Arizona Opera’s A Little Night Music

Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Why not check out Arizona Opera’s A Little Night Music? This delightful production is sure to please opera lovers and newcomers alike.

Introduction

Arizona Opera’s A Little Night Music is a delightful musical comedy set in turn-of-the-century Sweden. Based on Ingmar Bergman’s film Smiles of a Summer Night, the story revolves around a group of aristocrats and their servants who spend a summer weekend at a country estate. The comedy comes from the characters’ attempts to find love and happiness in spite of themselves.

The music, by Stephen Sondheim, is some of his most beautiful and tuneful, and the lyrics are both witty and poignant. The score includes such well-known songs as “Send In the Clowns” and “The Miller’s Son.”

A Little Night Music will be presented at the Arizona Opera Center in Phoenix on March 4, 5, 11 and 12 at 7:30pm and March 6 and 13 at 2:00pm. Tickets are available online at www.azopera.org or by calling 602-266-7464.

History of Arizona Opera

Arizona Opera was founded in 1971 by the late Gov. Rose Mofford, who appointed Dr. James W. Neilson as the first general director. The company began with a two-week season of performances in Tucson during December 1971 and January 1972. The repertoire consisted of Johann Strauss Jr.’s operetta Die Fledermaus, Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly, and Gilbert & Sullivan’s operetta The pirates of Penzance. In 1974, the company expanded to include a second city, Phoenix, and began presenting performances in both Tucson and Phoenix during its season.

What is A Little Night Music?

A Little Night Music is a 1973 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it transposes the story to early 20th-century Sweden and centers on arranged marriages and extramarital affairs. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart’s Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, Eine kleine Nachtmusik.

The musical includes the popular song “Send in the Clowns”. It was inspired by Bergman’s 1955 film Smiles of a Summer Night, which tells lternating stories about married couples enjoying summer evenings in turn-of-the-20th-century Sweden. The original Broadway production was nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning six, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.

The Plot of A Little Night Music

The plot of A Little Night Music is deceptively simple. It revolves around the love lives of several couples who are attending a weekend in the country outside of Stockholm. Some of the couples are married, some are not, and all are in various stages of love and relationships.

The story begins with Fredrik, a middle-aged man who is married to a much younger woman named Anne. Fredrik is in love with another woman named Desirée, who is also married. Desirée is having an affair with a man named Count Carl-Magnus, who is also married. Count Carl-Magnus’s wife, Charlotte, is in love with a man named Fredrik (not the same Fredrik as her husband).

Confused yet? Don’t worry, it all makes sense eventually.

Throughout the course of the weekend, all of these relationships collide and change in unexpected ways. A Little Night Music is ultimately a story about love: how we find it, how we lose it, and how we try to keep it.

The Music of A Little Night Music

The music of A Little Night Music is by Swedish composer Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics for the show, which is based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 film Smiles of a Summer Night. The show’s original Broadway production opened in 1973 and was nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning three. The original production starred Glynis Johns, Hermione Gingold, Len Cariou, and Victoria Mallory.

A Little Night Music has been revived on Broadway twice, in 2002 and 2010. The 2010 revival starred Bernadette Peters, Elaine Paige, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Angela Lansbury. The revival was nominated for seven Tony Awards, winning five.

The music of A Little Night Music is characterized by its use of waltz time and its incorporation of elements of operetta and film score composition. The score includes several songs that have become standards, including “Send in the Clowns”, “The Miller’s Son”, and “Every Day a Little Death”.

The Characters of A Little Night Music

A Little Night Music is a chamber opera in three acts, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler. Based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 film Smiles of a Summer Night, it tells the story of several couples who spend a summer night at the country estate of an older woman, Desiree Armfeldt.

The Characters:
Desiree Armfeldt – A retired stage actress
Fredrik Egerman – A young lawyer, Desiree’s lover
Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm – Fredrik’s best friend, an Army officer
Charlotte Malcolm – Count Malcolm’s much younger wife
Petra – The Egermans’ maid
Anne Egerman – Fredrik’s neglected 18-year-old wife
Mrs. Nordstrom – A middle-aged mother hen
Mr. Erlanson – Mrs. Nordstrom’s young lover

The Production of A Little Night Music

A Little Night Music is a 1973 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Hugh Wheeler. The piece is based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 film Smiles of a Summer Night, which in turn was adapted from the film’s original screenplay, written by Bergman and based on his earlier 1941 stage play. It incorporates songs from various sources, including the 1791 composition “Apotheosis” (composed for the coronation of King Gustav III).

The work attempts to recapture some of the flavor of an operetta, while avoiding its stilted language and stereotype chorus girls. The piece deals with love, lust and infidelity among the British and Swedish upper class during the late 19th century. A Little Night Music premiered on Broadway on February 25, 1973, and closed on July 1, 1973, after 540 performances.

The production was nominated for ten Tony Awards and won six, including Best Original Score (for Sondheim) and Best Book of a Musical (for Wheeler). It spawned numerous productions in the U.S. and abroad during the 1970s and 1980s; British theater producer Cameron Mackintosh produced two highly successful revivals in London in 1980 (starring Judi Dench) and 1995 (starring Angela Lansbury); also in 1995 a successful revival was staged at New York City Opera; as recently as 2009 a production was mounted by Connecticut’s Goodspeed Opera House; moreover regional theater companies around North America frequently produce A Little Night Music.

Conclusion

Overall, Arizona Opera’s A Little Night Music was a very successful showing. The performers were excellent, the music was beautiful, and the stage design and costumes added a lot to the production. If you’re a fan of opera or musical theater, this is definitely a show worth seeing.