A little night music original production information — Page 3

I thought I've read Gingold performed part of LIAISONS standing up with the cane, just as Lansbury does in the current revival.

Regina Resnick stayed in the wheelchair the whole time, falling asleep at the end of the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA2_jx9qiqc

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Updated On: 1/10/10 at 01:08 AM

Odd. I'm not saying you're wrong. But I've definitely read members on ATC recollecting when Gingold stood up for part of the number. Maybe they tried it out at one point?

Updated On: 1/10/10 at 01:12 AM

This is being discussed on ATC now. The general consensus is that Hermione performed the ENTIRE number out of the wheelchair.

http://talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat/d.php?id=1813732

The initial poster there says: "In her autobiography "How to Grow Old Disgracefully" Miss Gingold discusses getting out of her wheelchair during the London calls to prove to those in the audience who may have come to doubt it, that she could still walk."

That was my memory. But then another poster wrote:

"Madame Armfeldt immediately appeared at the proscenium with a cane, and performed the song slowly walking across the entire apron. I believe the original concept was that Madame Armfeldt is all-seeing and all-knowing (as evidenced by her line "The smile for the fools was particularly broad tonight," although she wasn't present for the events that inspire the line -- she's all-seeing, all-knowing).

"...I believe she sat down in the wheelchair waiting stage left just a few lines before the end of the song, thus to drift to sleep"

and I went "Ahhh..." and I do recall a sort of Bataan Death Watch in one, from one side of the stage to the other. So it wasn't about suddenly being able to walk. she was singing from inside her head, if that makes sense...the audience still knew she was unable to walk.

The interesting thing about the show and how the song as used in the show is that the point was that what she was saying was commenting critically on what Desiree and Frederik were doing, even though we were happy that Desiree and Frederik were actually doing it. That's so Sondheim: to make you feel good that they're having sex, then have a character sing about how that's part of what's wrong with the world.

It was clearly being performed in a Sondheimian world, both in the action and commenting on the action, but it was in no way about Mme. Armfeldt's mobility.

And though I remember her performing the number in the wheelchair, when I watch the Regina Resnick video, it seems wrong. I thought that was just my disappointment that it was Regina Resnick and not Hermione Gingold, but I think I also miss that staging, which made her like a ghostly figure, sleepwalking or something, and lamenting the changes in the world.

Nevertheless, she STILL kicked her leg up in the curtain call, to let us know she could really walk.

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Updated On: 1/10/10 at 07:05 AM

Gingold performed the entire song sitting in the wheelchair and falling asleep at the end of the song (on the Broadway cast recording she can be heard falling asleep on the last syllables of the last word of the song, liaisons). I don't doubt PalJoey's recollection given his personal experience with the original production, which he has described. I don't doubt this recollection of mine either.

That was the question that caused Jonathan Aitken's downfall as well.

The Guardian published a story in 1995 that implicated him in some apparently corrupt deals at selling arms to Saudi Arabia. He sued for libel but the case collapsed when he was proved to have lied about his whereabouts during the trial. He was then prosecuted for purjery. He served 7 months of his 18 month term (not years - yesterday was a long day) but the libel trial and subsequent perjury trial did go on for years.

All charges against Maria Aitken for drug smuggling were dropped.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/aitken

Ha - quick on the uptake there PJ!

Her lover is being touted as an Attitude cover model.

Will he eclipse Ben Cohen or be the Irish Levi Johnston?

Indeed.



She wouldn't have ended up in any of their predicaments.

So I pulled out my Souvenir Program from the Original Broadway production. On the back are the following quotes on the original production from some of the then current theatre critics

"I loved it." - Judith Crist, NBC Today Show

"It's an evening to treasure." - Charles McHarry, NY Daily News

"Witty, saucy, classy, stylish." - Jack Gaver, UPI

"Like a dry wine from a very good year." - Allan Wallach, Newsday

"Heady, civilized, sophisticated and enchanting. Good God! An adult musical." - Clive Barnes, NY Times

"Brilliant, beautifully performed, witty, fascinating--loaded to the proscenium with charming sin." - Jack O'Brian

"The finest new musical to come to Broadway in nearly a decade or, since 'Fiddler' opened." Martin Bookspan, WPIX-TV

"Throwing caution to the winds, I assert that 'A Little Night Music' comes as close as possible to being the perfect romantic musical comedy." - Brendan Gill, New Yorker

"A beautiful, daring, innovative musical." - Leonard Harris, CBS-TV

"I'm grateful to 'A Little Night Music.' A stunning production that gave me a great deal of pleasure. " - Emily Genauer, NY Post

"A sparkling gem. Waltz to the Shubert Theatre Immediately." - Emory Lewis, Bergen Record

"'A Little Night Music' is a jeweled music box of a show: lovely to look at, delightful to listen to." - T. E. Kalem, Time

"Thoroughly delightful, fresh and beautiful." - Richard Watts, NY Post

"The best musical this season. I had a wonderful time." - Leonard Probst, WNBC

"Here is areal magic that bursts forth to engulf the audience." - Rex Reed, NY Daily News

"The most deserving Tony Award winning musical in years." - Stanley Eichelbaum, San Francisco Examiner

To show how times and Broadway economics have changed, here are the last two paragraphs at the end of a lengthy article from The Wall Street Journal dated February 27, 1973, written by Stanley Grover and reprinted inside the covers of the program .

"...The financial ramifications of the criticism, however, won't be known for some time to come. To break even in terms of its operating costs, the show must gross $61,000 a week. (By contrast, "Follies"--with a cast of 55 and considerably more elaborate appurtenances needed $84,000 a week to break even.) At capacity, the 1,475-seat Shubert Theatre can gross a maximum of $108,000--meaning that if 'Night Music" does operate at full capacity from the beginning, it could begin to pay off its backers in about 12 weeks.

Broadway being what is is, no, at the moment, is making any predictions."

If I recall correctly, there's a great story about Hermione Gingold's audition. She was explaining to Sondheim and company how much she had in common with her character, meaning the age and whatnot, and then she pointed out how Armfeldt's wig slumps a bit at the end of Liasons, to which Hermione responded by taking her wig off revealing she was completely bald.



I could be mistaken, but this reminds me of something I read somewhere. Is it true that at the end of the play, when Mme Armfeldt dies peacefully, her wig is supposed to fall off? If so, does Angela's wig fall off in her dying scene?

We should add some *SPOILERS*

But no Angela's wig doesn't fall off. She drops her playing cards, and her head falls back against the wheelchair.



Good idea about the *SPOILERS* I'm relieved to know her wig doesn't fall off. I suppose, however, that I shouldn't ask too many *SPOILER* questions, because I hope to see the show myself one night. I'm waiting until the weather is much warmer, April at the earliest. That is why I'm hoping it's true that Angela will renew her contract and stay into June. I would so much love to see her again, and I will if I can make it again.