Friday, June 7, through Sunday, June 16
Prospect Park Auditorium, 1584 34th Avenue, Moline IL
Lauded by Entertainment Weekly as "a dizzyingly romantic operetta and a farcical commentary on the fools that love and desire make of us all," legendary composer Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece A Little Night Music opens Quad City Music Guild's summer season at Moline's Prospect Park Auditorium, Running June 7 through 16, this tune-filled adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film classic Smiles of a Summer Night is the winner of four Tony Awards, and its iconic score includes "A Weekend in the Country," "Every Day a Little Death," and the timeless "Send in the Clowns."
In A Little Night Music's turn-of-the-20th-century Sweden, trysts abound. Lawyer Fredrik Egerman has married the virginal 18-year-old Anne, with whom Fredrik’s son, the melancholy academic Henrik, has fallen in love. Desiree Armfeldt, a stage actress of great beauty and a reputation for taking on as many lovers as she does theatrical roles, is involved with the buffoonish Count Carl Magnus Malcolm, the husband of the cynical and wryly comedic Countess Charlotte Malcolm. When Desiree spots her old flame Fredrik in the audience of her most recent production, however, her interest in him is immediately rekindled. All parties consequently meet for a weekend at the estate of Desiree’s mother Madam Armfeldt, where the tangled web of romantic involvements continues to surprise with its twists and turns. Originally produced in 1973 and boasting Sondheim's beautiful, lush score and a delightful book by Hugh Wheeler, A Little Night Music is a story of love, nostalgia, regret, and the magic of music on a summer’s night.
Directing A Little Night Music for Music Guild is Colleen Houlihan, a castmate in last fall's Sweeney Todd who also helmed the theatre's productions of Mamma Mia! in 2021 and Into the Woods in 2017, with Bob Manasco serving as music director and Troy Stark as assistant director. Olivia Lyman acts as the show's stage manager, with additional members of Houlihan's creative team including: choreographer Beth Marsoun; set designer Roger Pavey Jr.; assistant set designer Aaron Deneckere, costume designer Cathy Marsoun; lighting designer Steve Parmley; sound designer Kayla Lee; props master Matt Swanson; and producer Deb Swift.
Featured in the A Little Music Cast are Rachel C. Vickers as Desiree Armfeldt, Kevin Pieper as Fredrik Egerman, Callen Sederquist as AnneEgerman, Michael VanBelle as Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm, Sarah Lounsberry as Countess Charlotte Malcolm, Noah Hill as Henrik Egerman, and Pam Cantrell as Madam Armfeldt. Houlihan's gifted cast is completed by Brent Behrens, Amelia Fischer, Paulla Houston, Noel Jean Huntley, Lucy Petersen, Joshua Ramseyer, and Rochelle Schrader. And 15 area talents make up music director Masasco's pit orchestra: Justin Lebo; Lisa Crews; Isabella Haney; Connor Coleman; Madyline Fox; Ben McKay; Hannah Johnson; Quinne Weinzierl; Claudia Dlugosz; Set Morales-Espinosa; Grant McBride; Miles Etheridge; Fletcher Stiers; Michael Wahlmann; and Anna McVay.
A Little Night Music runs from June 7 through 16, with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Admission is $15-20, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)762-6610 and visiting QCMusicGuild.com.