THE idea that professional soprano and actress Michelle Todd should take the role of Desiree Armfeldt in York Musical Theatre Company’s production of A Little Night Music was spawned last summer.

Michelle was appearing as a guest singer with the Scarborough Spa Orchestra, where she met Paul Laidlaw, who directs the York company.

“We had just finished rehearsing Sondheim’s famous song Send In The Clowns, from A Little Night Music, when Paul asked if I had ever performed the role of Desiree,” recalls Michelle. “I wistfully admitted that it was on my dream ‘wish list’, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when Paul invited me to join him.”

Sondheim’s musical tells the story of endless possibilities at the glamorous country estate of bewitching actress Desiree Armfeldt, who invites guests for a weekend that turns into a tangled web of love and passion.

“It’s a show with romance, great charm, humour and truly glorious music,” says Michelle.

“Someone asked me what’s the most enjoyable thing about doing this show and it’s singing Send In The Clowns in its proper context, and you then realise what a genius Sondheim is with his lyrics.

“It was written for a ‘non-singer’, Glynis Johns, and even now in his latest book, Sondheim says he still loves Glynis’s ‘silky-voiced’ version the most. It was Glynis of course who sang it on The Michael Parkinson Show and reduced everyone to tears.”

Michelle has performed in Sondheim’s Follies at the Shaftesbury Theatre and now follows in the footsteps of Glynis Johns, Elizabeth Taylor, Dame Judi Dench, Catherine Zeta Jones and Bernadette Peters in playing Desiree.

“They’re pretty big shoes to fill, but they were all very different,” she says. “There’s nothing similar about those actors, so it just goes to show that Sondheim has written a part so multi-faceted.”

• York Musical Theatre Company presents Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, from March 18 to 21, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm matinee next Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568.