SOURCE: “Penned in and Pent Up,” in New York, Vol. 23, No. 32, August 20, 1990, pp. 120–22.

In the following review, Simon gives a positive assessment of the New York City Opera's production of A Little Night Music, focusing on the staging, costumes, and orchestration. However, he finds fault with the performance of the cast.

Of course it's desirable to revive our best musicals, and why not put them into opera houses if those are the ones willing and able to stage them? What does it matter whether you consider Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's A Little Night Music opera, operetta, or musical comedy, when, by any name, its good parts—to wit, the music, the lyrics, and their wit—smell equally sweet? But if the State Theater can perhaps just make it as an opera house, nonoperatic voices are in trouble here. I shall not harp on it—and certainly not...