A New York Times Film Critics' Take on A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

By: Dec. 27, 2009
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The New York Times film critic A.O. Scott, who recently attended the Broadway production of 'A Little Night Music', offers an exploratory analysis of artistic parallels between the Broadway musical revival and Ingmar Bergman's 1955 film 'Smiles of a Summer Night', starring Gunnar Bjornstrand and Eva Dahlbeck, which served as the inspiration for Stephen Sondheim's 'A Little Night Music'.

In his piece, Scott says, "The genetic links between the two pieces are very close, to the extent that quite a bit of dialogue heard (or, for the non-Swedish speaker, read) in Bergman's movie resurfaces in the show."

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The first Broadway revival of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC starring Academy Award-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones, five-time Tony Award®-winner Angela Lansbury and Olivier Award-nominee Alexander Hanson, opened on December 13, at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Desirée Armfeldt, Angela Lansbury as Madame Armfeldt, Alexander Hanson as Fredrik Egerman, Aaron Lazar as Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm, Erin Davie as Countess Charlotte Malcolm, Leigh Ann Larkin as Petra, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka as Henrik Egerman and Ramona Mallory as Anne Egerman. The cast also includes Stephen R. Buntrock, Bradley Dean, Katherine Leigh Doherty, Marissa McGowan, Betsy Morgan, Jayne Paterson, Kevin David Thomas, Keaton Whittaker, Karen Murphy, Erin Stewart, Kevin Vortmann.

Based on Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC is set in a weekend country house in turn of the century Sweden, bringing together surprising liaisons, long simmering passions and a taste of love's endless possibilities. Hailed as witty and wildly romantic, the story centers on the elegant actress Desirée Armfeldt and the spider's web of sensuality, intrigue and desire that surrounds her.

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC - featuring a score by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler - originally opened in 1973 at Broadway's Shubert Theatre and ran for 601 performances. Produced and directed by Harold Prince, the production garnered six Tony Awards® including Best Musical and Best Original Score. The Sondheim score features one of the composer's best-known songs, "Send in the Clowns," as well as "Every Day a Little Death," "The Miller's Son" and "A Weekend in the Country."

Tickets for A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC are available by calling Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200, (800) 432-7250 outside the NY metro area, online at Telecharge.com or in person at the Walter Kerr Theatre box office (219 West 48th Street). For A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC group sales, contact Theatre Direct International at 212-541-8457 x 2, or outside the NY metro area at 1-800-BROADWAY x 2. Tickets on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays range in price from $52 to $132. Tickets on Friday, Saturday & Sunday range in price from $57 to $137.

For more information visit www.NightMusicOnBroadway.com.

 


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