Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Book by Hugh Wheeler

Originally produced on Broadway by Robert Greenblatt, April 2009

Orchestrations by: Jonathan Tunick

Suggested by a Film by Ingmar Bergman

Originally Produced and Directed on Broadway by Harold Prince

A Little Night Music is presented through special arrangement with Music Theater International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com

DATES

October 3 - 5 @ 8pm. 10/5 @ 2pm. The Forum Theater in the Radio and Television Building, 35 South College Street, Athens OH 45701

SYNOPSIS

Set in 1900 Sweden, A Little Night Music explores the tangled web of affairs centered around actress, Desiree Armfeldt, and the men who love her: a lawyer by the name of Fredrik Egerman and the Count Carl-Magnus Malcom. When the traveling actress performs in Fredrik's town, the estranged lovers' passion rekindles.

A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR

When I was in college, I was a theatre major and women’s studies minor. These days, it would be called gender studies, but this was the 20th century, so that’s what it was called. I wanted to pursue women’s studies because I had always been the kind of gay who surrounded himself with strong women. I still do. The first strong woman in my life was my mother. She lived, and still lives, her life her way. So, I’ve always been drawn to independent women who forge their own path.

So, what protagonist could I love more than Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music, an actress who lives by her own rules and goes for what she wants by any means necessary? Desiree, her mother, and her daughter are each independent, broad-minded women who speak to the world and its limitations and possibilities with wit and with charm.  How could I not be charmed by Anne, a woman who lives within the bounds of society but hold power in other ways? How could I not be delighted by Charlotte, a woman smarter than everyone she meets, except in the ways of love? How could I not love Petra, a servant, who forges her own path of love and sex on her way to her inevitable wedding? 

And the men in this story! The hemming and hawing of Frederik! The peacocking of Carl-Magnus! The petulant religiosity of Henrik! 

We have been focusing in our production on relationships, power, humor, and love all in the frame of a sex comedy of manners. We will watch people fall in and out of love and lust. We will watch wise children and foolish adults pursuing what they hope is a chance at happiness. We will watch as all our characters contemplate what it’s all for.

We are employing a framing device to set our scenes and our characters’ ages, so we can, as an audience just focus on the story and perhaps, see ourselves in a few of these foolish people pursuing love and sex at the turn of the 20th century. (about a hundred years before I was in college studying women’s studies, by the way.) In using a framing device, we are intending to hold up the matrilineal nature of this particular story.

I hope you enjoy our show. I hope you laugh. I hope you enjoy Stephen Sondheim’s beautiful music in our reduced orchestration. It has been my extreme pleasure to work with these students to put this together for you. Thank you so much for being here and supporting The School of Theater’s musical theater program.

Steven Strafford, Director

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We, The School Of Theater and Tantrum Theater, acknowledge that, from the time of Ohio University’s founding in 1804, it has occupied the traditional homelands of the Shawnee people, as well as the Wahzhazhe (who are also known as the Osage), who lived in Southeast Ohio before them. As the first federally legislated public university in the United States of America, Ohio University was an integral part of the U.S.’s westward expansion and empire building. 

Welcome to the 2024-2025 OHIO Theater Season!

We are often asked if we choose themes for our production seasons. We purposely do not choose themes to give creators the widest variety of options for projects. And yet…sometimes a theme chooses us. The 2024-2025 season embraces queer voices and identities in surprising ways. The stories being told ask us to widen our understanding of what it means to belong, and how we can grow as a loving community to make space for all experiences. There is a lot of joy in this season and hope; hope for connections, and hope for moving forward. 

We begin the season with Steven Strafford directing A Little Night Music, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and book by Hugh Wheeler. This story of love and lust with spectacular music reminds us why we’re willing to show up for each other, even when it’s complicated. 

Second-year MFA directing candidate Sarah Curtis directs Euripides’ Trojan Women in a production that feels as contemporary as the nightly news. The script is, and always has been, a reminder of the horrors of war and offers us insights into our human experience.

Tantrum Theater, OHIO’s professional theater, brings professional directors, stage managers, designers, technicians, and actors to work side-by-side with our students. In the fall, Sullivan Canaday White directs Kate Hamill’s new adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice. This fast-paced comic romp is not your grandmother’s P&P! In the spring, Steve Pacek directs and choreographs the musical The Prom, which tells the story of four has-been Broadway stars who champion a high school student who wants to bring her girlfriend to the prom. Descending on the small midwestern town, they attempt to steal the spotlight with hilarious and moving consequences. 

Vibrancy Theater, the School’s student-run theater “creates a playground for student theater-artists and generates a space for Black, Indigenous, Students of Color to develop artistic leadership skills.” Vibrancy produces Robert O’Hara’s Black queer odyssey Bootycandy directed by third-year MFA directing candidate Devin Ty Franklin. 

Third-year MFA directing candidate Caitin Lopez directs Tipping the Velvet, a turn-of-the-century adventurous romp through London where oyster girl Nancy falls in love with male impersonator Kitty. The Sarah Waters’ novel is adapted by Laura Wade and promises passion, performance, and pleasure!

You, our audience, are an integral part in this community building because live theater can’t happen without you. We welcome your energy and support for our students’ work and hope you’ll join us for what will be a thrilling year.

2024

A Little Night Music

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler

Directed by Steven Strafford

What if who you were meant to be with for the rest of your life arrived back to you after fourteen years? What if there was a snag? What if the snag was his marriage to a much younger woman?  Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music will fill your night with beautiful music, laughter, and a story of how love (and lust) makes fools of us all. 

E.E. Baker Theater in Kantner Hall

October 3-5, 2024 @8pm and October 5 @2pm

Trojan Women

By Euripides

Directed by Sarah Curtis

Euripides’ Trojan Women is a timeless Greek tragedy that explores the devastating consequences of war, focusing on the experiences of the women of Troy. It serves as an indictment on the horrors of conflict and showcases the resilience of the human spirit. Brendan Kennelley’s translation tells this classic story in a new way, giving the traditions of Greek tragedy a contemporary bite. This production brings us into the modern world and places this story closer to home.

Virginia Hahne Theater

October 17-19, 2024 @8pm and October 19 @2pm

TANTRUM THEATER PRESENTS

Pride and Prejudice

By Kate Hamill, adapted from the novel by Jane Austen

Directed by Sullivan Canaday White

Jane Austen’s greatest tale of latent love has never felt so full of life. Kate Hamill’s boisterous and highly theatrical adaptation explores the absurdities and thrills of finding your perfect (or imperfect) match in life. Because what turns us into greater fools than the high-stakes game of love?

Forum Theater

October 24-26, October 31-November 2, November 6-9, 2024 @8pm

November 2 & 9 @2pm

Tipping the Velvet

By Sarah Waters, adapted from the novel by Laura Wade

Directed by Caitlin Lopez

In 1887, oyster girl Nancy Astley falls in love with Kitty Butler—a male impersonator. Giddy with desire, Nancy follows her to London where adventures (and mistakes) in passion, performance, and pleasure await!

An English Language Amateur Production

E.E. Baker Theater in Kantner Hall

November 21-23 and December 4-7, 2024 @8pm

December 7, 2024 @2pm

2025

TANTRUM THEATER PRESENTS

The Prom

Music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin

Directed & Choreographed by Steve Pacek

Four eccentric, and washed-up Broadway stars are in desperate need of a new stage. So when they hear that a small midwestern town is the backdrop for a heated debate around a brave high school student who simply wants to bring her girlfriend to prom, they decide to put a spotlight on the issue...and themselves.

February 27-March 1 and March 5-7, 2025 @8pm

March 1 and 8, 2025 @2pm

Forum Theater in the RTV Building

First Year MFA Directors’ Projects

Titles To Be Announced

Directed by Abigail McNeely, Castor Kent, and George Carpenter

March 4-7 and 26-29, and April 9-12, 2025

PlaySpace in Putnam Hall

VIBRANCY THEATER PRESENTS

Bootycandy

By Robert O’Hara

Directed by Devin Ty Franklin

A Black queer odyssey navigating childhood and sexuality, O’Hara’s semi-autobiographical comedy offers us rage, reflection, and... a rack of ribs. What lengths are you willing to take to be embraced as you are, and does safety always outweigh authenticity?

April 10-12 and April 16-19, 2025 @8pm

April 19, 2025 @2pm

E.E. Baker Theater in Kantner Hall

Fringe Festival

Produced by Roberto Di Donato

In spaces on and around campus

April 22-26, 2025

Please join us for the entire season and take the journey with us as we embrace these stories and support our students!

Merri Biechler

she/her/hers

Director, Associate Professor of Instruction

School of Theater

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

The School of Theater is proud to have the support from the following sponsors, without whose support, this performance would not have been possible: The Ohio Performing Arts Series, and The Visiting Artist and Scholars Committee

HOW TO REACH US

School of Theater 

307 Kantner Hall

19 South College Street

1 Ohio University

Athens, Ohio  45701

740.593.4818

Email: [email protected]

FIRE NOTICE

Illuminated signs above each door indicate
emergency exits. Please check for the nearest
exit. In the event of an emergency, you will be
notified by theater personnel and assisted in
the evacuation of the building.

SEATING POLICY 

Everyone must have a ticket. Sorry, no
children in arms or on laps. Patrons who
leave the theater during the performance
will be reseated at the discretion of house
management. Those who become disruptive
will be asked to leave the theater.