"A Little Night Music"--Center Stage, Baltimore, First Preview

[roquat]

Posted: 3/15/08 at 12:58am

The first thing you see when you enter the theatre is--a blue wall. The back wall of the stage has been painted a bright Smurf blue (the bricks and pipe show through) surrounded by an enormous battered-looking gilt frame. Several smaller picture frames, plush chairs, a dressing screen, and a chandelier suspended just above the stage floor complete the picture.

The five lieder singers are attired in Pierrot-like mime costumes, which they don't keep on for long--nor does anyone else in this sex-obsessed production. I've never seen so many actors tearing off each other's clothes in my life. This is not a complaint, mind you--it just takes a little getting used to. I don't know where they could have found the lieder singers, who are certainly used more physically than we're used to (they all have stunning voices)--during "Remember", for example, they chase each other around the stage barefoot (in robes and corsets) and tumble over one another in a large bed which slides on and off the stage (this bed is central to most of the scenes). When the flirtatious maid Petra (Sarah Uriarte Berry) zeroes in on the prissy, repressed Henrik (Josh Young), she unceremoniously shoves her face into his crotch. Later, when this same Petra finds a more responsive partner in the lusty servant Frid (Jonathan C. Kaplan) their seduction scene goes as far as is humanly possible to go on stage (the audience draws in its breath)--it's actually a relief when the scene is interrupted.

All this uninhibited physicality actually illustrated the theme--that love and desire make all of us into clowns--more convincingly than the conversations did. The production is alive in the details and the margins, but its center is lacking. Barbara Walsh (Desiree) and Stephen Bogardus (Frederick) are good singers and pleasant musical-comedy performers, but the roles require actors. Bogardus has a lightweight, TV-style presence; his speeches barely register (he has none of the puzzled anguish Len Cariou managed to bring even to the dreadful movie version). Walsh wears the same grimacing smile in every scene, and her "Send in the Clowns" vanishes from memory before it's finished. She's also rather cruelly treated by the costumer, who puts her in very strange, inelegant shades of green and brown. In "A Weekend in the Country", she wears the most horrifying hat I have ever seen--it looks like a partially digested hamburger that is eating her head.

Polly Bergen had considerable difficulty with her lines and lyrics as Madame Armfeldt--she went up in the middle of "Liaisons" ("What once was a rare champagne/Is now just an amiable hock" came out as "What once...champagne...is now..." and I swear I heard the "f" word). Maxwell Caulfield's gravelly vibrato destroyed Carl-Magnus' songs (he was allowed to strut offstage holding the high note at the end of "In Praise of Women" for WAAAAAY too long). Fortunately, Kate Baldwin displayed catlike comedy timing as the Countess, and Josh Young imbued the normally lifeless role of Henrik with so much screaming sexual frustration you couldn't take your eyes off him (he also has the best voice among the men in the cast.) You couldn't take your eyes off Sarah Uriarte Berry during "Miller's Son", either--she has a killer voice and a passionate fury that made me wonder why the show wasn't about her (or, at least, why she wasn't cast as Anne--a rather fluttery, one-note performance by Julia Osborne.) The score was GLORIOUSLY sung by one and all, especially the choral numbers (no mean feat, when the cast had to dress themselves while delivering the last chorus of "Weekend"--several were gasping for air before the end). And Wayne Barker's orchestra reduction actually worked for this score--it added to the feeling of wistfulness and evanescence (especially the clarinet and harp solos during "Send in the Clowns"). There are several things to be worked out, obviously, but a thrilling production nonetheless--one of the rare ones where the flaws are just as interesting as the (considerable) strengths.

[walkedthroughmany]

Posted: 3/15/08 at 2:18am

Thanks for your review, this sounds interesting. Are they considering this production for Broadway at all?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/15/08 at 2:34am

I'm not surprised Walsh doesn't make a good Desiree.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 3/15/08 at 2:39am

^Ditto.

[kissmeimirish]

Posted: 3/15/08 at 8:23am

never mind that, does Maxwell take his shirt off? and didn't Sarah already play Anne in the DC Sondheim festival?
Updated On: 3/15/08 at 08:23 AM

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 3/15/08 at 8:24am

I totally agree when I heard that Walsh was her, I just thought o God no. She doesn't have the delicate touch Desiree needs IMO

[roquat]

Posted: 3/15/08 at 1:48pm

No and yes. Maxwell, like most of the cast, did get down to his underwear, but no further. Yes, I was disappointed too, especially as whatever they saved on a backdrop had evidently gone into a personal trainer for EVERYONE. Sarah Uriarte Berry has played Anne before, and I wish she had this time. And Walsh just never got close. During "You Must Meet My Wife", she delivered the line "What is she, a bird?" as if it were a broad vaudeville joke--and laughed at it herself (no one else did). That's a line that needs a through-the-teeth delivery; Liz Taylor managed it more subtly, for heaven's sake.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 3/15/08 at 2:12pm

Thanks for the review. Hopefully performances will grow before I see it.

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 3/15/08 at 2:28pm

Same here, I really hope the performances grow, as I should be seeing it soon. I live close to the theatre anyway, so I should be able to find some time to go.

Updated On: 3/15/08 at 02:28 PM

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 3/15/08 at 3:16pm

Mmmm... I'll have to check this out. The theater's down the street from my apartment.

Any Charm City-dwelling posters wanna go?

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 3/15/08 at 6:22pm

Thanks for your review!

[BroadwayBaby21]

Posted: 3/15/08 at 6:28pm

Thanks for the review! I'm seeing it at the end of the month with my theatre department, and appreciate the feedback. :)

[sanda]

Posted: 3/15/08 at 6:29pm

Mmmm... I'll have to check this out. The theater's down the street from my apartment.

Any Charm City-dwelling posters wanna go?



Here, here. Do they offer half price student rush for this show?

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/16/08 at 3:57am

Surprisingly, people over at ATC are LOVING this production.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/16/08 at 4:06am

Really? Maybe they are all Murray posting with different SN's. He always seems to hate everything people like, and love everything people dislike, so there you go. I NEVER trust people on ATC for reliable reviews...EVER.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/16/08 at 12:42pm

Roquat is the only one who has seen it here though. Multiple posters have posted there how great it is. One has even said Barbara Walsh is giving a great star turn. Updated On: 3/16/08 at 12:42 PM

[crixie]

Posted: 3/17/08 at 4:11pm

A very keen assessment, Roquat. I saw the 3/15 Saturday evening performance. Ms. Bergen had her lines and lyrics in order, but she doesn't bring much to the role, alas, and I'm a big fan.

I'm with you all the way on your critiques of the other performers and the sexually-charged atmosphere. I don't know if, at this point, anyone can reign in Mr. Caulfield; he is almost an embarrassment.

A flawed production, but there is always that gorgeous music, wonderfully played and sung in most cases. And yes, Kate Burton is a stand-out as Charlotte.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/17/08 at 4:32pm

How I would love to see Kate Burton play the Countess (though she's probably too old for the role at this point), but alas, Burton is not part of this production, Crixie, Kate Baldwin is.

[crixie]

Posted: 3/17/08 at 5:25pm

Oh...God. My first post here and I screw it up.

I'll just go sit in the corner for a while until I get my actors' names straight.

Apologies!

[myshikobit]

Posted: 3/17/08 at 8:19pm

Oh my gosh. I was just listening to this today. The "hip bath" is hilarious. And I love "You Must Meet My Wife" and "Everyday a Little Death" and of course, "Send In The Clowns"

[warren3]

Posted: 3/21/08 at 10:11am

Hi there, I couldn't disagree with you more. Maybe it was just opening night but I loved this production. The cast was great, the set ,costumes and lights were all beautiful and the direction inovative.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 3/21/08 at 10:23am

We are seeing the show next month -- cannot wait. I worked with Barbara many years ago, and am a big fan of Ms. Bergen's.

We are training up and spending the day in Baltimore before we see the show on a Saturday night ... besides the Aquarium (one of my favorites) any recommendations for other things to do? Restaurants?

[sanda]

Posted: 3/21/08 at 10:32am

You can see the Barns&Noble book store in inner harber which is built from an old electricity plant. It's very cool.

You can also go to Mount Vernon historic district in Charlse Street. There are plenty bars, restaurants and boutiques. There are Walter Art Museum and Peabody Music Conservetory there as well. Very old and chic place.

Fells Point gets lots of bars and restaurants and it's right at the harber so you will have a nice view when you drink.
Updated On: 3/21/08 at 10:32 AM

[sanda]

Posted: 3/29/08 at 10:17am

I just saw the show yesterday. This is the first time I saw a show in Center Stage and I thought they did an amazing job.

I have a question though. When Hendrick played the cello and sang "later", was that really Josh Young playing or just acting? If it was him playing then wow, he is truly talented. If not then I think he is talented as well cause he completely fool me.

[SweetOscar]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 10:11pm

Can I send fanmail to the Theatre? Where should I send it exactly? thanks!
Updated On: 4/1/08 at 10:11 PM