First Look: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC in Paris — Page 2

Oh! Fredrika doesn't get a piano on Broadway. HEHEHE.

alterego, did you happen to see the Opera Australia production last year? Now that was lush and well designed despite it's simplicity/minimalism.

I'm debating whether to see the Opera Australia production; it will be after seeing the NY revival though (the Sydney season).


I don't want to ruin memories..

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It looks like a harpsichord, doesn't it?

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...a fairly unattractive dress. Yes it does look like a harpsichord.

qolbinau, I would avoid the OA production, it isn't good.

I think Kristin Scott Thomas knew what she was doing when she slipped and tripped out of this production.

I would hate to think that productions of A Little Night Music became homogeneous as though they had been churned out of a musical comedy sausage factory but this production was, to quote one of my Sondbuds "a real curate's egg". You may not have liked the concept that the Menier production went with but it did produce a consistent and coherent whole. The Paris production seemed to be pulling in several opposing directions.

Where to begin? With the design concept I think. The programme was full of Munch and Klimt paintings and these artists were the obvious influences for the set design for Acts 1 and 2 respectively. So Act 1 was set within pitch black walls whose paint was peeling: it looked like what you see on a tour of an abandoned but listed building where the dry rot and rising damp are pervasive. The curtains for Desiree's performance at the theatre were torn, ripped, threadbare and covered with mildew. Transplant into this Lambert Wilson's performance as Fredrik straight out of a Carry On film, a silly old man on a nookie hunt, and you have incongruity number one. Then at the end of Act 1, as A Weekend in the Country reached its climax, the black wall lifted to reveal a golden sunset as golden leaves shimmered down from above. It was as if the line about being "covered with glitter or even been covered with mould" had been taken too literally.

And, yes, Leslie Caron did dance briefly but beautifully during the overture before picking up her cane and getting into her wheelchair. The audience loved this star entrance but it was totally inappropriate for the character (incongruity number 2). It jarred. And, as in the video, she acted by waving her arms about a lot.

Greta Scacchi was a voluptuous and rumbustious Desiree and she brought moments of revelation to Send in the Clowns but she was frequently off note. When she was "a wolf" you knew she was only talking about her sandwich. There were also a lot of blown lyrics from many members of the cast throughout the evening and a general feeling that there hadn't been enough rehearsal time. The audience wouldn't have picked up much of this for they were clearly reading from the surtitles and laughing at the points when they had read them, rather than at the actors' delivery. David Curry's Henrik was perfectly sung but low on revelation. He managed to look beautifully crestfallen after catching a glimpse of Anne in her underwear but when it came time to let the birds nest in his hair there was no sense of a sex bomb about to be unleashed on the world.

On the positive side the orchestra was perfect, full and sounded beautiful. The sex bomb unleashed here was Nicholas Garret as the Count in magnificent voice, and with magnificent comic timing and acting way beyond that I would expect from an opera singer: this was the one truly outstanding performance of the evening and I wondered if he had decided to ignore everything around him and give the performance he thought appropriate rather than the one he was directed to give. Francesca Jackson (one of the runners-up in the reality TV show for casting Oliver) also acquitted herself well bringing more subtlety and nuance to Petra after the over-sexualised portrayal of this character in the Menier production. And Damian Thantrey made rather more of Mr Lindquist than usual, turning him into an eminence grise (it's a French audience - there had to be one but it wasn't Frid) as he observed events and led the liebeslieder quintet in their commentary on the happenings.

The audience reaction was positive with some members giving a standing ovation whilst others left quickly but if this production were to be part of a process to convert the French to appreciate Broadway musicals I wouldn't like to guess whether its contribution was successful. For me it wasn't a patch on either the Menier or the National productions.

Incidentally, being in Paris and in an example of Sondheim-anoraks-go-trainspotting, I and another Sondhead took the opportunity to make a visit to the



to see where Sunday took its inspiration from.

If anyone would like me to upload some photographs of the place let me know.

Updated On: 2/21/10 at 10:59 AM

Scacchi's dress and wig are awful, but I don't think she sounds bad at all. She's not a singer, and she's not trying to sing. But she is conveying emotion. The role, after all, wasn't written to for a great singer.

It's wonderful to hear the score played by a full orchestra again.

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Updated On: 2/21/10 at 12:07 PM