Editing Stephen Sondheim (section)

==== ''A Little Night Music'' ====
''[[A Little Night Music]]'' (1973), based on [[Ingmar Bergman]]'s ''[[Smiles of a Summer Night]]'' and with a score primarily in [[Time signature|waltz time]], was among Sondheim's greatest commercial successes. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine called it his "most brilliant accomplishment to date".<ref name="perf">{{cite magazine|url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,906953,00.html|title = A Precious Fancy|magazine = Time|date = March 19, 1973|access-date = March 19, 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930141833/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,906953,00.html|archive-date = September 30, 2007|url-status = dead}}</ref> The original cast included [[Glynis Johns]], [[Len Cariou]], [[Hermione Gingold]], and [[Judy Kahan]]. The show opened on Broadway at the [[Shubert Theatre (New York City)|Shubert Theatre]] on February 25, 1973, and ran for 601 performances and 12 previews.<ref>{{IBDB title|3176|A Little Night Music}}</ref> Clive Barnes of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote, "''A Little Night Music'' is soft on the ears, easy on the eyes, and pleasant on the mind. It is less than brash, but more than brassy, and it should give a lot of pleasure. It is the remembrance of a few things past, and all to the sound of a waltz and the understanding smile of a memory. Good God!—[an] adult musical!"<ref>{{cite news|url= https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/07/19/specials/sondheim-night.html|title= The Theater: ''A Little Night Music''|author=[[Clive Barnes]]|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 18, 2024}}</ref>

The production earned 12 [[Tony Award]] nominations and won 6 awards, including [[Tony Award for Best Musical|Best Musical]] and [[Tony Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]]. "[[Send in the Clowns]]", a song from the musical, was a hit for [[Judy Collins]] and became Sondheim's best-known song. It has since been covered by [[Frank Sinatra]], [[Barbra Streisand]], and [[Judi Dench]]. The production was adapted to screen in the [[A Little Night Music (film)|1977 film of the same name]] starring [[Elizabeth Taylor]], [[Dianna Rigg]], [[Len Cariou]], and [[Hermione Gingold]]. It was revived on Broadway in 2009 in a production starring [[Catherine Zeta-Jones]] and [[Angela Lansbury]].<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/theater/reviews/14little.html|title = A Weekend in the Country With Eros and Thanatos|work = [[The New York Times]]|date = December 14, 2009|access-date = November 28, 2021|last = Brantley|first = Ben|author-link = Ben Brantley}}</ref>