Chatterbox: Pudding's Place

A Little Night Music

was so incredible oh my!!!!!

Ahem.

The Book

Was, to use mom's friends' word, tight. The dialogue was snappy and disgustingly believable (whyyyyyyy can't I write dialogue like that? whyyyyyyyyy) and even the awkward stuttering during the AWKWARD CONVERSATIONS™ managed to be not contrived. ("They're in the left hand bottom drawer of the-- no, no, excuse me, the-- the right hand-- Yes! The right hand bottom drawer of the, uh, the-- the thing." "The thing?" "Yes. The thing.")

And oohhhhhhhh, the character development was spectacular. HUGH WHEELER I LOVE YOU!!!

The Music

Of course it was fantastic, of course, that goes without saying, right?! BUT. WALTZ TIME IS OFFICIALLY THE MOST CATCHY TIME SIGNATURE EVER, I can't get the songs out of my head. 

The Cast!!!!

Bernadeeeeeeetttttttteeeeee!!!!!!!!! Film does not do her justice at all she is so incredibllllllllllllle!!!!!

Ahem.

Bernadette Peters is officially my hero <3. MOST FANTASTIC PERFORMANCE I HAVE EVER SEEN.

Elaine Stritch is officially one of the funniest performers I have ever seen; she made Liasons not only funny but hilarious.

Stephen R. Buntrock: Most AWESOME Fredrik EVER y/y?? His timing and delivery was perfection.

Hunter Ryan Herdlicka made Henrik sympathetic, rather than whiny, from the beginning (something difficult to accomplish, I think). And his range is amaaaaazing!!

Erin Stewart (u/s Anne) was far superior, vocally at least, to Ramona Mallory, I think. Her vibrato was much less intrusive.

Erin Davie was clearly enjoying herself quite a lot, with the result that her character was INDESCRIBABLY AWESOME BEYOND ALL REASON.

Bradley Dean's performance of In Praise of Women was so epic.

Leigh Ann Larkin, like ED, clearly had a great time and the result was a spectacular performance even if she was just comic relief.

Keaton Whitaker was the cutest Fredrika ever.

Highlights In Vaguely Chronological Order

Bernadette Peters!!!!!!!!!!!

"Solitaire is the only thing in the world that demands absolute honesty." and "Stage managers are not nannies! They don't have the talent."

SRB's Now. He made the literary verses hilarious (something which Sondheim himself declared impossible in his book) "But is Hans Christian Andersen ever risque?". GOOD TIMING, HE HAS IT.

HRH did not have to resort to angst during Later. It was amazing. Also, cello <333. Also also, his bumbling affection for Anne was SO CUTE.

HAHAHAHA THE "PLAY"'s DIGNITY SPEECH HAHA immature. Also Bernadette flanderizing her own acting to the point of parody for the duration of the "play". self deprecating humor FTW

THE QUINTET. I LOVE THEM.

The scene with Fredrik in Desirée's dressing room. All of it, but especially: 

The heart-broken little "Fredrik..." when Desirée saw him. I almost cried ((this play is so fluffy it brought out my romantic side nooooooooo))  

"So it was you. I peered and peered and I said, Is it? Can it be? Is it possible? ...And then of course when you left after five minutes, I was sure."

The discussion leading up to "The page that has been written on! ...And rewritten." xD xD xD

--- 

"So you took her home, and tucked her up in her cot."

"Yes."

"With her rattle and her wooly blanket..."

"Figuratively speaking, yes."

"And then you came to me."

"She would ask me why."

"Why did you come to me." 

--- 

"This afternoon, while I was taking my nap--" 

"Soo-oo, you take afternoon naps now, hm?"

"Hush. I had the most... delightful dream."

"Of what?"

"You."

"Ah."

--- 

"A very handsome, very married dragoon." 

You Must Meet My Wife. The entirety of it, but especially towards the end. "Let me get my hat and my kniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii [angrily stamps out cigarette and takes a deep breath] iiiiiife." 

Bernadette's panicked, tinged-with-hysteria laughter when Carl-Magnus shows up. "Impossible! He's on maneuvers, eighty miles away! He couldn't--" [She hears Carl-Magnus shouting from offstage] "...He could!"

The hip bath story. And the subsequent shenanigans/awkward conversations. And the night shirt.

CHARLOTTE. BIGGEST WOOBIE EVER Y/Y?? "That's a comforting thought. It may even keep me from slitting my throat on the tram." "Oh yes, I frequently laugh myself to sleep at night contemplating my future." "I despise him! I hate him! ...I love him." "He told me to come here and tell you... I'm actually telling you." "Lemonade! It would choke me." Also HER SARCASM IS WONDERFUL.

"If they're actors they will have to sleep in the stable." MADAME ARMFELDT, I LOVE YOU.

Desirée's interactions with Fredrika.

The Night Waltz(es). So amazing. But errrrrrgh they won't get out of my head.

"Happy birthday to me." Oh, Charlotte. (for that matter, all of the birthday jokes-- "It's his wife's birthday this weekend; sacred to domesticity!" then "happy birthday, it's your present!" Oh, irony.)

MOAR PANICKED AND TINGED-WITH-HYSTERIA LAUGHTER HOORAY. The entirety of the welcoming scene was brilliant. "Quarantined with, um... ah..." "Plague." "Yes! Plague!" and "And this is MYYYYY daughter." haha you named her after Fredrik HOW AWKWARD. "What do I say?!" "Ah, ah, ah, ah, umm.... ah... ah, ah-- Anything! Yes! Anything! [runs away]"

The dinner scene! "I had thought to seduce him..." and Charlotte actually enjoying herself and poor Henrik (and Desirée's reaction to his nervous breakdown "Smash this too! Smash all the glasses in the house if you feel like it!")

"To flirt with rescue when one has no intention of being saved..." UGH HOW HORRIBLE crying forever. And Bernadette's rendition of Send in the Clowns was unbelievably heartbreaking and full of sad. And then during the last verse she started crying too and it was even worse ;_; 

The Miller's Son: SHOWSTOPPER YEAH!!! 

"I hate you being happy!" CUE HENRIK AND ANNE ELOPING TOGETHER. HAHAHA.

The reprise of A Weekend in the Country. "So inactive that we'll have to lie down--" *cue gunshot*

The ironic reprise of Every Day A Little Death.

Charlotte: *fawning over Carl-Magnus*

Quintet: Love's disgusting, love's insane, a humiliating business-- oh, how true... Ah, well.

Which is made even better by Desirée fussing over unconscious!Fredrik in the background.

Speaking of which, the unconscious! Fredrik scene. If you do not melt into a sticky puddle of goo, you have no soul.

"To lose one's wife, one's son, and practically one's life in less than an hour... and yet to feel relieved! Desirée!" YAY FINALLY.

"You, me, and, of course... Fredrika." YAY YAY YAY HAPPY ENDING AND CANON OTP.

"The smile for the fools was particularly broad tonight..." YES, MADAME ARMFELDT. YES IT WAS.

The death of Madame Armfeldt (and the waltz around her corpse). :(  

And then EEEEEEEEEE BERNADETTE EEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! I met her EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! 

And also SRB and HRH, who also signed my poster and were also exciting to meet, but I have not been obsessing over them for like years.