A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

SONDHEIM/WHEELER

BERKSHIRE THEATER FESTIVAL 2014

The Night Waltz starts with the 3 Armfeldt women, the rest of the cast behind a voile curtain

Night Waltz

Some small scenes were played "in one" on the stage extensions

The first time we see the Egerman rooms

Anne and Henrik in the Egerman parlor

A transition - the Liebeslieder quintet moves curtains and furniture

Now, Soon, Later

The Glamorous Life

Theater scene - we used the glorious boxes in the house and played in front of the red curtain

"Remember, darling?"

Desiree's digs - using both voile curtains and red curtain to help frame the scene

"Liasons" - we backlit the wallpaper drop for this nostalgic, wistful number

"The target is that portrait - her eye" - Count Malcom palmed the knife and the portrait was quickly flipped to a duplicate with a knife handle in the eye

"In Praise of Women"

"Every Day a Little Death"

We used the red curtain to help with split scenes - here the beginning of "Weekend in the Country"

"Weekend in the Country" - split scenes

Henrik's solo - "Weekend in the Country"

"Weekend in the Country" finale - End of Act I

Act II also begins with Liebeslieder singers in front of red curtain

Arrival of Count Malcom and Charlotte to Armfeldt Estate

Charlotte and Anne make plans

Liebeslieder transition - "The Sun Sets Low" reprise

Love in the country.

"It Would Have Been Wonderful" - Two men, two urns. A duel of words.

"Perpetual Anticipation" - the house flew out ever so slowly as the dining room table came downstage

Transition into Dining Room

Dining Room Scene - sadly the voile curtain was off spike on the day of photos

More Liebeslieder mischief in the transition out of the dining room. They threw leaves as the story moved deeper into the woods.

The trees all tracked to different overlapping positions and the foliage borders moved lower as we moved deeper into the woods

"Send In The Clowns" - Desiree's bedroom

"The Miller's Son"

For this production, Director Ethan Heard and the design team wanted to evoke the dreamlike, selective- memory feeling to the musical. We wanted to emphasize the journey from innocence to experience through the three Armfeldt women. We also wanted to highlight the beautiful classical proscenium house of the Colonial Theater, with its glorious red curtain. The Liebeslieder quintet, Sondheim and Wheeler's Greek chorus, became mischevious, sexy sprites, emerging from the pit, the boxes and the rear of the house to shepherd us through the journey of the musical. I was inspired by the paintings of Vilhelm Hammershoi and the spareness of classical Swedish interiors, with the whitewashed woodwork, subtle damask patterns and pickled wood floors. Translucency and silhouette became important ideas in both set and costumes to emphasize a dream-like memory.

The overall journey of the musical had a "Midsummer Night's Dream" structure to it; starting in the more cool and repressed city, with its Victorian ideas about love and sex, and becoming freer and looser as we move to the country, and eventually to the deep woods. The first act used a handful of elements - two translucent voile curtains, a scrim panel with a door and one with a window, along with furniture - in front of a oversized damask wallpaper drop and low border to suggest all the locations in the act. During the finale of "Weekend in the Country" at the end of act I we flew out the wallpaper drop to reveal the Act II set, with its much grander height, for the last 15 seconds before the curtain descended. It was satisfying!

Act II consisted of moving tree-silhouette panels, a grassy rise at the rear of the stage, foliage borders, and a perspective Armfeldt Mansion. The tree panels criss-crossed the stage to make different locations in Act II, and the foliage borders descended as we went deeper into the woods. For the two scenes "inside" the mansion and for the end of the play, deep in the woods, we flew the mansion out. Watching the mansion slowly ascend and descend was one of my favorite surprises in the show, it was mesmerizing and dream-like.

Directed by Ethan Heard

Set Design: Reid Thompson

Costume Design: David Murin

Lighting Design: Oliver Wason

Sound Design: Brendan Doyle

Wig, Hair and Makeup Design: Jon Carter

Photographs: Reid Thompson