Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: Washington, D.C.

A Little Night Music
Signature Theatre
Review by Susan Berlin | Season Schedule

Also see Susan's review of The Wizard of Hip (or When in Doubt Slam Dunk)


Holly Twyford
Photo by Christopher Mueller
Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, built its reputation on the works of Stephen Sondheim, and the company's sumptuous and beautiful production of A Little Night Music continues this tradition, anchored by nuanced performances by Holly Twyford and Bobby Smith.

The 1973 musical, with music and lyrics by Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, takes its inspiration from Ingmar Bergman's 1955 film Smiles of a Summer Night, following the romantic difficulties of several people in 1900 Sweden with both humor and low-key cynicism.

Fredrik Egerman (Smith), a lawyer of middle years, married teenage Anne (Nicki Elledge) following the death of his first wife. She's lovely and sort of happy, but her fear of sex, and Fredrik's indulgence, have kept her a virgin 11 months into the marriage. She's more comfortable around her stepson Henrik (Sam Ludwig), a theology student with issues of his own. The balance shifts with the arrival of actress Desiree Armfeldt (Twyford), followed by her lover, the pompous Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm (Will Gartshore), and his witty wife Charlotte (Tracy Lynn Olivera), who endures her husband's mistreatment because she loves him. They all end up at the country home of Desiree's mother, a retired courtesan (Florence Lacey).

Desiree is Twyford's first major musical role, and she acquits herself with the sensitivity and attention to detail that have earned her four Helen Hayes Awards. It's all there: the outward poise of an actress and the times when her underlying insecurity shows through the cracks; the guarded nature of her conversations with her mother and the warmth of the bond with her daughter (Anna Grace Nowalk); the deep humor that keeps her going.

Smith, a Signature Theatre regular with three Helen Hayes Awards of his own, gives Fredrik the needed vulnerability and heart of a man who has what he thinks he wants and realizes it isn't enough. Given the chance for a romantic adventure, this buttoned-up lawyer finds himself doing some rather unlikely things.

The rest of the cast is just as accomplished: Gartshore, bullheaded and convinced of his own rightness in all things (including adultery); Olivera, an intelligent woman who just wants her husband to treat her the way he treats his mistresses; Lacey, a regal presence lamenting the lack of elegance among the romantic partners; Ludwig, in a constant state of emotional upset; and Maria Rizzo as Petra, the pragmatic maid.

Director Eric Schaeffer has brought an overall sense of fluidity to the staging. Look at the way the frustrated Henrik caresses his cello, the purposely flat performances of the actresses in Desiree's play-within-a-play, and the way the singers in the quintet (Kevin McAllister, Quynh-My Luu, Maria Egler, Benjamin Lurye, Susan Derry) seem to evanesce from one place to another on Paul Tate dePoo III's economical but evocative scenic design.

Robert Perdziola's costume designs deserve special mention for their grace and the subdued palette of tans and whites, set off by Henrik's solemn black suit and Desiree's bursts of color.

Signature Theatre
A Little Night Music
August 15th - October 8th, 2017
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Hugh Wheeler
Suggested by a film by Ingmar Bergman
Madame Leonora Armfeldt: Florence Lacey
Fredrika Armfeldt: Anna Grace Nowalk
Frid: Kevin McAllister
Henrik Egerman: Sam Ludwig
Anne Egerman: Nicki Elledge
Fredrik Egerman: Bobby Smith
Petra: Maria Rizzo
First Lady: Susan Derry
Second Lady: Maria Egler
Desiree Armfeldt: Holly Twyford
Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm: Will Gartshore
Countess Charlotte Malcolm: Tracy Lynn Olivera
The Liebeslieders:
Mr. Lindquist: Kevin McAllister
Mrs. Nordstrom: Quynh-My Luu
Mrs. Anderssen: Maria Egler
Mr. Erlanson: Benjamin Lurye
Mrs. Segstrom: Susan Derry
Dance Captain: Maria Rizzo
Directed by Eric Schaeffer
Choreography by Karma Camp
Music direction by Jon Kalbfleisch
MAX Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave.
Arlington, VA 22206
Ticket Information: 703-820-9771 or 1-800-955-5566 or www.signature-theatre.org