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'''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, with the music set almost entirely in waltz time. The musical included the song "Send in the Clowns".

Contents

Productions

Broadway

London

Europe

Film version

Opera companies

Cast recordings

Plot

Music

Musical numbers

Awards

1973 Tony Awards

1973 Drama Desk Awards

1973 Theatre World Awards

External links

Productions

Broadway

''A Little Night Music'' opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre on February 25, 1973, in a production directed by Harold Prince, choreographed by Patricia Birch and designed by Boris Aronson. The cast included Glynis Johns, Len Cariou, Hermione Gingold, Victoria Mallory, Mark Lambert, Laurence Guittard, Patricia Elliott, and D'Jamin Bartlett. It won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and the Tony Award for Best Musical. It ran for 601 performances.

London

The London production opened 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.
A new London revival opened on October 6, 1989 at the Piccadilly Theatre, 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 and Susan Hampshire. The production ran for 144 performances, closing on February 17, 1990.
In 1995, a revival by the Royal National Theatre opened at the Olivier Theatre on September 26, 1995 in a production directed by Sean Mathias, with set designed by Stephen Brimson Lewis, costumes by Nicky Gilabrand, lighting by Mark Henderson and choreography by Wayne McGregor. It starred Judi Dench, Sian Phillips, Joanna Riding, Laurence Guittard and Patricia Hodge. The production closed on August 31, 1996. Judi Dench received the Lawrence Olivier Awards for Best Actress in a Musical.

Europe

Zarah Leander 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.

Film version

In 1978, a film version of ''A Little Night Music'' was made, starring Elizabeth Taylor, 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, and was filmed on location. Much of the score was cut, and Miss Taylor's rendition of the show's signature song, "Send in the Clowns" was dubbed. 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. The film marked legendary Broadway director Hal Prince's second time as a motion picture director. Critical reaction to the film was mixed to negative, with much being made of Miss Taylor's wildly fluctuating weight from scene to scene. There was praise for Diana Rigg's performance, and orchestrator Jonathan Tunick received an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score. A soundtrack recording was released on LP, and the film was, for a time, available on VHS and laserdisc. A DVD release was issued in June of 2007. For more information see .

Opera companies

This work has also become part of the repertoire of several opera companies. The New York City Opera has performed it in 1990, 1991, and 2003, the Houston Grand Opera in 1999, and the Los Angeles Opera in 2004.

Cast recordings

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.

Plot

Based on the Ingmar Bergman film ''Smiles of a Summer Night'', the play is set in Sweden at the turn of the century, and tells the story of a lawyer, Fredrik Egerman, who is married to a beautiful, featherbrained and inexperienced 18-year-old trophy wife named Anne, who, despite the fact that they have been married almost a year, refuses to lose her virginity. He sees an old flame, Desiree Armfeldt, who is appearing in a popular play, and his romantic interest in her is rekindled. However, she is having an affair with an arrogant and insanely jealous military man, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm. Complicating matters is Egerman's son, Henrik, a dull, boring, stodgy and resentful divinity student who is in love with his stepmother.
The play culminates in a weekend at the country estate of Desiree's mother, Madame Armfeldt, a profane yet matronly old woman who is looking after Desiree's precocious daughter, Fredrika, while Desiree is on tour.
Another set of characters, The Liebeslieder Singers, wander in between and around the main characters, sometimes acting as narrators, sometimes expressing the main character's thoughts and sometimes acting as a Greek chorus and setting the scene. Sondheim says that these characters represent "people who aren't wasting time", unlike the main characters, who dither and debate instead of seizing the moment and being honest about with whom they are in love.
Sondheim, Wheeler and Harold Prince (who directed the film version) created a work that is far more complex and sophisticated than first appearances might suggest. The characters, from royalty to bourgeoisie to servant, present a cross section of Swedish society at that particular place and time. The characters' ages range from adolescent (Desiree's daughter) to elderly (Madame Armfeldt). Each character's views on life, love and sex are explored in depth and with great compassion and humor. (Sondheim went so far as to write a song for the otherwise mute manservant Frid, which was cut in previews, because, as Prince barked at him one evening, "Who cares what Frid thinks?")
The "Weekend in the Country" that the characters spend is at the height of midsummer, which in Sweden means that the sun never sets completely. The characters wander around the vast estate and grounds bathed in a golden twilight. This hazy, limbo-like setting allows them to explore their passions and realize who it is and what it is that they truly desire.

Music

Virtually all of the music in the show is written in waltz (3/4) time or variants thereof (such as compound meter, a time signature like 12/8, for example); brief passages in "Overture", "Glamorous Life", "Liaisons", and "The Miller's Son" are in duple meter. The work is often performed as an operetta in many professional opera companies; the score makes heavy demands on performers, with extensive use of counterpoint. There is an oblique Mozart 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. The score contains Sondheim's best-known song, "Send in the Clowns", as well as such songs as "The Glamorous Life," "You Must Meet My Wife," "Every Day a Little Death," "Liaisons," "In Praise of Women," "A Weekend in the Country," and "The Miller's Son".

Musical numbers

;Act I ★ Overture -- Mr. Lindquist, Mrs. Nordstrom, Mrs. Anderssen, Mr. Erlanson and Mrs. Segstrom ★ Night Waltz -- Company ★ Now -- Frederik Egerman ★ Later -- Henrik Egerman ★ Soon -- Anne Egerman, Henrik Egerman and Frederik Egerman ★ The Glamorous Life -- Fredrika Armfeldt, Desiree Armfeldt, Malla, Madame Armfeldt and Chorus ★ Remember? -- Chorus ★ You Must Meet My Wife -- Desiree Armfeldt and Frederik 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 II ★ Night Waltz I (The Sun Won't Set) -- Chorus ★ Night Waltz II (The Sun Sits Low) ★ It Would Have Been Wonderful -- Frederik Egerman and Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm ★ Perpetual Anticipation -- Mrs. Nordstrom, Mrs. Segstrom and Mrs. Anderssen ★ Send in the Clowns -- Desiree Armfeldt ★ Silly People (sung by Frid, cut from the final production) ★ The Miller's Son -- Petra ★ Send in the Clowns (reprise) ★ Last Waltz -- Company

Awards

1973 Tony Awards

★ Tony Award for Best Musical - Harold Prince, producer ('WINNER')

★ Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical - Hugh Wheeler ('WINNER')

★ Tony Award for Best Original Score - Stephen Sondheim ('WINNER')

★ Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical - Glynis Johns ('WINNER')

★ Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical - Patricia Elliott ('WINNER')

★ Tony Award for Best Costume Design - Florence Klotz ('WINNER')

★ Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical - Len Cariou

★ Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical - Laurence Guittard

★ Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical - Hermione Gingold

★ Tony Award for Best Scenic Design - Boris Aronson

★ Tony Award for Best Lighting Design - Tharon Musser

★ Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - Harold Prince

1973 Drama Desk Awards

★ Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Book - Hugh Wheeler ('WINNER')

★ Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics - Stephen Sondheim ('WINNER')

★ Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music - Stephen Sondheim ('WINNER')

★ Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance - Starring: Patricia Elliott ('WINNER')

★ Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance - Starring: Glynis Johns (nominee)

★ Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director - Harold Prince ('WINNER')

★ Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Performer - D'Jamin Bartlett ('WINNER')

1973 Theatre World Awards

★ D. Jamin-Bartlett

★ Patricia Elliott

★ Laurence Guittard

External links

★

★ Sondheimguide

★ MTI Shows

★ A Little Night Music info page on StageAgent.com - A Little Night Music plot summary & character descriptions
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