Remarkable cast for Victorian Opera’s A Little Night Music

The Victorian Opera have just announced their final cast members for the upcoming production of Stephen Sondheim’s chamber musical A Little Night Music.

The new cast members include Verity Hunt-Ballard (Mary Poppins, Sweet Charity, Jersey Boys) as Countess Charlotte Malcolm, Alinta Chidzey (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar) as Petra,  Elisa Colla (My Fair Lady, Les Misérables, Wicked) as Anne Egerman, and Mat Verevis (Beautiful: The Carol King Musical, The Voice – Season Three) as Henrik Egerman.

They join previously announced Ali McGregor (Lorelei¸ Adelaide Cabaret Festival) as Desiree Armfeldt, Simon Gleeson (Les Misérables, Oklahoma) as Fredrik Egerman, and Nancye Hayes (Sunday in the Park with George, My Fair Lady) as Madame Armfeldt. Opera singers Samuel Dundas and Sophia Wasley, who recently appeared in Victorian Opera’s production of Debussy’s Pelleas and Melisande, star as Count Carl Magnus Malcom and Fredrika Armfeldt respectively.

The ensemble includes: Paul Biencourt, Kirilie Blythman, Michelle McCarthy, and Juel Riggall.

The production will be staged under the direction of Stuart Maunder AM (Victorian Opera’s Sondheim Trilogy) with music direction of Phoebe Briggs (Lorelei, The Sleeping Beauty, Sweeney Todd) and choreography by Elizabeth Hill (My Fair Lady, A Little Night Music – OA).

Based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 film Smiles of a Summer Night, this bittersweet musical comedy about a romantically entangled group of worldly characters remains one of Sondheim’s most mature works. It speaks of the follies of human nature with heartbreaking accuracy.

Capturing the uncertainties of love with playfulness and heartbreaking accuracy, A Little Night Music resonates with bittersweet wisdom, and speaks to us all.

From the romance of the night waltzes to the wistful ‘Send in the Clowns’, music theatre lovers will rejoice the return of one of Sondheim’s most beloved and sophisticated musicals.

Victorian Opera presents A Little Night Music at Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse from 27 June – 6 July.