(BASKING RIDGE, NJ) -- Broadway's Kate Baldwin will star as Desiree in American Theater Group's upcoming season premiere of Stephen Sondheim's beloved A Little Night Music. The production will run March 7-10, 2024 at the Sieminski Theater in Basking Ridge and March 14-24, 2024 at Hamilton Stage in Rahway. Baldwin will share the stage with her husband Graham Rowat (Broadway: Dear Evan Hanson, Sunset Boulevard) as Fredrik.
A Little Night Music, with a score by Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler, was awarded six 1973 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Original Score. Based on Ingmar Bergman's comedy of manners, Smiles of a Summer Night, it explores the tangled web of hidden (and not-so-hidden) affairs, desires and deceits and features one of Sondheim’s most cherished songs, Send in The Clowns.
Kate Baldwin starred as Irene Molloy opposite Bette Midler in the hit Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, for which she was nominated for the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critic's Circle awards. She originated the role of Sandra Bloom in Big Fish on Broadway and starred in Finian's Rainbow, which drew Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critic's Circle Award nominations. Other Broadway credits include The Full Monty, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Wonderful Town. No stranger to Sondheim’s music, Baldwin appeared with him as a featured performer in his critically acclaimed evening, “A Conversation with Stephen Sondheim.” She has performed nationwide in concert with the American Pops Orchestra, New York Pops, Boston Pops, National Symphony, Chicago Symphony, the American Songbook series at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and legendary New York nightclubs Feinstein’s, Birdland and 54 Below.
Joining Baldwin is American Idol finalist Alyssa Wray who will play Petra. She became an overnight celebrity, with over two million views of her Season 19 audition. Katy Perry called her a “once in a generation” type of performer and she advanced to the competition’s top ten performing alongside Chayce Beckham.
Jack Dossett (Parade/ATG) will play Henrik; Abby Middleton (Parade/ATG) will play Charlotte; RJ Christian (Parade/ATG) will portray Frid. Tara Rajan (The Sound of Music/Papermill Playhouse) will play Fredrika and Lillie Langston will portray Anne. Additional casting will be announced shortly.
“We are thrilled to present this stellar cast led by the luminous Kate Baldwin,” noted ATG’s Producing Artistic Director Jim Vagias. “This production will represent a new interpretation of this beloved musical, and our accomplished cast will bring the lush, glorious Sondheim score to life magnificently.”
Broadway veteran Hunter Foster who directed ATG’s highly successful 2023 production of Parade returns to helm A Little Night Music, with musical direction by Keith Levenson. Foster, an actor, writer and director, was named the 2018 “Director of the Year” by the Wall Street Journal for his productions of 42nd Street at the Bucks County Playhouse, and The Drowsy Chaperone at the Goodspeed Opera House. He directed The Other Josh Cohen Off-Broadway and has directed at regional theaters across the US. As an actor, his many Broadway credits include Little Shop of Horrors (Tony Nomination), Urinetown, The Producers, The Bridges of Madison County, Million Dollar Quartet, Les Miserables and Grease.
Keith Levenson has conducted and created arrangements for major rock groups including The Who, KISS, Meatloaf, Alice Cooper and Yes. A Broadway and National Tour Music Director and Supervisor, he conducted ATG’s productions of Parade and The Bridges of Madison County.
Following A Little Night Music will be the world premiere of Canned Goods, by Erik Kahn, which brings to life Hitler’s staging of a fake attack on Germany to justify his invasion of Poland in 1939. This tense historical drama tells the story of the human beings forced to play leading roles in a drama they want no part of, and one that launched World War II. The play will run May 9-12 at Hamilton Stage and May 16-19 at the Sieminski Theater.
The Sieminski Theater is located on the scenic campus of Fellowship Village at 8000 Fellowship Road in Basking Ridge, NJ. Performances will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm. Tickets are available at www.sieminskitheater.org.
This new season marks ATG’s return to Hamilton Stage, where the company first performed when founded in 2012. Performances will be at 7:00pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and 2:00pm on Sundays. Tickets are available for purchase online or through the box office by calling 732-499-8226. Hamilton Stage is located at 360 Hamilton Street in Rahway and is independently operated under the governance of Union County Performing Arts Center. The 199-seat theater was recently re-opened following a complete renovation.
A Little Night Music is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.
American Theater Group (ATG) produces new and classic works primarily by American playwrights with an emphasis on the development of new works and the rediscovery of undeservedly neglected older ones. It also provides quality arts-in-education initiatives, including its annual DramaFest for students and its PlayLab program for BIPOC and queer playwrights. ATG programming is made possible in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Made possible by the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
