December 14, 2009

Reviews: Zeta-Jones, Lansbury open in 'Night Music'

Catherine Zeta-Jones made her Broadway debut Sunday, on a stage shared with Angela Lansbury in the revival of “A Little Night Music.” The reviews are mixed — a little of this and a little of that, especially for Zeta-Jones.

Based on the Ingmar Bergman film “Smiles of a Summer Night,” the original Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler production won the 1973 Tony award for best musical.

“A Little Night Music” has an open-ended run at The Walter Kerr Theatre, 219 W. 48th St., map. Regular tickets are priced $52 to $137 with aisle seats priced from $157 to $162. Premium seats range from $222 to $352. Student rush will be available as of Dec. 15 for $27.

Telecharge notes that Jayne Paterson is scheduled to stand in for Zeta-Jones from Feb. 16 through Feb. 21 and again from March 30 through April 4.

Producers advise the material may be inappropriate for children ages 8 and under.

The Broadway reviews for “A Little Night Music”:

New York Times - “An elegiac darkness infuses this production, which stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, in a lively Broadway debut, and the indomitable (and invaluable) Angela Lansbury. But the behavior of the characters who wander through a twilight labyrinth of passion in early-20th-century Sweden has the exaggerated gusto of second-tier boulevard farce, of people trying a little too hard for worldliness.”

New York magazine - “Half-light can be forgiving—to the aging, to the vain, to the furtive philanderer—but in Trevor Nunn’s stunning, twilit, devastatingly good new production of A Little Night Music, it’s as punishing as the equatorial sun.”

Variety - “At the center of that bright cluster is the luminous Catherine Zeta-Jones, making her Broadway debut as fading actress and inveterate maneater Desiree Armfeldt. Bewitching, confident and utterly natural, she breathes a refreshing earthiness and warm-blooded sensuality into the part, even if she’s directed — in one of the most tiresome traits of Nunn’s production — to underline every suggestion of sexual innuendo in Wheeler’s book.”

NY1 - “As modern musicals go, it’s considered by many the gold standard and this production turns out to be beautiful and deeply resonant, hitting every note with stunning honesty.”

Daily News - “Though the show is mostly well sung, the small orchestra sounds thin. The scenery recalls department store windows - nothing romantic in that. Sluggish pacing makes it feel like “A Lotta Night Music” and performances are too modern for a tale of romantic entanglements in late-19th century Scandinavia.”

Associated Press - “There are some lovely moments, most of them supplied by Angela Lansbury, but too much of this adult, sophisticated show, which opened Sunday at the Walter Kerr Theatre, seems forced, boisterous and a little crude.”

USA Today - “None of them, of course, blend wit and poignancy better than Lansbury — or Sondheim’s score, for that matter. They are, without question, the two best reasons to see this revival.”

Time Out - “Catherine Zeta-Jones blazes with charisma, verve and wit as Desirée, the stage diva of a certain age who floats back into the life of slightly caddish lawyer Frederik Egerman (Hanson), himself frustratedly married to his 18-year-old second wife, Anne (Ramona Mallory, overdoing hysteria).”

Bloomberg - “Zeta-Jones, on the other hand, is all artifice, whether in the play-within-the-play, in which Desiree is a notorious seductress, or offstage, when she is supposed to be her irresistible self. Words are delivered in a stilted rubato, oozing self-satisfaction, with affected facial expressions that are smug and patronizing.”

Post - “The star here is Zeta-Jones. She’s radiant, yet doesn’t shed much light on Desirée.”

Newsday - “Angela Lansbury is giving a performance that deserves to be part of theater legend. Catherine Zeta-Jones is earthy and poignant in her confident Broadway debut.”

Hollywood Reporter - “This uneven but welcome revival of Sondheim’s classic musical features a triumphant Broadway debut by Catherine Zeta-Jones.”

Washington Post - “‘Music’ in the key of blah; Except for Angela Lansbury, this is one wan Sondheim.”

Metro - “Making her Broadway debut (but with experience in her career in London’s West End), Zeta-Jones is a natural onstage: casual and comfortable while exuding understated flair. Angela Lansbury, as her mother, is superb as always.”

Related: Playbill”s opening night pictures from “A Little Night Music”.

Earlier: Zeta-Jones, Lansbury to star in ‘A Little Night Music’

December 14, 2009 10:11 AM in Broadway

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