Company and Suicide
Company and Suicide
#1Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 2:03am
On the front page it mentions a quote from Sondheim about a production of Company.
"Then there was a production of Company where Bobby shot himself at the end."
I believe he is referring to the most recent revival, but I don't really remember Bobby doing this at the end. At all. Was I missing something?
TheCharleston
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/18/08
#2re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 2:03am
why do you assume it was the most recent revival?
there was no suicide...
#2re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 2:08am
Just because when I googled it, the only thing I found was this:
"I just returned from watching the current Broadway production of Sondheim's musical "Company." Depsite universal agreement on webpages that the musical is a "concept musical" which consists of a series of scenes rather than a cohesive plot, my theatergoing companion and I disagree completely as to the significance of the ending. Robert, the main character, seems to have not attended his 35th birthday party, despite the fact his attendance is shown at several previous points in the show. Is the show a dream sequence? Has Robert committed suicide? What is the significance of the partygoers in the first act remarking repeatedly about some "noise" "next door" that sounds like they're "tearing the building down"? Is that Robert committing suicide? What other cohesive explanation is there? Thanks so much for your interpretive help."
It still didn't really make much sense to me, which is why I thought I'd ask on here.
#3re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 2:09amNo, last night at the Lincoln Center talk, Frank Rich said that Sondheim is known for being very liberal in terms of what he allows to be done with his shows, and then asked him for some examples of things that he hasn't been okay with. One of the things Sondheim talked about was a British production of Company in which Bobby killed himself at the end.
#4re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 2:11amWhoever wrote that is reading way, way too much into it -- especially that business about the noise next door and tearing the building down being some kind of allusion to suicide. I mean, really... what? It is literally noisy. And this is from someone who has overanalyzed Company 'til the cows came home.
#5re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 2:16amOhhh I see. Thank you for the correction then. Kind of strange that I was still able to find something about it relating to the recent revival. Still though - ending "Being Alive" with death just makes no sense to me.
#6re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 2:22amWell, people see what they want to in things. And to a degree, you can see anything anywhere. But that doesn't mean it's there. And so while I don't doubt this person actually thinks Susan complaining about the noise is some sort of bizarre metaphor for Bobby's suicidal death, I can promise you that is nowhere in the text, nor was it anywhere in Doyle's interpretation. And again, while I'm sure someone could make a case for it (like that Bobby's smile at the end was in relief upon having ended his miserable existence and that blowing out the candles was death), I can guarantee you that as far as intent, the '06 revival did not end in suicide. A director can't control what every single audience member is going to interpret, but that's not what it was meant to be. At all.
sbflyfan
Broadway Star Joined: 4/12/07
#8re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 8:08am
One of the reasons "Company" works so well is that basically anyone can relate to some aspect of Bobby's personality, or one of the other characters in the show.
When you see Bobby have his epiphany at the end during "Being Alive" you're overwhelmed with a rush of hope or a sense of optimism.
I think it would kind of defeat the purpose if he killed himself.
As for the noise at the beginning, I always thought it was because it's New York. People living so close to each other and sound just overlaps.
P.S. Might I add I was watching the DVD the other night and kept thinking GOD this show is BRILLIANT. 
"I'm seeing the LuPone in Key West later this week. I'm hoping for great vocals and some sort of insane breakdown..." - BenjaminNicholas2
Updated On: 1/20/09 at 08:08 AM
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#9re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 9:56amI once saw a production of Company where I wished Bobby would kill himself. But only because his diction was so sloppy. He kept singing "Being Galive, being galive, bee-ing galive".
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
TheCharleston
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/18/08
#10re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 10:40am
I wanted to kill Raul.
that horrendous vibrato made my ears shake and ring.
#11re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 10:44am
PalJoey said it all.
This thought never crossed my mind.
Ridiculous.
"TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD"- LES MISERABLES---
"THERE'S A SPECIAL KIND OF PEOPLE KNOWN AS SHOW PEOPLE... WE'RE BORN EVERY NIGHT AT HALF HOUR CALL!"--- CURTAINS
Updated On: 1/21/09 at 10:44 AM
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#12re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 10:46am
"that horrendous vibrato made my ears shake and ring."
That was vibrato? I thought he had a jackhammer up his shirt.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#13re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 11:12amI've known people who absolutely insist there is evil/dark symbolism or foreshadowing in absolutely everything they watch. I'll never forget, after the fourth or fifth Harry Potter book, a friend of mine absolutely believe Harry Potter would turn into a dark wizard at the end of the series and replace Voldemort. He insisted that the books were completely obvious about this direction in the story line. He said the same thing was obviously going to happen to Luke Skywalker if the final trilogy were to be completed. For people like that, it is simply an immature way to create drama and controversy amongst peers. The Company Suicide Club is the same. They would rather find some way to make anything dark because they believe they lack the creativity to accept what was actually written or intended. In similar fashion, I've seen immature directors exploit Christianity in an offensive manner with a huge amount of personal pride simply to shock audiences in shows or numbers where controversial political statements simply aren't warranted. It's like trying to reflect personal opinions on gay marriage or the Iraq war in the dream ballet of Oklahoma. It's total self-indulgence.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#14re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 11:23am
"I've known people who absolutely insist there is evil/dark symbolism or foreshadowing in absolutely everything they watch."
To be fair, several of the Sondheim shows are dark: Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Assassins. I think some people want to try and make his whole catalogue "dark".
But I think that suicide in Company misses the point. There is darkness in the show. Being lonely in a big city is dark. But the way the show is structured, we can't come to conclusions about Bobby's final actions because the show is too nebulous. We have to go back to the conversation of "Does the play take place during one birthday or two?"
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#15re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 1:07pm
To be fair, several of the Sondheim shows are dark: Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Assassins.
Of course. I was just speaking of those who go out of their way to try and find it in anything. They would somehow try and deconstruct an episode of Rainbow Brite to try and prove she's a serial killer just to appear cool.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#16re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 1:52pmI don't know about Rainbow Brite, but Miss Piggy always seemed to have a dark, sadistic streak.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#17re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 2:00pmAny director who feels Bobby should kill himself at the end of Company should never direct again.
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#18re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 2:40pm
"Being Alive" is about being alive.
That made me laugh harder than it should have.
Now, mother always said that whenever you hear a strange, frightening, and potentially life-threatening ghostly chant coming from the dark woods that there's one thing that you should do: Not wake the others and go investigate it alone...
#19re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 2:42pmCompany is certainly dark, but that doesn't mean it should or does end in death.
#20re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 3:01pmAnd the revival was certainly darker than the original Broadway production.
#21re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 5:50pm
I'll never forget, after the fourth or fifth Harry Potter book, a friend of mine absolutely believe Harry Potter would turn into a dark wizard at the end of the series and replace Voldemort.
My friend and I were sorting Shakespeare characters into Hogwarts houses the other day, and she did NOT like my assertion that if Harry Potter were rooted in reality, the bad guys would've won. I mean, all the successful kings in Shakespeare's Histories were Slytherins, and the Ravenclaws were summarily deposed. Hufflepuffs have a fairly good survival rate, but never achieve *much*, and Gryffindors all rush into death far too readily.
You want over-analysis? I'm RIGHT here.
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#22re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 9:32pmOn a related note, at least one (and probably more, because directors steal ideas)production of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG has had Frank shown contemplating suicide during the Overture.
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#23re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/20/09 at 10:40pm
Weez: We should form a club... or make a thread in which we can post our clearly-we-thought-about-this-too-much ideas 
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
sparrman
Broadway Star Joined: 2/21/07
#24re: Company and Suicide
Posted: 1/21/09 at 12:03am
In the Doyle revival, when Raul "blew out the candles" in the final moment, I *did* distinctly feel it was some sort of acceptance of life AND death, and how best to fill the days before death with peace. That it was able to evoke all that is a mark to me of how fantastic the revival was.
But suicide? No.
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