So, I Saw A Little Night Music (a month and a half behind the world)

[Kad]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 7:21pm

I mustered enough strength to bear the cold to rush A Little Night Music- for the curious, the maximum amount of people who could buy tickets was met by 11am easily. I'm sure if it hadn't been 16 degrees this morning, it would've been met earlier.

I was terribly afraid that my amount of time in the frigid air was going to lead to disappointment, going on all of the glorious opinions I've read on this board.

Perhaps my expectations were shot down so much that I was bound to enjoy this production, but I found it to be an extremely strong production and an extremely enjoyable time at the theatre; the 3-ish hours went by in a flash (thank god, considering standing that long is a feat).

My only experience with A Little Night Music comes from the original cast recording and the movie. So my only good experience comes from the original cast recording. When I first saw the promo video and heard the pared down orchestrations, I was nervous. And I very rarely kvetch about pared down orchestrations. But they worked for this production. The score's magnificence manages to be drawn out of even this small collection of instruments. The vocals were all wonderful from the whole cast.

In fact, I enjoyed the entire cast, mostly. The weak link was, for me, Ramona Mallory. Yes, in the first half she acts like a caffeinated manic-depressive chihuahua, ricocheting around the stage switching from giggly hysteria to weepy hysteria like it was being decided for her offstage on a roulette wheel. She mellows out considerably in the second act (in fact, the show gels the most in the second act and miraculously sheds a lot of its troubles) But her voice is wonderful, and I feel that she suffered from poor direction.

In fact, this production is riddled with poor directorial choices. Could Hunter Ryan Herdlicka not hit that note in "Later", or was it Nunn's choosing to have him... shriek it? (I, contrary to a lot of other people on this board, thought Herdlicka otherwise delivers a fine performance). Why does everyone in the first act meander purposelessly? I understand not wanting to have your actors look like they've been nailed to the boards during solos, but having them aimlessly wander like balloons set adrift is just as bad.

Angela Lansbury is wonderful as Mme. Armfeldt- though not as transcendent a performance as some would have you believe. Yes, she's good and the audience eats her up. And it's wonderful to hear her sing- presumably in the last musical she will ever do.

Zeta-Jones... well, I've had a place in my heart for her since Chicago. I thought she was terrific. I was worried, based on that promo video, she was going to be very big and false. Yet, upon watching that video again, it seems as though she has developed a GREAT deal, to the point where what's on that video is almost a caricature of what she delivers on stage. Her "Clowns" was, in my opinion, sublime.

Alexander Hanson was a great Frederik, though I feel he would slip into speak-singing at very odd times, particularly during "You Must Meet My Wife". It's not as though he can't sing- he can, and very well.

I had been led to believe that Erin Davie, in the first act, would be a weepy, heart-on-sleeve hysteric mess as Charlotte. Yet, I did not see that. She does indeed "break down" in her scene with Anne, but regains composure extremely quickly and delivers a "Everyday A Little Death" that is both cool and self-deprecating. Her Charlotte is still very dry, and at the performance I attended this afternoon got all of her laughs. Yet, she is not cold. I thought her take was slightly different, yet not wrong and it was quite affecting.

Aaron Lazar is great as Count Carl-Magnus, with perfect machismo and pomposity. Was his shirtless bit just stuck in there for fan service? Well, it was delightful, either way.


I don't understand the vitriol launched against this revival. But I have no experience with the fabled original production, I'm a generation or two removed from that. I can't say if the recording of this revival will ever take the place of the original for me, probably not. Yet this production was hardly offensive, and very enjoyable indeed. And the audience responded beautifully. I can't even remember the last time I saw an embrace get as much applause as when Desiree and Frederik at last end up together.

Updated On: 1/14/10 at 07:21 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 7:24pm

This was a nice read.

[NGeorgiaBwayFan]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 7:31pm

I thought the same thing -- very nice read. I agree with most everything you wrote.

So glad you enjoyed the show and that your time in the cold weather was worth it to you!

Saw the show twice last week. I thought it was wonderful.

[singtome8]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 8:25pm

I saw it last night and I thought that, as an overall production, it was great. I had an issue at first with Ramona Mallory's strange physicality, but by the end I believed her because she kept it consistent all the way through. I just believed that Anne was a psychotic little girl. Catherine was gorgeous, and although sometimes I felt she was a little screechy(The Glamorous Life) she was splendid. I loved her Desiree, I thought that she had a strong character and although she was a bit heartless, it worked. Her relationship with Frederik was very believable and I found myself rooting for them the whole time. Leigh Anne Larkin as Petra was funny, and she sounded amazing, but sometimes the way she speaks really irks me. I saw her in Gypsy and had the same problem. It was almost as if sometimes she had an accent, and other times she didn't. But she did get laughs and she has a strong presence on stage. It wasn't a flawless production, but it was definitely enjoyable- lots of laughs and some very natural, real moments on stage.

My main issue was that the theater was freezing where I was and I could hear people talking in the lobby for the first ten minutes of the show. And I think the kid next to me was drunk and he fell asleep. I then braved the cold and waited at the stage door. Alexander Hanson was so funny, standing around chatting with everyone despite the wind and cold. Catherine came out and signed for a few people, mostly just those of us right at the barricade. She was quiet, but it was nice that she came out despite the cold. I was disappointed Angela did not, but she is 84.

[fflagg]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 8:44pm

A sublime show 're-envisioned' through the myopic eye of a hack.

CZJ and Angela give award-caliber performances; as for the rest of the cast, not one word, not one note that comes out of their mouths is memorable.

A friend said that he played the OCR every day for a week to recover from this shoddy "tinny" production. I recommend that or the brilliant recording with Judi Dench.

[Kad]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 9:26pm

Your friend is very melodramatic.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 9:33pm

I cannot comment as I have not seen it & probably will not.

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 9:48pm

Kad, I would love to hear more about SRO. I have never done SRO before, but I'm heading up to New York this weekend and I would like to try that for Saturday evening's performance. It looks like it may not be as cold as when you went. What time did you arrive at the theatre? Were you the first in line? How does it work exactly? Will the Student Rush happen only if the performance is sold out? And how was the view from the standing room? I'm dying to see this production, and this sounds like a great way to experience it, but any info you could give me would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[Kad]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 10:13pm

I was up rather early today, and got to the theatre at about a quarter to ten and was the fourth in line. Mind you, the box office opens on noon on Sundays (10am every other day). I'd advise you to get there at least 2 hours to 1 1/2 hours before the box office opens. They offer a limited amount of rush tickets (I believe 13). When the box office opens, you pretty much get your spots in the order you have been waiting. $27 with a valid ID, one per person. On two show days, rush tickets for the matinee and evening are sold at the same time, right when the box office opens. So regardless if you want to see the evening or the matinee, you have to be there bright and early.

It is my understanding that rush will always occur regardless of how sold the show is.

The standing room spots are located behind Orchestra Left and Orchestra Right, and their view is excellent. The set is rather small and designed so that nothing is obscured for any part of the house at any point. I was on Orchestra Right, right in front of the Bar/Merchandise area.

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 10:17pm

Thanks, Kad! I can't wait to give it a try and I'm really looking forward to the show!

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 10:42pm

Kad, I pretty much totally agree with your opinions on this show...I also felt that Ramona Mallory was the weakest link in the cast, mostly due to poor (or just odd) direction.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 11:07pm

I'm glad you like the show.

I resolved never again to be the kind of Bitter Old Nasty Crank that fflagg just was and that I have been in numerous threads about West Side Story.

It will still post about why I loved an orginal production, when I saw the original productions (like I saw this original 6 times) and loved it. What I will no longer do is tell anyone why they should NOT enjoy this revival or any other.

I am happy people are enjoying A Little Night Music. It is one of my favorite pieces of entertainment ever. If you are interested my my memories of the original production, you can find them in the other threads. Please don't ask me what I thought of this one. It just doesn't matter.

If this production made you like the show, it is a success. The same goes for West Side Story.

Yours in Sondheim,

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 3:02am

The reason many of the older crowd are vitriolic is that this show debuted well within our lifetime. And by god, it was glorious. When you do a revival of a perfectly-cast, perfectly-mounted, perfectly-written show and you scrimp on the revival's sets and hire a Mattel Close-n--Play for the musical accompaniment when the original had a full, lush orchestra, you better hunker down and expect a few grenades to be lobbed.

I usually bemoan all the negativity that invades this site, but if you're gonna cheap out on one of the masters, I'll turn a blind eye to the response.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 3:21am

I agree with your rave for CZJ, she was amazing! Her version of Clowns was the best version I've ever heard and it was full of emotion. I loved the entire cast though, my only issue with Ramona was that sometimes I couldn't understand her lines while she talked, but I thought she was brilliant.

[fflagg]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 12:36pm

In this bitter crank's opinion, if you ask the public to plunk down more than $100 a seat then you had better give them their money's worth. If you remove CZJ and the sublime Angela you are left with a PTA-level production.

If you are a fan of the score, the book, Mr. S., and have the $, then by all means go and enjoy. But will this top/improve on the original and Dench prods? No. And that is sad.

Posted: 1/11/10 at 12:42pm

1) "I cannot comment as I have not seen it & probably will not." On this board, actually seeing a production is apparently NOT a prerequisite for criticizing it.

2) "What I will no longer do is tell anyone why they should NOT enjoy this revival or any other. " Bravo. I wish everyone would make this same resolution.
Updated On: 1/11/10 at 12:42 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 12:53pm

Thank you, Joe. I appreciate that.

[Kad]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 1:31pm

"In this bitter crank's opinion, if you ask the public to plunk down more than $100 a seat then you had better give them their money's worth. If you remove CZJ and the sublime Angela you are left with a PTA-level production."

Judging by the audience reaction at the performance I was at, I would say that if anybody felt they were not getting their money's worth, they were definitely in the minority. The production was richly embraced from the overture onward.

Honestly, I, and I believe a lot of the people who will be seeing this production, do not care if it tops previous productions of legend, because what do I have to go on for my opinion of the quality of those? Cast recordings, anecdotes, and some photos (in the case of the Dench production, a handful of video). The only thing I could fairly compare this revival to is the Lincoln Center staging from 1990, as I have seen the recording of that. Yes, I treasure the original cast recording, as I've said, and I even admitted that I doubt this revival's recording could ever take the place of it in any way. But I was not walking into the Kerr hoping to have my impressions of the original blown away, because what impressions have I of the original?

This is the production that will create a fully-formed impression of A Little Night Music for me, the kind of impression one can have for a show only by sitting (in my case standing) in a theatre and witnessing it live. I did not see the myopic mess that people with fond memories of sitting in the St. James in the 1970s saw. I saw a production that, albeit with flaws but hardly flaws large enough to scuttle the show, carried me away for 3 hours and that vindicated standing out in 16 degree frigidity for several hours and then some.

The minimalistic approach did not hamper my enjoyment, but I must concede that I am very much of this current theatrical generation, a generation that very much has embraced minimalism on stage. I have few memories of lush, opulent productions that graced the stages of the latter half of the 20th century, and most modern extravaganzas certainly, I imagine, turn that lushness into garishness.

I would hesitate to compare this revival to West Side Story, if we're speaking of revivals that are considered shadows of previous incarnations, because I would wager that audiences going into WSS have memories of the superb movie adaptation and thus have some sort of comparative material. WSS is more firmly etched into our society than A Little Night Music. Audiences entering the Kerr are most likely free of that baggage, as the movie is left in the dust by pop culture, essentially a curio that is at only at the back of the cabinet but probably under it. They're going in for some stargazing and it seems many are leaving with more than having seen an Oscar winner on stage.

I saw a production that was sublimely entertaining, just as PalJoey did 30 years ago. And perhaps that in 20 years another revival will come around, and I will be the one bitching about how it's a mess and can't compare to this. But I sorely hope not to let nostalgia embitter me to the point of refuting the happiness others may take.

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 1:34pm

Bravo
I wish I could sum up my feelings as eloquently.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 1:40pm

But I sorely hope not to let nostalgia embitter me to the point of refuting the happiness others may take.

Thank you, Kad. I hereby resolve to let that be my motto...

...until, of course, Andrew Lloyd-Webber lays his fat stubby piano-pounding fingers on The Wizard of Oz.

[Kad]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 1:46pm

There are, of course, lines that must be drawn.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 1:50pm

For all that has been said, I've found the whole ongoing debate about ALMN to be invaluable. It's precisely what I come here for. Not only have I questioned how I perceive ALNM, I've also questioned how I perceive late nineteenth century drama as well.

And since my two big theatre events for February are An Enemy of the People and the Paris production of ALNM I am well geared up for both of them.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 8:03pm

Some of us have bemoaned this production because it IS on Broadway. Until someone else does a full sized production again, this, by default, will be the "official Broadway" production in the minds of so many people who never saw the original.

Sometimes, mounting a revival is an amazing work of recreation, detection and just plain lucky guessing. It took years to put "Me and My Girl" back onstage. I know. I contributed musical material to the producer who was the son of the composer and HE didn't have a complete copy of the script and score. The scripts and scores for many older shows are missing, the orchestrations are a hodge-podge of road company parts and cut-and-paste jobs used ti generate amateur versions or moldering old piles of manuscript stored for decades in warehouses.

ALNM, on the other hand, comes with a full set of instructions and a living composer. For those of us who were lucky enough to see the original, to feel the full force of a full orchestra attacking that dense, complex score, eight musicians is an anemic reflection of what is one of the truly great masterpieces of the Broadway stage.

That Broadway, the crass, commercial capital of public entertainment could foster shows like ALNM and "Sweeny Todd" is a wonder in and of itself.

Recently Todd was revived as a paint-by-number gimmick and now ALMN has been mounted with accompaniment of a band small than any wedding I've ever attended.

The heart is easily broken and this is what is breaking mine.

[Operagod01]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 3:11am

I saw it this weekend and wa so disappointed. I must first say that it is a very talented cast that could have been amazing!

I knew we were in serious trouble when the revised version of the overture started; it was dark, dull, and quite a bore. The singers are very good, but the re-working for Nunn's concept ruins everything (for me and for MANY of the NYC actors that have seen the show.

Good lord! Ramona Mallory is a very talented young lady, but her Anne was a combination of "Clara's Tirade" (Piazza) and a young Beggar Women (Sweeney). Why on earth would Frederik be intested in such a nut case? Doesn't make sense? We should know immeadiately "why" Frederik is so enamored with Anne.As immature as Anne is, she should have a quality so effervescent (something missing from this entire production) that we fall in love with her and understand why Frederik keeps hoping.

Hanson is wonderful!!!! Zeta-Jones is so beautiful that you forget she's not an ideal Desiree. She does a very good job of it, but we could all name a ton of NYC actresses that could have done the part. Lots of "Send in the Clowns" had NO final consonants....... My big problem with she and Hanson is that they don't have a connection. The key to Desiree and Frederick is that they really have a good time together because they have a special connection. That was not happening here. They had a good relationship, but not that kind that makes you want them to be together.

It didn't even bother me that the orchestra was a chamber verison. Yes, I LOVE it when it's done with the full orchestration, but I don't hold it against the revival.... It's that they played so DULL and lifeless!!!!

It's great to bring the drama of this work out more, but why throw away all the joy? These characters were not people you cared about at all. They became whinny complainers!!!

Angie always brings something to any role she performs. I adore her! She did some things with the role that I have never seen before (I have seen MANY productions of ALNM). But... if they were going for a "younger" cast, why on earth have someone that could be Desiree's grandmother? Doesn't make sense! That said, she saves this production with her wonderful diction and amazing intentions.

Lazar was wondeful as CM. Under a different director he would have been Amazing! Same with Erin Davie! So much talent and some really fine work, but limited because of Nunn's direction and concept. I will say that act II found she and Lazar in much better shape and quite fine! Act II was much better in general. It's too bad because Act I is pretty important. LOL

OH!Katherine Leigh Doherty as Fredrika was outstanding!

If Angie and Zeta-Jones were not in the show. It would have closed by now. There's no real magic as a cast and I blame Nunn for that. It IS cast well, but they have been directed in such a way that doesn't do them or this show justice.

Might it win Best Revival? Sure, but I think that will go to Ratime or Finian's.

My two cents!

[Operagod01]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 3:14am

I should know better. It's Fredrik NOT Frederik.