A Little Night Music Reviews

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...I am happy to report all of those songs are really well sung here under Dizon's musical direction, all emotionally keyed to the right things, rooted, rich and entirely enjoyable. The scenes and the general milieu prove more mixed in this staging (the limited choreography is from Brenda Didier) because some lack beat-by-beat specificity and the whole struggles to find the necessary visual sweep of everything happening all at once in different parts of the place and the night."

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...The sexual round-robin that swirls through the heart of composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim's lilting masterpiece A Little Night Music is set in motion by regrets over paths both taken and not. With a dazzling book by Hugh Wheeler (inspired by Ingmar Bergman's 1955 film Smiles of a Summer Night), the musical's ravishing, comedic whirl of affairs and assignations unspools in Sweden circa 1900, but the roiling emotion and razor-wire taut sexual tension driving the action remains relatable no matter the time and place."

Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...When it comes to Sondheim musicals, I love everything he has written. To me, he has always been the wordsmith that can make a mouthful of words, become a musical masterpiece. I have always loved ” A Little Night Music” with a book by Hugh Wheeler, suggested by a film by Ingmar Bergman (“Smiles of a Summer Night”), that follows the affairs and entanglements of one Desiree Armfeldt ( played to perfection by Colette Todd) an actress. I was a bit hesitant when they first announced the Theo Ubique Sondheim Season would include this one, only because of the uniqueness of Theo, a cabaret theater."

WTTW - Highly Recommended

"...As I watched the superb, immensely entertaining production of “A Little Night Music” now on stage at the Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, I thought about how lucky I was to have seen the original 1973 Tony Award-winning Broadway production of this musical with its brilliant score by Stephen Sondheim, and its book by Hugh Wheeler that is based on the 1955 Ingmar Bergman film “Smiles of a Summer Night.”"

Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended

"...Theo Ubique's production is absolutely terrific. It's a breathtaking celebration of love told through Stephen Sondheim's gorgeous, lilting melodies and his witty and wise wordplay. Professionally sung, dynamically directed, skillfully choreographed and beautifully accompanied, audiences are guaranteed an enjoyable evening at the Evanston-based Cabaret Theatre. With a strong showing by each and every actor, there are no weak performances on the Theo Ubique stage."

Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Recommended

"...Thank the midsummer gods for Raquel Navarro and Rachel Schuldt, violinist and cellist playing so well in Theo's chamber showing. Strings are something rare at this level and so for a show described by its original director Hal Prince as "whipped cream with knives", their sound is the dollop on top of an all-around sharp production."

Third Coast Review - Recommended

"...A Little Night Music makes so many incisive points about aging that it ought to come with a trigger warning—or better yet, be required viewing—for people over 50. And what about the under-50 crowd? Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s musical variation on Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night offers just as much to younger viewers, though its pitting of romantic attraction against the passage of time may not land quite as hard."

Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended

"...Theo Ubique has had a lot of fun with Stephen Sondheim this season, with Assassins in the fall and an original musical tribute in the winter, but they have saved the best for last. Their production of A Little Night Music is a complete joy and one of the best I can ever recall seeing."

Splash Magazine - Highly Recommended

"...Stephen Soundheim’s classic A Little Night Music (ALNM) at Theo Ubique is a divine gift to its audience, as it is a beautiful and genuine production worthy of not missing. Adapted from the film Smiles of a Summer Night, A Little Night Music follows the stage actress, Desirée Armfeldt, and the affairs she becomes involved in and all the men who love her. When everyone visits the country estate of her elderly mother, new romances and second chances bloom in various surprising ways. Full of hilarious, witty and deeply moving moments of adoration, regret and desire, this adult comedy is most memorable for Soundheim’s classic number “Send in the Clowns.”"

NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre offers a perfect way to experience this sophisticated 1973 farce—in a small, intimate setting with a fine, four-piece band and a talented cast that can handle both the wit of Hugh Wheeler’s book and the difficulty of Sondheim’s score. Under the direction of Mercury Theater’s L. Walter Stearns in his Theo debut, this production captures the show’s charm, humor and pathos without tipping into sentimentality."