Caught a matinee of A Little Night Music at The Walter Kerr.
Angela Lansbury, Catherine Zeta Jones, Leigh Ann Larkin, Erin Davie, Arron Lazar--really, realllllllly good (although there was something Elaine Stritch-like about Zeta Jones... Not that I am complaining) She really nailed it. Earthier than other Desirees I have seen.
Angela Lansbury gives hope to anyone, anywhere who pray for career longevity as she is completely remarkable, subtle and sounds amazing. Arron Lazar--GREAT accent work and formidably talented. Erin Davie (my friend Dana said, "When the hell did Erin Davie become 40?!?!?") sublime, Leigh Ann Larkin's Petra-diction perfect (Miller's Son is a bitch of a song!) and funny as hell.
The rest... er, beige. The actress playing the ingenue belted her way through the entire show. I kept waiting for her bust into Rose's Turn any second and Henrik had his matinee falsetto on.
The understudy for Frederick... Meh... But it's hard to cover a part in a Sondheim show.

Anyway, it was fantastic to see it revived, although in the 8th row mezzanine, my knees started to feel like they had ground glass for joints and I was sitting like a Heiroglyph (Is the Mezzanine where they put children and Asians? Because frankly I felt like a freakin' Hippo up there).
I love this score so much and any orchestra that makes use of a bassoon has my attention (I was forced to play one in Jr. High... until the damned thing broke... twice... I then switched to the flute because I wanted something to fit in my locker... plus... ooooooo shiny)
Anyway, such a great score... could do without Rhapsody of Unwrapping Candy in the cheap seats. Matinee audiences should be forced to go to some form of training because it really is a Colosseum-like vibe at work. Kept expecting Angela Lansbury to hurl a spear at the altakaka square dancing with her Baby Ruth bar... ANNOYING.

At any rate... if it takes a movie star to get people to come see works like this, well so be it. As long as the movie stars can do the work, and these sure as hell step up to the plate and deliver.