A Little Night Music at Circle Theatre

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...The women in the cast are especially inspired, including Anita Hoffman as a middle-aged actress yearning for renewed love, Stephanie Stockstill as a wife far too young for her husband, and Khaki Pixley as a lustful maid servant always up for a pinch and tickle."

Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended

"...Knuth’s middling production features appealing supporting performances by Tierney, Rill, Boyd and Khaki Pixley (who brings a bit too much modern sass to the Egermans’ maid, Petra, but delivers a lovely “Miller’s Son”). The rich harmonies of the Lieberslieder singers almost make up for the tinny sound of the dinky, synthetic four-piece orchestra doing injustice to Sondheim’s waltz-heavy score. But Knuth’s all-white, oddly static set design makes a poor canvas for Gary C. Echelmeyer’s distractingly peculiar lights, and Hoffman and Swenk are woefully miscast in the show’s leads."

ChicagoCritic - Recommended

"... The production is very pretty: the sets are simple yet efficient, the costumes are well-made. The sound leaves something to be desired, the music occasionally overpowering the vocal performances onstage. Articulation on the actors’ part also occasionally left something to be desired, and some voices did not blend well, but on the whole the singing was very good. And the actors were all fairly solid as well."

Around The Town Chicago - Recommended

"...The stories are somewhat confusing, which works toward making the “farce” part. Fredrik ( nicely done by Kirk Swenk), an attorney who has recently married Anne (charmingly portrayed by newcomer Stephanie Stockwell) a girl who is the daughter of one of his nearest and dearest friends, has still not seen their marriage consummated. His son,Henrik ( deftly handled by Patrick Tierney) who is studying  for the  ministry, it appears is in love with Anne himself. Fredrik’s heart belongs to a former lover, Desiree ( Anita Hoffman handles this role with a special flair), an actress who has a daughter, Fredrika ( the adorable Alicia Hurtado)  living in her country home with her mother, Madame Armfeldt ( the always reliable Patti Roeder). Back to Desiree” and her “lover”Carl-Magnus, a military man ( a fine performance by Jeremy Rill, who is always fun to watch on stage) and his wife, Charlotte is played to perfection by Deanna Boyd. There are other little love stories going on and in the end, we have many happy endings."

Chicago Theater Beat - Recommended

"...Stephen Sondheim’s musicals often contain an element of nostalgic regret, focusing on characters that look back on their muddled pasts in hopes of achieving, as A Little Night Music’s Desirée Armfeldt (Anita Hoffman) says, “A coherent future.” The aging artists of Follies, the fairy tales of Into The Woods, Sweeney Todd’s titular anti-hero – these are just a few of the composer’s characters that are faced with the consequences time brings, and A Little Night Music is one of the most chronology-focused musicals in Sondheim’s canon."