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Sondheim 101
OLLI Fall Semester 2018 • Alan Teasley, Instructor
Class 5 • Operetta & Kabuki
Audra McDonald
“The Glamorous Life”
(film version)
Sondheim! The Birthday Concert
(Directed by Lonny Price, NY Philharmonic, 2014)
(4:15)
Today’s Focus: A Little Night Music (1973) & Pacific Overtures (1976)
A Little Night Music (1973): Creative Team
Producer/Director: Harold Prince
Score: Stephen Sondheim
Book: Hugh Wheeler
Choreographer: Patricia Birch
Scenic Design: Boris Aronson
Costumes: Florence Klotz
Orchestrations: Jonathan Tunick
Ran for 601 performances
A Little Night Music (1973): Original Cast
Hermione Gingold (Madame Armfeldt)
Glynis Johns (Desirée)
Len Cariou (Fredrik)
Victoria Mallory (Anne)
Mark Lambert (Henrik)
Laurence Guittard (Carl-Magnus)
Patricia Elliott (Charlotte)
A Little Night Music (1977 Film Cast)
Hermione Gingold (Madame Armfeldt)
Elizabeth Taylor (Desirée)
Len Cariou (Fredrik)
Leslie-Anne Down (Anne)
Christopher Guard (Henrik/Erich)
Laurence Guittard (Carl-Magnus)
Diana Rigg (Charlotte)
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A Little Night Music (2009 Creative Team)
Director: Trevor Nunn
Choreographer: Lynn Page
Scenic Design: David Farley
Costumes: David Farley
Orchestrations: Jason Carr
Ran for 425 performances
A Little Night Music (2009 Revival Cast)
Catherine Zeta-Jones (Desirée)*
Angela Lansbury (Mme Armfeldt)
Alexander Hanson (Fredrik)
Ramona Mallory (Anne)
Hunter Ryan Herdlicka (Henrik)
Aaron Lazar (Carl-Magnus)
Erin Davie (Charlotte)
Sondheim on How He Works
(Song 3: “Send in the Clowns”)
Six by Sondheim (Directed by James Lapine,
HBO, 2014)
(20 minutes)
A Little Night Music Won 6 Tony Awards (1973) Out of 12 Nominations)
Best Musical
Book of a Musical: Hugh Wheeler
Score: Stephen Sondheim
Actress: Glynis Johns
Featured Actress: Patricia Elliott
Costume Design: Florence Klotz
Also Nominated: Actor (Cariou), Featured Actor (Guittard), Featured Actress (Gingold), Scenic Design (Aronson), Lighting (Musser), Direction of a Musical (Prince)
A Little Night Music: Good Things Come in Three’s
The summer night smiles three times: for the young, for fools, and for the old.
All of the music is in triple meter (3/4, 3/2, 12/8, 9/8, etc.), giving rise to its reputation as the “waltz musical.”
Plot is driven by three love triangles
A Little Night Music: Characters & Plot
Desirée Armfeldt, an actress
Mme. Armfeldt, her mother
Fredrika, Desirée’s daughter
Fredrik Egerman, a lawyer
Henrik Egerman, his son
Anne Egerman, his young wife
Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm
Countess Charlotte Malcolm, his wife
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“Now”—“Later”—“Soon” “A Weekend in the Country”
Pacific Overtures (1976): Creative Team
Producer/Director: Harold Prince
Score: Stephen Sondheim
Book: John Weidman
Choreographer: Patricia Birch
Scenic Design: Boris Aronson
Costumes: Florence Klotz
Orchestrations: Jonathan Tunick
Ran for 193 performances
Pacific Overtures (1976): Original Cast
Mako
Isao Sato
Soon-Tock Oh
Sab Shimono
Yuki Shimoda
Alvin Ing
Haruki Fujimoto
Pacific Overtures: (Revival Cast, 2004)
B.D. Wong
Telly Leung
Sab Shimono
Alvin Ing
Michael K. Lee
Paolo Montalban
“Someone in a Tree”