A Little Night Music: Impressive performances
2008-10-16
As directed and choreographed by Bradford Blake, Stephen Sondheim’s most complex and challenging musical, A Little Night Music, is being given an impressive revival by a beautifully costumed and talented cast at TheatreWorks New Milford.
Based on the Ingmar Bergman film, Smiles of a Summer Night, the story, with book by Hugh Wheeler, is set in Sweden at the turn of the century and deals with Fredrik Egerman (Bruce Tredwell), a middle-aged attorney whose second wife, Anne (Jessica Stewart), is still a virgin after 11 months of marriage.
During a trip to a country estate at the height of summer in Sweden, where the sun never truly sets and the sky never grows fully dark, Egerman resumes an affair with his former mistress Desiree Armfeldt (Susan Pettibone), an actress whose current lover is Count Carl-Magnus (Mark Feltch), a dragoon. All meet at the country estate of Mme. Armfeldt (Jane Farnol), Desiree’s mother, and by the final curtain, Egerman is relieved to learn that his wife and 18-year-old son Henrik (Brendan Padgett) have fallen in love and run off together.
A sexy maid, Petra (Jackie Decho-Holm), also gets some feisty moments singing and dancing. Servants at the Armfeldt estate are Frid (Joel Romanelli); Bertrand (Billy Hicks), and Stacy Lee Erickson and Laura Gilbert are the maids.
Egerman and Desiree and her daughter, Fredrika (Becca Myhill), no guessing here, are reunited, and the Count is reconciled to being with his wife Charlotte (Priscilla Squiers), with the Sondheim music beautifully sung by all, including a quintet that moves the action along,
Ron Dukenski (Mr. Lindquist); Greg McMahan (Mr. Erlanson); Catherine McCollian (Mrs. Nordstrom); Jessica Smith (Mrs. Anderssen; and Judy Bayer (Mrs. Segstrom).
Costume design by Lesley Neilson-Bowman is outstanding; set design is by Paula Anderson; lighting by Scott Wyshynski; and sound by Thomas Libonate.