A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC'S reopening tonight...(review updates here)- Page 14

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/24/10 at 7:22pm

I almost went tonight. Going out of town now so I'll have to wait another 2 weeks.

Michael Bennett--just how many times have you seen it?!?

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/24/10 at 10:31pm

Here is an NY Times article about Madame Armfeldt, and the different actresses who've played her.

It also looks like Elaine Stritch has a different dress and wheel chair from Angela Lansbury. I believe her act 2 dress is also different.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/theater/25armfeldt.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Updated On: 7/24/10 at 10:31 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/24/10 at 10:49pm

An excellent article. Sian Phillips is particularly eloquent.

[Boq101]

Posted: 7/25/10 at 1:21am

I need to rush this before I go to college! So happy for Stritchy!

[PReeves2]

Posted: 7/25/10 at 1:52am

are you people in the cast and can't gossip about this at work so you do it on a BWW website? I like broadway and i love to be entertained but, come on! this thread is starting to sound like the sports commentators while watching ESPN 2. Get a life or another hobby.

[iamchanging9]

Posted: 7/25/10 at 3:49am

I am prefacing this by saying that I love A Little Night Music, Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch.

I saw the show Friday night and was SO disappointed. I don't know what the hell people are saying (Michael Bennett, I am looking at you) but Elaine Stritch still did not know her lines. Liasons was overwelmingly long due to her lack of readiness to be on that stage. She does not know her lines and therefore should not be onstage. I understand that she is in her 80s and a legend but it is not acceptable for a performer to slow down the show because he or she does not know their lines. Simply unacceptable and embarassing. That being said, she did have some great moments with her ability to make almost any line a zinger.

I was very disappointed with Bernadette. She just didn't seem to be living it and almost seemed like she was doing an impression of someone. I didn't mind her error in Send in the Clowns because at that moment she was so overcome with emotion and didn't need to think every word she said.

The pacing was horribly slow.

I LOVED this production when I saw it in January (entire cast included) and this time just seemed to be a mess...

Maybe it was just an off night, I don't know.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/25/10 at 8:58am

Sorry Changing - you and I must have seen two different shows on Friday night.

Its true that Stritch takes her time with the material but I don't believe its because she doesn't know her lines. If anything most of the pauses are coming from the fact that she gets enormous laughs -- often two or three per line. Her Liaisons is perfection - every beat, every detail is clear - she paints a rich portrait line to line in that song - if the tempo is a little slower because of it, who cares - I'll take it over Lansbury's rendition any day.

And I don't even know what to say about your assessment of Bernadette, who's performance has been so beautifully captured by everyone else here who's reported on it

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but to say it was an off performance - it was - but only in your head -- judging from the audience reaction Friday night, yours must have been an extremely minority opinion.

I (to answer PalJoey's question above) have seen the production 5 times and Friday nights was absolutely the strongest its ever been - from the entire cast.

Sorry changing -(but maybe you should take Stritch off as your avatar if you are so at sea with her work as an artist).

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 7/25/10 at 10:55am

I saw the show last night and I absolutely agree with Michael Bennett's assessment.

There were a few places where Stritch grasped for lines but she covered well with a stammering forgetfulness which was completely character appropriate.

Liasions was heartbreaking and poignant last night. She had the audience eating out of the palm of her hand.

Bernadette is an absolute beacon on that stage. She is magnetic and committed to every moment as Desiree. It sounded as if she had a mild cold as she was coughing on occasion but that was not at all indicated in her voice.

You could hear a pin drop during her Clowns. The audience was utterly enraptured.

Bernadette is easily giving one of the best performances I have seen this year.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/25/10 at 10:58am

Yeah, I'm generally happy to play the contrarian, but I just don't get how anyone can think negatively of Peters' performance here.

I've never seen anyone connect to material and a scene in such a way that they have tears streaming down their face and can barely get the words out.

[iamchanging9]

Posted: 7/25/10 at 12:44pm

I didn't hate Bernadette in the role, but I did think a lot of it seemed very phony. Desiree can be very phony at times, but it has to have heart at the root of the performance and that seemed to be missing. When she flubbed a line in Send in the Clowns I really did not mind and was touched by her performance at that point.

Michael Bennett, I still love Elaine Stritch and her body of her work. I simply do not think that she is doing the job she was hired to do. Liasons dragged on for what seemed like close to 20 minutes and she tried to cover her mistakes but I really was able to see that she was flubbing and couldn't remember lines. The people in front of me (teenagers who probably came waiting for her screw up) were laughing at her mistakes. I don't think there was a time she was onstage that she didn't flub a line during a dialogue (she did know most the one liners).

Also, there was a group of 5 people next to me who left during intermission.

I am sorry that I gave a bad review seeing as I love these two performers very much, but IMO they did not live up to what was being reported on this board.

I still love Ms. Peters (I saw her in Gypsy 3 times) and I still love Ms. Stritch, IMO this was just not the right production for them.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/25/10 at 1:41pm

Changing - thats simply not true in terms of her flubbing lines. I know the script - there was one line that she got incorrect at the top of Act 2, and which she stumbled to amend- the others were correct. You may not like her characterization (Stritch is definitely playing the character as older, more frailer than Lansbury) but I maintain some of what you are interpretating as grasping for lines is a character choice (this is after all a character who says at four times in the script "where was I or "what was I talking about?"). At any rate you can discredit the pauses and the longer pace of this cast as being too slow for your tastes - but its simply incorrect to say she was making errors in her dialogue - at least on Friday night - it was pretty accurate..

In terms of Peters - there is definitely a heart to her Desiree. She plays the role as an actress more comfortable with playing a 'part' then exposing her own vulnerability, which is precisely why her moments with Frederick, when she lets go of that persona have such a moving, even needy quality to them.

And there are always people who walk out of intermission of every show on Broadway - and every time I've seen this production - including twice with CZJ - there have been people who left. Its simply not a show thats for everyone's tastes. Take that for what you will.

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/25/10 at 2:02pm

I was at yesterday's matinee, and I would agree with Michael Bennett's observations regarding Stritch and Peters. I saw Lansbury and CZJ in their final performance. I would say that each of the four leading ladies brought distinct and powerful interpretations to their performances. Personally, I find Stritch and Peters to be more compelling, but that's not intended to diminish Lansbury and CZJ. Stritch comes across as a force of nature, even in a wheelchair.

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 7/25/10 at 9:51pm

Does Bernadette usually come out the stage door? Regardless, I'm so excited to see her in this!

[rosekwbp]

Posted: 7/25/10 at 10:43pm

I saw the show the week it opened. Bernadette's performance was amazing. She added layers to Desiree from the unhappiness of touring, to the loving mother, the hassled daughter. Then of course there was the love she found almost too late. It was a beautiful performance and Send in the Clowns just so emotional and wonderful.

[jnthnxlent]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 1:43am

I saw the show last thursday and both Elaine and Bernadette came out through the stage door. Though Elaine kind of just ran into her limo while Bernadette stayed and signed. I even got a picture wit her, which is awesome.

[Hex3]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 1:43am

I'm ready to see this show again after only a week! Planning on saturday but can any one tell me when I should show up for rush? Especially because its a saturday. Would 6 be too early or just right? Thanks for the help.

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 1:49am

Hex, I don't think 6 should be necessary. I was helping a friend rush La Cage across the street this Saturday and the line for A Little Night Music had no more than 15 people in it (and we didn't arrive until 9:30). If you could easily see either performance of the show on Saturday, I would say 6 would be unnecessarily early (unless you want to be first in line).

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 7:48am

My daughter and I saw A Littel Night Music via the student rush this past Saturday (7/24). We arrived at around 8:20, and we were the first on line. The next person came at around 8:45, and by 10:00, there were about 20 or so people in line. We got front row center for the matinee.

Note: we had also gotten tickets on 7/14 (a Wednesday), but had to hurry home due to a family emergency. Then, we arrived at around 7:45, and were second in line. The girl who was there first said she had gotten there a little after 6AM. For the 7/14 matinee, we got seats in the box, but gave them away to folks on the TKTS line when we were called home.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 9:35am

I got to the box office Saturday at 10:30. No line, and, also, a ticket in the front row, on the side.

[MimiJudith]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 9:39am

I have tickets for this Saturday. I'm excited -- I saw the show with CZJ and Angela Lansbury, but I wanted to see it with the new leads. I hope Elaine Stritch doesn't mess up. That makes me very uncomfortable because I would feel so sorry for her. I'll be in the front row so I just hope she doesn't notice my reaction if she does forget her lines. I'll try my best not to react, though.

[April Saul]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 10:44am

Rushed this yesterday with my student daughter and it was too funny! All ten or so people in line when I got there at 9:45 AM were under the impression the box office opened at 10 AM, so I got to inform them, that just as it says right on the front door of the theater and as it is the policy for every B'way theater I've dealt with, the box office opens at NOON on Sundays.

They started by giving away extreme side orchestra, and I was sad to be the first person to be offered mezzanine--which by the way, wasn't at all full. Happily, the mezz isn't that far away in that theater, and we relocated to some empty third row center seats at intermission, which was amazing.

I can't imagine anyone finding phony moments in Bernadette's performance. Her Send in the Clowns made me weep, and even though Stritch needed some off-stage help with Liaisons yesterday, she blew us away with the humor/pathos of her line deliveries. I originally had tickets to see this with CZJ and Lansbury that cost more than the student prices we paid yesterday and turned them back in when Zeta-Jones was too sick to perform, so I can't make a comparison. But wow, those two were lovely...and I was just transfixed!

[Hex3]

Posted: 7/26/10 at 8:08pm

Thanks to every one for the replies! I can't remember who told me to show up at 6...

[logan0215]

Posted: 7/28/10 at 11:06am

I swung by the theater and got a Student Rush ticket at 6:15PM. It was Row B of the bowel-cony but I moved down in to a box for the second act.

This was my first time seeing ALNM and have only had exposure to "Send in the Clowns" and "Ev'ry Day A Little Death" from youtube clips of Judi Dench, Maureen Moore & Carol Channing/Ruthie Henshall.

The show was breath-taking and the score was sumptuous as I had imagined it would be. I could have used less of the chamber singers throughout the first act as I felt they served their purpose as 'inner dialogues' best in the second act and really shined in the epilogue reprises. "Ah, well" was an absolute pisser last night.

*SPOILER ALERT - PLOT POINTS* As for the show itself, I have to say (this being my first exposure to the actual plot) I was almost taken aback by the "happy ending." After what felt like a heart-wrenching, yet permanent, goodbye during "Send In The Clowns," I was surprised that Desiree was so willing to play second fiddle to Anne for Fredrik. Perhaps this seemed odd due to the acting choices, but I just felt that the entire play was working up to a great reunion with a regrettable goodbye. For a play riddled with heartbreak throughout almost the entirety of both acts I was surprised to see everyone land in the right place alive, well and in love with the correct partner. I was hoping at the very least to see Charlotte slap Magnus and leave him after being freed of her contemptuous relationship. Also, I love Leigh Ann Larkin and was happy she had her chance to vocally shine, but where the hell did The Miller's Son come from? That wasn't even leftfield, that came from the Grand Central Parkway.*END SPOILERS*

The performances from the leading women were magnificent. With the number of concert tours and stuffy benefits Peters has done in the past decade it would be easy to forget what a gifted comedic actress she is which is one place that she truly shined and surprised me in last night. Her "Clowns" was, of course, revelatory and had the audience enraptured. For whatever reason, the moment I found tears truly streaming down my face was when the song had ended and she slowly creeped off the stage. It was haunting and heartbreaking.

Strichy was a hoot and as much as I thought her crass tone was possibly ill-fitted for a show with more classical grader, it was the perfect balance to the more somber themes and players in the cast. As stated somewhere else, the presence of these two women has truly elevated the cast and you can see it in the fervor for which they all attack these roles.

Not having seen the show until now, I don't have a means of comparison for Herdlicka & Mallory but I did enjoy their performance, although they did feel a bit caricatured. They played the emotions of their respective characters (somber/melancholy & flighty ingenue) to their extreme which worked but were their plot line to require any longer scenes I'm sure I would have found them grating by the end of the show.

As I stated above, I have watched clips of Maureen Moore's Charlotte and was so impressed therefore setting a fairly high bar for her Grey Gardens castmate Erin Davie to surpass. Davie was able to intertwine the silent scorn of her Charlotte with stellar comic timing which truly shined in the second act. I wish I enjoyed the way her and Mallory's voices sounded together more, but thankfully Davie has the majority of the singing in "Death."

Aesthetically I found the production to dance the line of feeling indoor and stuffy while bringing the outdoors on stage for the second act. For a rather simple set, I feel that it was serviceable but I do wish there was more decadence brought to the country chateau and more openness to a show that relies so much on lyrical imagery about the "summer's night," the sun setting and the moon rising.

This is definitely a "run, don't walk" opportunity to see some soon-to-be legendary performances.

Updated On: 7/28/10 at 11:06 AM

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 7/28/10 at 11:52am

This is a great post, thanks. Having seen the CZJ/AL version twice (and thoroughly enjoyed it) and this version once so far, I have a few additional thoughts. For one, the supporting cast (specifically Leigh Ann Larkin, HR Herdlicka, Ramona Mallory and Erin Davie have grown enormously in their roles since early in the run of the show. Second, no one, and I mean NO ONE, who considers themselves a fan of musicals can afford to miss Bernadette Peters' performance. Her rendition of SITC is going to be considered a classic, you'll tell your kids and grand kids that you saw it live. It will embed itself in your memory bank as one of those "moments." I believe that when the reviews come out on Monday (Aug. 2), you'll read similar thoughts. Finally, Elaine Stritch, who I thought might have been miscast when I first heard about her taking over the role of Mme., brings a brilliant and fresh interpretation to the part. Wonderful . To those who don't have tickets yet, I am guessing that they are going to be much harder to get post reviews.

[[tos]fan999]

Posted: 7/28/10 at 12:58pm

I too was at this past Saturday's matinee. Being obsessed with Night Music for years and it being my favorite show, I'll admit I was probably going to like it regardless of who was in it or how well they knew the show. But I was so happy when it blew my expectations out of the water. Bernadette was flawless, and besides one or two very minor line flubs, so was Elaine. They both made me laugh and cry and feel every emotion in between. The rest of the cast was great too, I was especially happy with Leigh Ann Larkin and her "Miller's Son". I left that theatre with more joy than I've felt in a long time. This will be one show I won't forget.