Stephen Sondheim’s now classic musical Company arrives in touring form after an acclaimed (but COVID-truncated) run on Broadway. The story about a single man turning 35 and reflecting on the married (or soon-to-be-married) friends around him has been gender-swapped to great effect.
To be fair, I’ve never seen “Company” before, so I can’t compare productions, but watching this new incarnation, it was almost hard for me to see it in any other way.
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The story begins with Bobbie (a stupendous Britney Coleman) arriving home on her 35th birthday to a message that a “surprise” party is imminent. She starts to contemplate being single at her age and wonders if she’s missing out on something important.
This brings her back to different interactions with her friends, who are all couples. She watches, contemplates, and learns from them about the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The problem is that… most of it is ugly.
Harry (James Earl Jones II) and Sarah (Jessie Hooker-Bailey) are a couple that ingratiatingly focuses on health and sobriety while realizing that maybe they’re better when they have their vices. (“Sorry-Grateful”)
David (Matt Bitner) and Jenny (Emma Stratton) are a mismatched pair who seem to be in a happy marriage, but his straight-laced squareness contrasts with her more adventurous nature. Their message to Bobbie seems to be one of “giving up and giving in” to a marriage rather than being delighted and content with it.
Susan (Marina Kondo) and Peter (Javier Ignacio) are a couple on the verge (?) of divorce, and Paul (Jhandon DiShon Milton) and Jamie (the remarkable Matt Rodin) are a couple about to get married when Jamie gets cold feet.
Lastly, there is Joanne (Judy McLane), a sort of one-woman Greek chorus who flits in and out of different scenes until she has a marriage-woe dialogue of her own with Bobbie. This is when the famous song “Ladies Who Lunch” comes into play. She is married to Larry (Derrick Davis) in a marriage that seems more something they tolerate than enjoy.
So what’s Bobbie to do? Everyone is always asking her when she’ll find a husband, and with everyone around her partnered up, she feels the pressure to do just that. She tries with the dim-witted pilot Andy (Jacob Dickey), but when reflecting on marriage, pregnancy, and motherhood, she is more than happy to keep it casual.
Will she come to realize that having “company” in her life is something she needs, or will she find that she’s okay with her life the way it is? That’s the core of Sondheim’s introspective and often hilarious show.
Each couple represents a different sort of problem in coupledom. At the same time, you never really feel that any of them hate each other. But you do wonder if they’d all be better off single. Even Andy, who can’t stop talking and veering off the romantic path, has a bit of a “is he or is he not gay” angle that could illustrate his own avoidance of romance. His fascination with a red pantsuit of Bobbie’s when he takes it off is a bit telling.
And while “Company” isn’t going to sell anyone on the institution of marriage, the incredibly talented cast makes these amusing characters sing. They are complex and funny, heartfelt and coldhearted. They are all earnest in their sentiments about marriage, but at the same time, they are urging Bobbie to date this guy or that guy. So, if marriage is such a lead balloon, why try to get others to partake?
While the entire cast is fantastic, Coleman as Bobbie and Rodin as Jamie often steal the show. Coleman’s voice shatters the rafters in the best of ways, and her uber-likable Bobbie makes you want to root for her – whatever she decides.
Rodin’s ode “Getting Married Today” is another Sondheim zippily-sung ode about his indecisiveness about tying the knot. The entire sequence is brilliantly performed and expertly staged.
As directed by Marianne Elliott and set designed by Bunny Christie, there are always surprises happening on stage with doors where you don’t know there are doors, entrances, and exits that are complete surprises, and constantly moving set pieces that keep the story flowing.
Look, Sondheim isn’t for everyone. I overheard one attendee during intermission raving about the pop-musical “Six” and his date complaining that the songs in “Company” were just “okay.” But that seems to be the divide between classic theater and tourist-trap theater. Both have their place, but audiences must understand how to navigate and appreciate them.
“Company” is a great time, despite a rather gloomy premise. The clever lyrics, energetic performances, and stunning set design make it a party you don’t mind attending.
Even if you leave questioning your marital status.
“Company” runs through August 18th at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood.
For more information and tickets, visit Broadway in Hollywood.
