Show guide
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is Stephen Sondheim's 1973 musical comedy of romantic entanglements among Swedish gentry, told almost entirely in waltz time.
- Broadway premiere
- 1973
- Music by
- Stephen Sondheim
- Genre
- Comedy
- Setting
- 1900s
A Little Night Music: quick answers
What is A Little Night Music about?
- A Little Night Music follows actress Desiree Armfeldt, her old lover Fredrik Egerman and his young wife, and a string of mismatched couples whose romances collide during a summer weekend at the country estate of Desiree's mother.
When did A Little Night Music open on Broadway?
- A Little Night Music opened on Broadway on February 25, 1973, at the Shubert Theatre, won the Tony Award for Best Musical, and played 601 performances before closing on August 3, 1974. A 2009 revival starred Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury.
What kind of musical is A Little Night Music?
- A Little Night Music is a romantic comedy of manners with an original score by Stephen Sondheim, most of it written in waltz time, and a book by Hugh Wheeler. Its best-known song is Send in the Clowns.
Where and when is A Little Night Music set?
- A Little Night Music is set in Sweden around the turn of the 20th century.
Has A Little Night Music played in London's West End?
- A Little Night Music opened in the West End at the Adelphi Theatre on April 15, 1975, starring Jean Simmons. Judi Dench won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in the 1995 National Theatre revival.
Is there a A Little Night Music movie?
- The musical was inspired by Ingmar Bergman's 1955 film Smiles of a Summer Night. Harold Prince directed a 1977 film version starring Elizabeth Taylor, which moved the story to Austria.
The story of A Little Night Music
Set around the turn of the twentieth century in Sweden, A Little Night Music follows the touring actress Desiree Armfeldt as she reconnects with a former lover, the lawyer Fredrik Egerman, who is now unhappily married to a much younger wife, Anne. The story is based on Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night.
When Desiree's mother, the worldly Madame Armfeldt, hosts a country weekend, the tangled romantic lives of several couples, including Desiree's jealous married lover Count Carl-Magnus and Fredrik's lovestruck son Henrik, all collide. The show is a comedy of manners at heart, but one that treats its characters' romantic foolishness with genuine tenderness.
The music and the makers
Stephen Sondheim wrote the score and Hugh Wheeler the book, and the entire show is written in variations of triple meter, waltz time, an unusual and unifying choice for a Broadway musical. The music constantly circles back on itself the way its characters' romantic histories do.
The score's most famous song, Send in the Clowns, grew out of that structure and went on to become a widely recorded standard far beyond the show itself. Other numbers, including A Weekend in the Country and the trio Now, Later, Soon, showcase Sondheim's gift for interweaving multiple characters' voices within a single musical scene.
A Little Night Music on Broadway
A Little Night Music opened on Broadway in February 1973 at the Shubert Theatre, directed by Harold Prince, with Glynis Johns originating the role of Desiree and Len Cariou as Fredrik. The production ran for 601 performances and won the Tony Award for Best Musical.
The show was adapted into a film in 1977 and has been revived on Broadway several times since, most notably in a 2009 production starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury. Its enduring popularity rests largely on Send in the Clowns, but the full score is prized among Sondheim fans as one of his most elegant and structurally unified achievements.
A Little Night Music: frequently asked questions
When did A Little Night Music open on Broadway?
A Little Night Music opened on Broadway in 1973 at the Shubert Theatre.
Who wrote A Little Night Music?
Stephen Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics, with a book by Hugh Wheeler, based on Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night.
What is A Little Night Music about?
It follows overlapping romantic entanglements among a group of Swedish gentry gathered for a country weekend, told almost entirely in waltz time.
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