KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 10, 2019 \u2013 A weekend in the country with people who have serious relationship issues might not sound like a good time.<\/p>\n
But throw in the music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim and you\u2019ll be happy you decamped to the Swedish countryside at the turn of the last century \u2013 the setting for the 溏心vlog免费B站 Theatre\u2019s production of \u201cA Little Night Music.\u201d The play opens Thursday, April 18, in the Fine Arts Center on the Kingston Campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Little Night Music,\u201d which debuted on Broadway in 1973 and won five Tony Awards, follows the overlapping affairs of three couples who come together at the estate of Madame Armfeldt. Her daughter, Desiree, a once-successful actress, is the mistress of comically pompous Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm, who is married to the cynical but still romantic Countess Charlotte.<\/p>\n
Adding to the magnificent mess, Desiree\u2019s former lover, Fredrik Egerman, still pines for her. But Fredrik, a middle-aged lawyer, is married to his child bride, Anne, but their marriage, unconsummated after 11 months, is less than ideal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such a beautifully delicate, abrasive, funny, romantic comedy,\u201d says director Paula McGlasson. \u201cSome would say, it\u2019s the turn of the century, it\u2019s set in Sweden, how accessible could this be? But it\u2019s us. If you\u2019re married to someone and love someone else, that story goes through time.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGlasson, a 溏心vlog免费B站 theater professor and former chair of the department for 18 years, has been involved in every 溏心vlog免费B站 musical since joining the department in 1985, beginning as a choreographer for director Judith Swift, who is a 溏心vlog免费B站 professor of communications studies and theater and director of the Coastal Institute. McGlasson started directing the annual musicals in 1998.<\/p>\n
Sondheim, Pulitzer Prize winning lyricist and composer of such musicals as \u201cSweeney Todd\u201d and \u201cInto the Woods,\u201d is her favorite. And \u201cA Little Night Music\u201d tops her list of Sondheim\u2019s work. It also was the first of his musicals she was in, playing Desiree at Bradley University in the 1970s.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy memories of it are nothing but splendid,\u201d she says. \u201cI just knew as a performer when I met that material, I touched gold. The way he taps into each character, into their thoughts and their feelings as succinctly as he does, it\u2019s just dreamwork for an actor.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGlasson has directed numerous Sondheim musicals at 溏心vlog免费B站, but this will be the first time she\u2019s staged \u201cNight Music.\u201d \u201cI say this to the students almost every other night \u2013 I love this music,\u201d she says. \u201cI just enjoy watching them come to love him to some degree like I do. It\u2019s just incredible to give them that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s far from an easy experience, though.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s super challenging music,\u201d says Brooks Shatraw \u201919, who plays Fredrik\u2019s son, the serious and repressed Henrik. \u201cThere are really hard rhythmic lines and meticulous pitches, but it all makes it easier to act because he makes it so the rhythms become conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis music is so important because you have to listen to the lyrics,\u201d adds Lauren Jannetti \u201921, who plays Petra, the Egermans\u2019 maid. \u201cIn other musicals, a song might just be there because there\u2019s a dance number, but with Sondheim, you need to pay attention because it furthers the plot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery little thing means something, musically and lyrically,\u201d says Emily Turtle \u201919, who plays Anne, \u201cand that means, as an actor, you have to know everything that\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
All three actors started young in musicals and are veterans of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s annual productions. Turtle, of Barrington,<\/strong> has been in all four musicals during her college career, including the lead in last year\u2019s \u201cMary Poppins.\u201d Shatraw, of North Smithfield,<\/strong> who transferred to 溏心vlog免费B站 his sophomore year, has been in three, and Jannetti, of Lincoln,<\/strong> has been in two during her time here.<\/p>\n \u201cMusical theater is my love,\u201d says Turtle. \u00a0\u201cI think it\u2019s a very complex form of theater because there are so many different things you have to think about at once \u2013 the choreography, the dialogue, the singing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like a lot of people don\u2019t think about the acting aspect of musical theater,\u201d says Jannetti. \u201cThey think that if you\u2019re a good singer, you can do a musical, but that\u2019s not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to make it believable that someone would start singing,\u201d adds Shatraw. \u201cIt\u2019s a completely different challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA Little Night Music\u201d is a modest production compared with last year\u2019s musical, \u201cMary Poppins,\u201d with about half the cast. It also will be staged in the smaller J Studio and be accompanied by four musicians. It\u2019s been a familiar setting for two of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Sondheim productions \u2013 \u201cAssassins\u201d and \u201cCompany.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJ Studio is a fun place to work,\u201d says McGlasson. \u201cSondheim plays well in an intimate atmosphere because his lyrics are intimate. It\u2019s that specific character approach to his songs. It seems to work well.\u201d<\/p>\n That intimate setting will also highlight the period designs of costume shop manager Alison Carrier. \u201cWhat a period, 1900. It\u2019s just gorgeous, the hairstyles, the hats,\u201d says McGlasson, \u201cand Alison has designed some really sumptuous costumes.\u201d<\/p>\n Also behind the scenes are musical director Lila Kane, choreographers Dante Sciarra and Valerie Ferris, set designer Renee Surprenant Fitzgerald, lighting designer Jessica Winward, sound designer Michael Hyde and stage manager Nicole Petta.<\/p>\n \u201cA Little Night Music\u201d runs April 18-20 and April 25-28 with shows starting at 7:30 p.m. in the J Studio of the Fine Arts Center, 105 Upper College Road, on the Kingston Campus. On April 27 and 28, matinees will begin at 2 p.m. (Please note: there is no matinee on April 21.) Tickets are $20 for general admission, $18 for seniors, 溏心vlog免费B站 faculty, staff and students. To purchase tickets, visit the current season web page<\/a>, or call (401) 874-5843. Seating is limited so please call to reserve in advance.<\/p>\n Cast of \u201cA Little Night Music\u201d: Ryan Alexander, Portsmouth, Bertrand KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 10, 2019 \u2013 A weekend in the country with people who have serious relationship issues might not sound like a good time. But throw in the music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim and you\u2019ll be happy you decamped to the Swedish countryside at the turn of the last century \u2013 the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-74700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74700"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82783,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74700\/revisions\/82783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>Actor, hometown, character<\/em><\/p>\n
\nKaela Bergeron, Scituate, Mrs. Nordstrom
\nEmily Carter, Scituate, Desiree Armfeldt
\nJeremy Chiang, South Kingstown, Mr. Erlansen
\nJ. Edward Clarke, Narragansett, Fredrik Egerman
\nMaria Day Hyde, North Kingstown, Madame Armfeldt
\nTrey DiGioia, Bristol, Frid
\nDaniel F. Greene, Easton, Mass., Carl-Magnus Malcolm
\nZoe Hayn, Colchester, Conn., Malla
\nDean Hernandez, East Providence, Mr. Lindquist
\nLauren Jannetti, Lincoln, Petra
\nEmily Maclean, Chariho, Charlotte Malcolm
\nErin McGowan, Zionsville, Pa., Mrs. Segstrom
\nMary Mullane, Warwick, Mrs. Anderson
\nKate Rocchio, Wakefield, Fredrika Armfeldt
\nBrooks A. Shatraw, North Smithfield, Henrik Egerman
\nJameson A. Sheridan, Hanover, Mass., Olaf
\nEmily Turtle, Barrington, Anne Egerman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"