Sondheim’s ‘A Little Night Music’ Opens at Players Guild of Dearborn

The Players Guild of Dearborn's production of Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award-winning musical A Little Night Music opened to rave reviews for its four-weekend run on Friday.

Inspired by Ingmar Bergman's film, Smiles Of A Summer Night, the story takes place in a weekend country house in turn-of-the-century Sweden. The party consists of middle-aged lawyer Fredrik Egerman (Thomas Murphy), his teenage trophy wife Anne, his son Henrik, the intriguing and beautiful actress Desirée Armfeldt, her mother Mme Armfeldt, the ferociously jealous Count Carl-Magnus and his long-suffering wife Charlotte. The show features a live orchestra and songs such as "Send in the Clowns," "A Weekend in the Country" and "Every Day a Little Death."

The show includes a veteran Guild cast, including Lindsey McDonald, Brian Townsend, and Michael Suchyta.

Director Harold Jurkiewicz, who returns to the Guild after a long absence, said having the chance to direct a Sondheim show has been a longterm personal goal.

"It's an extremely hard show musically, but we're having a lot of fun," he said. "It helps when you have a wonderful cast to work with."

Jurkiewicz said he was impressed with one actor's tenacity in particular. Michael Suchyta, who stars as the character Henrik Egerman, taught himself how to play the cello instead of relying on the orchestra for one scene in the show.

"Mike actually went out and bought a cello and taught himself the part!" Jurkiewicz said.

To help bring the show to life, the cast relies on the talent of set designer Jennifer Maiseoff. The West Bloomfield resident is a recent graduate of The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England.

"I did a lot of research on the time period," Maiseoff said of her inspiration for the set design. "Finnish painter Albert Edelfelt inspired me. I worked closely with Harold (Jurkiewicz) to create the beautiful set pieces."

She said the colors on stage set the mood for the dreamlike scenes around the actors, and is exciting to see her design implemented on the Guild’s stage.

Dave Reynolds II, the show's lighting designer, has spent much of his stage career at the Guild, beginning at the age of 12.

No stranger to tricky stage designs and complicated sets, Reynolds said A Little Night Music brings its own set of unique challenges.

"There's a lot of fast set changes," he said. "The biggest challenge has been waiting for the completed set. You can't work on the lighting until the set is finished and in place because you don't want its colors to clash. If lighting is done right, audiences won't notice it."

Reynolds said the show is special personally, as family members Brett Reynolds, Diana Reynolds, and Jade Reynolds are part of the cast.

"It's fun to have three generations working together on a show," he said.

A Little Night Music runs through May 19, on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased by calling 313-561-8587.

[Related: Check out all of the work done behind-the-scenes leading up to opening night by reading the cast and crew's blog on Dearborn Patch!]