Celebrated actresses Elaine Stritch and Bernadette Peters have returned to Broadway in the 2009 revival of Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music." NY1's Roma Torre filed the following review.

For theatre lovers it doesn't get much better than this -- Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" starring two beloved Broadway veterans doing what they do best in a consummate production that sings its heart out. Bravo, bravo, bravo!

Mark it in memory. This performance by Bernadette Peters is the stuff of theatre legend. Understated and wrenching, she portrays Desiree Armfeldt with an effortlessness that suggests it's the part she was born to play. All her life's experiences seem to be encompassed in this virtuosic interpretation, climactically distilled in that one glorious song.

Following Catherine Zeta-Jones' Tony winning take on the role, Peters brings a natural quality that Zeta-Jones worked hard to achieve. And while both succeeded beautifully, Peters is a better fit.

As a much lauded actress of a certain age facing the ravages of time and loneliness, Desiree, with a blossoming daughter, is ready finally to settle down. A former lover, Fredrik, played with charismatic excellence by Alexander Hanson, is married to a much younger woman and, now the mistress of a chauvinistic cad, Desiree's prospects for future happiness appear dim. Sondheim's music and Hugh Wheeler's book captured that sense of longing and regret with profound depth.

The message is further driven home in the character of Desiree's imperious mother, the elderly retired courtesan Madame Armfeldt. Elaine Stritch, taking over for Angela Lansbury, brings a unique quality to the role that threatens to hijack it in the Stritch persona. Feisty to the extreme, she does in the end succeed in crafting a balanced and deeply felt performance, revealing a touching vulnerability that is crystallized in that other brilliant number "Liaisons."

Trevor Nunn's streamlined production has improved since opening last year. The company, like a truly fine wine, has aged to perfection. This is a masterful work, masterfully performed. With an abundance of superlatives, "A Little Night Music" is rich indeed.