Full casting and creative team have been announced for Pasadena Playhouse's upcoming 50th anniversary revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's A Little Night Music. The new production is set to begin performing April 25 ahead of an April 30 opening night at the California venue. The run has already been extended and will now continue through May 28.
As previously announced, the production will be led by Merle Dandridge (The Last of Us, Once on this Island) as Desirée Armfeldt, Michael Hayden (Murder One, Carousel) as Fredrik Egerman, Jodi Long (Dash & Lily, Flower Drum Song) as Madame Armfeldt, Sarah Uriarte Berry (Les Misérables) as Countess Charlotte Malcolm, Chase Del Rey (King Richard) as Henrik Egerman, Adam James King (In the Heights) as Frid, Ruby Lewis (Cirque du Soleil Paramour) as Petra, Ryan Silverman (Side Show) as Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm, and Kaley Ann Voorhees (Prince of Broadway) as Anne Egerman. The cast also includes Georgia Belmont as Mrs. Nordstrom, Jared Bybee as Mr. Lindquist, Kim Dawson as Mrs. Segstrom, Oriana Falla as Mrs. Anderssen, Arnold Geis as Mr. Erlanson, and Christanna Rowader as a standby for Countess Charlotte Malcolm and Desiree Armfeldt.
Newly joining the company are Brandon Borkowsky as Bertrand, Mikaela Celeste as Osa, Danny Cron as Ingmar, and Audrey Williams as Mala.
The production will be directed by David Lee and feature choreography by Mark Esposito and music supervision by Darryl Archibald. Newly joining the creative team are scenic designer Wilson Chin, costume designer Kate Bergh, lighting designer Jared A. Sayeg, sound designers Danny Erdberg and Ursula Kwong-Brown, and wig designer Christopher Enlow. Jill Gold will be stage manager with Dylan Elhai as assistant stage manager. Casting is by JZ Casting's Geoff Josselson and Katja Zarolinski.
Adapted from the 1955 Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, the work follows actor Desirée Armfeldt, the affairs she is entangled in, and the men who love her. When everyone gathers at the country estate of Desirée's mother, new romances and second chances bloom in surprising ways. The Sondheim score is most noted for introducing the standard "Send in the Clowns."
The production is presented as part of the theatre's six-month celebration of the work and impact of the late, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim during its 2022-2023 season. Launched in January with a production of Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods, the celebration recently presented Sondheim and James Lapine's Pulitzer Prize-winning Sunday in the Park With George, which completed its run March 19.
