3.6 A Little Night Music!

The Gospel of Musical Theatre

We're talking about Sondheim's most commercially successful musical, A Little Night Music (1973) – a witty, clever sex comedy made up, in Hal Prince’s famous words, of "whipped cream with knives."

We Talk About:

– The show’s big themes – love, sex & time – and how they find expression in the music, especially the now-iconic "Send in the Clowns."

– Three generations exploring love & relationships and the nature of aging.

– The complicated nature of intergenerational relationships – both creepy and beautiful.

– The problem of timing, and the complication of lining up sexual attraction with the commitment that love demands.

You’ll Hear:

– Both Glynnis Johns and Catherine Zeta-Jones singing "Send in the Clowns" from the 1973 Original Broadway Cast and the 2010 Broadway Revival Cast recordings.

– Elaine Tompkinson singing “The Glamorous Life” from the 1975 Film Soundtrack.

– The company of the Original Broadway Cast singing "Overture," "Remember," "You Must Meet My Wife," "Now," "Liasons,” and "The Miller’s Son."