Marry Me a Little

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Abby Nichols (left) and Amanda Rodriguez, in "Marry Me a Little."

Abby Nichols (left) and Amanda Rodriguez, in "Marry Me a Little," Music Theatre of Madison, 2025.

What do you do on a solo Saturday night? If you’re Stephen Sondheim, you write a show about it. Marry Me A Little is an elegant gut punch, stitched together from songs that didn’t make it into his blockbusters but still carry his unmistakable wit and ache. Two women in neighboring apartments spin out fantasies of love and connection, unaware of how close they really are. Music Theatre of Madison brings this show, equal parts daydream and elegy, to life in this fresh, modern reimagining. Part of Madison’s “Spring of Sondheim,” it’s a brief, beautiful reminder that loneliness has a soundtrack — and sometimes it sounds a lot like hope.

media release: Music Theatre of Madison, a 19-year-old professional theater company bringing new and lesser-known musicals to the stage, will present the Wisconsin premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s little-known revue Marry Me A Little. The show will run April 24, 25, and 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the Bur Oak, 2262 Winnebago St. Tickets are $20 for students and $28 general admission and can be purchased at www.mtmadison.com or on the Bur Oak’s website. 

Marry Me A Little is part of a “Spring of Sondheim” partnership between Music Theatre of Madison, Four Seasons Theatre, University Opera, and Middleton Players Theatre, each of whom are presenting Sondheim musicals this spring. “When I was approached about it, I thought, ‘what Sondheim could we do that fits with our resources and our mission?” says Meghan Randolph, MTM’s executive director. “This show fit beautifully, and it has been such a benefit to partner with these other theater companies, sharing promotion across Madison. 

In Marry Me A Little, two single strangers (National tour veteran Abby Nichols and Jeff nominee Amanda Rodriguez), left alone in their studio apartments on a Saturday night, pass their time with sweetly secret, unshared fantasies, never knowing that they're just a floor away from each other and the end of their lonely dreams. Featuring trunk songs from popular Sondheim musicals, many of which were later restored to other shows, Marry Me A Little is a way to peek deeper into the mind of this master of contemporary musical theater.

The production will be directed by Emilly Glick and music directed and accompanied on piano by Lisa Erdman. “Sondheim is the most specific yet universal composer, says Glick. “ I’m eager to mine his lesser known work in order to tell a story that will be created by the shrewd minds and talents of Abby Nichols and Amanda Rodriguez, with Lisa Erdman as the musical backbone. If you take romance out of the picture and focus on the longing for human connection, “what do you do on a Saturday night alone?”

The piece is originally written for a man and a woman, but Glick decided to open it to all genders. The two singers that came out of the auditions happened to be two women, which Glick thought fit the piece well in a modern context. 

Additional staff include understudies Cassie Carney and Abbey Immer, stage manager Eden Tran, sound designer Scott Glogovsky, props designer Sarah DeRubis, and producer Meghan Randolph. The production is sponsored by the Wisconsin Arts Board with additional funds from the state of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.