Stephen Sondheim’s glorious musical masterpiece A Little Night Music will grace Melbourne’s stages in a brand new production at the Geelong Performing Arts Centre, the National Theatre Melbourne and the Whitehorse Centre in February and March 2018.
It is midsummer in Sweden. On a magical night that smiles three times, an ageing actress, a married virgin, a sex-starved divinity student and a buffoonish count are drawn into a tangled and hilarious web of love affairs. Featuring a lush score including A Weekend in the Country, Liaisons, The Miller’s Son and possibly the best known Sondheim ballad, Send in the Clowns – A Little Night Music is a romantic tour-de-force.
Presented by Sondheim repertory company, Watch This, leading Australian actors Nadine Garner, John O’May, Jackie Rees and Eddie Muliaumaseali’i headline a stellar ensemble cast under the watchful eye of director, Nicholas Cannon.
“What I love about this show is the slightly odd collection of characters and the tension between their public faces and their more unruly, comfortable realities or desires,” says Cannon. “So although it’s set at the turn of the last century, there’s an immediate parallel with our own time and how we curate our lives for public consumption via social media. It’s also incredibly witty.”
Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, A Little Night Music features a book by Hugh Wheeler with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. With direction by legendary theatre director, Harold Prince, the musical premiered on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre in February 1973, before transferring to the Majestic Theatre in September. The musical made its West End premiere at the Adelphi Theatre in April 1975.
The first international production opened at Sydney’s Her Majesty’s Theatre in November 1973. Produced by J. C. Williamson and directed by George Martin, the cast included Bruce Barry, Doris Fitton, Jill Perryman, Geraldine Turner and John Wood. Australian Revivals have included Sydney Theatre Company (1990); Melbourne Theatre Company (1997); and Opera Australia (2009).
Director: Nicholas Cannon Featuring: Nadine Garner, John O’May, Carina Waye, Nelson Gardner, Eddie Muliaumaseali’i, Johanna Allen, Jackie Rees, Grace O-Donnell-Clancy, Adrian Barila, Anna Francesca Armenia, Kate Louise Macfarlane, Greta Wilkinson, Kerrie Bolton, Raphael Wong Musical Director: Daniele Buatti Choreographer: Michael Ralph Set Designer: Christina Logan Bell Costume Designer: Emily Collett Lighting Designer: Rob Sowinski
A Little Night Music
Geelong Performing Arts Centre, 50 Little Malop Street, Geelong
Season: 22 – 24 February 2018
Bookings: www.gpac.org.au (tickets on sale 30 November)
The National Theatre Melbourne, 20 Carlisle Street, St. Kilda
Season: 28 February – 3 March 2018
Bookings: www.nationaltheatre.org.au
Whitehorse Centre, 397 Whitehorse Road, Nunawading
Season: 8 – 10 March 2018
Bookings: www.whitehorsecentre.com.au (tickets on sale 5 December)
For more information, visit: www.watchthis.net.au for details.
Image: Nelson Gardner, Carina Waye, Nadine Garner and Eddie Muliaumaseali’i star in A Little Night Music – photo by Jodie Hutchinson