Review: Company
In the wake of Stephen Sondheim’s hugely mourned death, the revival of Company, one of his most accessible musicals, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, couldn’t be more timely. This new production comes with a caveat: the main character, the marriage-phobic Robert (a.k.a. Bobby), has been cast as a woman, Bobbie. Have no fear, though, the gender switch works fine, and the production is first-rate all-around.
Robert was played by Dean Jones in the original 1970 production (famous for the excruciating D. A. Pennebaker documentary about recording the cast album), later by Boyd Gaines in the 1995 revival we saw and by Raul Esperza in the 2006 revival. Now Katrina Lenk, who was wonderful opposite Tony Shalhoub in The Band’s Visit, takes on the role. Where Robert’s love life revolved around three women, now there’s a trio of men. Other than changing the pronouns, the dynamics are pretty much the same.
The plot loosely centers around a surprise 35th birthday party being staged by five couples, who urge Bobbie to settle down and get married. With a female lead, there’s a different urgency to that imperative, with the biological clock ticking. (Not too subtly, there’s a clock prominently displayed on a wall.) As we see the couples in action, it’s clear the benefits of marriage aren’t all they’re cut out to be. The casting of the couples is a bit problematic. Reflecting the social changes from 50 years ago, three of the couples are now interracial (and one is homosexual). That’s fine, except that while they’re appealing as actors, they don’t really seem to belong together.
Dressed entirely in red, Bobbie copes with her uneasiness as the center of attention by self-medicating on bourbon. Lenk shows a real gift for comedy as she moves from scene to scene. She doesn’t have a big voice, but an expressive one, which serves her well in her big numbers, “Marry Me a Little” and “Being Alive.” Patti LuPone, on the other hand, can belt with the best. Her character, Joanne, doesn’t have a large role, but it’s juicy: she gets to sing “The Ladies Who Lunch,” which became the signature number for Elaine Stritch, the original Joanne. Now Patty owns it, and as she commands “Rise!” the audience enthusiastically responds. For my money, however, the true highlight is Matt Doyle’s tour de force as the jittery Jamie (Amy in the original) in the tongue-twisting “Getting Married Today.”
Beyond Sondheim’s irresistible score, this production is creatively directed by Marianne Elliott, who originated it in a 2018 West End revival. She uses great physical comedy by the cast to bring out all the humor in George Furth’s book. And the clever scenic and costume design by Bunny Christie allows for lots of surprises. This Company was supposed to premiere on Sondheim’s 90th birthday on March 22, 2020, but was delayed by the pandemic. It finally opened on December 9, 2021, several weeks after Sondheim’s death. It was worth the wait for us to be in the company of his genius, which is alive in this production.
photo by Matthew Murphy