Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Stephen Sondheim’s “A Weekend in the Country” is a treacherous labyrinth of a song. It comes about midway through BoHo Theatre’s “A Little Night Music,” as the 14-strong ensemble weaves at least half a dozen melodic lines together in a celebration of a few days away in a pastoral wonderland. The song turns out to be a microcosm of the entire show: sad, funny, true and playfully raging with delicious sexual intrigue."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Set in Sweden circa 1900, it's a romantic farce about a bohemian actress, Desiree Armfeldt, and her relationships with two married men-her current paramour, a vain military officer, and her former lover, a bourgeois lawyer now unsatisfactorily wed to an 18-year-old virgin who, without realizing it, is actually in love with the lawyer's seminarian son. Sondheim's operetta-style score, set mostly in waltz time, is bubbly and melodic, but also intricate and complex. Linda Fortunato's intimate, minimalist staging for BoHo Theatre allows listeners to hear the masterfully crafted music sung au naturel with no amplification, prettily accompanied by a chamber quartet led by pianist Tom Vendafreddo."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...So much credit is due to the workhorse cast, amazing chamber quartet and artistic team who clearly put their whole hearts into a lively night of humor, intrigue, and sadness. We may clearly see the buttress at times, but this ensemble is no stranger to musical theater's other secret weapon: a good song can make your audience forget flubs and dropped lines in an instant."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...So many lovely moments embellish this well-felt, well-sung Music - it's easy, even enthralling, to sense the spell and see the smiles of this special summer night."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"... I admit it! I am a lover of the works ( and words) of Stephen Sondheim! Although I know that in every one of his musicals, I will hear a hint of another, I adore his cleverness with words and his creativity is using his music and/or words to tell a story. I am a “Sondheim-holic”. I never miss one of his shows, no matter which local company produces it. In fact, when I heard that BoHo Theatre Company was bringing to their stage, “A Little Night Music”, I immediately got out my calendar to make sure that I did not miss this one ( one of my very favorites)."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...Linda Fortunato's production is many things. But first and foremost, it's a wonderful celebration of the gorgeous, lilting melodies and the witty and wise wordplay composed by Stephen Sondheim. Professionally sung and skillfully accompanied, audiences are guaranteed an enjoyable evening in this BoHo revival. But there's more. Directed with a feminist's eye, this production truly belongs to the story's talented ladies. With a strong showing by each and every actress, there are no weak performances on the Greenhouse stage. This is "A Little Night Music" that most certainly is "In Praise of Women.""
Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended
"...Even if you’re not familiar with Sondheim’s ‘A Little Night Music,’ chances are you’ve heard the song ‘Send in the Clowns.’ BoHo Theatre revives the 1973 musical farce under the direction of Linda Fortunato. Surely there’s not a more romantic summer musical than ‘A Little Night Music – and this production heightens the intimacy in staging and a unique re-orchestration."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Recommended
"...While problematic in fundamental content, there is no denying that BoHo's production of A Little Night Music does its best to approach the sensitive subjects of insatiable longing and spousal distrust with tact and verisimilitude. Fortunato's direction does well to qualify that while problematic and messy, this musical still contains very real reflections of love-as well as the pain entailed therein. BoHo's production does well to subvert the misogynistic tendencies typical of a Sondheim musical, delineating the chaotic complexities of love and its lies through intent listening, warm gaiety and a touch of cynicism that equates to thematic clarity."
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...Like most theatre people, I have a huge passion for the shows of Stephen Sondheim. (No pun intended, Sondheim-philes out there enjoying holiday company. OK, I intended that one, and I'll stop now.) Whether it is Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, Assassins, or whatever, I try not to miss one of his musicals if it is at all possible. Done well, they are among the best that the theatre world has to offer. And Boho Theatre Company, with its excellent new production of one of Sondheim's masterworks, A Little Night Music, certainly does it right."
Picture This Post - Somewhat Recommended
"...However, fellow Sondheim enthusiasts may similarly experience this production like a loud rock band concert where you never get the lyrics‑ the sound imbalance a constant irritation. From the program notes we learn that most of the cast has classically trained opera voices. With no Adler & Sullivan acoustical engineering aiding them, many of these voices seem lost and in need of a mic."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...The 1973 Tony-winning musical is based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 film, “Smiles of a Summer Night,” a rare comedy by the Swedish master, which pits passion versus respectability in a turn-of-the-twentieth-century aristocratic milieu. But whereas Bergman’s touch is light, Sondheim’s is poundingly heavy, creating a world that’s less midsummer night’s dream than neurotic nightmare of privileged self-involvement."