Matthew Murphy
Stephen Sondheim’s fifth musical as the writer of music and lyrics (he had three previous shows with collaborators Leonard Bernstein, Jule Styne and Richard Rodgers) hit Broadway in 1970 and was a sensation. The show was Company, and it earned an at-the-time record fourteen Tony Awards nominations, winning six including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Lyrics (the only time the two music categories were split). Since then the show has toured the country, launched successful London and Australian productions, and has been revived on Broadway no less than three times, the most recent in 2021 — which was a transfer of the 2018 West End revival — which earned nine Tony Awards nominations and took home five including Best Revival of a Musical. It’s that version that is now touring the country, and while it has the same story this may not be the same Company you’re familiar with (for those who have seen past productions).
The biggest difference here is that the main character has been gender-swapped from the male Robert of the original to the female Bobbie, which means some of the show’s plot points also undergo similar changes, such as Robert’s three girlfriends now becoming Bobbie’s three boyfriends, and Joanne suggesting Bobbie have an affair with her husband instead of Joanne coming on to Robert. It also replaces the couple of Amy and Paul with gay couple Jamie and Paul. If you’re not familiar with the show — like me — then you’re not going to notice the changes but from a modern perspective it only makes sense that the focus of the show is now a female with our societal obsessions around age and marriage.
Company takes place on Bobbie’s 35th birthday, and all of her friends are married or about to be. Naturally everyone asks Bobbie why she isn’t married yet. Because she’s not getting any younger (though none of them are). While she grapples with her 35th and her lack of a relationship, the rest of the story unfolds in a non-linear fashion in a series of vignettes as Bobbie visits her married friends Sarah and Harry, who nag at each other about her eating and his drinking with jokes and jiu jitsu; Peter and Susan, a perfect couple with a surprising secret; David and Jenny, who seem to just tolerate each other as David only does things to please Jenny (and has a very obvious thing for Bobbie); and Paul and Jamie, who are moments away from getting married until Jamie has a complete emotional meltdown. And then there’s Joanne and third husband Larry, who pop into vignettes to make comments but we never really get to know them until nearly the end of the show. Bobbie also has three boyfriends but we never really get to know PJ, while Theo meets up with Bobbie and they both admit they wanted to marry each other but Theo has another bomb to drop. Then there’s sweet, sexy, dumb Andy, a flight attendant whom Bobbie considers could be ‘the one’ until she begins to ponder their life together. All the while, Bobbie keeps thinking of her birthday party and the tradition of making a wish and blowing out the candles but she can never seem to blow them out … and she never wishes for anything. Will she finally get to her party and make that wish?
Matthew Murphy
Not knowing anything about Company made getting into the show a little challenging. You have to wonder what exactly Sondheim and book writer George Furth are trying to say about marriage. Is it something we need, or is it toxic, some antiquated tradition people are expected to adhere to generation after generation. At the same time it also looks at the pressures society — and friends — put on those who have chosen not to marry, or just haven’t put themselves out in the world emotionally to even meet someone to marry. Bobbie’s friends all have concerns about her being a single woman, a 35-year-old single woman. At some point Bobbie should tell them all to mind their own business, but she just closes herself off even more as she watches the trainwrecks of her friends’ marriages. The show really says more about those pressuring Bobbie to get married than it does about Bobbie just enjoying her life. It’s clear they are all jealous of her freedom and they all assure her they have someone lined up for her. But does Bobbie want marriage or does she just want company?
It really is a deep and complicated story but it’s also very funny, with the biggest laughs coming from the pre-wedding jitters of Jamie (and the brilliant bit of staging that comes with the scene). The cast is outstanding but the show succeeds or fails on the actor playing Bobbie because the character is almost never offstage. This show succeeds thanks to the endearing performance of Britney Coleman, who had a small role in the Broadway production. Coleman has to run through the full gamut of emotions as she deals with each of the couples and the pressures of a birthday party she doesn’t want to go to. She gives a warm and charming performance and she can belt out Sondheim’s songs with the greatest of ease. Coleman makes Bobbie feel like a real person, someone you’d want to be friends with. It is truly a winning performance.
Kathryn Allison and James Earl Jones II (Sarah & Harry) get a lot of laughs from their situation, with Allison’s Sarah battling a possible food addiction — not helped by Bobbie arriving with brownies — and Jones’ Harry battling the bottle — which isn’t helped when Bobbie arrives with bourbon (to be fair she had no idea of either’s issues). The also get a little too much pleasure out of ribbing each other, which could be a bit destructive to a relationship, but they both make it clear that the two are truly in love and can settle their scores with playful martial arts. Allison and Jones give the broadest performances (well, close to the broadest performances) with some spot-on comic timing.
Matthew Murphy
Javier Ignacio and Marina Kondo (Peter & Susan) are the more free-spirited of the group and also get some funny bits, while Kondo also has her own moment not as Susan but as some sort of angel or a goddess of love, terrorizing poor Jamie in the most hilarious of ways. Emma Stratton and Jed Resnick (Jenny & David) are the most complicated of the couples, because the two characters are polar opposites. Stratton’s Jenny is more of a free spirit who enjoys a little pot with Bobbie, while Resnick’s David is so uptight and only smokes to make Jenny happy. Unfortunately once he gets high, you can see the cracks in their facade as David seems to be more interested in Bobbie (a plot point that carries throughout the rest of the show). The two work together well and generate sympathy for David, leaving one to wonder just how much longer these two can stay together. Matt Rodin and Jhardon Dishon Milton (Jamie & Paul) have the showstopping scene in Act I as the two are about to be married but Jamie is terrified to tell anyone he’s got cold feet, leading to the hallucinations that make him even more frantic than he already is (and that is the broadest performance in the show). Rodin gets some huge laughs with his hysterics, and our hearts break along with Paul’s when Jamie says something almost unforgivable but these are actually the two characters the audience roots for thanks to the terrific performances of Rodin and Milton (and it should be noted that Rodin has probably the most difficult song in the show with its fast patter lyrics, and he never misses a syllable). Derrick Davis and Judy McLane (Larry & Joanne) have the least fleshed-out characters, acting almost more as a Greek chorus. Bobbie never hangs out with them until the penultimate scene of the show, so it’s never clear what their relationship is with Bobbie or the others. McLane though does get to shine with the show’s signature song ‘The Ladies Who Lunch’, but Joanne is not a role model Bobbie should look up to with her three marriages and that invite to shag her husband.
On the technical side of things, this is a really visually interesting production with the small square and larger rectangular sets representing the apartments of the characters, with lighted frames and a row of brownstones for other scenes. The way they move across the stage and connect is quite something, and the way these spaces are changed from scene to scene to represent a different apartment is almost mind-boggling. I also loved all of the little hidden 35s in the different sets. This isn’t Phantom of the Opera or Les Misérables spectacle, but Bunny Christie’s scenic design is magical all the same, augmented just as magically with Neil Austin’s lighting design (which is employed to light some confined spaces while leaving the surrounding areas of the stage in pure blackness). Liam Steel’s choreography and Marianne Elliott’s direction keep the show moving along smoothly, and Furth’s updated book and Sondheim’s updated score to reflect the changes of the characters, makes the show modern, something that can speak to audiences today. As with most Sondheim shows there is a lot to think about, a lot to converse about with others, to delve into the themes, to question just what it is they are saying about marriage or being single. I wasn’t sure I was going to like Company, but with the masterful performances, the creative production, and the modern storytelling, it won me over and I’m sure it’s something I will be thinking about for a long time.
Company runs about 2 hours 30 minutes with one intermission. Recommended for ages 12 and up.
Company runs through March 31 at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center. Other cities on the schedule include Boston, Pittsburgh, Providence, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles and more. Visit the official website for more information. Use our Ticketmaster link to purchase tickets.
Company – National Tour
Company on Tour
Check our Ticketmaster link for ticket availability.
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