ORADELL, N.J.—Bergen County Players, one of the country’s longest-running community theater companies, will close its 92nd season with Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, running weekends from May 3 through June 1 at the Little Firehouse Theatre, 298 Kinderkamack Road.
Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. There are no performances Memorial Day weekend (May 23–25).
Tickets are $32 and can be purchased at bcplayers.org, by calling 201-261-4200, or by visiting the box office during regular hours.
Based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 film Smiles of a Summer Night, A Little Night Music is a sophisticated romantic musical set in early 20th-century Sweden, where mismatched couples and unresolved pasts spark an unforgettable summer weekend. Sondheim’s harmonically rich score—written entirely in waltz time—features the beloved ballad “Send in the Clowns.”
Critics have called it “an adult musical, civilized, sophisticated, enchanting” and “a stylish celebration of romantic love.” Brendan Gill of The New Yorker wrote that it “comes as close as possible to being the perfect romantic musical comedy.”
The original Broadway production, directed by Harold Prince, opened in 1973 and earned 12 Tony Award nominations, winning six including best musical.
Directed by Steve Bell, with musical direction by Victoria Casella and choreography by Diana Baer, the BCP production explores themes of longing, regret and desire with equal parts wit and heartbreak.
“Inspired by the number three, Sondheim set for himself the challenge of writing the entire score based upon variations of the waltz,” Bell said. “As the characters’ stories span several generations—from the young, to the fools, and to ‘those who remember’—there is a way into this story for everyone. I have certainly found more in the text and score every time I’ve worked on it.”
Bell, of Hackensack, is a BCP life member and three-time past president. His directing credits include Rent, 33 Variations, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Harvey, The Drowsy Chaperone, Curtains, The King and I and Urinetown. He has performed in Into the Woods, The Full Monty, Follies (Perry Award winner), and many others, and served as musical director for productions including Company, Pippin, Cabaret, The Music Man and Ragtime.
The cast includes Brooke Olivia Ginsberg of North Caldwell as Fredrika Armfeldt; Marian McCabe of Tappan, N.Y. as Madame Armfeldt; Sky Monroe of Morristown as Desiree Armfeldt; Sean Lynch-Littlejohn of Ridgewood as Frederik Egerman; Katherine Hope Stelma of Bloomfield as Anne Egerman; Damon Quattrocchi of Stony Point, N.Y. as Henrik Egerman; Brendan Lynch-Littlejohn of Ridgewood as Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm; Nina Lionetti of Westwood as Countess Charlotte Malcolm; Katrina Michalewski of Hoboken as Petra; and Eric Najimian of Verona as Frid. The Liebeslieder Singers are played by Lori Feiler-Fluger of River Edge, Paul Foster of Tenafly, Tara Hutchison of Hillsdale, Bryan John Morris of New Milford, Robert G. Ouellette of Westwood, and Rachel Silverstein of Carlstadt.
The production team includes Jen Bancks (producer), Michele Roth (stage manager), Carey Gsell (assistant to the director), Nikki Alvarado (assistant to the choreographer), Gerard Bourcier (set design), Marci Weinstein and Carey Gsell (set decor), Allan Seward (lighting design), Kathleen Ruland (lighting operation), Tim Larsen (sound design), Barry Reed and Kelly Gebman (sound operation), Lynne Lupfer, Bunny Mateosian, Susan Kaufman and Felicia Benson-Kraft (costumes), Anne Powers (dresser), Laura Dinoia and Margie Druss-Fodor (properties), Marisa Gore (makeup), and Larry Greenwald, Jill Hendrickson, Randi Kestin and Debbie Zika (crew). Production photography is by Richard Frant.
Performances are at the Little Firehouse Theatre, home to Bergen County Players since 1949. Your group sales and benefit night inquiries can be directed to 201-261-4200, option 6.
A talkback session with the cast and crew will be held following the performance on Friday, May 9.
Discounted advance tickets for students 25 and under with valid ID are available for $19 by phone or in person, pending availability. Student rush tickets are $10, cash only, available at the box office beginning 30 minutes before curtain. Limit one per ID.
Seating is available for patrons with mobility needs who can transfer from a wheelchair; call the box office to reserve. These seats are released for public sale two weeks before the performance if unclaimed.
Free parking is available at the Park Avenue municipal lot across the street, as well as on Kinderkamack Road, nearby side streets, and municipal lots behind Town Hall and the library on Church Street.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit bcplayers.org.
Bergen County Players Inc. is a proud non-equity, nonprofit community theater company dedicated to presenting quality productions for the enrichment of the community.