PSST! Opens ‘A Little Night Music’ On Friday

VALDOSTA — Peach State Summer Theatre will kick off a nine-performance run of the third and final show in its 2013 season lineup, “A Little Night Music,” on Friday, June 21.

Suggested by a film by Ingmar Bergman and featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, “A Little Night Music,” according to a brief synopsis provided by PSST! promoters, “explores the tangled web of affairs centered around actress Desirée Armfeldt and the men who love her — a lawyer by the name of Fredrik Egerman and Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm. When the traveling actress performs in Fredrik’s town, the estranged lovers’ passion rekindles. This strikes a flurry of jealousy and suspicion between Desirée; Fredrik; Fredrik’s wife, Anne; Desirée’s current lover, the count; and the count’s current wife, Charlotte. Both men, as well as their jealous wives, agree to join Desirée and her family for a weekend in the country at Deisrée’s mother’s estate. With everyone in one place, infinite possibilities of new romances and second chances bring endless surprises.”

“A Little Night Music” features one of Sondheim’s most beautiful scores, including the popular song, “Send in the Clowns.” It opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre on Feb. 25, 1973, moved to the Majestic Theatre on Sept. 17, 1973, and closed on Aug. 3, 1974, after 601 performances. The original Broadway production won several Drama Desk, Theatre World, and Tony awards, as well as a Grammy Award.

Director Randy Wheeler described the musical as “a swirling romantic mélange of misguided passions, mischievous machinations, and witty glances at the foibles of those who dare to fall in love under a midsummer moon ….” Peach State Summer Theatre fans will likely recall that the retired Valdosta State University theatre professor also directed such past shows as “Gypsy,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “The Producers,” “Hairspray,” and last season’s “The Light in the Piazza.”

Peach State Summer Theatre, or PSST!, is Valdosta’s premiere professional summer stock theatre. Each summer, dozens of singers, dancers, technicians, managers, and creators gather on the campus of Valdosta State University for nine weeks. During that time, they rehearse, build, and present three musicals in rotating repertory.

The 2013 Peach State Summer Theatre season marks the 24^th year of VSU producing professional theatre for the city of Valdosta, the state of Georgia, and beyond. From 1990 to 2004, VSU produced the Jekyll Island Musical Theatre Festival. In 2005, the summer theatre program was relocated to the university and renamed PSST! Then, in 2006, it was designated the Official Musical Theatre of the State of Georgia by the Georgia Legislature.

Jacque Wheeler, a theatre and dance professor in the Department of Communication Arts at Valdosta State University, serves as the artistic director of PSST!. She said “A Little Night Music” is perfect for a date night. H. Duke Guthrie, a theatre professor at VSU, is the managing director.

The musical theatre season kicked off on June 1 with the opening of “The Sound of Music,” which was followed by the opening of “The Marvelous Wonderettes” on June 14. “A Little Night Music” rounds out the 2013 PSST! lineup, and the three shows will be presented in rotating repertory through the weekend of July 13-14 on the Sawyer Theatre stage in VSU’s Fine Arts Building, which is located on the corner of Brookwood Drive and Oak Street.

The Peach State Summer Theatre box office is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays. It is located on the first floor of the VSU Fine Arts Building and can be reached by calling (229) 259-7770.

Individual show tickets are $25 plus tax for adults and $20 plus tax for all children, students, and senior citizens.

Visit www.valdosta.edu/psst or read “Peach State Summer Theatre Box Office Is Open For Business” at http://www.valdosta.edu/about/news/releases/2013/05/peach-state-summer-theatre-box-office-is-open-for-business---.php or read “PSST! Season Kicks Off Saturday with ‘The Sound Of Music’” at https://www.valdosta.edu/about/news/releases/2013/05/psst-season-kicks-off-saturday-with-the-sound-of-music.php or read “PSST! Offers Pay What You Can Days” at http://www.valdosta.edu/about/news/releases/2013/06/psst-offers-pay-what-you-can-days.php or “PSST! Opens ‘The Marvelous Wonderettes’ On Friday at http://www.valdosta.edu/about/news/releases/2013/06/psst-opens-the-marvelous-wonderettes-on-friday.php to learn more.

Visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/valdostastate/sets/72157634233047761/ to view photos.

Note: “A Little Night Music” is rated PG.

Performance Schedule

• 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 21

• 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 22 (American Sign Language interpreted performance)

• 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 26 (Pay What You Can performance)

• 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 28

• 3 p.m. Sunday, June 30

• 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 3

• 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 6

• 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 11

• 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 13