More Company Reviews
A couple more reviews for Company:
A Younger Theatre Review
On the day that I saw the Southwark Playhouse’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s and George Furth’s 1970 musical Company (the theatre’s first musical in its 15 year history), The Guardian was full of advice on how to have an amicable divorce. The married friends of the protagonist, Bobby (Rupert Young) extol the virtues of marriage, but the question remains, would anyone really want to be like them?
Company is an interesting example of whether a piece that is very much rooted in its time has resonance and longevity. The thoughts summed up in Being Alive are timeless, but particular values less so. This was the first plotless non-revue musical and although the songs include some outstanding character pieces, George Furth’s book is a case of stylisation over substance and doesn’t match the sharpness of Sondheim’s lyrics. Furth tries to deliver one zinger after another, but it often feels forced. While I have a lot of time for Fosca, that walking bundle of angst in Passion, my patience with the neuroses of affluent and rather shrill Manhattanites is more limited.
Joe Fredericks transports the piece to the present day and the presence of laptops and iPhones was fine. The dated feeling comes more from the fact that in 1970, one was considered middle aged at 35. I frequently question the need for microphones in small venues and the wires were a little distracting when Robert and his girlfriends took their shirts off. Not everyone sounds like an American, let alone a New Yorker, and the pauses for applause aren’t conducive to making an already fragmented piece flow. However, Sam Spencer-Lane’s choreography is niftily manic and the rumbling sounds from the trains overhead give a nice authenticity to this bustling “city of strangers”.
Rupert Young’s oily Bobby was always ‘Robert’ for me. It’s a valid directorial choice to portray him as an enigma, but Young’s Bobby never really responds to anything, and his same-y delivery quickly becomes tiresome. While his vocal performance improves over the course of the evening, his Bobby hasn’t earned the optimism that Being Alive evokes.
There are some excellent individual performances, particularly from the women: Siobhan McCarthy’s Joanne is appropriately vodka stinger soaked, and Michelle Bishop has the right kind of brassiness as Robert’s fun-seeking girlfriend Marta, determined to make the most of what New York City has on offer (she may well be the most sensible person in the piece). Cassidy Janson is delightful as the jittery bride-to-be Amy and delivers the terrific patter song Getting Married Today with great aplomb - it’s one number in which applause at the end is justified. Laura Main also brings a lot of sparkle to the small role of the gracious Southern Belle Susan - a pity she doesn’t have a solo as I’m a big fan of her voice.
There are countless books, films and plays about women who can’t possibly be fulfilled because they haven’t got a man; single men who are defined by their marital status are rarer creatures. Perhaps we’re not supposed to like Bobby, but this production doesn’t really give the audience the chance to empathise with him or understand why his friends find him so fascinating. These are friends best enjoyed from a distance - I’m not sure if I’d want their company in real life.
So So Gay Review (lol @ that website name)
The Southwark Playhouse, in association with Mokitagrit Productions, brings a much anticipated revival of Sondheim’s musical, Company, to London. When it opened on Broadway in 1970 it blew everything else out of the water and collected no fewer than six Tony Awards, plus several other gongs.
Based on the play by George Furth, the musical has a fairly simple plot. It centres on Bobby (Rupert Young), a charismatic, handsome, and very eligible bachelor. He lives in New York, surrounded by his ‘good and crazy’ married friends, and his three lovers. Despite his string of affairs, however, he can never seem to commit and settle down into a marriage, and ends up living married life vicariously through the varying and eclectic dynamics of the five couples he keeps close to him. A surprise 35th birthday party frames a tapestry of memories about the relationships and his personal connections.
Although the musical is 40 years old, it is still very relevant today and doesn’t feel at all out-dated. Its examination of commitment, marriage, and relationships is very intelligent, and Sondheim’s music and wit-drenched libretto adds both hilarious and heartfelt touches.
Rupert Young, of BBC’s Merlin, is a smart choice to play the Bobby. He brings a great sense of humility, ferocity, and tenderness, especially in Sondheim’s seminal and haunting numbers ‘Marry Me a Little’ and ‘Being Alive’. Young tackles the infamously difficult role with steady agility and a stable sense of comfort; there are moments where he clearly gives it his all to fantastic accomplishment.
Despite Bobby’s being pivotal to the plot, the musical is very much an ensemble piece. The entire cast is incredibly adept bringing a fizzing sense of fun and an unhinged insanity to each couple’s relationship, while never making them feel caricatured. However, special mention must go to Cassidy Janson who gave a twitching and manic rendition of patter-song ‘Getting Married Today’, causing an eruption of riotous applause. Also, Siobhan McCarthy, playing sassy cougar and serial bride Joanne, did justice to the show’s phenomenally cynical showstopper ‘Ladies Who Lunch’.
This production also benefits from its cosy venue and reduced scoring, both of which bring a close sense of intimacy to the narrative and characters without removing any of the charm.
For a single person a show about love, life, and marriage might seem like the worst way to spend an evening in the aftermath of Valentine’s Day. But this well thought-out dissection of relationships is smart and keeps an open mind; plus, it’s full of laughs as well as warmth and the sort of heart-wrenching tragedy that seems to suit Sondheim’s bravura compositions particularly well. Hilarious, heart-warming, and clever, this is a thoroughly entertaining and elating evening. An absolute must for Sondheim fans, and a master class in musical theatre for everyone else.
A Younger Theatre Review
On the day that I saw the Southwark Playhouse’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s and George Furth’s 1970 musical Company (the theatre’s first musical in its 15 year history), The Guardian was full of advice on how to have an amicable divorce. The married friends of the protagonist, Bobby (Rupert Young) extol the virtues of marriage, but the question remains, would anyone really want to be like them?
Company is an interesting example of whether a piece that is very much rooted in its time has resonance and longevity. The thoughts summed up in Being Alive are timeless, but particular values less so. This was the first plotless non-revue musical and although the songs include some outstanding character pieces, George Furth’s book is a case of stylisation over substance and doesn’t match the sharpness of Sondheim’s lyrics. Furth tries to deliver one zinger after another, but it often feels forced. While I have a lot of time for Fosca, that walking bundle of angst in Passion, my patience with the neuroses of affluent and rather shrill Manhattanites is more limited.
Joe Fredericks transports the piece to the present day and the presence of laptops and iPhones was fine. The dated feeling comes more from the fact that in 1970, one was considered middle aged at 35. I frequently question the need for microphones in small venues and the wires were a little distracting when Robert and his girlfriends took their shirts off. Not everyone sounds like an American, let alone a New Yorker, and the pauses for applause aren’t conducive to making an already fragmented piece flow. However, Sam Spencer-Lane’s choreography is niftily manic and the rumbling sounds from the trains overhead give a nice authenticity to this bustling “city of strangers”.
Rupert Young’s oily Bobby was always ‘Robert’ for me. It’s a valid directorial choice to portray him as an enigma, but Young’s Bobby never really responds to anything, and his same-y delivery quickly becomes tiresome. While his vocal performance improves over the course of the evening, his Bobby hasn’t earned the optimism that Being Alive evokes.
There are some excellent individual performances, particularly from the women: Siobhan McCarthy’s Joanne is appropriately vodka stinger soaked, and Michelle Bishop has the right kind of brassiness as Robert’s fun-seeking girlfriend Marta, determined to make the most of what New York City has on offer (she may well be the most sensible person in the piece). Cassidy Janson is delightful as the jittery bride-to-be Amy and delivers the terrific patter song Getting Married Today with great aplomb - it’s one number in which applause at the end is justified. Laura Main also brings a lot of sparkle to the small role of the gracious Southern Belle Susan - a pity she doesn’t have a solo as I’m a big fan of her voice.
There are countless books, films and plays about women who can’t possibly be fulfilled because they haven’t got a man; single men who are defined by their marital status are rarer creatures. Perhaps we’re not supposed to like Bobby, but this production doesn’t really give the audience the chance to empathise with him or understand why his friends find him so fascinating. These are friends best enjoyed from a distance - I’m not sure if I’d want their company in real life.
So So Gay Review (lol @ that website name)
The Southwark Playhouse, in association with Mokitagrit Productions, brings a much anticipated revival of Sondheim’s musical, Company, to London. When it opened on Broadway in 1970 it blew everything else out of the water and collected no fewer than six Tony Awards, plus several other gongs.
Based on the play by George Furth, the musical has a fairly simple plot. It centres on Bobby (Rupert Young), a charismatic, handsome, and very eligible bachelor. He lives in New York, surrounded by his ‘good and crazy’ married friends, and his three lovers. Despite his string of affairs, however, he can never seem to commit and settle down into a marriage, and ends up living married life vicariously through the varying and eclectic dynamics of the five couples he keeps close to him. A surprise 35th birthday party frames a tapestry of memories about the relationships and his personal connections.
Although the musical is 40 years old, it is still very relevant today and doesn’t feel at all out-dated. Its examination of commitment, marriage, and relationships is very intelligent, and Sondheim’s music and wit-drenched libretto adds both hilarious and heartfelt touches.
Rupert Young, of BBC’s Merlin, is a smart choice to play the Bobby. He brings a great sense of humility, ferocity, and tenderness, especially in Sondheim’s seminal and haunting numbers ‘Marry Me a Little’ and ‘Being Alive’. Young tackles the infamously difficult role with steady agility and a stable sense of comfort; there are moments where he clearly gives it his all to fantastic accomplishment.
Despite Bobby’s being pivotal to the plot, the musical is very much an ensemble piece. The entire cast is incredibly adept bringing a fizzing sense of fun and an unhinged insanity to each couple’s relationship, while never making them feel caricatured. However, special mention must go to Cassidy Janson who gave a twitching and manic rendition of patter-song ‘Getting Married Today’, causing an eruption of riotous applause. Also, Siobhan McCarthy, playing sassy cougar and serial bride Joanne, did justice to the show’s phenomenally cynical showstopper ‘Ladies Who Lunch’.
This production also benefits from its cosy venue and reduced scoring, both of which bring a close sense of intimacy to the narrative and characters without removing any of the charm.
For a single person a show about love, life, and marriage might seem like the worst way to spend an evening in the aftermath of Valentine’s Day. But this well thought-out dissection of relationships is smart and keeps an open mind; plus, it’s full of laughs as well as warmth and the sort of heart-wrenching tragedy that seems to suit Sondheim’s bravura compositions particularly well. Hilarious, heart-warming, and clever, this is a thoroughly entertaining and elating evening. An absolute must for Sondheim fans, and a master class in musical theatre for everyone else.