Fifth of July, A Little Night Music

A Little Night Music
 
A landmark piece of writing for its depiction of a “normal” gay couple, Lanford Wilson’s Fifth of July tells the story of double amputee Vietnam veteran Kenneth Talley Jr. and his boyfriend, a botanist-gardener named Jed Jenkins who takes care of Ken amidst much family dysfunction. First staged Off-Broadway in 1978 by Circle Rep with William Hurt as Ken and Jeff Daniels as Jed, it moved to Broadway in 1980 and ran for more than 500 performances with the late Christopher Reeve (already a huge movie star from the original Superman) taking over as Ken. Following in the footsteps of the excellent 2002 Signature Theater revival that starred Robert Sean Leonard, the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor—in association with the Massachusetts-based Williamstown Theater Festival—just concluded a terrific production starring Anson Mount as Ken and Shane McRae as Jed, with David Wilson Barnes and Jennifer Mudge as John and Gwen Landis, Danny Deferrari as their friend Weston Hurley, Kellie Overbey as Ken’s sister June, Kally Duling as June’s daughter Shirley Talley and Elizabeth Franz as Ken’s aunt, Sally Friedman. Smoothly directed by Terry Kinney, this expert group of actors brought forth the pain and humanity of a group of friends still grappling with the aftermath of war, unrequited love and the fear of facing an unknown future.
 
Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece A Little Night Music has reopened with Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch replacing Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury in the roles of Desiree Armfeldt and her mother, Madame Armfeldt. So how is it? Somewhat surprisingly, it’s much better—with a few caveats. Like many, I’m still not wild about Trevor Nunn’s bare-bones production and flaccid staging; the tempos remain glacially slow; some book scenes cry out for a shot of adrenaline, and don’t get me started on that scant orchestra (seven pieces and a synthesizer)! However, the ravishingly beautiful Ms. Peters (who sheds decades off her real-life age of 62!) is a wondrous Desiree and bests Ms. Zeta-Jones in almost every way. Peters’ timing, poise and stunning delivery of “Send in the Clowns” make this cast mandatory viewing for every serious theater fan. As for Ms. Stritch, on the surface she seems utterly wrong for Madame Armfeldt, yet the 85-year-old stage legend grabs the part and makes it her own, scoring laughs with every line. Now if they could hire just some more musicians—and make Aaron Lazar’s costumes fit properly!    N
 
Fifth of July plays through August 22 at Williamstown Theater Festival (413-597-3400). A Little Night Music plays Walter Kerr (219 W 48th St, 212-239-6200).