Desiree -- Goldie Hawn
Frederik -- Kevin Kline
Anne -- Anne Hathaway
Charlotte -- Toni Collette
Carl-Magnus -- Hugh Jackman
Henrik -- Jake Gyllenhaal (yes, he sings)
Petra -- Brittany Murphy
Mme. Armfeldt -- Julie Andrews
Frederika -- Abigail Breslin
Michael Cerveris made a WONDERFUL Carl-Magnus in the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre version two years ago. I also like the idea of Victor Garber as Fredrick. Ewan McGregor as Henrik?
shareDesiree- Bernadette Peters, Meryl Strepp, Susan Surandon, Glenn Close
Fredrick-Victor Garber, Kevin Kline
Anne- Anne Hathaway
Count-Hugh Jackman, Michael Cerevris, Marc Kurdish
Charlotte- Donna Murphy, Meryl Strepp, Helana Bonham Carter, Minnie Driver, Toni Collette
Henrick- Manoel Felciano
Petra- Brittany Murphy, Kristin Chenoweth
Mme. Armfeldt- Angela Lansbury, Bea Arthur, Lauren Bacall, Judi Dench
A Little Night Music
• Desiree Patty LuPone
• Frederik Kevin Kline
• Anne Kelli O’Hara
• Charlotte Audra McDonald
• Carl-Magnus Hugh Jackman
• Henrik Matthew Morrison
• Petra Brittany Murphy
• Mme. Armfeldt Bea Arthur
• Frederika Ashley Tisdale
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Good question. Trying to keep age appropriate-ness, voice type, and character appropriateness into my account these are the film actors I would chose (I'd cast differntly with stage actors if we ere doing that)
Desiree- Meryl Streep- Age appropriate, can definately act the part, and can sing (see Postcards from the Edge, A Praire Home Companion, Death Becomes Her, and she's done several stage musicals)
Frederik- Victor Garber- Played the role several times on stage, has a lot of musical theater experinece on top of film, and film musicals (see Annie) , and I imagine Frederik as older, but handsome.
Anne- Emmy Rossum- though her soprano isn't quite as strong as Anne Hathaway's (perhaps) she looks younger and has a much "fresher" demeaner, Hathaway is more "modern". I ruled out Kristen Bell for the same reason. She has singing experience on film (see The Phantom of the Opera, Songcatcher and Nola and listen to her albums: Inside Out and Carol of the Bells)
Charlotte- Kate Winslet- Roughy 10 years older than Anne (30ish), can sing fairly well (see A Christmas Carol, Sense and Sensability, Heavenly Creatures, and Romance and Cigaretts) and her voice is far better than Helena Bonham Carter's.
Carl Magnus- Hugh Jackman- I imagine Carl Magnus as handsome if a bit dim, and younger than Desiree and a few years older than Charlotte (Jackman is in his 40's but can pass for 30's easily) and can definately sing (see Oklahoma, listen to The Boy From Oz, the australian cast recording of Beauty and the Beast, etc)
Henrik- James Marsden- Young, handsome, and just not quite right as a priest, due to his hints of humor. Can definately sing (see Enchanted, Hairspray)
Mme Armfeldt- Judi Dench- she played Desiree (brilliantly!) about 10 years ago on the london stage but on film her age suggests that she's more appropriate for this role. Not *really* much of a singing role, though Dench can sing, as she proved in several musicals, and she has more of a sense of irony, melancholy and wisedom than Angela Lansbury
Frederika- Abigail Breslin- default, I can't think of any age appropriate actors off the top of my head. Breslin is far more of an actress than Dakota Fanning, and she looks like she could be the child of Streep and Garber.
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I absolutely love that someone has suggested an African American cast. I had this very same discussion with singer-actor-director Billy Porter once during an interview.
I'd really want to check out Jackson and Washinton's vocal chops first, though. Washington definitely has the right pomposity for Carl-Magnus. Much as I love Diahann, she may be too pretty for the part. How about Ruby Dee? And Jennifer Hudson may actually be a little too old and, shall I say, ripe for the role. Anne is only 18-19 and needs to convey virginal girlishness and be a bit of a ditz. If Paula Abdul were 20 and a soprano, she'd be perfect. Maybe Anika Noni Rose? Queen L is way wrong for Fredricka (aged 12-14) but could be a great Petra.
Let's do a Latino cast now. I have no idea if most of te following can sing:
Desiree - Maria Conchita Alonso
Frederick - Antonio Banderas / Lorenzo Lamas
Anne - Jessica Alba / America Ferrera
Charlotte - Eva Longoria
Petra - Salma Hayek
Carl-Magnus - Jimmy Smits / Benjamin Bratt
Henrik - Unknown
Mme. Armfeldt - Rita Moreno / Sonia Braga
Fredericka - Unknown
I like Rosario Dawson, but she is too old/young for most of the roles. Raquel Welch is too old for Desiree, too pretty for Madame.
I find it odd that people assume Madame Armfeldt can't be pretty. I think that an aged, beautiful woman makes perfect sense for the character. She was, after all, a woman who has counted kings amongst her lovers. Clearly a non-attractive woman would not be able to achieve this status.
shareLOVE the idea of Rita Moreno as Mmr. Armfeldt. I would put Salma Hayek in as Charlotte tho!!
--Tim
Atlantis will rise. Sunset Boulevard will fall--Mama Cass
I'm reading this Waaaaayyyyyy too late...Last April Mylesag posted this Afro-American dream cast for a hypothetical new movie of A Little Night Music:
Desiree - Phylicia Rashad
Frederick - Samuel Jackson
Anne - Jennifer Hudson
Charlotte - Angela Bassett
Count Magnus - Denzel Washington
Mme. Armfeldt - Diahann Carroll
Fredericka - Queen Latifah
My mind just went up like fireworks after reading that .
The problem that has been haunting my thoughts (when Real Life's troubles don't interrupt): How does one get to see movies of stage musicals done properly if someone screwed it up the first time? We all know Hollywood worships hits and disowns flops, so how do we get to see The Wiz, A Chorus Line, Annie or A Little Night Music (or even Xanadu) redone or done right a second time?
Solutions:
1) Make Hollywood sit up and listen by having a hit revival on Broadway.
2) Have a totally out- of- the- square cast! Wow! Brilliant! (Maybe an African American cast is wrong here but... "black , so many possibilities ". (sorry for the misquote, Mr Sondheim! )
Great choices goodlife!
shareI'm reading this Waaaaayyyyyy too late...Last April Mylesag posted this Afro-American dream cast for a hypothetical new movie of A Little Night Music:
Desiree - Phylicia Rashad
Frederick - Samuel Jackson
Anne - Jennifer Hudson
Charlotte - Angela Bassett
Count Magnus - Denzel Washington
Mme. Armfeldt - Diahann Carroll
Fredericka - Queen Latifah
My mind just went up like fireworks after reading that .
The problem that has been haunting my thoughts (when Real Life's troubles don't interrupt): How does one get to see movies of stage musicals done properly if someone screwed it up the first time? We all know Hollywood worships hits and disowns flops, so how do we get to see The Wiz, A Chorus Line, Annie or A Little Night Music (or even Xanadu) redone or done right a second time?
Solutions:
1) Make Hollywood sit up and listen by having a hit revival on Broadway.
2) Have a totally out- of- the- square cast! Wow! Brilliant! (Maybe an African American cast is wrong here but... "black , so many possibilities ". (sorry for the misquote, Mr Sondheim! )
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I would love to see these 'repairings' for Desiree and Frederick:
Barbra Streisand/James Caan
Diana Ross/Billy Dee Williams (Whitney Houston as his younger wife!)
Liza Minelli/Joel Gray
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I can't say that I know the play all that well, rather just a basic knowledge of the plot, but the only person I could be happy with is Judi Dench. Yes, I realize she is really too old, but watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE3dLzIYKs8
After seeing that performance, I don't know that I could ever be satisfied with another actress in the role. Perhaps they could write around her being a bit older???
LAST MOVIE SEEN: The Soloist
RATING: 8/10 stars!
Judi Dench is exquisite, but she played Desiree 14 years ago - and she was 60 at the time, which was stretching the character's age limit more than it should go. But because she possesses such artistry (not to mention good genes), she was able to come across as a woman in her mid-40s. However, there's no way she could play Desiree now. The character has to look like she has a daughter about 14 years of age and a mother who's somewhere in her 60s or 70s, and as good as Judi Dench looks, she couldn't pull that off.
But there is the role of Desiree's mother, and it's a good one - the character gets to sing one of Sondheim's best songs ("Liaisons"). Now, this is the role I could see Dench playing...
What a shame! I would give anything to see a film version of this with Dench playing a character leading up to that song and that performance. I can just imagine how wonderful it would be!
LAST MOVIE SEEN: The Visitor
RATING: 7/10 stars!
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Well, with the current spectacular cast in Broadway, Catherine Zeta Jones as Desiree and Angela Lansbury as Madame Armfeldt.
Just saw the play today and it's absolutely spectacular. If you like this play, try to see the revival. Zeta Jones was a musical star in London before she made it on movies, and what can I say about Lansbury and her legendary Broadway presence and association with Stephen Sondheim? The rest of the cast is uniformly good, with some standouts.
But the play is poetic, funny, fast paced and poignant, with Zeta Jones and Lansbury exuding star power.
Desirée: Emma Thompson or Kristin Scott Thomas (I would love to see her in Paris)
Frederik: Daniel Day-Lewis or Jeremy Irons
Mme. Armfeldt: Glenn Close
Anybody else wanna see the girl who played Johanna (Jayne something-or-other?) in Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd as Anne?
That's about the only idea I've got.
Sickness will surely take the mime where mimes can't usually go.
Desirée Armfeldt - Bernadette Peters (excellent...)
Frederik Egermann - Steve Martin
Anne Egermann - An unknown newcomer with an excellent ability to handle Sondheim.
Charlotte Malcom - Catherine Zeta-Jones
Carl-Magnus Malcom - Christoph Waltz
Henrik Egermann - Gaspard Ulliel
Petra - Carice van Houten
Mme. Armfeldt - Angela Lansbury
Frederika Armfeldt - Dakota Fanning
Desirée Armfeldt - Catherine Zeta Jones
and no question about it, once you see her as the character onstage, she is amazing in the role!
Just seen it on Broadway and CZJ and Angela Lansbury were superb!
Jones singing "Send in the Clowns" put a lump in my throat and the same for Lansbury when she told her Fredrika about her first lover who gave her a wooden ring, and how she tossed it away without ever thinking he might have been the love of her life ... *sigh*
And congrats to CZJ on her Tony win!