"Barcelona" in COMPANY

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 6:27pm

What are Robert's intentions throghout the song? I've been listening to this song forever and recetly saw the Cincinnati production, but in considering putting this piece on for performance I couldn't sense the intention of the characters in this song.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 6:34pm

I haven't listened to "Barcelona" for a while since it's one of my least favorites in the show, but from what I remember, the song represents the struggle within Robert. Perhaps he feels pressured to be with someone and feels April should be that person; perhaps he likes to have what he can't have; maybe he believes he actually loves April but when she decides to stay he feels tied to her and he feels trapped. I believe the beauty of Company is that almost every song can be interpreted in many different ways. I personally believe Robert just feels he should be with someone but once April says she will stay, he rejects the idea because he is afraid of being love and being in a committed relationship.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 6:38pm

That's what I was going to say, kind of. He doesn't know what he wants. I think he feels obligated to try to get April to stay because she's someone and he's not "supposed" to be alone. So he says "oh," but you can tell he sounds disappointed. Then she decides to stay, and Bobby goes "oh God....." That's not really what he wants. I think at that point he's approaching being in a place where he knows (or thinks) he wants a relationship, but April is clearly not the girl for him.

Updated On: 3/29/06 at 06:38 PM

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 9:40pm

This unique song was my key into the show when I first heard it on radio. There is a lovely sadness in Susan Browning's voice (other actresses sometimes play it for laughs as Bernadette Peters did on TV once) and yes, Robert THINKS he does want her to stay and then when she does he suddenly realizes that he doesn't. Missing from the show now is teh tick tock dance which uderscores Robert and April making love/having sex. At teh climax April cries out "I love you. I love You" and all Robert can muster is a half-hearted "I... I..." It's a chilling moment. Just like near the end of "Side by Side by Side" when Robert has no one to complete his time -step.

[ThePinballWizard]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 9:41pm

It's like this analogy:

You want someone you chase and chase and chase and chase after them until you can have them.

Then once you have them you run and run and run and run away because you're not sure that you want them after all.

Classic scene of someone who clearly doesn't know what the hell he wants in a relationship or even in himself at all.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 10:37pm

Bobby is being polite in asking her to stay (he can't even remember her name), knowing that she has to go because of her job. When she decides to stay, Bobby blanches ('Oh, God').


Zeffie Tilbury
Hollywood, California

[ALWrules]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 10:57pm

Robert isn't sure what he wants; he is still conflicted between marital and single life and doesn't know if he wants to get committed. That's why at the very end of Barcelona, after spending 5 odd minutes convincing her to stay he says "Oh, God!"

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 1:32am

Or he just pretends to want her to stay because he doesn't want her to think he's a total cad. I don't think there is any point in the song where he actually WANTS her to stay. He can't even remember her name. I don't think it REPRESENTS any kind of struggle. He wants her to leave but acts like he doesn't because that's what he's supposed to do. My opinion, obviously.

kmc

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 4:47am

Right--I suppose it can be played either way, but usually when I'm listening to it I get the impression that Robert is just being polite in asking April to stay. He insists on it solely because he knows she can't, and the point of the song is to convince her that it's not just a meaningless one-night stand (which it was). None of what he says when trying to convince her to stay is heartfelt....he's just going through the motions, but he's quite ready for her to leave. Particularly with the middle section with the "You're a very special girl...", he's obviously not being sincere. I don't think that he has any delusions at all that she's actually the girl for him. It casts Bobby in a better light to think that he's being sincere and doesn't know what he wants, but I don't think that's the case--he knows he doesn't want commitment at this point, and definitely not with her.

What I've always wondered is where April gets the "Now you're angry" part. Does she think that he sounds offended that she has to leave? He totally doesn't. Updated On: 3/30/06 at 04:47 AM

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 9:39am

?What I've always wondered is where April gets the "Now you're angry" part. Does she think that he sounds offended that she has to leave? He totally doesn't."

Oh, but he does. On the OCR, Jones sings his response, "Oh" in a petulant manner (as if he were really disappointed she was going). Then, April, picking up on his "hurt" attitude, takes the initiative with the "Now you're angry" as a tactic to stall for time, keep the conversation going and and demonstrate that she is sensitive to his feelings.

BooBoo Kitty
Hell's Kitchen, New York

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 10:19am

I agree Hunter.
April and Bobby are playing the game of the one night stand. They really dont know each other and the "Now your angry" from April has always seemed like a passive agressive move on her part (remember, the previous scene makes her out to be an airhead.)
I LOVE that you mentioned the Peters/Chamberlain version from Sylvia Fine Kaye's Comedy Tonite, FrontRow...That was done as a single piece with only a setup by Sylvia. Then it works well as a comedic number. If you've seen Browning do it, it is not that funny but bittersweet. They've had a nice time together, but know it really wont go anywhere. She seems to be grabbing at something in the end and his reaction, tho funny, made me so sad for her.

Single life in NYC

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 10:21am

How many numbers could hold up such a conversation. That is what makes Sondhiem so great, and I think it speaks for Furth's book which gets alot of criticism.

It also speaks for what Browning brought (that I've never seen since) to the role. Such a small role brought her a best actress nom along side Elaine Stritch (both losing, of course.)

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 11:15am

That's an interesting take on it... I've always thought that April's part of the song was completely sincere, but it's interesting to think that she's just playing the game, too, and trying to feel him out emotionally in addition to stalling.

Jones's "Oh."s on the OBCR have just never made me think that he really wants her to stay (he seems pretty resigned to the idea, though maybe pretending to be put off), and the "No, I'm not"s are pretty convincing, as in "No, believe me, I'm really not upset that you have to leave now." But he has to be at least a little polite about it, so he asks her to stay. I doubt that he would have if he didn't know that she had a flight to make or he had any clue that she'd say yes.

It's such an interesting song, becuase I imagine that it can be played so many ways.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 1:12pm

Bobby is just a big ole mess!

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 1:46pm

You know, I always thought he just sounded a little tired and disinterested. He didn't want to hurt her feelings by basically saying "Get going", and maybe he wants to have sex again. Also, maybe he's a little offended that she's walking out on him instead of giving him the opportunity to give her the boot. She is, apparently, on to his game. At one point during the song he yawns and messes up her name.

As other people have pointed it, it's just a post-one night stand feeling each other out with a mind game song. I think you can't read too much into it.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 12:16am

Bumping this because I saw the Cincinnati production of Company this weekend, and I sort of thought that Raul took a different approach to this song (closer to the emotionally conflicted interpretation mentioned in the first few posts). Perhaps that's because it's somewhat softer and gentler than on the OBCR. He seems like he wants her to stay because he wishes it could be more than a one-night stand (or at least thinks that it should be) and then realizes that he's made a mistake with the, "Oh, god!"

Did anyone else who's seen it get that sort of a feel from his and Elizabeth Stanley's performances? It worked, but I kind of prefer the more cynical approach to the song.

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 12:23am

I actually really liked the interpretation in the Cincy production (I saw it twice), though I felt as if the way "Oh God!" was delivered was completely out of place. It got a laugh though. But does a laugh compensate for loss of sincerity?

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 12:34am

This song is one of the most important in the show. And I agree, nobody's performance has been able to match Browning's.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 11:14am

I liked the way Raul delivered "Oh God!", but then again I don't think that the song is supposed to be sincere. I can see where you're coming from in terms of it not fitting the tone of the rest of the song the way they chose to play it. Still, though, it's important to know that Bobby freaks out when he realizes that April actually is planning on staying, and I think it's okay to play that part for laughs.

[robbiej]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 11:33am

Oh...I think there's one moment where he might want her to stay:

"Stay a minute"

Why? Cause he's got morning wood. And that's about it.

I mean...he yawns in the middle of it. I don't think he's particularly conflicted.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 11:49am

And can't remember her name. Yeah, generally I totally agree with you that he's not conflicted about whether he wants her to stay, beyond probably wanting to have sex again. I just felt that it was played differently in the Cinci production.

I don't think that Raul yawned, if I remember correctly. If he did, it wasn't the big "I'm bored with you now." yawn.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 12:27pm

I had so much trouble figuring out that song too because I had convinced myself the concept of the show is that Bobby is gay and is struggling with coming out in a time when that was not exactly encouraged, yet here he is acting out a scene I've played a lead in a few times too often. As a song about manners and post-one night stand sexual embarrasment, it's a classic. But if Bobby is gay.... Oh well, ya chara....

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 12:41pm

Is he just asking her to stay?

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 12:42pm

This relationship is set up in Tick Tock. She thinks he's nice and really likes her...he really likes her body.

[robbiej]

Posted: 4/5/06 at 12:59pm

The Bobby's gay thing always drives me nuts. I mean...yes...many gay men lead active sex lives with women before they come out...but it reduces the complexity of the piece greatly...and in some ways, makes it less universal. A coming out story is kind of specialized, whereas fear of commitment can be universal. I know...I sound like a bad gay.