Last week's theater column promised "Three to See in London's West End." Alas, one of those three shows was edited out due to space constraints.
So here's the lowdown on last week's missing West End show, A Little Night Music ( pictured: Hannah Waddingham photo by Catherine Ashmore ) , plus some news about London's La Cage aux Folles thrown in for extra measure.
What ties these two musical revivals together is that they both originated at the popular "fringe venue" known as the Menier Chocolate Factory, an intimate 190-seat theater and restaurant on the south bank of the Thames River housed in ( you guessed it ) a former chocolate factory. But more importantly for theater fans on this side of the pond, both shows are slated to transfer to Broadway.
A Little Night Music is Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's 1973 musical adaptation of the 1955 Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night. When delivered by British actors, it sounds positively even more sophisticated. ( Personally, I've always had a preference for the show's London cast recording with Jean Simmons over the original Broadway one. )
This scaled-down production by director Trevor Nunn ( Cats, Les Miserables ) will probably disappoint those who have read descriptions of the scenic grandeur of director Harold Prince's original staging of Night Music. And in light of the full orchestras employed by the 2008 Broadway revivals of South Pacific and Gypsy, the reduced off-stage orchestral ensemble for this Night Music will seem tinny by comparison.
But the intimacy of Nunn's Night Music is most welcome and retained in the West End at the Garrick Theatre ( typically a home for plays ) . Any chance to savor Sondheim's sophisticated score is eminently worthwhile. Besides, enough opera companies ( like Evanston's Light Opera Works ) are regularly producing Sondheim so you can get your orchestral lushness that way.
What makes Nunn's Night Music stand out is his decision to break with tradition and cast some of the show's key characters a tad younger.
Theater chat boards have frequently lit up by posters arguing what is the right age for Night Music's actress heroine, Desirée Armfeldt. Nunn and his Desirée, a beautifully vivacious Hannah Waddingham, make the case for the character to be in her 40s. Instead of having one last grasp of lifelong romance, Desirée is more of a woman who realizes in midlife about what she wants.
The younger casting extends to the acid-tongued Countess Charlotte Malcom, the thirtysomething wife to Alistair Robins' too-campy dragoon Carl-Magnus Malcolm ( who is having an affair with Desirée ) . Kelly Price makes sense in the role, since her jealousy is better bourn by a younger woman still flush with love ( despite her husband's repeated dalliances with other women ) .
Acclaimed British actress Maureen Lipman plays the elderly Madame Armfeldt like a seasoned pro, even though she is made up to look older than her actual age ( One suspects that Lipman could easily play Desirée, if offered the chance ) .
A Little Night Music plays in London until Sept. 5. When it transfers to New York, this Night Music will be the first official Broadway revival since the original closed 35 years ago. Currently Nunn is recasting the show with an American cast, so hopefully he achieves the same winning formula as in London.
As for La Cage aux Folles, one of its most acclaimed actors is rumored to be making the journey to Broadway. Douglas Hodge's take on Albin/Zaza was both touching and hilarious ( particularly when Hodge's Zaza imitates a score of gay icons while singing the title song ) . Hodge was duly rewarded with an Olivier Award for his performance ( one of many Oliviers bestowed on La Cage this past spring ) .
I saw the revival while it was selling out the Menier in 2008, and La Cage should be loads of fun in one of Broadway's more intimate theaters. Yet many are questioning La Cage's reappearance on the Great White Way so soon after its most recent revival closed at a loss in 2005 ( and that's even after it won a Tony Award for Best Musical Revival ) .
La Cage, penned by playwright Harvey Fierstein and composer Jerry Herman, certainly speaks volumes for America today. While some critics back in 1983 pooh-poohed La Cage at its Broadway debut for its "family values" look at a long-time gay couple still romantically in love, it does make a strong case for gay tolerance nowadays, particularly with all the battles over gay marriage.
The last La Cage Broadway revival was rife with backstage drama. ( Daniel Davis, as Georges, was fired in the middle of its run. ) Hopefully, it will be smoother sailing for the Menier transfer.
If you can't make it to New York this season, at least catch Bohemian Theatre Ensemble's current production of La Cage. But if you do make it to Broadway, you should be in for a double treat of Menier Chocolate with both A Little Night Music and La Cage aux Folles.
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