Reviewed by Tony Annicone
The closing musical at the University of Rhode Island is Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music.” The music and lyrics are by Sondheim while the book is by Hugh Wheeler. The musical was inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s “Smiles of a Summer Night” and is set in Sweden at the turn of the twentieth century. It concerns lives, affairs and entanglements of several couples. The original Broadway show opened on February 25, 1973 and ran for 601 performances. It won The Tony Award and The Critic’s Circle Award for Best Musical and was revived in 2009 with Catherine Zeta Jones as Desiree and Angela Lansbury as Mme. Armfeldt. The main character Fredrik Egerman, a lawyer is married to 18 year old virgin, Anne who is enamored of his son, Henrik. When spurned while to trying to consummate their marriage after 11 months, Fredrik seeks solace in the arms of a former love interest, Desiree who secretly had his child, Fredrika many years before. Add a pompous Count Magnus who is having an affair with her, his jealous wife, Charlotte who seeks revenge, Desiree’s elderly mother who courted royalty to gain her wealth, the young innocent, Fredrika and Petra, the promiscuous maid of the household to the mix. Also a Quintet sings many numbers, entering as a Greek chorus in and out of the scenes and you have the makings of this show. Director Paula McGlasson hones her college students into these complicated characters and elicits splendid performances from them. Musical director Lila Kane and her 4 piece orchestra bring out the lushness of the score while multitalented choreographers Dante Sciarra and Valerie Ferris create inventive dances with “A Weekend in the Country” as the standout number. Their combined efforts not only wins the cast a standing ovation, it also helps the audience to learn how the summer night smiles three times, once for the young, next for the fools and finally for the old.
McGlasson blocks the show expertly and also blends the dramatic and comic elements of the script together to garner them praise. The show begins with the cast waltzing together with the wrong partners but eventually by show’s end they are with who they really belong. Lila not only plays the piano for the show, conducts the orchestra but also taught the cast the difficult and intricate Sondheim score to them. Dante who is now a full time nurse, starred in many professional musicals in the past and definitely knows how to choreograph a show. Valerie is also a chorographer for the show. The whole cast appears and dances in “Weekend in the Country” as they arrive at the Armfeldt estate to have their secret desires and longings revealed to the audience as well as the Quintet does in numbers. The harmonies of the Quintet soar during the scene as they enter scenes and comment on the proceedings in music and dance. The members are Their numbers include the overture, “Perpetual Anticipation”, “Remember” and “The Sun Won’t Set.” The gorgeous period costumes are by Alison Walker Carrier especially impressive are the ladies gowns. The turn table set is by Renee Surprenant Fitzgerald which gives the scene changes a smooth transition from one scene to the next..
Leading the cast as Desiree is Emily Carter who is splendid. She captures the spirit of this much older woman who has lived her life in the theatre and enjoyed many men in her past. Carter’s singing voice sells her description of her life in the theatre in the joyous “The Glamorous Life” and later on tugs on your heartstrings in the poignant “Send in the Clowns” when she realizes how foolish she’s been in letting Fredrik slip out of her life all these years. The scene when she’s caught between her two lovers of the past and present is hilarious as Desiree holds Fredrik’s wet shirt and pants as the jealous dragoon Count who considers her his property, looks on. I last reviewed her as Ilse in “Spring Awakening” back in 2016. The role of Fredrik is played by J. Edward Clarke whom I last reviewed in “Unnecessary Farce” last summer. He does a great job in this more substantial role. The opening Trio of “Now”, “Soon” and “Later” with Anne and Henrik is terrific. Clarke’s other two numbers include the comic “You Must Meet My Wife” with Carter and “It Would Have Been Wonderful” with the Count in the second act.
The beautiful Emily Turtle plays the virginal Anne who is afraid to consummate her marriage to the older Fredrik. She has a glorious soprano voice which soars in her numbers. Turtle captures the naivete of the character perfectly. I last reviewed her as Mary Poppins last year. Brooks Shatraw plays the pensive seminary student Henrik who is the grown up son of Fredrik. He has a mad crush on Anne who is closer to his age than his father’s age. Shatraw’s strong tenor voice blends superbly with Clarke’s baritone and Turtle’s soprano to create beautiful harmonies together. I last reviewed him at URI as Bert in “Mary Poppins” last year.
Daniel Greene plays the chauvinistic pig, Count Magnus who mistreats every woman he’s been with. His song “In Praise of Women” is a tribute to himself and how he lords it over all of them. He is tall, blond and handsome and is excellently cast as this cad. I last reviewed him as Fred in “Noises Off” in December where he played a farcical role. Emily MacLean shines as Charlotte, the long suffering wife of the Count who must put up with his horrible bullying and mistreatment of her. Her song “Every Day, a Little Death” reflects how she deals with the situation of her life and why she puts up with her boorish husband. Maclean has many clever and witty one liners that she makes hit pay dirt. Lauren Janetti plays the oversexed maid, Petra who wants to take Henrik’s virginity away from him but ends up settling for the butler, Frid. Her song “The Miller’s Son” is the 11th hour number of the show that leaves the audience laughing merrily at her naughty and bawdy antics.
The sage of this show is Maria Day as Mme. Armfeldt who explains all the proceedings to her granddaughter and the audience. She imparts many words of wisdom along the way and stops the show with her enigmatic number “Liaisons” where she recounts her affairs of the heart splendidly. 10 year old Kate Rocchio does remarkable work as Fredrika. She gives the role the energetic portrayal of a young girl yearning to know about the ways of life that lie before her and hopefully learn from the mistakes of her mother and grandmother along the way. So for a marvelous rendering of one of Sondheim’s earlier musicals, be sure to catch “A Little Night Music” at URI before the cast waltzes its way out of town. I have pleasant memories of seeing the original cast in this show back on Broadway in 1974.
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (18 to 28 April)
URI, Studio J, Fine Arts Center, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston, RI
1(401)874-5843 or web.uri.edu/theatre
