Boston Pops: "A Little Night Music" in Concert

A Little Night Music

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; book by Hugh Wheeler; suggested by the film 'Smiles of a Summer Night' by Ingmar Bergman; stage director, Casey Hushion; music director, Lawrence Goldberg; assistant stage director, Tim Bennett; concert libretto adaptation by Lawrence Goldberg; conductor, Keith Lockhart

Cast of Characters:

Madame Armfeldt, Bobbie Steinbach; Désirée Armfeldt, Christine Ebersole; Fredrika Armfeldt, Katie Henney; Fredrik Egerman, Ron Raines; Anne Egerman, Ashley Logan;* Henrik Egerman, Zachary Wilder;* Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm, Matthew Worth;* Countess Charlotte Malcolm, Katherine Growdon;* Petra, Rebecca Jo Loeb;* the Liebeslieders, Emily Hindrichs,* Charlene Santoni,* Kristin Hoff,* Mark Van Arsdale,* and Christopher Johnstone* (Vocal Fellows from the Tanglewood Music Center*)

Performances: Thursday through Saturday, June 12-14 at Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Mass.; Tuesday, July 8 at 8:30 p.m., Koussevitzky Music Shed, Tanglewood, Lenox, Mass.
Box Office: 617-266-1200, 888-266-1200, or online at www.bso.org

Sometimes less is more when it comes to staging concert versions of classic Broadway musicals. In the case of the Boston Pops' straightforward presentation of Stephen Sondheim's magnificently bittersweet romantic comedy A Little Night Music, sparing the glitz definitely improves the glamour.

A talented cast combining Broadway, Boston and Tanglewood Music Center performers – led most notably by Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole as the flamboyant actress Désirée Armfeldt – assemble simply and elegantly on the box-like Symphony Hall stage, seated in a row of creamy white straight-backed leather chairs positioned downstage of the full complement of musicians that make up the Boston Pops Orchestra. Staging is kept to a minimum, and props are indicated rather than actually held. Set pieces consist of easily moved chairs and an upholstered chaise that suggests Désirée's dressing room and boudoir. All cast members carry scripts and move discreetly into position when it is time to participate in a scene or song.

The men are all dressed in black tuxedos. Most of the women wear black evening gowns. The exceptions are the lusty hand maiden Petra (Rebecca Jo Loeb) in a bright green silk skirt and white peasant blouse; the virginal bride Anne Egerman (Ashley Logan) in a gown of taupe that makes her appear sexy and unassailable at the same time; Countess Charlotte Malcolm (Katherine Growdon) wearing a body hugging copper gown whose many horizontal tiers suggest how tightly wrapped her philandering dragoon husband tries to keep her; and the breathtaking Ebersole as Désirée, blonde hair shining and strands of large white pearls dripping around the neckline of a simple black gown topped by a beautiful floor length sheer black and red filigree robe. The visual impact when Ebersole gracefully takes her first steps on stage is positively stunning.

Stage director Casey Hushion's subdued concept keeps the full focus of the concert on Hugh Wheeler's wise and whimsical book and Stephen Sondheim's pitch perfect score. Choreography is kept to a minimum, consisting mostly of waltzes that are practically demanded by the score's three-quarter time. Even the usually vigorous Maestro Keith Lockhart takes a back seat to the performers who, with modest sophistication, bring every contradictory nuance and every complex musical phrase delightfully to life.