PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Barrington Stage Company (BSC) Founder and Artistic Director Julianne Boyd announced that "A Little Night Music," with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, will be presented in the company’s 2022 season. 

 

The production will be choreographed by Robert La Fosse, musically directed by Darren R. Cohen, and directed by Boyd, who previously collaborated on the company’s acclaimed 2018 production of West Side Story.

 

The 2022 season also marks  Boyd’s final season after 27 years as Artistic Director. Earlier this year, Boyd announced plans to retire following the completion of BSC’s 2022 season. The Board of Trustees is conducting a national search for her successor.

 

BSC has a history of staging works by Stephen Sondheim, the Broadway songwriter who died last month at the age of 91. 

 

According to a press release, Sondheim’s distinguished and singular career included such landmark shows as "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "Company," "Follies," "A Little Night Music," "Pacific Overtures," "Sweeney Todd," "Sunday in the Park with George," "Into the Woods and Passion," in addition to "West Side Story" and "Gypsy," for which he contributed lyrics. BSC has previously staged "A Little Night Music" (1998), "Company" (2000, 2017), "Follies" (2005), "West Side Story" (2007, 2018), "Sweeney Todd" (2010) and "Into the Woods" (2019).

 

"A Little Night Music is my favorite Sondheim musical. I’ve been planning for months to have it as a centerpiece in my final season at BSC. The combination of love and foolishness, youthful angst and witty repartee, or as Hal Prince once described it, ‘all whipped cream and knives,’ is the perfect musical for a midsummer’s night," said  Boyd, who previously directed the musical at BSC in 1998. "We hope our production will serve as a fitting tribute to and celebration of the genius of Stephen Sondheim."

 

Sondheim’s 1973 masterpiece "A Little Night Music," originally produced and directed on Broadway by Harold Prince, won six 1973 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score. Suggested by the film Smiles of a Summer Night by Ingmar Bergman, Sondheim’s lustrous score is written in variations of three-quarter time and features one of the songwriter’s most beloved and well-known songs, "Send in the Clowns."

 

Production dates for A Little Night Music and additional shows for the 2022 season will be announced in coming weeks.