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| George Lee Andrews, Hermione Gingold, Judy Kahan. (Photos: Martha Swope) |
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| Mark Lambert, Victoria Mallory. |
Broadway’s most innovative and successful team of musical
theatre artists, Harold Prince and Stephen Sondheim, together with their frequent
design collaborators, Boris Aronson and Florence Klotz, as well as librettist
Hugh Wheeler, came up with another winner in this visually exquisite and
musically magnificent work supported by an Ingmar Bergman cinema masterpiece. A Little Night Music brought to the Main
Stem a superb operetta, composed in waltz time, set in a gloriously romantic,
turn-of-the-century Sweden. It was cast with an exceptionally attractive and
gifted company, most of whom combined the seldom-paired skills of sensitive acting
and accomplished singing.
Sondheim’s lauded twin talents as composer-lyricist were
rarely so expressively successful, the critics without fail writing panegyrics
to his creative genius. Hugh Wheeler’s book, while acceptable, if not delightful,
to most, was nonetheless panned by a few outliers, including John Simon, who
claimed it was an insult to Bergman’s screenplay.
The show was quite conventional in its heavy reliance on a
completely plotted book; some, therefore, thought that Prince and Sondheim had
taken a step backward in their continuing efforts to update and modernize the
American musical through innovative methods. Other alleged weaknesses noted
were the show’s practically non-existent dancing, despite the presence of a
major choreographer; its strangely un-affecting, distanced tone that seemed to
place the actors under glass; and what a few thought an extraneous chorus of
five performers dressed in evening clothes and used to sing material that
advanced the plot.
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| Glynis Johns, Hermione Gingold. |
That plot concerns a middle-aged lawyer, Fredrik Egerman
(Len Cariou), married to a delicious teenager, Anne (Victoria Mallory), for
nearly a year without having once made love to her; the guilty attraction to
this nubile youngster of Fredrik’s own son, Henrik (Mark Lambert); Fredrik’s
search for solace in the arms of an former actress flame, Desiree Armfeldt
(Glynis Johns); his rivalry for her with her pompous lover, Count Carl-Magnus
Malcolm (Laurence Guittard), himself married to a lovely countess, Charlotte
(Patricia Elliott); and the gradual working out of these relationships at a
villa on a summer weekend under the watchful eye of the actress’s grand dame
mother, Madame Armfeldt (Hermione Gingold).
All the actors named (and several others, notably D’Jamin
Bartlett as a sexy maid), received raves, but perhaps the most highly praised
were Cariou, Gingold, Elliott, and Johns. The large cast also included such talents as
Judy Kahan, Beth Fowler, Despo, and Sherry Mathis. Encomiums were couched in
ecstatic language, as the critics expressed their gratitude for so lovely,
elegant, and lustrous a production. It was called “heady, civilized,
sophisticated and enchanting” by Clive Barnes; “the handsomest show in town,
lovely to look and a pleasure to hear,” by Edwin Wilson; and “close to being
the perfect romantic musical comedy,” by Brendan Gill.
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| Barbara Lang, Benjamin Rayson, Teri Ralston, Beth Fowler, Gene Varrone. |
Of Sondheim’s contributions, Simon said he “has composed, to
his customary, polished, easefully and richly rhyming lyrics, some of his best
tunes so far.” Martin Gottfried added, “His melodies are strong and lyrical;
his harmonies, as usual, are disarmingly grateful to Ravel; his dissonances are
refreshing and effective . . . ; his music is always singable and theatrical.”
These views were widely shared. Two songs, in particular, struck critical gold:
“Send in the Clowns,” ultimately a standard, and “The Miller’s Son.” Among
others in the 16-song score were “Now,” “Later,” “Soon,” “The Glamorous Life,” “Remember?,”
“In Praise of Women,” “Every Day a Little Death,” “A Weekend in the Country,” “It
Would Have Been Wonderful,” and so on.
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| Glynis Johns, Laurence Guittard, Len Cariou. |
Wheeler’s book was strongly supported by many, but, as noted, Simon attacked it. He thought that, in place of Bergman’s dialogue, Wheeler was
“obtruding his own effete drivel.” Gottfried observed that the writing had a “flaccid
and undynamic tone.” In sharp contrast was Clive Barnes’s appraisal: “Mr.
Wheeler’s book is uncommonly urbane and .witty. The jokes are funny, and the
very real sophistication has considerable surface depth.”
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| Patricia Elliott, Victoria Mallory. |
Florence Klotz’s period costumes were eulogized for their
beauty and atmospheric appropriateness. Boris Aronson’s sets, making much use
of silver birches on movable, translucent screens, received kudos as well.
As expected, A Little
Night Music raked in numerous awards and nominations. It won the Tony for
Best Musical, as well as the Drama Critics Circle Award in the same category.
It also took home the Tony for Best Book, Best Score, Best Supporting Actress,
Musical (Elliott), Best Actress, Musical (Johns), and Best Costumes, Musical.
Its Tony nominations singled out Prince for Best Director, Musical, Cariou for
Best Actor, Musical, Gingold for Best Supporting Actress, Musical, Guittard for
Best Supporting Actor, Musical, Aronson for Best Scenic Designer, Musical, and
Musser for Best Lighting, Musical. Wheeler was also awarded a Drama Desk Award
for Outstanding Book; Sondheim got one for Outstanding Composer; and also for
Outstanding Lyricist; Elliott and Johns got them for Outstanding Performance; and
Bartlett, Guittard, and Elliott received Theatre World Awards.
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| Patricia Elliott, Judy Kahan, Sherry Mathis, Laurence Guittard, Glynis Johns, Len Cariou, Victoria Mallory. |
The show has had numerous international revivals over the years,
its first Broadway revival coming in 2009 in a production that originated at
London’s Menier Chocolate Factory. Angela Lansbury was Madame Armfeldt and
Catherine Zeta-Jones was Desiree, for which she won the Tony.
