A Little Night Music

About the Show

Music and Lyrics Stephen Sondheim
Book by Hugh Wheeler
Directed by Ricky Graham
Choreographed by Jaune Buisson
July 30th – August 2nd

This season’s line-up ends with the beauty, genius, and perfection of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, which premiered in 1973. Pivotal to the story is the cathartic masterpiece, “Send in the Clowns,” providing a razzling-dazzling, spectacularly farcical circus as metaphor for complicated and ill-fated relationships. There is not a misplaced note or syllable in this flawless score, making it unsurprising that this musical has been produced by opera companies, as well.

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Meet the Director

A Little Night Music, Director for A Little Night Music at Summer Lyric Theatre at Tulane University

Ricky Graham has appeared in Summer Lyric Theatre’s productions of The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, Candide, Chicago, and Little Me. Ricky also directed Once Upon a Mattress for SLT. First production with SLT in 1970.

Meet the Choreographer

Jauné Buisson, Choreographer for A Little Night Music at Summer Lyric Theatre at Tulane University

Jauné Buisson is an award-winning director and choreographer known for creating visually striking, movement-driven productions that blend theatrical storytelling with bold design. Her work often explores the intersection of glamour, power, and performance—an approach that is central to her vision for Chicago, where crime, celebrity, and spectacle collide in a world driven by image and ambition.

She is the recipient of the Crescent City Theater Award for Best Director of a Musical (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, LPT) and has received multiple nominations for her work, including choreography for Jersey Boys at Le Petit Théâtre and A Chorus Line at Summer Lyric Theatre, as well as Best Musical (A Chorus Line, Summer Lyric Theatre). She is also the recipient of the Big Easy Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Cassie in A Chorus Line (2014), a role she reprised with Summer Lyric Theatre in 2025, earning a Crescent City Theater Award nomination.

Jauné has co-directed and choreographed Jersey Boys, and most recently Guys and Dolls at Le Petit Théâtre, earning recognition for productions that are both emotionally grounded and visually dynamic. Her choreography at Summer Lyric Theatre includes Anything Goes, She Loves Me, Ragtime, Hairspray, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Hello, Dolly!, Once Upon a Mattress, and Fiddler on the Roof.

As a performer with Summer Lyric Theatre, she has appeared as Fastrada in Pippin, Tessie Tura in Gypsy, and Lois/Bianca in Kiss Me, Kate, bringing a deep understanding of performance into her work as a director. She is the Artistic Director of Metropolitan Dance Theatre of New Orleans, where she leads a thriving dance community and produces large-scale dance productions each season.

Her film work includes No One Will Save You (Disney+). Jauné first worked with Summer Lyric Theatre in 2001.

Meet The Artistic Director

C. Leonard Raybon, Artistic Director, Musical Director, Conductor for A Little Night Music, Summer Lyric Theatre

C. Leonard Raybon, a native of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. After earning a bachelor’s degree from William Carey College in music education, he won a Rotary Ambassadorial Fellowship to study in York, England, where he earned his master’s. His doctorate, from Louisiana State University, is in choral conducting with a minor in vocal performance.

He has been on the faculty of Tulane for thirteen years, and currently serves as chair of the Newcomb Department of Music. At Tulane, he is the Director of Choirs, resident musical director and conductor for the prestigious Summer Lyric Theatre at Tulane, and a voice teacher.

He has presented papers in Honolulu, Hawaii, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and has had an article on Bach’s Jesu, meine Freude published in The American Organist. In 2009 he was invited as guest conductor in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Raybon has won two Big Easy Awards for musical direction in Pirates of Penzance and Man of La Mancha at Summer Lyric at Tulane.

He was recently a featured soloist and chorister the Monteverdi Vespers at Marigny Opera House. Leonard and his choirs performed in Rome, Florence, and Venice in 2013. In the Summer of 2014, in Rome, he presented a paper on his innovative beginning voice teaching approach based in Aristotle, and an article on the topic will be published in the International Journal of Arts Education.

History & Fun Facts

  • Inspired by a classic film: The musical is based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 Swedish film Smiles of a Summer Night, adapted for the stage by Hugh Wheeler.
  • A famous operetta-style score: Stephen Sondheim wrote the entire score in triple meter (3/4 time or variants), echoing the style of Viennese operettas and waltzes.
  • Home of “Send in the Clowns”: The show features “Send in the Clowns,” one of Sondheim’s most famous and frequently covered songs, written specifically to suit Glynis Johns’ limited vocal range.
  • Tony Award success: A Little Night Music premiered on Broadway in 1973 and won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical.
  • Age and romance as central themes: Unlike many musicals, the story focuses largely on middle-aged and older characters, exploring love, regret, and second chances with wit and emotional depth.
Summer Lyric Theatre at Tulane presents A Little Night Music, July 30 – August 2