Summer Broadway Round 2 - A Little Night Music

So, my summer progressed on, and I didn't make it to the Broadway theatres as often as I had planned to. But when I heard the news that Catherine Zeta Jones was being replaced by Bernadette Peters, I knew I had to get myself to see A Little Night Music.

Yes, Elaine Stritch replaced Angela Lansbury. More on what I thought of that later...

A Little Night Music 

Music and Lyrics by: Stephen Sondheim

Basic Story: Set in Sweden, at the beginning of the 20th century, hilarious chaos ensues as everyone begins to realize they're with the wrong person. Liaisons and sex-capades abound! 

Score: A

Top Songs: Honestly? The whole soundtrack. Each one will be stuck in your head for ages. But if I have to choose: "A Weekend in the Country" and "The Miller's Son"

Actors to See: Bernadette Peters as Desiree Armfeldt and Lee Ann Larkin as Petra

Cons: I'm going to get so much crap for this but... Elaine Stritch. A Broadway legend, yes, but, as I'll mention later, she was the one crack in an otherwise flawless production.

Once again, all pics come from the shows website.

Let's break this down, shall we?

The Audience

• Unlike with West Side Story, I'm not gonna bash on them. But I do have to say, Sondheim fans are possibly the most cultish while cultured fanatics EVER. I say this as one of them. I went with a group, and when one girl remarked that she wasn't the biggest Sondheim fan, the woman in front of us turned around and said, "Well then, what are you doing here?!" Still don't know if it was meant as a joke or to be mean...

The Acting

• Bernadette Peters. Done. The woman is absolutely brilliant. You may know her as the stepmother from that movie version of Cinderella, but I've seen four Broadway performances with her: A Little Night Music and Gypsy, both live, and taped performances of Sunday in the Park with George and Into the Woods. I'm shocked my parents didn't name me after her. And for a woman that's 62 (yeah, I know, holy crap), she plays the sexually confidant Desiree with total commitment. [Shown below with Alexander Hanson, who plays Fredrick Egerman, also extremely well]

• Lee Ann Larkin, who I also had the pleasure of seeing as June in Gypsy, was stunning as Petra, Anne's much coarser maid. From her teasing seduction of Henrik, to her playful interactions with Anne, and finally her stunning performance of The Miller's Son, she blew me away. She serves to contrast the entire rest of the characters, the only straightforward peasant in a mess of wealthy fools stuck in "perpetual anticipation." Her accent and perfect delivery kept me smiling the whole time. And when you leave a theatre thinking of someone other than Bernadette Peters, that's something. I can't wait to see what else she's in.

• Oh, Elaine Stritch. I just gotta say it. Bad. She forgot her lines and had to be prompted  by her cast members multiple times, to the detriment of punch lines. She started her song, "Liasons" at the wrong time, further decreasing my understanding of the song. And yes, at 87, I'm willing to give the woman the benefit of the doubt. But that performance. Sorry. Bad

• Honestly, the entire cast is brilliant. I won't list the whole cast by name cause it'll take too long. Anne is delightfully naive and silly, with a voice that never grates even with all those high notes and cries of "ohh noooo". Charlotte is bitter but funny, and the understudy we saw as Count Carl Magnus was hilarious with his perfect delivery of total stupidity. Even Fredricka managed to pull through the rather tough scenes with Elaine Stritch, so, good for her.

The Score

• G-d I LOVE THIS SCORE. Hilarious number after number, stuck in your head forever. And it's the kind of score that's fun to listen to, but doesn't really hit its stride until you see it performed. The best example of this is "Now/Later/Soon", a beautiful trio done in the beginning by Fredrick Egerman, his son Henrik, and Fredrick's virgin wife Anne, who is MUCH younger than him. 
• I, of course, have to mention the show's famous numbers: "Every Day a Little Death" and "Send in the Clowns". Wonderfully sung, to the point where I don't want to kill myself because I've heard them performed a billion times before.
• "Liaisons" is still not my favorite song. I love the lyrics, yes, but the music. Eh. Blah. All that.
• And any song with Count Carl Magnus in it [on the far right with Desiree and Fredrick] is hilarious with it's blatant sexism: "In Praise of Women" and "It Would Have Been Wonderful"

I mean, really, who doesn't love lines like: "Fidelity is more than mere display, it's what a man expect's from life. Fidelity, like mine for [his mistress] and Charlotte, my devoted wife."

All in all, five stars when Elaine Stritch is at her best. Go see it. Now, later, soon! It's funny, it's witty, it's pure Sondheim, and it's Bernadette Peters.

~ Sarah