| . | 01/05/2010
A Little Night Music
By: Jeannie Lieberman
Angela Lansbury, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and
Kearon Whittaker
Photo by Joan Marcus
A little bright music waltzed onto the Walter Kerr stage but do not expect the gaiety and light usually associated with three quarter time (think Fred and Ginger). You know, from the opening notes of a mournful cello solo, that Director Trevor Nunn, in true Brit form, has taken yet another one of our treasured American art form, deepened and darkened it, turning it into a literally no frills musical. Nunn obviously harkened for inspiration back to the icy, black and white 1955 Ingmar Bergman film, which involves switching partners on a summer's night in a characteristically existential take on life, love, marriage, and the passage of time, rather than the boldly colorful original Broadway 1973 Tony Award winning musical production. He is aided in happy compliance by Stephen Sondheim, who revels in the cynical, sardonic, and sad tinged slant, the darkness that always underlies his brittle laser like lyrics and unpredictable melodies as he managed to take the lilt out of waltz time and used it for dark, dramatic purpose.
An homage to love in all its endless possibilities and problems, the action takes place in Sweden at the turn of the last century and maneuvers itself and its class-stratified characters wittily and wildly between town and country, all the while spinning and unraveling a web of sensual and passionate intrigue... all to a three-quarter tempo. The evening is even book-ended by two particular waltzes, (choreography by Lynne Page), in which the characters -- all pawns in the chess game of love -- dance out the drama of their psycho-emotional lives.
As Madame Armfeldt (Angela Lansbury) intones “The night smiles three times. First on the young. Second on the fools. Third on the old” setting the stage for the subsequent romp.
Representing the fools is the middle-aged lawyer Fredrik Egerman (an elegantly poised and polished Alexander Hanson), patiently frustrated in a year-long marriage to his young virgin trophy wife Anne, (a talented but overly high-strung Ramona Mallory). She, representing the young, is in turn unwittingly in love with her husband’s son Henrik, (a well cast but somewhat over-perplexed Hunter Ryan Herdlicka). Henrik, in turn, is exploding with repressed testosterone, and focuses his hormonal attention on the Egerman maid Petra, (a pleasantly spunky Leigh Ann Larkin). Sondheim brilliantly captures these dilemmas in the glorious trio of songs: “Now”, “Soon”, and “Later.”
Then... later, after Fredrik takes Anne to see a play starring his old flame, the well-known actress Desirée Armfeldt, a passion between the former lovers is rekindled. This is wonderfully expressed in the clever lyrics of “You Must Meet My Wife”. (Ms. Zeta-Jones offers a broader Desirée here, but lands a good deal of humor in the doing.) Desirée however is not exactly free at that moment to pursue her renascent affections with Fredrik, as she’s involved with a married dragoon, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm (well played and magnificently sung by Aaron Lazar). And clearly, he isn’t so free either. Which is of little concern to him, and great concern to his wife, Countess Charlotte (an emotionally vulnerable Erin Davie)? And so it goes.
Representing the old, Madame Armfeldt’s reflective reverie “Liaisons” provides one the evening’s highlights: watching Angela Lansbury recount and relive every moment of that woman’s colorful journey was nothing short of thrilling. A veritable lesson in how to manifest a lifetime of art as an actor in the theater. Another unforgettable moment is Desiree’s heartbreaking assessment of her life’s choices in “Send in the Clowns”. Ms. Zeta-Jones’, drawing on her considerable acting skills, brought a new depth of meaning to the show’s most famous song, “losing my timing so late in my career” as she realizes that Fredrik is obsessed with his much younger wife. In a powerful, wrenching moment one could see a tear fall, eliciting one of my own.
Not as successful was the staging of Petra’s “The Miller’s Son”, detracting from the simplicity and impact of the usually powerful number. When all the young and foolish are invited to the Armfeldt home, the anticipatory “A Weekend in the Country”, usually a thrilling high point of the show, emphasized the sardonic rather than the show’s one moment of sunniness as the first act curtain fell. The pace quickens in the second act as mix and match liaisons are resolved.
The palate for the setting and costumes (designed by David Farley) is basically colorless, (thank you , Ingmar) and exists in shades of grey to black for Act 1, and shades of grey to white for Act 2, with the occasional dash of color used to accent a personality. Coupled with the antique grey-ish patina of the set, the dim, brooding lighting (designed by Hartley T. A. Kemp), and the slower tempo of the score’s team (music supervision by Caroline Humphris, music direction by Tom Murray; orchestrations by Jason Carr; music coordinator, John Miller), the combination creates a more plodding and deliberate night of music.
It is always difficult to separate a glorious memory from a somewhat disappointing present reality. But a remembrance of the stunning original Broadway production makes it well nigh impossible not to render a comparison. Originally created for a more intimate space at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory, and seemingly limited budget, this scaled down production comes up with more a wink than a “smile”, rarely delivering the theatrical magic and punch that should send the material soaring.
It is up to the luminosity of its stars, the venerable Angela Lansbury and the radiantly mesmerizing Catherine Zeta-Jones to deliver the magic …and they do.
Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, Manhattan; (212) 239-6200. Running time: 2 hours 50 minutes.
Editor’s note: One can follow the assumption that all were inspired by Arthur Schnitzler’s sensational (and banned) 1897 play Reigen (La Ronde). It was not performed until 1920 , when it was shut down on its first production in Berlin on December 23 , resulting in an obscenity trial . The play presents a series of " before and after " tableaux of interconnected characters in different sexual situations. The play almost clinically scrutinizes the sexual morals and class ideology of its day and may be described as a bedroom farce . The influence on Bergman’s classic 1955 film, Smiles of a Summer Night, is obvious as are many of the elements in Andrew Lloyd-Weber’s romantic and melodic 1989 Aspects of Love. La Ronde later surfaced in David's 1998 play The Blue Room (remembered mostly for Nicole Kidman’s buff performance), in Heifer’s 2004 play Seduction and Lachaise’s musical Hello Again (1994).
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