Patrick Street Productions presents A Little Night Music, May 11–21, Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., with May 14, 20 and 21 matinees at 2 p.m., Anvil Centre Theatre, 777 Columbia St., New Westminster. Tickets: $21.50 - $35.50 (plus service charge) available at ticketsnw.ca or call 604-521-5050.
It was the inimitable Stephen Sondheim with his musical craftsmanship who swayed Peter Jorgensen away from jazz.
Jorgensen, a North Vancouver native and local theatre vet, was entranced by the great American lyricist behind the scores of West Side Story and Into the Woods, among other award-winning musicals. Who could blame him?
The way Sondheim – he’s been called the Shakespeare of musical theatre – used music to tell stories blew Jorgensen’s mind. His first introduction to Sondheim was in the jazz studies program at then-called Capilano College.
Jorgensen also got involved with former North Vancouver-based theatre company Uncle Randy Productions, which mounted Into the Woods. And that’s when Sondheim really had Jorgensen under his spell.
“And I just kind of fell in love with it. That’s when I changed gears and said ‘Well, I’m not going to do this jazz thing anymore.’ And Sondheim is one of the main factors why I am doing this (musical theatre) today,” explains Jorgensen.
Things have come full circle for Jorgensen, who is currently directing another Sondheim classic, A Little Night Music, with Patrick Street Productions – a theatre company Jorgensen founded with his wife, Katey Wright, a decade ago.
Their inaugural production of Into the Woods was a critically acclaimed hit that earned Jorgensen a Jessie Award nomination for direction.
“I think we have been wanting to get back to something of (Sondheim’s) ever since then,” says Jorgensen.
There’s a curated list of criteria Jorgensen and his Patrick Street Productions partners look at when deciding what play or musical to mount.
“We’re always looking for shows that are written with a lot of sophistication, have a lot of great craft and artistry involved with it,” explains Jorgensen. “Those things are always in abundance with a Stephen Sondheim musical. We really wanted to do something that had maybe a little bit more broad appeal than many of our previous shows have. We tend to pick shows that are little bit out of the way, a little bit obscure.”
The name recognition that comes with A Little Night Music, a hit Broadway musical, certainly helps Patrick Street Productions’ cause. That musical was one of three which made Jorgensen and Wright’s shortlist. The other two will remain a mystery – for now.
“I can’t tell you because we are probably going to program them at some point,” says Jorgensen with a laugh.
A Little Night Music is being mounted at New Westminster’s relatively new Anvil Centre Theatre, which Jorgensen can’t help but gush about.
“We really love the space. It’s gorgeous. It’s so accessible. It’s right by SkyTrain.” The venue also boasts brilliant sightlines and “super comfortable” seats, adds Jorgensen, along with “fantastic” acoustics. Acoustic is the operative word, as the architect of this production of A Little Night Music aims to go au naturel.
“That’s another thing we’re excited about, with A Little Night Music we’ve decided to do the whole show acoustically, so there’s no amplification at all (on the singers and the instruments). I think that’s going to be a unique experience for theatregoers,” says Jorgensen, explaining how it’s rare these days to hear that raw acoustic sound.
The characters will be accompanied by an intentionally small chamber orchestra comprised of a harp, violin, cello, clarinet and a flute.
“It just sounds heavenly. Any time I can have a harp in a show …,” says Jorgensen.
The harpist, Albertina Chan, who is a dentist by day and moonlights as a musician, just so happens to be a former classmate of Jorgensen’s from Sutherland Secondary.
If not the music that draws in the audience, it’s the many love triangles.
“It’s really fun,” describes Jorgensen. “The wonderful thing about (A Little Night Music) is that it’s full of humour. I think a lot of productions, because it’s Stephen Sondheim, and he’s so revered, get a little bit too intellectual with it and little bit too cool with it. My favourite description from the show is from Harold Prince, the original director, who called it whipped cream with knives. And that’s a really apt description. It’s full of really wonderfully humorous, buoyant moments and then these moments that really cut as well. And that’s really rare to find in a musical.”
Set in Sweden in the early 1900s, A Little Night Music, based on the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, is a tangled series of interwoven love affairs among the elite that takes place at a weekend country estate.
The story begins with esteemed lawyer Fredrik Egerman, who has recently married an 18-year-old virgin, Anne. The couple cohabitates with Fredrik’s young son Henrik, who – plot twist – has also fallen madly in love with Anne.
The vows Fredrik made to his blushing bride are put to the test when he reunites with former flame and aging actress, Desiree Armfeldt. An added level of complication arises when Desiree’s jealous, married lover Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm gets wind of the reunion.
All of these trysts and twists come to a head when Desiree convinces her mother to host Fredrik and his family for a weekend on her lavish estate – where the Count and his wife crash the party.
The famous song “Send in the Clowns” is delivered by Desiree at the climax of the show. She’s hopeful she can rekindle a relationship with Fredrik who, unbeknownst to him, is the father of her child. The former flames are alone and Desiree broaches the subject, but Fredrik rebuffs her advances. Send in the clowns.
“In that moment that song is sung and it’s about embarrassment, being in a situation where you feel foolish,” explains Jorgensen. “Sondheim always wanted to use the term fool in the song but he didn’t like the sound of the word so he used clowns instead.”
Jorgensen praises the “dynamic” cast of A Little Night Music, from veteran actress Patti Allan to the precocious Elizabeth Irving, 13, who plays the daughter born out of Desiree and Fredrik’s affair.
“Her voice is unbelievable and she’s performing the part beautifully,” praises Jorgensen.
When it came to casting Fredrik, Jorgensen didn’t have to search too far. Warren Kimmel, who’s a London theatre vet and has recently made a name for himself in Vancouver’s acting circles, brings an impressive bio.
“He’s fantastic,” says Jorgensen. “When we decided to do this show, we just cast him right away. We didn’t audition him, because we know his work. He’s a wonderful actor and he’s got a wonderful voice. And him and Katey (who plays Desiree) together are really wonderful.”
Stepping into the role of Count Carl is North Vancouver actor and singer Nick Fontaine, who was directed by Jorgensen in the Arts Club Theatre's highly successful run of Avenue Q in 2014.
Directing has taken centre stage these days for Jorgensen, who graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York and went on to perform in various off-Broadway productions.
But he’ll be back on the boards locally, as Lumière in the Arts Club Theatre’s production of Beauty and the Beast in December.
While it’s the singing that Jorgensen misses the most, there’s something about directing that he says he loves even more.
“I love having to deal with the whole big picture and all the elements,” he says.” I like the challenge and the artistry of that.”
