Amelia Musical Playhouse
Submitted by Jill Dillingham
August 10, 2018 9:30 a.m.
Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students, available online at www.ameliamusicalplayhouse.com
This show is sponsored by Compass Group, Inc.
“Isn’t it bliss?” Stephen Sondheim’s glorious musical masterpiece A Little Night Music, which includes the song Send in the Clowns, comes to the Amelia Musical Playhouse in a production directed by Jill Dillingham.
Set in Sweden in 1900, the musical is based on “Smiles of a Summer Night,” an Ingmar Bergman’s film of the 1950s. With clever lyrics and lush waltz-like music, we journey into a hilariously tangled web of intrigue, romance, and heartbreak while waiting for a magical night for the moon to smile three times.
Debuting Susie Dodge as Desiree Armfeldt, the cast also includes Jeff Groden-Thomas as lawyer Frederik Eggerman; Kat Tremblay as Frederik’s wistful and virginal young wife, Anne; Nick Cooper as Frederick’s anti-social son Henrik; Chad Miller as blustery Count Malcolm; Ruthellen Muhlberg as Countess Malcolm; Pat Chiarelli as Madame Armfeldt and Adeline Bishop as Fredrika. Put these actors together with an incredibly talented supporting cast and the stage is set for an interesting weekend in the country. The quintet features some of the most accomplished vocalists in our community, including Jayde Gray, Frank O’Donnell, Lisa Flick, Bob McLaren, and Mary Williams. Maya Shay and Mark Cameron are featured as Petra and Frid, servants. While the score is classic Sondheim, challenging and beautiful, the dialogue and situations are laugh out loud funny, as characters are at cross-purposes to deceive, seduce, and fall in and out of love. Add a live orchestra featuring Solomon Johnson on piano, playing a score which is almost entirely in waltz time, and more sumptuous sets by Gregg Dillingham, Geoffrey King, and Jeff Groden-Thomas, and we promise you and evening of laughter and beautiful music.
The show, which opened in 1974 and has been through numerous revivals and a film adaptation, won multiple Tonys, Grammys, and Drama Desk awards, including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book, and many more.
Performances are August 17,18,23,24,25 at 7:30 pm, with one 2:30 matinee August 19. Amelia Musical Playhouse is in Fernandina Beach, FL. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students, available online at www.ameliamusicalplayhouse.com or at the box office at 904-277-3455.