“A Little Night Music” is a charming musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler.  Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples in Sweden. An aging lawyer, Fredrik has just married a foolish 18-year old, Anne much to the chagrin of his son, Fredrik, who is in love with her.  Throw in an old flame, the fashionable and sexy actress, Desiree.  Also, add her lover, a boorish yet handsome Count and his put-upon wife, Charlotte.  Mix with a trampy maid, a sarcastic grandmother, a duel with pistols, and some remarkable lyrics-what you get is one colossal 12-time Tony award winning show.

The plot is intricate and so reading a good summary is essential. This production is a real treat for Sondheim-lovers , an adequate night for Sondheim-take-him-or-leave-him people, and a night in hell for Sondheim-I’d-rather-eat-my-own-foot-than-watch-this individuals.

With classically trained voices and acting chops, overall, this ensemble contained no weak links.  Each cast member shone individually. Leslie Uggams as “Desiree Armfeldt” and Ron Raines as “Fredrik Egerman” had a playful and comfortable chemistry.  It was a pleasure to watch two seasoned professionals handle the dialogue and difficult music with such seeming ease.
Lisa Vroman as “Countess Charlotte Malcolm” displayed impeccable comedic timing and provided most of the night’s big laughs. Edward Watts as “Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm,” Desiree’s current lover, had a big booming voice and played the part of the egomaniacal Count with relish. The scenes between him and his put-upon Countess were especially hilarious.

Kevin Thomas Campbell as “Henrik,” had a strong voice and was able to capture the conflict between his love for the seminary and his strong physical urges. And Lindsey Rider as the maid, “Petra,” displayed a killer bosom and vocals on her powerhouse number.
Unfortunately, this November 14th show had one major unforgiving flaw—the atrocious sound system.  Even though the company all had trained voices that could handle using no microphones as in opera, since this was a musical, every performer was wearing a pack. Sometimes, inclement weather makes the mics pop and crackle. Although Saturday’s performance was on a precipitation free night, the mics popped, crackled, and thumped throughout the two hours-plus show.  There was incessant feedback and sometimes they weren’t even on when the actor commenced singing. This is inexcusable! The Detroit Opera House is as professional as you can get in this town, perhaps in all Michigan. This isn’t Broadway and Detroit’s audiences are forgiving to a point.  However, it became so bad that the audience would murmur and look among themselves for the greater part of the show. Major props go to the actors who carried on with no missteps or dropped cues. It was not fair to them or the audience who paid more than $100 for some seats.  This production is lovely-beautifully acted and sung, yet the poor sound production made this night’s music a little unbearable.

Author: Yana Levovna