A Little Night Music
September 7 - October 7, 2007
South Coast Repertory
Costa Mesa, California

 

SONDHEIM’S A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC LEADS OFF SOUTH COAST REPERTORY’S 44TH SEASON

Stephanie Zimbalist, Mark Jacoby and Teri Ralston Star in the Waltz-Filled Musical Comedy

COSTA MESA, Calif. (Aug. 9, 2007)—South Coast Repertory leads off the 2007-08 Season with Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s waltz-filled musical comedy, A Little Night Music. Stefan Novinski directs the musical based on the late Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, with musical direction by Dennis Castellano. A Little Night Music will run from Sept. 7 through Oct. 7 on the Segerstrom Stage. Low-priced previews are available from Sept. 7 through Sept. 13. Opening night is Sept. 14. Press night is Saturday, Sept. 15 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets to A Little Night Music may be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or in person at the SCR box office.

Sophisticated and stylish, A Little Night Music abounds with effervescent wit as romantic liaisons are played out beneath the mysterious summer night of Sweden at the turn of the century. The memorable score composed in three-quarter time contains Sondheim’s most popular song, the haunting “Send in the Clowns.”  The original 1973 Broadway production was the winner of six Tony Awards including Best Musical, and two Grammy Awards.

Stephanie Zimbalist stars as Desirée Armfeldt, an actress frequently away on tour in the hinterlands. After making her theatrical debut in the musical Festival in 1979 in Los Angeles with Gregory Harrison and Brian Stokes Mitchell, Zimbalist appeared as Miranda in The Tempest with Anthony Hopkins and Brent Carver at the Mark Taper Forum. She also co-starred with Tommy Tune in the national touring company of My One and Only.  She most recently appeared as Gertrude in Rubicon Theatre Company’s production of Hamlet. A familiar face to television audiences, Zimbalist is best known for her role as stylish sleuth Laura Holt on the long-running detective series, “Remington Steele.”

Mark Jacoby will appear as Fredrik, a middle-aged attorney in mid-life crisis (and Desirée ’s former lover.)  Jacoby’s Broadway credits include Judge Turpin in the recent revival of Sweeney Todd, Vittorio Vidal in Sweet Charity (Theatre World Award), Baron von Gaigern in Grand Hotel, the title character in The Phantom of the Opera for three years (a role he created in the National Tour), Gaylord Ravenal in Showboat (Tony and Outer Critics' Award nominations), the original Father in Ragtime and Padre Perez in the recent revival of Man of La Mancha. He also appeared in the television extravaganza, “Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall.”

Teri Ralston created the role of Mrs. Nordstrom in the original Broadway production of A Little Night Music, and now revisits the show as Desirée ’s mother, Madame Armfeldt. Ralston has appeared in many of Sondheim’s musicals including Company (Original Broadway Cast); Side-by-Side by Sondheim and Sunday in the Park with George at South Coast Repertory; Follies (with Stephanie Zimbalist at the Irvine Barclay Theatre); Gypsy; Putting it Together (Mark Taper Forum) and two additional productions of Side-by-Side at the Pasadena Playhouse and Rubicon Theatre Company. She has also directed Sondheim’s Into the Woods and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

The formidable Stephen Sondheim has won an Academy Award, seven Tony Awards (more than any other composer), multiple Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. His most famous works include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George and Into the Woods. Hugh Wheeler, playwright, librettist, poet and translator, won Tony Awards for his books for the musicals A Little Night Music, Candide and Sweeney Todd. He also wrote the books for many other musicals including the stage version of Meet Me in St. Louis.

Stefan Novinski is a freelance director based in Los Angeles. At SCR, Novinski has directed the Theatre for Young Audience productions of Sideways Stories from Wayside School, The Hoboken Chicken Emergency, Bunnicula and the world premiere of The Only Child. Recent credits include Nighthawks at the Kirk Douglas Theatre; J.O.B. the Hip-Hopera (LA Weekly and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle nominations for Best Direction and Best Musical); The Skin of Our Teeth at the Evidence Room (LA Weekly Award, Best Revival 2003) and at Open Fist Theatre Company; Cosmonaut’s Last Message… (LA Weekly Awards for Direction and Best Production 2003); As I Lay Dying (Los Angeles Times Critic’s Pick) and Fen (Garland Award for Direction). Prior to arriving in Los Angeles, Novinski served as the Associate Producer of the Big D Festival of the Unexpected at Dallas Theatre Center.

The cast of A Little Night Music also features Christopher Carothers (Mr. Lindquist), Misty Cotton (Petra), Karen Culliver (Mrs. Nordstrom), Joe Farrell (Henrik Egerman), Katie Horwitch (Fredrika Armfeldt), Damon Kirsche (Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm), Ann Marie Lee (Mrs. Anderssen), Tracy Lore (Mrs. Segstrom), Branden McDonald (Frid), Kevin McMahon (Mr. Erlanson), Amanda Naughton (Countess Charlotte Malcolm) and Carolann Sanita (Anne Egerman).

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