ACT offers “A Little Night Music,” and players praise Stephen Sondheim.
On the occasion of Stephen Sondheim’s 85th birthday in March, the theater world tripped over itself lionizing the musical theater composer. And why not? Sondheim’s is a career that began with lyrics for “West Side Story” and “Gypsy” and grew to encompass more than a dozen revered musicals, from “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” in 1962 to an extraordinary run of shows in the ’70s that included “Company,” “Follies,” “A Little Night Music,” “Pacific Overtures” and “Sweeney Todd.”
Among those shows, 1973’s “Night Music,” based on Ingmar Bergman’s “Smiles of a Summer Night” from 1955, stands out for being both oldfashioned and melodic and sophisticated and challenging. San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater is producing the musical, which includes Sondheim’s only bona fide hit song, “Send In the Clowns,” a Grammy-winning hit for Judy Collins in 1975 and 1977. The ACT production features a starry cast of Broadway actors, all of whom have tremendous affection for the composer. Here’s what they have to say about the man and his music.
Mark Lamos (director) saw the original Broadway production of “A Little Night Music” directed by Harold Prince.
“That show took the sophistication level of Broadway up a notch. I don’t think there was anything on Broadway for years, not since Rodgers and Hammerstein, that was as complex as the song “A Weekend in the Country.” It’s an astonishing piece of writing, it moves the plot along, it’s fabulous to listen to and it’s 10 minutes long. It’s a seminal musical theater moment — serious, magnificent writing.
Emily Skinner, a Tony nominee as one half of the Hilton Twins in the original production of “Side Show,” plays Countess Charlotte, the sardonic wife of a dragoon.
“I was part of the Kennedy Center’s Sondheim Festival in 2002 and was in ‘Company’ and ‘Merrily We Roll Along.’ I got to see the other shows — ‘A Little Night Music,’ ‘Passion,’ ‘Sunday in the Park With George’ and ‘Sweeney Todd’ — and seeing so much Sondheim at one time was like taking a bath in excellence. I thought, ‘This is paradise!’ He can write anything and make it absolutely compelling, and his choice of subject matter is so different each time. To see his shows is to sit in the mind of a genius, and ‘A Little Night Music’ is a particular kind of genius. It’s so satisfying musically because it’s a show of waltzes. You hear the influence of Strauss and Tchaikovsky, and it’s all so beautiful and smart.”
Karen Ziemba, Tony Award winner for “Contact,” plays leading lady Desiree Armfeldt, an actress who is ready to trade life on the road for a quieter life with a husband.
“I was a young dancer from Michigan on a trip to New York City in 1974, and in between classes at American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey and the Joffrey School, we were allowed to see one musical. I chose ‘A Little Night Music.’ I loved the title and had no idea what it was about. The show was quite astonishing to me. Five lieder singers set the tone with a waltz and told us what the show would be about. It was so mysterious and sensual. I was hooked from the start, and the fact that I’m doing the show now feels so full circle. I saw Glynis Johns play the role I’m playing now, and the role was written for her — for an actress who sings. That’s wonderful for me.”
Dana Ivey, who received a Tony nomination for originating the roles of Yvonne and Namoi Eisen in Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Sunday in the Park With George,” plays Madame Armfeldt, Desiree’s mother.
“Sondheim designed the second half of the 20th century in musical theater through his subjects and his intricate use of melody and rhythm and his incredible sense of wordsmanship. I don’t consider myself musical — I’m more legit theater — but creating a role in a Sondheim musical was the apotheosis of the Broadway experience. It was absolutely thrilling, and Stephen was very supportive of what I was doing. I was always saying, ‘I’m not really a singer.’ It was not as easy for me as some. But Stephen said after we recorded the cast album, ‘Nobody can ever tell you you can’t sing. You’ve been waxed.’ After ‘Sunday,’ ‘Night Music’ is my favorite Sondheim musical. I sing the song ‘Liaisons,’ and I’m less nervous about the singing this time. I’m older and I don’t care.”
Patrick Cassidy, son of American musical legend Shirley Jones and singer Jack Cassidy, is leading man Frederik Egerman, a newlywed who finds himself reigniting an old flame with Desiree. Cassidy was a member of the original Broadway cast of Sondheim’s “Assassins.”
“My mother tells a story about going to opening night of ‘A Little Night Music’ on Broadway, and at the party at Sardi’s afterward, she said to Sondheim, ‘That song in the second act, “Send In the Clowns,” that’s the best.’ And Sondheim replied, ‘Oh, you would like that song.’ But seriously, Sondheim is the William Shakespeare of musical theater. As a composer, my personal take is that he’s among the greatest, but I think even more people would agree that there is no greater lyricist. His teacher and mentor, Oscar Hammerstein, wasn’t too bad either. There isn’t anyone who puts words together like Sondheim. There’s so much behind everything he has written. He writes with edge and humor and irony, but he’s able to write his characters’ souls.”