Pawk Replaces Burton in NY City Opera's Starry Little Night Music
By Kenneth Jones
28 Feb 2003
Michele Pawk, recently celebrated for her work in Broadway's Hollywood Arms, will play Charlotte, the dry and unhappy wife of a soldier, in New York City Opera's A Little Night Music, replacing Kate Burton.
Performances play March 7-29 in repertory with other works, at the State Theatre at Lincoln Center. Burton left due to scheduling conflicts, a spokesperson said.
Already announced for the starry revival of the 1973 Tony Award-winning show are Jeremy Irons as Fredrik, Juliet Stevenson as Desiree, Claire Bloom as Madame Armfeldt, Kristin Huxfold as Anne, Jessica Boevers as Petra, Daniel Gurwin as Henrik and Marc Kudisch as Carl Magnus (husband to Charlotte and lover of Desiree).
Anna Kendrick, Tony-nommed in 1998 for playing the little sister in High Society, is Fredrika
Huxhold played the virginal Anne, the new wife to lawyer Fredrik, in a 2001 staging at Goodspeed Opera House. In the show, she promises to give her middle-aged husband her virginity "soon." She also appeared as Emily in Madison Square Garden's A Christmas Carol and toured with Titanic.
The role of Frid, Madame Armfeldt's randy butler, will be played by Quentin Marc. The Greek chorus of five liebeslieders (purposefully underlining the sexual tension — note there's a fifth wheel here) is made up of Stephanie Woodling, Kathryn Friest, Anna Christy, Michael Chioldi, and James Schaffner.
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Director Scott Ellis and choreographer Susan Stroman, who originated this NYCO staging in the 1990s, re-team. Their initial production starred Sally Ann Howes as Desiree, and appeared on PBS.
Paul Gemignani will conduct. Designers are Michael Anania (scenic), Lindsay W. Davis (costumes) and Kenneth Posner (lighting).
Irons is the British actor who appeared in the films, "The French Lieutenant's Woman" and "Reversal of Fortune," and Broadway's The Real Thing; Stevenson appeared in such films as "Truly Madly Deeply," "Emma" and the current "Nicholas Nickleby"; Bloom is the stage and film actress who picked up a Tony nomination as Clytemnestra in Broadway's most recent Electra (and starred with Irons in TV's "Brideshead Revisited"); Pawk's credits include Off-Broadway's Reefer Madness and Broadway's hit revival of Cabaret; Gurwin appeared in Broadway's The Full Monty; Boevers created the role of Ado Annie for the current Broadway Oklahoma!; and Kudisch was Tony nommed for playing starchy boss Trevor in Thoroughly Modern Millie.
The libretto of the musical is by Hugh Wheeler. Harold Prince was the original director. Produced by the respected New York City Opera, A Little Night Music has less vocal excesses than Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, though the roles of Anne, Henrik, Carl Magnus and the waltzing chorus in the Swedish-set musical show off what audiences would consider a sound worthy of operetta. The composer has said the show is written in European style, with nods to light opera; the score is in variations of three-quarter time.
A Little Night Music won 1973 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Score, Best Actress (Glynis Johns), Best Featured Actress (Patricia Elliott), Best Book and Best Costumes (Florence Klotz). Bob Fosse won the Best Director Tony that year for Pippin.
There has been talk of a Broadway revival of Night Music over the past several years, with Glenn Close's name bandied about for Desiree, but nothing has transpired.
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