Catherine Zeta-Jones Talks NIGHT MUSIC with The Toronto Star
By: BWW News Desk Feb. 14, 2010
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In a story in the Toronto Star, Catherine Zeta-Jones talks about her experience of being back on the stage, a failed audition for 'Aspects of Love', and shares how she was first offered the opportunity to play Desiree in the current Broadway production of 'A Little Night Music'.
Zeta-Jones says that she first received the offer to star in 'Night Music' while she was playing golf in a driving range in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, where the actress and her husband, actor Michael Douglas, own a home. She received a call from theatre director Trevor Nunn, "I told Trevor I needed a little time to think," she tells the Star, "then I bashed out a few more balls and the phone rang again. This time it was Stephen Sondheim, saying he really wanted me to do the show as well."
Zeta-Jones also shares a prior encounter with Nunn, whom she met years ago during an audition for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical 'Aspect of Love'. "Trevor is always charming," she recalls, "and he tried to be as nice as possible, telling me I was just a little bit too old and a little bit too pretty", she tells the Star. "I wasn't even 20 at the time and I remember telling him that I could be as not pretty or as not old as he wanted, but it didn't do any good."
As for her return to the stage, "You know, it has been 20 years since I've done theatre," she says, "and quite frankly, I was scared. I thought that all my instincts would have turned into film acting techniques, but I was wrong. Once I got onto the stage, it all came back to me. Like they always say about riding a bike or making love ... although I have no idea what all of those things are supposed to have in common."
To read the rest of the story in the Toronto Star, click here.
Academy Award-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones, five-time Tony Award®-winner Angela Lansbury and Olivier Award-nominee Alexander Hanson star in the first Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Tony Award-winning masterpiece A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, directed by Tony Award®-winner Trevor Nunn. The production opened on Sunday, December 13, 2009 at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street).
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Desirée Armfeldt, Angela Lansbury as Madame Armfeldt, Alexander Hanson as Fredrik Egerman, Aaron Lazar as Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm, Erin Davie as Countess Charlotte Malcolm, Leigh Ann Larkin as Petra, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka as Henrik Egerman. The cast also includes Stephen R. Buntrock, Bradley Dean, Katherine Leigh Doherty, Marissa McGowan, Betsy Morgan, Jayne Paterson, Kevin David Thomas, Keaton Whittaker, Karen Murphy, Erin Stewart, Kevin Vortmann.
Alexander Hanson is appearing with the support of Actors' Equity Association. The producers gratefully acknowledge Actors' Equity Association for its assistance to this production.
Based on Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC is set in a weekend country house in turn of the century Sweden, bringing together surprising liaisons, long simmering passions and a taste of love's endless possibilities. Hailed as witty and wildly romantic, the story centers on the elegant actress Desirée Armfeldt and the spider's web of sensuality, intrigue and desire that surrounds her.
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC - featuring a score by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler - originally opened in 1973 at Broadway's Shubert Theatre and ran for 601 performances. Produced and directed by Harold Prince, the production garnered six Tony Awards® including Best Musical and Best Original Score. The Sondheim score features one of the composer's best-known songs, "Send in the Clowns," as well as "Every Day a Little Death," "The Miller's Son" and "A Weekend in the Country."
Trevor Nunn's production of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC debuted to critical acclaim at London's Menier Chocolate Factory in November 2008 and subsequently transferred to the West End where it played a successful limited engagement through July 25, 2009 at the Garrick Theatre.
The creative team for A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC includes Lynne Page (Choreography), Caroline Humphris (Musical Supervision), David Farley (Set & Costume Design), Hartley T A Kemp (Lighting Design), Dan Moses Shreier and Gareth Owen (Sound Design), Paul Huntley (Wig Design), Jason Carr (Orchestrations) and Tom Murray (Musical Direction).
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC is produced on Broadway by Tom Viertel, Steven Baruch, Marc Routh, Richard Frankel, The Menier Chocolate Factory, Roger Berlind, David Babani, Sonia Friedman Productions, Andrew Fell, Daryl Roth/Jane Bergère, Harvey Weinstein/Raise the Roof 3, Beverly Bartner/Dancap Productions, Inc., Nica Burns/Max Weitzenhoffer, Eric Falkenstein/Anna Czekaj, Jerry Frankel/Ronald Frankel, James D. Stern/Douglas L. Meyer.
TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets for A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC are available by calling Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200, (800) 432-7250 outside the NY metro area, online at Telecharge.com or in person at the Walter Kerr Theatre box office (219 West 48th Street). For A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC group sales, contact Theatre Direct International at 212-541-8457 x 2, or outside the NY metro area at 1-800-BROADWAY x 2.
Tickets on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays range in price from $52 to $132. Tickets on Friday, Saturday & Sunday range in price from $57 to $137.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
Tuesday at 7pm; Wednesday - Saturday at 8pm; Wednesday & Saturday at 2pm; Sunday at 3pm
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