London's 'A Little Night Music' For Broadway.- Page 2

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/24/09 at 2:12am

I think a younger Charlotte could work very well. I kind of hope our revival doesn't go with Baranski who did the concert; she is way too old for the role.


I also wonder if our revival will keep the addition of SILLY PEOPLE, that is a change I will welcome. It's a wonderful song. Updated On: 2/24/09 at 02:12 AM

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 2/24/09 at 2:47am

"But in the time the show is set, wouldn't a woman nearing 40 be considered 'late in [her] career'?

"I thought the younger casting in the London production worked very well - especially in the case of Charlotte. How does it make sense that Anne is 18 and went to school with Charlotte's sister, and then most productions cast Charlotte as 45."

One difference between Smiles of a Summer Night and A Little Night Music is that Desiree has a 4-year-old son in the former, whereas she has a 13-year-old daughter in the latter. It's been 14 years since Fredrik and Desiree have last seen each other. She complains that in the old days, he walked out on her performances as Hedda and Phaedra. Hannah Waddingham is 34 or perhaps 35, having been born in 1974. She was playing Hedda and Phaedra when she was 20? She was already a famous actress when she was 20?

In too many recent productions, Desiree has been 60ish. Penny Fuller, about to play the role in White Plains, is 68. That's wrong. But 30-35 is also wrong.

Clearly, Desiree should read as about 45. That makes sense of the chronology while not being too old to make sense of other things in the show, such as Anne's catty comment that Desiree must be at least 50, prompting Fredrik to respond that he doesn't think she looks that old. Anne's line makes no sense if Desiree really does look 50. Anne's clearly being catty out of her own insecurity.

Actually, this was all discussed before at https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=986430#3735748

I agree completely about Charlotte. Flower girls are usually between four and eight, at least in the United States. Since Anne would be about the same age as Charlotte's younger sister, it would seem that Charlotte would have been at least 10 years older than Marta. (Although since Marta is now teaching gymnastics in a school for retarded girls, perhaps she was a year or two older than Anne.) Anyway, I think it makes sense to play Charlotte as late 20s-early 30s. And it makes it all the more galling for both Charlotte and Anne if they are afraid of losing their husbands to an older woman.

Of course, it does seem as if the creators didn't necessarily think out the chronology of all of this too carefully. For one thing, it does seem as if Fredrik in the musical had his affair with Desiree while his wife was still alive, making them both less sympathetic.

Indeed, in some ways Desiree isn't all that sympathetic a character. She's having an affair with one woman's husband while plotting to steal another woman's husband and she's more or less abandoned her child.

I really feel that a Desiree who's too young simply can't have the kind of poignancy that a Desiree in her mid-40s can have and that seems to have been intended for the role. As I wrote in that other thread, "The other finalist for the role, along with Glynis Johns, was Tammy Grimes, who would have been just 39 when the show opened if she had been cast.

"They said the main reason they chose Johns was that she conveyed more vulnerability, which may have been partly the result of her being older.

"But it also says something about their point of view. In the movie, the actress playing Desiree conveys very little vulnerability. She's in charge, she's plotting, she's strong, she's decided what she wants and there's little doubt that this woman can get what she wants. And that's the right way to play the role given the screenplay. She's quite wonderful.

"Also, in the movie Desiree doesn't have the kind of combative relationship with her mother that she has in the musical. She isn't dominated by her mother to some degree, as she is in the musical.

"There's no scene in the movie that corresponds to the 'Send in the Clowns' scene."

[lvpblues]

Posted: 2/24/09 at 3:31am

Tammy Grimes was considered to replace Johns when Johns was ill during the show's tryout/preview period. However, she was vetoed when she refused to wear the red dress in act two. She said that the character wouldn't wear it at a garden party. Sondheim told he loved the dress and it was staying. She has been very honest about this in interviews.

As for Fuller, she's older than what is generally accepted for the role, but as evidenced in "Dividing the Estate" she can read much younger onstage. (Considering she's one year removed from Liz Ashley, who was playing her mother).

I think the "Night Music" needs to use the original Tunick orchestrations. I thought with the revivals of "Gypsy," "South Pacific," and now "Guys and Dolls" and "West Side Story" with full pits, we would continue seeing this trend. Given the sumptuous operetta nature of the score, severe reductions and Doyle stagings would not be conducive to the piece.

As for the casting, the stage version of Desiree is removed from the film character in many ones, one being that she is written older for the musical, it's in the script and the subtext of the words and lyrics. I'm all for Emma Thompson, by the way, opposite Angela Lansbury or Patricia Routledge as Madame Armfeldt.

It's been 36 years since the original production has opened, and is more overdue for a revival than "Merrily." Just my $.2

Regards,
~Kev

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/24/09 at 3:41am

I'm all for Emma Thompson, by the way, opposite Angela Lansbury or Patricia Routledge as Madame Armfeldt.

- Natasha Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave are already cast in the roles.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 2/24/09 at 3:57am

"Tammy Grimes was considered to replace Johns when Johns was ill during the show's tryout/preview period. However, she was vetoed when she refused to wear the red dress in act two. She said that the character wouldn't wear it at a garden party. Sondheim told he loved the dress and it was staying. She has been very honest about this in interviews."

Grimes was hurriedly brought in for discussions when Johns fell ill during Broadway previews, since she had been the other finalist for the role. When Johns was back two days later, any objections Grimes had became moot.

I would imagine that if Johns wasn't able to come back and they really needed Grimes, they would have worked things out.

Besides, it's not a garden party. The dress would be ridiculous at a garden party, but it's a dinner party in a country house. It's indoors in an elaborate dining room that, in the original production, was dominated by a rather large Titian. In Smiles, the characters are all in evening dress in the corresponding scene.

Of course, I don't doubt that Grimes said those things.

Btw, Grimes played Madame Armfeldt in 1994 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

[lvpblues]

Posted: 2/24/09 at 4:39am

LJay, I'm aware of the casting, was just stating my personal preference is all

NobodyHome,

TM: There was some talk, when Glynis Johns fell ill during previews of A Little Night Music, that you might be brought in.

TG: I talked to them and said, "Well, that character would not wear a red dress to a lawn party." Stephen Sondheim said, "I love that red dress, and that red dress is staying." And I knew I wasn't.

My apologies for misquoting Ms. Grimes. The rest of the interview is very interesting too.
The Unsinkable Tammy Grimes

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 2/24/09 at 9:09am

Emma Thompsons name was only mentioned for a short while when the production was first rumored last August. Many thrilling names were.
Then when Nunn confirmed the production for a December opening her name was never mentioned again.

[Brick]

Posted: 2/24/09 at 12:12pm

ljay, so Natasha Richardson and Vannessa Redrave are definitely attached? I know the rumour was the reading cast would be in the coming revival, but have you heard more regarding those two?

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/24/09 at 12:43pm

Riedel posted the same info as the OP of this thread. So it looks like it's a done deal.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 2/24/09 at 2:46pm

lvpblues, I don't think you misquoted Grimes. I'd read that interview when it was first posted at Theatremania. I do love Grimes. And her story is more or less confirmed in Prince's book, Contradictions. Just wanted to clarify again that I wasn't doubting her story; it just seems odd that she objected to the red dress on that basis.

Posted: 2/25/09 at 7:54am

I adore Silly People and love that we got it recorded with its original orchestrations and singer on the Sondheim "scrabble album" for posterity but I feel it has no place in the show--where it's placed it really brings things to a dead stop (and to have the score's "artiest" song so late is also a mistake). Everyone I know who has seen the revival notes it as one of the weak spots...

"Besides, it's not a garden party. The dress would be ridiculous at a garden party, but it's a dinner party in a country house. It's indoors in an elaborate dining room that, in the original production, was dominated by a rather large Titian. In Smiles, the characters are all in evening dress in the corresponding scene. "

To be fair maybe Aronson's gorgeous designs (which I still wish would be reused) that essentially set even that scene in a birch tree surrounded yard confused her
Updated On: 2/25/09 at 07:54 AM

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 2/25/09 at 5:51pm

Good point, Eric. Maybe that was it.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 9:18pm

Its done well at the Mernier in London and going to transfer to a bigger house, so should do well on Broadway.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 2/26/09 at 11:46pm

I hope that the revival leaves the score intact, with no additions or subtractions. I feel this is probably the most finely shaped score out there. The songs that were cut were cut for a reason, and trying to put them back second guesses the intentions of the authors. The score is pretty close to perfection as is and needs nothing else added to it.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 2/27/09 at 12:06am

I think the Emma Thompson rumor started because someone on this site posted, "I hope Emma Thompson plays Desiree in this Trevor Nunn production!" And the thread was titled something "Emma Thompson to play Desiree!" And from that, a rumor was born.