I remember as a kid seeing Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Sweeney Todd starring Angela Lansbury on television. As with most things on early cable, it aired regularly for months. While it took me several airings to see the entire show, I watched it repeatedly. I didn’t know who Sondheim was. I just remember actors singing about baking people into pies and thinking, “What is this?!” I was fascinated; and while it took me until a few years ago to direct my first Sondheim, I know I was hooked even then.

With Arena Dinner Theatre, I started working my way through the Sondheim canon with the concept musical Company and followed it last season with the dark and twisted Assassins. Now, an amazing team and I are deep into the romantic farce of Sondheim and Wheeler’s romantic comedy A Little Night Music.

A Little Night Music is easily Sondheim’s most popular and accessible piece. He readily admits that its impetus was the desire for a commercial hit. Hilariously witty and wildly romantic, it centers on elegant actress Desir