A Little Night Music

Palm Beach Dramaworks is currently presenting a semi-staged concert of the Stephen Sondheim musical, "A Little Night Music."

This musical, with a book by Hugh Wheeler, is based on the Igmar Bergman film "Smiles of a Summer Night" and has been enchanting audiences with its waltz driven score since it debuted on Broadway in 1973.

The story is a humerous look at marriage, infidelity and family. The plot centers around the famous actress Desiree Armfeldt who, even though she is having an affair with Count Carl-Magnus Malcom, wants to settle down into married life with her old flame, the lawyer Fredrik Egerman.

There's only one little snag -- lawyer Egerman is 11 months married to his 18-year-old bride, Anne. To make matters even more complicated, Henrik Egerman, the lawyers twenty-something son is in love with his stepmother even though he is soon to enter the clergy. Throw in Countess Malcom, the long-suffering wife of Carl-Magnus, Fredericka, the daughter of Desiree (and presumably Fredrick) and Madam Armfeldt, Desiree's mother and you have the makings of a twisted, tangled and highly entertaining plot.

Palm Beach Dramaworks' concert performance has moments of brilliance but on the whole is a long and somewhat bumpy evening.

When doing a semi-staged concert, one should remember that it is more important to have great singers than it is great actors. After all, it is a concert and not a "reading." In this instance the music takes even more precedence over the book that it does in a fully staged musical. This is where this production fails.

The score is a difficult one to sing, requiring both musical theater singers and opera singers. Anne, Henrik and the five Leibeslieder Singers must have operatic voices. Carl-Magnus, Charlotte, Fredrik and Fredrika are roles that sound perfectly fine regardless of voice type. Petra, Desiree and Madame Armfeldt are roles that are usually sung by musical theater voices. While some of the singers were superb and others were blissfully adequate, there were a few performances opening night that woefully missed the mark.

In the superb category, the perfect performance of the evening goes to Ruthie Stephens in the role of Countess Charlotte Malcom. Stephens is a dead ringer looks wise for Diana Rigg, who played the role in the 1975 film version. With her authentic British accent she was the perfect example of how this role should be played. Her one number, "Every Day A Little Death," was delivered with a bitterness and a pathos that I am sure Sondheim himself would have applauded.

Kim Cozart Kay was very nearly perfect in the role of Desiree Armfeldt. This role, which was written for Glynis Johns (who you may remember as Mrs. Banks in the original "Mary Poppins" movie), does not require a great singer but rather a great personality. Kay delivered the personality from the moment she stepped on the stage and her singing voice is pleasant to hear. Her "Send in the Clowns," perhaps the most famous piece from this musical, was delivered with a remarkable amount of sensitivity.
Most of the rest of the cast falls into the adequate realm for one reason or another.

Joy Franz's portrayal of Madame Armfeldt was acceptable but her dialogue lacked the "upper crust" diction to be completely believable as a woman who has counted kings and dukes among her lovers.

Lillie Ricciardi sang the role of Anne Egerman just fine but her characterization during the dialogue came off as uneducated rather than naive.

Aloysius Gigl was vocally fine as Count Carl-Magnus Malcom and had the mannerisms down correctly, he is just physically wrong as the hot, virile, younger man whose physical charms have momentarily swept Desiree off her feet. He might have been a better choice for the role of Fredrik Egerman.

Catherine League was bubbly and charming as the young Fredrika Armfeldt and Christina Flores was appropriately saucy as the Egerman's maid, Petra.

The cast includes five singers known as the "Liebeslieder" singers as well as their character names, Mrs. Nordstrom, Mrs. Anderssen, Mrs. Segstrom, Mr. Erlanson and Mr. Lindquist. Four out of these five also fall into the acceptable category of performances. Soprano Brittany Baratz as Mrs. Anderssen, mezzo-soprano Angela Miller as Mrs. Segstrom, tenor Alex Jorth and baritone Matthew Korinko gave mostly fine performances. Jorth's tenor voice is a little light for the demands of the role but was not unpleasant. Baratz and Miller were both lovely in their vocal solos and baritone Korinko had one of the most robust voices on the stage.

There were three performances that unfortunately, for one reason or another, fall into the unacceptable category.
William Michals in the role of Fredrik Egerman could have been perfect. He has a nice strong voice and the right mannerisms for the role and seemed to have great chemistry with Kay. What makes his performance unacceptable is the fact that his songs were riddled with mistakes even though he was holding a copy of the score in his hands.

In every number in which he sang he either missed or dropped a phrase or sang wrong notes. Every single song. Sondheim's music, and more importantly his complicated lyrics, are not something that you can just "fly by the seat of your pants" with. It requires dedicated rehearsal and a lot of time spent on it outside of rehearsal to manage the tongue twisting lyrics. Michals seemed unprepared for the role.

As Mrs. Nordstrom, the high soprano of the Liebeslieders, Georgia Mallory Guy was vocally miscast. This role requires a soprano with a reliable high E flat at the top of her voice and a strong, sparkling, crystal clear sound. Guy's voice was pleasant in her middle and lower register but her top notes sounded raspy and unsupported and as a result, the large chords in the choral numbers never seemed to "shine" like the composer intended.

Lastly, Clay Cartland as Henrik Egerman was just an example of vocal miscasting. Cartland is a staple of the South Florida theater scene and he has proven over and over again that he is a fine actor and a good performer in rock musicals. Vocally, he cannot meet the operatic tenor demands of this role. Cartland basically screamed the high B's in Henrik's lament "Later."

He hit them, but he also murdered them and they were painful and unpleasant to listen to. Overall, his voice was just not right for the role. The fault lies more with the casting and the musical director than with the actor in this instance.

The musical direction was by Kevin David Thomas and he was also the pianist for the evening. The rest of the orchestra was made up of Christopher Glansdorp on cello and Phil McArthur on violin with Georgia Mallory Guy playing oboe on one song. The stage direction was by Lynette Barkley.

Overall, this production does not live up to the quality that one normally expects from Palm Beach Dramaworks. It seemed thrown together quickly without much thought and without the passion that the creative staff has demonstrated in their main season dramatic shows.

"A Little Night Music" runs through July 19 at the Don and Ann Brown Theater, 201 Clematis St. in West Palm Beach, FL 33401. For tickets and information, call 561-514-4042 or visit palmbeachdramaworks.org.