Sondheim’s ‘A Little Night Music’ @ MainStage Irving-Las Colinas

Promo photos by Mike Morgan Photography; show photos by Kris Ikejiri

—Jan Farrington

I’ll admit it, I waited all night for that song, and it didn’t disappoint: “Send in the clowns/There ought to be clowns….”

But the wait was anything but a hardship. For this is Steven Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, the whole shebang—and the show is rich with other beautifully crafted Sondheim songs: “The Glamorous Life,” “You Must Meet My Wife,” “Every Day a Little Death,” “It Would Have Been Wonderful,” “The Miller’s Son.”

MainStage Irving- Las Colinas’ production is a classy, classic revival of this 1973 Tony-winning musical, and both director Dennis Canright and a cast of fine singer/actors bring the story (and its mixed-up characters) to life.

A Little Night Music (with a title translated from Mozart and a story picked up from filmmaker Ingmar Bergman) travels into both of Sondheim’s favorite territories: the city of smart, driven socialites (think Company or Merrily We Roll Along), and the mysterious, transformative country (Into the Woods). Characters who seem lost in the city, in one way or another, find themselves—or at least understand themselves better—in the woods.

The setting is 1900-ish Sweden, and the show’s mixed, melancholy tone feels like Chekhov, with more than a smidge of Shakespeare’s Midsummer—minus the fairies. Solid, “well-ordered” businessman Fredrik (John Wenzel) is infatuated with his “sparkly” teenage wife Anne (Samantha Snow), but after nearly a year, theirs is still a hands-off relationship. The passionate Anne is growing up fast, though, and wondering what she’s missing.

Enter a once celebrated actress, Desiree Armfeldt (Susan Metzger), who years ago had a love affair with Fredrik. Anne is a fan, and Fredrik takes her to Desiree’s performance. Predictably, the two older lovers instantly reconnect, with regrets and jealousies and secrets rising to the surface. Anne is upset…but still not really attracted to her husband, though she’s fond of him.

Important side characters include Desiree’s mother Madame Armfeldt (Sally Soldo) and her daughter Frederika (Riley Nowicki), a smart pair of bookends: the young girl starting her life, the old woman remembering, and getting ready to leave it. In Fredrick and Anne’s home is his son Henrik (Luke Weber), a romantic and intense young man, and the lively maidservant Petra (Ariana Stephens), looking to upgrade her social status.

Count Carl-Magnus (Jacob Catalano) is Desiree’s hot-tempered current lover, and to fill out this social circle, his unhappy wife Countess Charlotte (Sarah Powell) turns out to be the sister of one of Anne’s school friends. Desiree persuades her mother to invite all of them to her country estate for “A Weekend in the Country”—one Desiree seems to hope will sort out a lot of lives.

And so, Part Two, set in the Swedish countryside where the summer sun teases that it might actually set…but never does, to the perpetual chagrin of lovers who’d like a bit of darkness. Still, pairs young and older come together; servant Petra gives us a torchy lesson in the real-politik of love…and the rich folk keep dancing (and changing partners), hoping they’ll do better this time.

Throughout, the singing is outstanding, including that of the “Quintet” who sing us from scene to scene. Wenzel and Catalano’s baritones are powerful alone, and even better mixed together. Snow’s crystalline soprano is a delight, and both she and Powell touch our hearts with their hard-truth duet about married life.

Stephens’ mezzo-soprano as Petra gives her “Miller’s Son” a sexy heat. Soldo and Nowicki make a great pair, young and old enjoying each other’s wised-up company. And Weber’s Henrik, a mostly comic character at first, startles us with the deeply felt “Later”—a lament for his stalled, stifling life.

And Metzger’s Desiree hushes the audience with her measured and lovely rendition of “Send In the Clowns”—her voice low and resonant, her delivery filled with the understanding it’s taken Desiree half a lifetime to gather. After a string of busy, bantering songs in the earlier scenes, “Clowns” feels like a clear, slow stream of water—beautiful, charged with memory and emotion, and wonderfully calming.

Music director Jeff Crouse and his musicians never overwhelm the singers. (Kudos also to sound designer Thomas Bartke for that good balance, and for the clarity of individual voices.) And though there were intermittent body mic issues on opening night, I’m sure those settling-in problems won’t last long. The sets (designed by director Canright) are plush and period in the city, with tall birch trees and a glowing moon in the country.

If you’ve been filling out your Sondheim dance card with Into the Woods, Company and other recently revived shows, you ought to catch this early example of his genius. It’s fun to observe the threads of a legendary career coming together: the short, clever lyric lines, the toggle between slow melodies and ones that turn fast and frenetic; the clear-eyed but “grab it now” view of life and love. It’s all there in this show, under a faint northern sun that creates just enough shadow for “a little” night music.

WHEN: November 1-16, 2024
WHERE: Dupree Theatre, 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving TX
WEB: mainstageirving.com