Zeta-Jones returned to stage in 2009 with a revival of the musical "A Little Night Music", which marked her Broadway debut. Set in Sweden during the early twentieth century, the musical follows the relationships between three people (Zeta-Jones, Angela Lansbury and Alexander Hanson) during the course of a summer. She played Desirée Armfeldt, an ageing actress, and was particularly drawn to the complexities of the musical, saying, "There's no jazzy hands, no high kicks, no fishnet stockings, ... It's not one of those shows where you can dig about three inches and come out the other end. You can keep digging and digging and digging". She did not listen to past recordings of the songs in the play so she could bring her own interpretation to them. The critic Claire Prentice of "The Daily Telegraph" wrote that Zeta-Jones brought in a "quiet, reflective poignancy" in her rendition of the song "Send In the Clowns", but Emma Brocks of "The Guardian" was more critical, remarking that "with her pretty voice, head wresting this way and that, seems to be auditioning for stage school". For her performance, Zeta-Jones won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.