Playwright: Stephen Sondheim
(music and lyrics); Hugh Wheeler (book)
At: Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Phone: (312) 595-5600; $48-$62
Runs through: Feb. 15
Director Gary Griffin is making a name for himself with his simple, innovative staging of popular musicals. His spare, elegant take on My Fair Lady, at Court Theatre, brought him critical and popular acclaim. But its his focus on Stephen Sondheim that has really gotten him noticed, here, across the U.S., and in London. Both Pacific Overtures and Sunday in the Park with George, which were originally produced in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s upstairs theater, garnered rapturous kudos and touring productions.
With Sondheim’s lovely A Little Night Music, perhaps one of his most fully realized and best plays, Griffin moves to Chicago Shakespeare’s mainstage courtyard theater. And Griffin’s take on this story, based on the Ingmar Bergman film, Smiles of a Summer Night, should bring him acclaim as a definitive Sondheim adapter. Griffin, working in a larger space, has kept things intimate, refreshingly simple, and ethereal (witness the floating pieces of period furniture in the first act and the stylized trees in the second; Daniel Ostling designed the set). Griffin knows that the story of intersecting lives, thwarted passion, and the truths of growing older doesn’t need a lot of stage business. He lets this Night Music breathe … and the audience is treated to a stirring and thoughtful adaptation, completely new in spite of its 1973 debut date, when it won six Tony Awards, including best musical.
The story, revolving around a fading actress, Desiree (Barbara Robertson in a flawless performance) and her relationship with a crotchety mother (polished work by Helen Ryan) who takes care of her illegitimate daughter (Mattie Hawkinson). When an old flame, Fredrik Egerman (Kevin Gudahl), comes to see Desiree in performance with his teenage wife in tow (Julie Ruth), old passions are reunited and the story is set in motion. The old lovers’ reunion is complicated by trivial matters such as Fredrik’s wife and Desiree’s bumbling, blustering lover (Michael Cerveris) and his own disillusioned wife (good comic work by Samantha Spiro). A subsequent weekend in the country becomes a collision of unrequited love, thwarted dreams, passion, and comedy.
Griffin cast this Night Music well. Barbara Robertson gives an achingly poignant performance as Desiree, whose star is setting. Robertson’s singing voice is little better than adequate, but her interpretation is rapturous. When she sings ‘Send in the Clowns’ (the play’s most familiar song, thanks to Judy Collins), it’s a lament that will ring true with anyone who’s ever experienced disappointment in life and love. The remainder of the ensemble inhabit their characters with passion, precision, and grace. The only weak note in the cast is Paul Keating as Henrik, the young, confused son of Fredrik. His British accent is out of place.
The full orchestra, under the direction of Thomas Murray, is in great form, underscoring the accomplished musical language on stage with perfect timing and dazzling artistry.
A Little Night Music is a triumph.