A Little Night Music

Trevor Nunn's revival of Stephen Sondheim's operetta A Little Night Music at the Walter Kerr Theatre is pure enjoyment. No elaborate staging, no powerful orchestra and yes, even a few sluggish moments. Nevertheless, presented as an intimate chamber musical, the smaller scale works. Lynne Page's lilting melodic choreography is graceful and Sondheim's songs are lyrically stirring and tied to the plot.

The big star ticket-magnets are gorgeous Catherine Zeta-Jones and theater's treasure, Angela Lansbury. In her Broadway debut, Catherine Zeta-Jones commands the stage as Sweden's leading lady, Desirée Armfeldt, disillusioned with the artificiality of her life. Zeta-Jones is compelling with a sensuous strength. She finds the sophisticated timing of the romantic comedy. She moves confidently and she deftly handles the show's most familiar song, "Send in the Clowns," ruefully accepting the lost opportunities of life, interpreting it with poignancy and vulnerability.

Desirée's mother, the once desirable courtesan, Madame Armfeldt, is played by Angela Lansbury. Lansbury radiates sharp sagacity, punctuating every line with wit and clarity, demanding the audience sit up and savor. She is brilliantly witty with "Liaisons," the standout remembrance of her lovers, her delicious romances and tearful disappearances.  She disdains the lack of style and skill she sees around her. "Where's discretion of the heart? Where's passion in the art?"

The 1973 Tony Award-winning musical, with book by Hugh Wheeler, is based on Ingmar Bergman's film, Smiles of a Summer Night. This production originated in London at the Menier Chocolate Factory with orchestrations by Jason Carr. Alexander Hanson skillfully reprises his London role as Fredrik Egerman, a well-off, middle-aged lawyer who was once in love with Desirée. He recently married the much younger, flighty Anne, but is unable to consummate their marriage. Fredrik remembers the fascinating Desirée.  She understood him.

When he and Desirée meet again, Fredrik sings, "You Must Meet My Wife," and her snide replies include, "I'm just longing to meet her. Sometime."  Actually, Desirée is ready for a more stable life but has another lover, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm, played with fierce jealousy and military swagger by Aaron Lazar. His frustrated wife, Charlotte (Erin Davie), is embittered by his infidelities and defines her anger beautifully in a conversation with Anne relating that "Every Day a Little Death."

Desirée arranges a summer weekend at Madame Armfeldt's country home, inviting the Egermans, the Count and Charlotte, among others. An amusing moment has Fredrik introducing his teenage wife to Desirée, who in turn, responds dryly, "And this is my daughter," as she presents young Fredrika (Keaton Whittaker alternating with Katherine Leigh Doherty).  Fredrika, Fredrik's out-of-wedlock daughter, lives with her grandmother, who advises the child about love.

The cast is almost uniformly effective. In the Egerman's home is Fredrik's son Henrik who is consumed with playing the cello, the teachings of Martin Luther, and a secret longing for his stepmother Anne. The lusty maid, Petra (Leigh Ann Larkin), declares in the clever "The Miller's Son," that before marriage, "A girl ought to celebrate what passes by." Unfortunately, there is a weak link in the show. As Anne, Ramona Mallory overplays her immaturity to such giggly heights that she seems more like eight years old than 18.

Against David Farley's set of birch trees and mirrored panels, his costumes are lovely though minimalist. Then again, Sweden can be bleak even on a summer night. Wheeler's wistfully adult book is perfect for A Little Night Music and Sondheim's waltzes and smart lyrics touch the heart with intimate brilliance.

Pictured: Angela Lansbury, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Keaton Whittaker. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
December 19, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org