her in a way that would work around her vocal weakness, e.g., by ending lines with consonants that made for a short cut-off. "It is written in short phrases in order to be acted rather than sung...tailor-made for Glynis Johns, who lacks the vocal power to sustain long phrases."
In analyzing the text of the song, Max Cryer
Max Cryer
Max Cryer MBE is a New Zealand television producer, broadcaster, entertainment producer, singer, cabaret performer and author.He was educated in Vienna, Italy, and New Zealand, holds a Master's degree with Honours in Language and Literature, has been Chairman of the Oxford Union debates and judge...
wrote that it "is not intended to be sung by the young in love, but by a mature performer who has seen it all before. The song remains an anthem to regret for unwise decisions in the past and recognition that there's no need to send in the clowns-they're already here."
Influences
There is a MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
reference in the title—A Little Night Music is an occasionally used translation of Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
The Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787. The work is more commonly known by the title Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The German title means "a little serenade", though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as "a little night music"...
, the nickname of Mozart's Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525. The elegant, harmonically
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
-advanced music in this musical pays indirect homage to the compositions of Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
, especially his Valses nobles et sentimentales
Valses nobles et sentimentales (Ravel)
The Valses nobles et sentimentales is a suite of waltzes composed by Maurice Ravel. The piano version was published in 1911, and an orchestral version was published in 1912. The suite contains an eclectic blend of Impressionist and Modernist music, which is especially evident in the orchestrated...
(whose opening chord is "borrowed" for the opening chord of the song "Liaisons"); part of this effect stems from the style of orchestration that Jonathan Tunick
Jonathan Tunick
Jonathan Tunick is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer, one of twelve people to have won all four major American show business awards: the Tony, Oscar, Emmy and Grammy. He has also worked with all of the other eleven people. His principal instrument is the clarinet...
used.
Cast recordings
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
revival (starring Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
), and the 2001 Barcelona cast recording sung in Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
. In 1997 an all-jazz version of the score was recorded by Terry Trotter
Terry Trotter
Terry Trotter is a studio pianist living in Los Angeles. He has recorded with such notable artists as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, and many others. Trotter composed the theme music to the television show Everybody Loves Raymond....
.
The 2009 Broadway revival with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury recorded a cast album on January 4, 2010 which was released on April 6.
Critical response
In his review of the original 1973 Broadway production, Clive BarnesClive Barnes
Clive Alexander Barnes, CBE was a British-born American writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977 he was the dance and theater critic for the New York Times, the most powerful position he had held, since its theater critics' reviews historically have had great influence on the success or failure of...
in the New York Times called the musical "heady, civilized, sophisticated and enchanting." He noted that "the real triumph belongs to Stephen Sondheim...the music is a celebration of 3/4 time, an orgy of plaintively memorable waltzes, all talking of past loves and lost worlds...There is a peasant touch here." He commented that the lyrics are "breathtaking".
In its review of the 1989 London revival, the reviewer for The Guardian wrote that the "production also strikes me as infinitely superior to Harold Prince's 1975 version at the Adelphi. Mr Judge's great innovation is to transform the Liebeslieder Singers from the evening-dressed, after-dinner line-up into 18th century ghosts weaving in and out of the action...But Mr Judge's other great realisation is that, in Sondheim, the lyrics are not an adornment to a song but their very essence: understand them and the show will flow. Thus Dorothy Tutin as Desiree, the touring thesp eventually reunited with her quondam lover, is not the melting romantic of previous productions but a working mother with the sharpness of a hat-pin."
The Independent review of the 1995 National Theatre revival praised the production, writing "For three hours of gloriously barbed bliss and bewitchment, Sean Mathias's production establishes the show as a minor miracle of astringent worldly wisdom and one that is haunted by less earthy intimations." The review went on to state that "The heart of the production, in both senses, is Judi Dench's superb Desiree Armfeldt...Her husky-voiced rendering of "Send in the Clowns" is the most moving I've ever heard."
In reviewing the 2008 Menier Chocolate Factory production, The Telegraph reviewer wrote that "Sondheim's lyrics are often superbly witty, his music here, mostly in haunting waltz-time, far more accessible than is sometimes the case. The score positively throbs with love, regret and desire." But of the specific production, the reviewer went on to note: "But Nunn's production, on one of those hermetic sets largely consisting of doors and tarnished mirrors that have become such a cliché in recent years, never penetrates the work's subtly erotic heart. And as is often the case with this director's work, the pace is so slow and the mood so reverent, that initial enchantment gives way to bored fidgeting."
The Times reviewer gave the Menier Chocolate Factory production four stars and wrote: "The tiny Menier, and the hazy glass panels surrounding a mostly bare stage, suit the composer's intimate ode to the frustrations of love better than the vast acreage of the Olivier, where the musical last received a major outing." He went on to say "There's something about the overall tone that subverts anything upbeat. Minor-key numbers merge into songs, and sometimes patter-songs, which largely consist of wry reverie and ravelled internal debate. Add ruefully sardonic lyrics and wickedly adroit rhymes and you’ve as sharply sophisticated a musical as even Sondheim has written or, indeed, Nunn has staged. That means it's well worth seeing, despite some uneven acting."
In his New York Times review of the 2009 Broadway production, Ben Brantley
Ben Brantley
Benjamin D. "Ben" Brantley is an American journalist and the chief theater critic of The New York Times.-Life and career:...
noted that "the expression that hovers over Trevor Nunn's revival...feels dangerously close to a smirk...It is a smirk shrouded in shadows. An elegiac darkness infuses this production." The production is "sparing on furniture and heavy on shadows", with "a scaled-down orchestra at lugubriously slowed-down tempos..." He goes on to write that "this somber, less-is-more approach could be effective were the ensemble plugged into the same rueful sensibility. But there is only one moment in this production when all its elements cohere perfectly. That moment, halfway through the first act, belongs to Ms. Lansbury, who has hitherto been perfectly entertaining, playing Madame Armfeldt with the overripe aristocratic condescension of a Lady Bracknell. Then comes her one solo, "Liaisons", in which her character thinks back on the art of love as a profession in a gilded age, when sex 'was but a pleasurable means to a measurable end.' Her face, with its glamour-gorgon makeup, softens, as Madame Armfeldt seems to melt into memory itself, and the wan stage light briefly appears to borrow radiance from her. It's a lovely example of the past reaching out to the present..."
The show was reviewed when the two new leads, Peters and Stritch, joined the Broadway cast in July 2010. Reviews for the two stars were generally positive. The New York Post reviewer wrote that "They -- especially Peters -- have transformed the entire show. Trevor Nunn's production felt murky and undernourished when it opened back in December. Now, a coherent whole has emerged...With everybody firing on all cylinders, Nunn's spare, twilit staging finally makes sense, and even the smallness of the orchestra feels appropriate" The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
wrote "Bottom Line: New leads Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch bring a whole new level to a show that demands a repeat visit." Steven Suskin, reviewing for Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, wrote "What a difference a diva makes. Bernadette Peters steps into the six-month-old revival of 'A Little Night Music' with a transfixing performance, playing it as if she realizes her character's onstage billing -- "the one and only Desiree Armfeldt" -- is cliched hyperbole. By figuratively rolling her eyes at the hype, Peters gives us a rich, warm and comedically human Desiree, which reaches full impact when she pierces the facade with a nakedly honest, tears-on-cheek 'Send in the Clowns.'" The AP reviewer wrote "Devotees of Stritch, who earned her Sondheim stripes singing, memorably, "The Ladies Who Lunch" in "Company" 40 years ago, will revel in how the actress, who earned a huge ovation before her very first line at a recent preview, brings her famously salty, acerbic style to the role of Madame Armfeldt." The New York Times review, while positive for Peters and Stritch, was not favorable for the production: "The nuanced truth Ms. Peters brings to this scene is not, unfortunately, the overall hallmark of this production, originally seen at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London. For long stretches Mr. Nunn’s staging, on a minimal set by David Farley that suggests a hallway in a dreary summer hotel, seems to be waltzing in cement shoes. The coarser elements in Mr. Wheeler’s book are underscored with an off-putting snigger, as if this romantic roundelay were little more than a galumphing sex farce."
Original Broadway production
| Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Drama Desk Award Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category... |
Outstanding Book of a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee which comprises New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors... |
Hugh Wheeler Hugh Wheeler Hugh Callingham Wheeler was an English-born playwright, screenwriter, librettist, poet, and translator. He resided in the United States from 1934 until his death and became a naturalized citizen in 1942. He had attended London University.Under the noms de plume Patrick Quentin, Q... |
|
| Outstanding Music Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music is an annual award presented by the Drama Desk, a committee comprising New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors... |
Stephen Sondheim Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award... |
|||
| Outstanding Lyrics Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics is an annual award presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors... |
||||
| Outstanding Actress in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since... |
Glynis Johns Glynis Johns Glynis Johns is a South African-born Welsh stage and film actress, dancer, pianist and singer . With a career spanning seven decades, Johns is often cited as the "complete actress", who happens to be a trained pianist and singer... |
|||
| Patricia Elliott Patricia Elliott Patricia Elliott is an American actress. She graduated from South High School in Denver.With many appearances on television, film and stage, Elliott currently portrays Renee Divine Buchanan on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, a role she has played on-and-off since 1987... |
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| Outstanding Director Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director This is a list of winners of the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director introduced in 1955 to honour directors of plays and directors of musicals. From 1968, multiple awards were presented for each season... |
Harold Prince | |||
| Most Promising Performer Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category... |
D'Jamin Bartlett D'Jamin Bartlett D'Jamin Bartlett is an American musical theatre actress.She trained for the stage at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Bartlett made her first professional stage appearance in 1971 at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. in a production of Godspell... |
|||
| Grammy Award Grammy Award A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry... |
Best Musical Show Album Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album The Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award was given only to the album producer, and to the composer and lyricist who wrote at least 51% of the music which had not been recorded previously.... |
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| Theatre World Award Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:... |
Laurence Guittard Laurence Guittard Laurence Guittard is an actor and singer, mostly appearing on the Broadway stage. He made his Broadway debut in Baker Street in 1965. Notable appearances include Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, Curly in the 1979 revival of Oklahoma!, and as Don Quixote in... |
|||
| Patricia Elliott Patricia Elliott Patricia Elliott is an American actress. She graduated from South High School in Denver.With many appearances on television, film and stage, Elliott currently portrays Renee Divine Buchanan on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, a role she has played on-and-off since 1987... |
||||
| D'Jamin Bartlett D'Jamin Bartlett D'Jamin Bartlett is an American musical theatre actress.She trained for the stage at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Bartlett made her first professional stage appearance in 1971 at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. in a production of Godspell... |
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| Tony Award Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway... |
Best Musical Tony Award for Best Musical This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack... |
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| Best Book of a Musical Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical The Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical is awarded to librettists of the spoken, non-sung dialogue, and storyline of a musical play. Eligibility is restricted to works with original narrative framework; plotless revues and revivals are ineligible... |
Hugh Wheeler Hugh Wheeler Hugh Callingham Wheeler was an English-born playwright, screenwriter, librettist, poet, and translator. He resided in the United States from 1934 until his death and became a naturalized citizen in 1942. He had attended London University.Under the noms de plume Patrick Quentin, Q... |
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| Best Original Score Tony Award for Best Original Score The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics... |
Stephen Sondheim Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award... |
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| Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is awarded to the actor who was voted as the best actor in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival... |
Len Cariou Len Cariou Leonard Joseph “Len” Cariou is a Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street... |
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| Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical | Glynis Johns Glynis Johns Glynis Johns is a South African-born Welsh stage and film actress, dancer, pianist and singer . With a career spanning seven decades, Johns is often cited as the "complete actress", who happens to be a trained pianist and singer... |
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| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. The award has been presented since 1947... |
Laurence Guittard Laurence Guittard Laurence Guittard is an actor and singer, mostly appearing on the Broadway stage. He made his Broadway debut in Baker Street in 1965. Notable appearances include Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, Curly in the 1979 revival of Oklahoma!, and as Don Quixote in... |
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| Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical This is a list of the winners and nominations of the Tony Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. The award, introduced in 1950, was previously named as Best Performance by a Featured or Supporting Actress in a Musical until 1976.... |
Patricia Elliott Patricia Elliott Patricia Elliott is an American actress. She graduated from South High School in Denver.With many appearances on television, film and stage, Elliott currently portrays Renee Divine Buchanan on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, a role she has played on-and-off since 1987... |
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| Hermione Gingold Hermione Gingold Hermione Gingold was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric persona, an image enhanced by her sharp nose and chin, as well as her deepening voice, a result of vocal nodes which her mother reportedly encouraged her not to remove. She starred on stage, on radio, in films, on... |
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| Best Costume Design Tony Award for Best Costume Design These are the winners and nominees for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design. The award was first presented in 1947 and included both plays and musicals... |
Florence Klotz Florence Klotz Florence Klotz was an American costume designer on Broadway and film.-Biography:Originally named as Kathrina Klotz, she later changed her name to "Florence" and was often nicknamed "Flossie".... |
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| Best Scenic Design | Boris Aronson Boris Aronson Boris Aronson was an American scenic designer for Broadway and Yiddish theatre. He won the Tony Award for Scenic Design six times in his career.-Biography:... |
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| Best Lighting Design Tony Award for Best Lighting Design This is a list of the winners of the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a play or musical, first presented in 1970. In 2005 the category was divided with each genre represented separately.-1970s:* 1970: Jo Mielziner – Child's Play... |
Tharon Musser Tharon Musser Tharon Musser was an American lighting designer who worked on more than 150 Broadway productions. She was termed the "Dean of American Lighting Designers" and is considered one of the pioneers in her field.... |
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| Best Direction of a Musical Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. Prior to 1960, category for direction included plays and musicals.-1950s:Note: this category was for both dramatic and musical productions... |
Harold Prince | |||
1995 London revival
| Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best Actress in a Musical | Judi Dench Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo... |
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| Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical | Siân Phillips Siân Phillips Jane Elizabeth Ailwên "Siân" Phillips, CBE, is a Welsh actress.-Early life:Phillips was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, the daughter of Sally , a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman... |
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| Best Theatre Choreographer | Wayne McGregor Wayne McGregor Wayne McGregor CBE is a British choreographer of contemporary modern dance. His work is highly distinctive in its vocabulary of movement, for its integration of dance with film and visual art, and for his active interest and incorporation of computer technology and biological science... |
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| Best Costume Design | Nicky Gillibrand Nicky Gillibrand Nicky Gillibrand is a theatrical costume designer who was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design for Billy Elliot the Musical. She won the Gold Medal for Costume Design at the 2003 Prague Quadrenale for the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of A Midsummer Night's DreamGillibrand... |
2009 Broadway revival
| Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Drama Desk Award Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category... |
Outstanding Revival of a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical was first awarded at the 1994 Drama Desk Awards.-1990s:* 1994: She Loves Me** Carousel** Damn Yankees** My Fair Lady* 1996: The King and I** I Do! I Do!... |
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| Outstanding Actress in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since... |
Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of... |
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| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical was first awarded in the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has subsequently been awarded every year. In the 1993-1994 Drama Desk Awards the award was given under the name of Outstanding Supporting Actress - Musical... |
Angela Lansbury Angela Lansbury Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins... |
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| Outer Critics Circle Award Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets... |
Outstanding Revival of a Musical | |||
| Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of... |
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| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Angela Lansbury Angela Lansbury Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins... |
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| Tony Award Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway... |
Best Revival of a Musical Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical The Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical has been awarded since 1994. Before that time, both plays and musicals were considered together for the Tony Award for Best Revival.... |
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| Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical | Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of... |
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| Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical This is a list of the winners and nominations of the Tony Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. The award, introduced in 1950, was previously named as Best Performance by a Featured or Supporting Actress in a Musical until 1976.... |
Angela Lansbury Angela Lansbury Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins... |
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| Best Sound Design Tony Award for Best Sound Design The first Tony Award for "Best Sound Design of a Play" and "Best Sound Design of a Musical" was given in the 2007-2008 season.-2000s:*2008: Mic Pool – The 39 Steps**Simon Baker – Boeing-Boeing**Adam Cork – Macbeth... |
Dan Moses Schreier and Gareth Owen Gareth Owen (sound designer) Gareth Owen is a sound designer specialising in musical theatre and plays.He was nominated for a Tony Award in 2010 for his Broadway production of Trevor Nunn's musical, A Little Night Music starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury.... |
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| 2011 | Grammy Award Grammy Award A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry... |
Best Musical Show Album Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album The Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award was given only to the album producer, and to the composer and lyricist who wrote at least 51% of the music which had not been recorded previously.... |
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Trivia
- This show was based on "Smiles of a Summer Night" by Ingmar BergmanIngmar BergmanErnst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
. There is not a single person in SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
with the last names Egerman or Armfeldt, even though this show, and the movie it was based on, suggests that they are real Swedish last names.
External links
- A Little Night Music on The Stephen Sondheim Reference Guide
- MTI Shows
- A Little Night Music info page on StageAgent.com - A Little Night Music plot summary & character descriptions
- Little Night Music - A Little Night Music Broadway Revival