There are a few classic duos in the world. Rocky and Bullwinkle, Sonny and Cher, Joanie and Chachi. The South Sound has a version of its own classic duo of sorts, and it is taking to the stage at Capital Playhouse.



The Olympia theater is staging A Little Night Music in its traditional Stephen Sondheim slot, which just happens to be the theater‘s most requested production thus far.



The reason for so many requests to the stage to reprise the show sits with its anchor stars, the acting and singing duo of Jeff Kingsbury and Jennie May Donnell. They are members of a team that have brought audiences to their feet during curtain calls for more than two decades.



The two are powerhouses as individuals and nuclear reactors when they find themselves on the same stage. And there are few shows that highlight their talents more than a good, old Sondheim show.



Night Music tells the story of middle-aged Fredrik Egerman’s (Kingsbury) search for sex and love. Capital Playhouse’s costume designer in residence, Tom C. Hudson, had a lot of fun setting this show in Sweden just prior to World War I.



“A world as fragile and artificial as the ladies’ gowns themselves,” said Hudson. “The color palette is taken from a moonlit garden, cool blues and mauves, silvers and greens; the blush of a new rose; the hush of lace ... a body conscious silhouette that is both revealing of an awakening sexuality and as restrictive as the society for which it was created.”



The music is set almost entirely in waltz time and consists of Sondheim’s most popular song to date, “Send in the Clowns.”

Also on stage

For something a bit different, theater goers might want to check out Theater Northwest Group’s staging of Educating Rita — the story of an English tutor named Frank, whose outlook on life drives him to drink and bury himself in his books — at the Theatre on the Square in downtown Tacoma. Then comes Rita, a young hairdresser who is hungry for education. A relationship ensues.



[Capital Playhouse, A Little Night Music, through May 30, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $22-$35, 612 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia, 360.943.2744]



[Theatre on the Square, Educating Rita, May 15-30, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, $22-$34, 915 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5894]