Review: 'A Little Night Music' at WCSU

Danbury, CT - I was thrilled to have the chance to attend a production of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC with music and lyrics by the venerable Stephen Sondheim. I was familiar with some of the music, especially “Send in the Clowns,” but I had no idea what to expect from the book by Hugh Wheeler, which I learned was suggested by the Ingmar Bergman film ‘Smiles of a Summer Night.’ The Broadway show was originally produced and directed by Harold Prince.

The students, under the careful direction of Tim Howard, rose to the challenge of this beautiful piece. The lovely waltzing was choreographed by the director and Elizabeth Parkinson. The gorgeous music direction was done by Dr. Justin P. Cowan. The seventeen-piece orchestra in the pit was comprised primarily of current music performance and music education students. In the program, it states “This collaboration provides the students not only with hands on practical experience, but also an opportunity to network and play alongside professional musicians.”

The score has elements not often found in musical theater, presenting challenges for performers, with complex meters, pitch changes, polyphony, and high notes for both males and females. The difficulty is heightened when the songs merge, as in "Now"/"Later"/"Soon", because all three have to be performed in the same key, limiting the ability to pick a comfortable key for each singer. Not surprisingly, the work is performed as an operetta in many professional opera companies. From the impressive overture by the Liebeslieder Singers, through “A Weekend in the Country” in the second act, to the final note, it was all distinctively Sondheim.

I expected to love the challenging Sondheim music and I always enjoy seeing how it fits into the story, but I was blown away by the mature performances of the college-aged performers in training at WCSU that brought this engrossing story to life. I immediately cared about these well-drawn characters; the story follows the romantic life of several couples with love that is lost and perhaps regained. The setting is Sweden, around the year 1900 and the WCSU costumes and props were firmly and beautifully set in that era of "The Glamorous Life."

I will start with the talented students that comprised the Liebeslieder Singers/Greek Chorus, expanded from The Quintet to a dozen singer/dancers. Freshman Ethan Chan, senior Ashia Collins (THE WILD PARTY,) junior Bella D’Ottavio (SPELLING BEE ASM,) senior Tyler Gallagher (Underling in CHAPERONE, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, two appearances at Sharon Playhouse,) junior Tony Harkin (SPELLING BEE,) sophomore Ariana Locassio, sophomore Dean Martin, sophomore Teah Renzoni (2018 Sondheim Award for Best High School Actress in CT), sophomore Julia Rocchio (STEEL PEER, MEMPHIS at WAMS,) sophomore Sam Rogers, senior Abigail Swartout (AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS,) and sophomore Ulric Alfred Taylor sang, waltzed and commented on the action as the singers and also took on some ensemble roles. Mr. Gallagher also played Frid, Madame Armfeldt's manservant.

Senior Alaina Mueller (THE WILD PARTY) aged up to play the alto role of the matriarch Madame Armfeldt, a former courtesan who has had "liaisons" with royalty, in a graceful old-fashioned wheelchair. Her adult daughter Desiree, a self-absorbed, once-successful actress, was beautifully portrayed by junior Kelsey Lepesko (Queenie in THE WILD PARTY.) Junior Francesca Saccomagno convincingly portrayed Desiree’s 13-year-old daughter, Fredrika Armfeldt.

The Egerman family has romantic entanglements galore. Sophomore soprano Alexis Reda portrayed the bubbly and naive eighteen-year-old Anne Egerman, newly married to Henrik, a successful widowed middle-aged lawyer, played by WCSU senior Isiah Bostic (THE WILD PARTY, VIOLET, COMPANY at WCSU, IN THE HEIGHTS with Playhouse on Park). After 11 months, the marriage has not been consummated. Henrik’s son from a previous marriage Henrik, who is pious but confused, was convincingly played by WCSU junior and tenor Kenneth Galm (Tobias in SWEENEY TODD at CRT.) Senior Izzy Mercaldo (Marcy Park in SPELLING BEE) almost stole the show in the role of Petra, a brash maid in the Egerman household.

The final couple in this romantic story is Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm, a military dragoon who is Desiree's latest lover, played to pompous perfection by junior Michael Ricciardone, and his self-loathing wife Countess Charlotte, masterfully portrayed by junior Oksana Veres.

It was so encouraging to see that the matinee I attended was almost full of family, friends and season ticket holders. I recommend the musical at WCSU as an affordable production; you will not be disappointed. Remaining performances are 11/15,11/16 8:00 PM, 11/16 2:00 PM Matinee, and 11/17 1:00 Matinee in the MainStage Theatre in WCSU's Visual & Performing Arts Center, 43 Lake Ave. Ext., Danbury, CT 06811

Nancy Sasso Janis, writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local venues, posts well over 100 reviews each year. In 2016, her membership in the Connecticut Critics Circle began and her contributions of theatrical reviews, previews, and audition notices are posted not only in the Naugatuck Patch but also on the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and Connecticut Theatre Previews and on Twitter @nancysjanis417 Check out the NEW CCC Facebook page.

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