Based on Ingrid Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night, Stephen Sondheim's 1973 adaptation A Little Night Music is a curiosity of a show, with its score being written almost entirely in waltz time. Despite providing one of Sondheim's most popular standards ("Send in the Clowns"), the show is rarely performed due to its musical complexity.
The Show
Stephen Sondheim's musicals are often called cold and distanced, and while the reputation is not always deserved, it is here. While the lyrics contain a wealth of inspired and sharply passages, they combine with Hugh Wheeler's book to form a witty and intellectual yet detached look at romance. Combined with Bergman's film style and Trevor Nunn's smart direction, Night Music goes to the brain but bypasses the heart.
The plot here is simple yet complex: The middle-aged Frederik has married Anna, his 18-year-old neighbour, and she is having difficulty with consummating the marriage. At the same time, Frederik's son Heinrik is studying to become a minister yet lusts after Anna, who is younger than he is. When one of Heinrik's old flames, a touring actress, returns to town with a jealous Brigadier-General (inconveniently married to one of Anna's friends) as her current on-again off-again lover, a question of romantic relationships blooms and withers over a weekend in the country.
A Little Night Music - The London Production
Despite the Menier's limited space, David Farley's set seems positively expansive, a series of moveable doors and arches which change from house to stage to garden, devoid of colour in a creamy white. Mr. Farley's costumes are period appropriate and equally faded, with only a touch of coloured light representing the eternal sunset of the Scandanavian summer.
As mentioned above, Trevor Nunn has redeemed himself from his contributions to last year's disastrous Gone With The Wind. The pacing is appropriately driven by the characters (fast and flustered for Anne and Henrik, more leisurely for Desiree and Frederik).
A Little Night Music - The Transfer
As stated above, A Little Night Music is set to move to the West End's Garrick Theatre at the end of March 2008. With this transfer will come more space onstage, a likely increase in the sets, and a loss of intimacy all at a steeply higher ticket price: Instead of an across the board ticket in the £35 range, seats in the stalls will be pushing £60 on weekends and £55 during the week.
The question is, does A Little Night Music justify the cost? Word of mouth on the production is split, with the majority finding it as exceptional as the critics, but a vocal minority also disheartened with the distance the show takes from true emotion. What audiences appreciate at £35 is also not the same as what they expect for £60. The best advice? Wait for discounts to appear (most of the sites listed within are still valid in the Spring!)
Jonathon Collis - Author is based in London, England.
