Company

tony award winner: best musical revival
attended: november 9, 2006 and january 16, 2007
wow! wow! wow! color me shocked beyond shocked! i have to admit that i had my doubts going into the preview performance of stephen sondheim’s latest remount of ‘company’. i mean — on my ipod i have the 1970’s cast album — i listen to it here and there — and of all of the ‘classic’ musicals — it’s never really hit me to the point where i was jazzed and connected. this show is known for it’s music — you may not know the show — but you definitely know the music. at first i was like — ‘why on earth would they do this show — again’. i mean come on — the last time they did it was in 1995 and let’s say for lack of a better word — it flopped. it opened and closed with only 60 performances. this latest revision starring raul esparza is truly one not to be missed.
let’s think about it for a second — raul esparza (tony nominee and drama desk winner — both for ‘taboo’) and barbra walsh (tony and drama desk nominee — both for ‘falsettos’) team up with tony award and drama desk award winning director (both for ‘sweeney todd’) john doyle and put on a spectacular presentation of one of sondheim’s most known shows. the most remarkable part about it is the rest of the cast — virtually everyone else in the ensemble is an unknown.
like ‘sweeney todd’ — john doyle uses the actors as musicians for the music behind the musical. interesting transitions by the actors coming on and off of the set and perching themselves on clear acrylic cubes make for an ultra modern feel on what is a fairly minimalistic stage. the only distracting point was the fact that many of the stage directions called for the cast to jog on what seems to be a track that runs around the perimeter of the stage itself.
raul esparza’s performance was nothing less than spectacular. he effortlessly sings this music (‘being alive’ and ‘mary me a little’ being 2 of the highlights) as if he were the man always meant to sing the songs. his sarcastic take on the role of bobby — the 35 year old single guy surrounded by his married friends and their lives — fits him spot on.
barbra walsh — who plays the aging (gracefully) friend — joanne — brings a different kind of ‘bitterness’ to the role that was made famous by the incomparable elaine stritch in the original cast. again — an effortless performance when she belts out the anthem ‘the ladies who lunch’ — which will forever be owned by ms. stritch — but barbra gives her a run for her money in this unforgettable remake.
other highlights include the playful saxophone trios brought to life by elizabeth stanley (april), kelly jeanne grant (kathy), and angel desai (marta) in the song ‘you could drive a person crazy’, to the tongue tied amy (played by jane pfitsch in previews and then returning to the role after maternity leave — heather laws) crying over marriage in unforgettable ‘getting married today.’ i was fortunate to see both actresses in the role and i personally liked jane’s performance better but either way — such a delightful scene to watch and enjoy.
obviously i liked the show — i went to see it twice — but i highly recommend anyone to go see this show — it’s a hit — you’ll love it — and it remained as fantastic from the previews into the run. both times — the audience was overjoyed with applause and occasionally — a few ‘bravos!’ came trumpeting over the claps. it’s truly not to be missed.
it closes on july 1^st, 2007 — so hurry hurry hurry!

Marry me a little,
Love me just enough.
Cry but not too often,
Play but not too rough.
Keep a tender distance
So we’ll both be free.
That’s the way it ought to be…
Only Stephen Sondheim could come up with such sophisticated couplets to a love song as disquieting as the beautiful «Marry Me a Little». It probably says something sad about the current state of theater that the best musical on Broadway now is a 37-​year old show that has already been revived twice. But when the music is this good and the performers so expert, it becomes a moot point even though several of the songs here have been inescapable at karaōke bars for years from the lips of overly zealous musical theater aficionados.
Staged like a minimalist cabaret act, John Doyle’s joyous 2006 Broadway revival of the Sondheim/​George Furth musical has brought new life to the oft-​resuscitated show. I saw the show last weekend at the Ethel Barrymore Theater and was unexpectedly enthralled. For a canon as legendary and often erratic as his, Sondheim’s sophisticated music and lyrics never seemed as accessible and hummable as they do here.
The story is blessedly simple as it revolves around Bobby, a perennial 35-​year old bachelor with commitment issues, as he observes his circle of upscale Manhattanite friends, primarily five married couples at different stages in various vignettes that make him reconsider what he wants out of life. There is an element of contrivance to the structure, but what I thought would be Furth’s severely dated libretto continues to resonate with wit and insight. The most daring move of the production is the decision to have the actors play their own musical instruments, which actually helps underline the characters’ feelings.
So much of the show rides on the crucial casting of Bobby, and Raul Esparza is terrific in how he manages the precarious balance between yearning romantic and cynical hedonist. With a beautifully expressive singing voice coupled with a common-​guy demeanor, he captures the character’s arc with an escalating emotional intensity from the measured romanticism of «Someone Is Waiting» to the tender tentativeness of «Marry Me a Little» (with the beautiful, Sondheim-​trademarked rolling piano) to the bursting climactic catharsis of «Being Alive». Here’s a fan’s YouTube clip of Esparza singing «Marry Me a Little» onstage:
The rest of the cast accomplish some wonderful moments that already come with high expectations — Heather Laws’ dexterously motors her way through «Getting Married Today» with her character’s nerve-​wracking intensity intact; Elizabeth Stanley brings a likable warmth to the dim-​bulb flight attendant April as she duets sweetly with Esparza on the comically post-​coital «Barcelona»; the poignant «Sorry — Grateful» performed by the comparatively less spotlighted male ensemble; and of course, there are the lacerating observations in «The Ladies Who Lunch», handled with fierce worldliness by Barbara Walsh as Joanne (her repeated primal screams at the end pierce with wounding acuity).
Go see it to hear Sondheim’s brilliance in full bloom.
Go see it for Furth’s sharply etched characters and dialogue.
Go see it for a mesmerizing, star-​making turn by Raul Esparza.
Just go.
+++++++
IMPORTANT UPDATE on JUNE 12, 2007:
The show has been announced to be closing on July 1. This is truly sad news as I think this is one of the best pieces of work I’ve ever seen on Broadway, and Raul Esparza’s performance is truly mesmerizing. People will be talking about his work for years. Here’s a clip of his powerful performance of «Being Alive» at the Tony Awards last Sunday:
I’m crossing my fingers that a road company version is in the works.