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Matt Whalen / Friday, July 10, 1987 / Categories: Past Shows

A Little Night Music

Event date: 7/10/1987 7:00 PM - 7/26/1987 11:00 PM Export event

The Cast

Fredrik Egerman...Glen Graber
Henrik Egerman...Mark Mavetz
Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm...Glenn Cooper
Anne Egerman...Heather Morris 
Fredrika Armfeldt...Michelle Trippedi
Madame Armfeldt...Linda Holzrichter
Countess Charlotte Malcolm...Sheri Davis
Desirée Armfeldt...Anne Hunt
Petra...Beth Monti
Frid...David Lollar
Mr. Lindquist...David Dekovitz
Mr. Erlanson...Paul Arnold 
Mrs. Anderssen...Candace Thomas 
Mrs. Segstrom...Regi Mezydlo

Production Staff

Director...Alan Weiger
Music Director...Ted Waltmire
Assistant Director...David Lollar
Choreographer...Laura Grant
Costume Designer...Julane Sullivan
Scenic Designer/Technical Director...Ken Frykholm
Lighting Designer...Cindi Manning
Sound Designer...Steve Francque

 

Orchestra

Conductor / Keyboard...Ted Waltmire
Bass...Max Bochmann
Percussion...Steve Husser
Flute...Michelle Waltmire

About the Directors

Alan Weiger (Director) Alan is an Assistant Professor of Speech Communication and Director of Theatre at Elmhurst College. During the past year he has directed “Merrily We Roll Along” and “Brighton Beach Memoirs”. He is also a designer. In his spare time he is a youth soccer referee. This is his first show at Summer Place.

R. David Lollar (Assistant Director and Frid) David is a student at Elmhurst College and a technical assistant in the theatre there. In addition to being an actor, David will direct two shows next year for the college.

Ted Waltmire (Musical Director/Keyboard) Ted is our resident expert on Stephen Sondheim and even corresponds with Mr. Sondheim! Ted’s last venture at Summer Place was as musical director for “The Fantasticks”. He is a songwriter and most recently composed the music for North Central College’s production of “The Trojan Women”. Ted’s wife, Michelle, is the flautist in tonight’s orchestra.

Laura Grant (Choreographer) has worked on Summer Place and North Central College musicals for many years. She began her formal dance training in 1920 and since then has not stopped dancing or teaching dancing. She has been on the guest faculty for classes at Northern Illinois University and the Northwestern Ontario Ballet Guild’s Summer School and is a 50 year member of the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters. During the last 25 years Laura has been active in choreographing for area schools and community theatres, including Downers Grove North, Hinsdale South, Naperville North, La Grange High School, and Lisle High School.

About the Cast

Glen Graber (Fredrik) Glen is from St. Charles and has appeared in over thirty Chicagoland community theatre musicals. His most recent roles were Ben Stone in Sondheim’s “Follies” and The Boy’s Father in “The Fantasticks” at Summer Place.

Mark Mavetz (Henrik) Mark is a 1987 graduate of Elmhurst College and plans to pursue an acting career. This is Mark’s second appearance at the Summer Place. He appeared as Klein in last season’s production of “Arsenic and Old Lace”. Mark resides in Lombard.

Glenn Cooper (Count Carl Magnus) Glen lives in Naperville and has many musical credits to his name, including roles in “Oklahoma!”, “Once Upon A Mattress”, and “Fiddler on the Roof”. Ever the actor, Glen once appeared on TV’s “Wheel of Fortune”.

Heather Morris (Anne) Heather is from Naperville and was seen last summer as Peppermint Patty in Summer Place’s production of “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown”. She is a musical theatre major at Syracuse University and says that since starting college, she has also become very interested in off-stage work, particularly lighting design and directing.

Michelle Trippedi (Fredrika) A sophomore at Benet Academy, Michelle resides in Woodridge. She has many musical credits to her name and has appeared in “West Side Story”, “Annie”, and “A Chorus Line”.

Linda Holzrichter (Madame Armfeldt) Linda’s last Summer Place performance was two years ago in “See How They Run”. A former journalist, Linda has recently completed her MBA studies at DePaul University and is a newly hired senior auditor at CNA Insurance in Chicago.

Sheri Davis (Charlotte) A stockbroker by day, Sheri is an active theatre person at night! Her last appearance at Summer Place was as Lady Larkin in “Once Upon a Mattress”. Her most recent stage role was Martha in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff”. Sheri is also a director and will direct “Bus Stop” this winter.

Anne Voigtmann Hunt (Desiree Armfeldt) This is Anne’s first appearance at The Summer Place. She has many roles to her credit including Laurey in “Oklahoma!” and Sarah Brown in “Guys and Dolls”. She has recently completed a film, “The Rock That Glowed” which will be seen this summer on a children’s cable channel.

Elizabeth Monti (Petra) This marks Elizabeth’s Summer Place debut. She has worked in many area theatres in roles such as Bonnie in “Applause” and Chava in “Fiddler on the Roof”. She is a newlywed and says she has an obsession with purple!

Paul Arnold (Mr. Erlanson) Paul is a student at Roosevelt College. This is his fourth appearance on the Summer Place stage, the last being as Tony in “The Most Happy Fella.”

Candace Thomas (Mrs. Anderson) This marks the Summer Place debut for this resident of Batavia. She has many musical credits including roles in “Where’s Charlie” and “The Most Happy Fella”.

Regi Mezydlo (Mrs. Segstrom) Regi resides in Elmhurst and this is her first appearance at Summer Place. In addition to having been in many musicals, she has also been vocal director for “Grease”, “The Fantasticks”, and “Merrily We Roll Along”. She has also studied improvisational theatre with Second City Players Workshop.

Program Notes

“A Little Night Music” first waltzed across the Broadway stage in 1973. One of that cast, Hermione Gingold, recently passed away at the age of 89. Set in Sweden at the turn of the century, “Night Music” is freely adapted from Ingmar Bergman’s 1956 film “Smiles of a Summer Night” and focuses on the tangled relationships of Fredrik Egerman, a widowed lawyer, and “the one and only” Desiree Armfeldt, a flamboyant actress. Desiree and Fredrik were once lovers, but now Fredrik has married again, this time to Anne, an 18 year old child bride. Henrik is Fredrik’s 20 year old son by his first wife, and a brooding seminary student who is hopelessly in love with his stepmother, Anne. Desiree’s current lover is a married military man, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm. The Count’s wife, Charlotte, is fully aware of her husband’s infidelities, but is too proud to admit the depth of her love for Carl-Magnus. During the course of a magical weekend at the Armfeldt Estate in the country, these relationships are sorted out as the summer night smiles.

The music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim function several different ways in “A Little Night Music”. As in most musicals, some songs reveal character, “Send in the Clowns”, or propel the action forward, “A Weekend in the Country”, but Sondheim goes a step further. He uses a quintet of five singers who move in and out of the story frequently stopping the action to comment on past relationships, “Remember?”, the theatre, “The Glamorous Life”, or to set a scene, “The Sun Won’t Set”. The quintet also performs the vocal overture and mingles with the other characters in the opening Night Waltz which foreshadows the changing relationships. Most importantly, Sondheim reveals his character’s attitudes towards men, “Every Day a Little Death”, women, “In Praise of Women”, sex, “Now/Later/Soon”, and love affairs, “Liaisons”, in a literate and melodic way.

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