A Little Night Music
“A great deal seems to be going on in this house tonight.”
-Madame Armfeldt, A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a bittersweet musical exploration of unrequited love. Set in 1900 Sweden, the main story is centered around Desiree Armfeldt, a traveling actress, and her estranged lover Fredrik Egerman. When Desiree and Fredrik are brought back together, their passions reignite. This strikes a flurry of jealousy and suspicion between Desiree and Fredrik’s current lovers and hilarity (and heartbreak) ensues. There are numerous parallels in A Little Night Music to Shakespearian comedies and the romantic operas of Mozart. The text is profoundly insightful while offering an unflinching examination of the human condition. The main characters are realistically flawed individuals, each tortured by their deep love and secret desires. Every one of them is trying to find, as Desiree says, “some sort of coherent existence after so many years of muddle.”
The story is laid against the backdrop of Midsummer’s Eve, the summer solstice when the sun never sets. This is the longest day of the year, when the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun. In Sweden, this celestial phenomenon was often celebrated by traveling to rural parts of the country, raising and dancing around a maypole, and decorating one’s home with flowers and greenery. This mystical seasonal occurrence has provided artistic inspiration to William Shakespeare for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for The Marriage of Figaro, and Ingmar Bergman for his film Smiles of a Summer Night. Bergman’s comedy of manners was the source material used by theatrical legends Stephen Sondheim, Hugh Wheeler, and Harold Prince to create one of their most celebrated works, A Little Night Music.
A Little Night Music opened on Broadway on February 25, 1973 to rave reviews. It won six Tony Awards and ran for more than 600 performances. The romantic musical went on to receive productions all over the world, including a Broadway revival in 2009 starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury. One of the many unique aspects of this musical is the mysterious quintet, known as The Liebeslieder Singers (which translates to love song singers), who introduce the audience to the world of the play. When asked about the quintet, Sondheim said, “I thought it would be nice to get away from the realism of the evening. I wanted something to make it a little more poetic.” Throughout the show, The Liebeslieder Singers weave in and out of the story, sometimes functioning as a Greek chorus by commenting on the action. However, unlike a traditional Greek chorus, these five people have names, individual personalities, and memories.
This is the fifth musical with a score by Stephen Sondheim that I have directed. Every time I am fortunate enough to bring one of his shows to life, I believe I grow as a theatre storyteller. Mr. Sondheim’s gifts as an artist are undeniable. Not only is he the master at constructing brilliant songs that deepen the characters with insightful word and musical choices, but his work also demands that everyone involved in the production must operate at the top of their game. Nothing in a Sondheim show is arbitrary or shoehorned in for the sake of entertainment. Everything has a purpose and it is our job to unravel each internal riddle. When I was trying to find the perfect musical to work on for my thesis, A Little Night Music was one of my top choices. I knew that everyone involved would blossom on a journey of bringing the show to life. Now that the production has been fully realized, I can unequivocally say that this is exactly what happened.
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