A Big Night for A Little Night Music

...A musical about a love octagon and the whirlwind of the people around them thrown in.

When I first heard the title of this musical, I just thought it was going to be about people's love of music bringing them together, but I was totally wrong. It is about love, whether it was hidden, forbidden, or just not seen yet. It is about passion, sacrifice, and happiness.

The main reason why I went to this support my friends who had leading roles in this musical. So going, I did not expect to be emotional and to cry just a little. Two parts in particular made me emotional and get teary eyed: Henrik's suicide scene and the song "Send in the Clowns".

Henrik was played by my friend, Brandon Masterson. I think he did a phenomenal job. He was very dedicated to a character that is the opposite of his happy, fun loving self. Henrik is suppose to be a depressed, unhappy person. Henrik's suicide scene is caused by all of the bottled up emotions within himself. Once he feels like he can't take anymore of the suffering, he decides to take his own life by hanging himself, but fails. This scene had so much emotion that I felt the pain too. Even though I knew it was not real, I wanted to jump in and tell Henrik to stop.

The song "Send in the Clowns" is not what you think it is. It is not a comical song that is about making someone happy by playing with clowns. It is a ballad about Desiree telling Fredrik that she is fed up with the secret love affair they are having because she knows that they love each other, even though they cannot have each other. This song is Desiree's reaction to Fredrik rejecting her marriage proposal. Because I am a sucker for love, I felt like this one hit home because of the hurt she felt. Her pain felt so real, that it even looked like a real break up. It was not until after the musical that I found out that the people who were casted as Desiree and Fredrik are engaged in real life. Once I found this out, I can tell why the emotions between the two during this song looked so real.

All I can say is that in the end the NDNU cast of "A Little Night Music" did not disappoint me what so ever.