COMPANY Revival On Tour - News & Discussion Thread — Page 10

n2nbaby said: "Got out of the first performance a bit ago. I personally think that this revival is one of the best productions I’ve ever seen, so I was super excited to see it again (for the fifth time).
As I said above, the set is almost entirely the same as it was on Broadway and the automation went off without a hitch. The only thing that was cut was anything that came through the floor (like the Alice in Wonderland bit). This stuff comes from the ceiling now. There is also a big present that opens up to a door and a tiny cake in act 2 that wasn’t there on Broadway.
Britney Coleman is very talented, but I don’t think Bobbie is exactly the role for her. She is in excellent voice, but she does kind of fade into the background.
Judy McLane was quite solid. She forgot the words to Ladies Who Lunch and stumbled over the second verse, and then stopped the orchestra. But other than that, she was very good. Jennifer Simard is still my favorite Joanne.
Tyler Hardwick was quite the fine. Their Another Hundred People was a highlight for me. Jacob Dickey, who I saw on Broadway as well, was very good and hilarious. I have also seen Kathryn Allison as Sarah before and she is very funny.
Matt Bitter needs a lot of work. His Broadway counterpart is as hilarious, and he just didn’t nail any of the humor.
All in all, it is a very well performed production and the set is as impressive as ever. It is missing something that made the Broadway production so special - but America is lucky to have this show touring all over the country."

It does feel like it's missing just a little something. It's a gorgeous production that keeps a surprising amount of the Broadway set and movement, but it didn't have quite the impact it did as Broadway did on me.

My best bet would be the star quality. Patti, obviously, but I think Katrina Lenk had a more mysterious air to her. The Broadway cast as a whole was akin to me as the last Into the Woods revival as it was a collection of well-known Broadway stars.

Don't get me wrong, this is still a great show and a great cast. If you didn't get a chance to see it on Broadway, audiences will still have a great time.

I always felt the strength of this production was the supporting cast and the comedy. Indeed, it was easily one of the funniest shows on Bway.

It's a tricky balance act, as in Doyle's company, no one was as interesting as Bobby. What that production, which isn't really in the text, is make Bobby's arc very clear, leading to Raul's nervous breakdown of Being Alive. I say it's tricky because, again, it's not in the text. You hear Bobby openly struggle in a way that leads inevitably to the ending.

Elliot's production creates a world that is confusing, intoxicating, suffocating, and fills it with big personalities. But then, Bobbie's journey wasn't as clear and it's a bigger lift for the actress.

Caught the show this past Friday. The cast seemed uniformly strong with Matt Rodin’s Jamie being a standout. I found Britney Coleman to be an excellent Bobbie, although her “Being Alive” was a little less visceral than I’d prefer. It’s a hell of a good time even if you, like me, are not the biggest fan of the show’s book.

Their website provides good info on transit and parking.

https://www.kimmelculturalcampus.org/plan-your-visit/how-to-find-us/

Do national tours show up on TDF?

I won the ticket lottery for the Thursday evening performance and was sat from row. I had a few thoughts.

If you hadn’t seen or weren’t familiar with the Broadway production you would think this set is quite full. I’m surprised by how much of it was intact, from the few naughty videos I’ve seen of the Broadway run. The Company letters in Another Hundred People are a let down though (they don’t even light up).


Britney Coleman blew my breath away, I think she’s an absolute star here. I was definitely lucky being so up close, but her facial expressions are pitch perfect. I would’ve given her a standing ovation for her “Marry Me a Little.”


Matt Rodin as Jamie is a standout from the rest of the ensemble, no shade to anyone else as I thought everyone was spectacular.


This was my first time seeing a production of Company live and am quite pleased.

Updated On: 11/9/23 at 08:16 PM

Well, I might be alone in this opinion, but I found this show dated and a bit annoying.

I’d never seen “Company” before, and I had only a broad understanding of what it was about. So I don’t know how many of my issues are with this particular tour versus the 2021 revamp that introduced the gender flip versus the original material. But I was irritated by several things, including the show’s mean-girl sensibilities (e.g., let’s all laugh at a “stupid” person), the hilarious suggestion that a 35-year-old in Manhattan is somehow an outlier for being unmarried (and somehow has no single friends), and the groovy 70s dialogue. (The dialogue obviously would have worked if the characters had been allowed to stay in the 70s but, given the smartphones that they were pointedly waving around, it just seemed like bad writing.)

During intermission, my husband and I also agreed that the show wasn’t offering much insight into marriage — certainly nothing that we haven’t seen before. I realize that the show was considered groundbreaking for its time, and that's great, but IMO a lot of the scenes don't hold up. I feel like we were supposed to find it shocking or at least interesting when a wife says that she wishes she had freedom, or a couple who seemed happy says they’re getting divorced, or a husband and wife quibble about when he stopped drinking. (Separately, it seems tonally wrong to play alcohol abuse for laughs -- perhaps another thing that needs updating.) But it all just seemed ho-hum, not terribly interesting and not as funny as it's supposed to be. Maybe if the characters had been more fully developed, some of these situations would have been more compelling. But as it was, several of these scenes bored me.

Even the song “Being Alive,” which I’ve always liked, was unappealing in the context of the show -- especially since the theater had open captioning, which let me follow the lyrics more closely than I have before. When she said “Alone is alone, not alive,” I was like, um, what?!! As someone who lived alone happily for many years (including when I was 35), I found that statement to be … very wrong.

I did appreciate the inventive staging and a few of the numbers (especially “Getting Married Today” and “Another Hundred People). But I wouldn’t rush to see this show again.

Updated On: 11/9/23 at 12:40 AM

I caught the tour in Philly yesterday. Having seen the production many times on Broadway, I was left pretty underwhelmed with the tour. It felt mostly insignificant, while the Broadway revival felt like a must-see event, confirming for me how much of the revival was built on Patti's presence.

Maybe the show plays better in New York (not that Philly is far away), but there is SO many less laughs on tour. So many lines and lyrics that received roars of laughter on Broadway go without a laugh on tour. As expected, "Not Getting Married," "Ladies Who Lunch," and "Being Alive" still bring down the house.

The pared down set mostly works, but the new letters are hideous. Yuck. Maybe they should've completed restaged "Another Hundred People" - because the new letters are not appealing.

The slightly reduced orchestrations work just fine. I heard some minor changes throughout, and to my ear, the percussion feels brisker and bouncier on tour, which I enjoyed. They have reverted back to the original London orchestration for "Being Alive" with the synth guitar. During the 2021 return previews, the song was almost completely re-orchestrated, which included a key change for Katrina for the second half of the song. It sounded better on Broadway.

Some minor cuts and changes to the book and lyrics throughout. Only major cuts I noticed were cutting Andy's voicemail in the opening, and they cut the bit about Paul being Jewish in the kitchen/wedding scene.

Now for the cast...well...Coleman and McLane are just good. For me, they don't even come close to Katrina and Patti. So much of the intensity is gone now, making the club scene less effective. What Katrina and Patti did at the end of the club scene was chilling, and created a perfect lead-in to Katrina's haunting and powerful "Being Alive." Coleman plays the club scene FAR less drunk and less angry than Lenk did, and her "Being Alive" wasn't the cathartic epiphany of Lenk's. Coleman's Bobbie is nice, sweet, and fun to be around. It works well until the club scene and the ending. Lenk played the role anxious, confused, and often on the brink of losing it, and boy did I miss that. Coleman does a great job in the bedroom scene with Jacob Dickey, who is an excellent Andy. He plays it dumber, but not as dry as Elder. I really enjoyed Dickey's performance, and he was a great match with Coleman in that scene and "Barcelona."

McClane does a nice job in the club scene and gives a nice delivery of LWL, but boy did I miss so many of Patti's moments and laughs. Kathryn Allison who I loved when she understudied Sarah on Broadway had completed changed her interpretation of the role. She played it in Simard's mold on Broadway, but on tour she practically takes it in the opposite direction. She is a lovely performer, but I think I enjoyed her Sarah better on Broadway. Tyler Hardwick was a great PJ, and didn't seem as strained singing AHP, as Conte often did on Broadway - although I always enjoyed Conte's performance. Matt Rodin is a good Jamie, but it's not the star performance of Doyle's on Broadway. Otherwise, there weren't any other standouts in this tour cast.

Oddly enough, the only moment that I felt was AS impactful as Broadway was randomly "Tick Tock." Otherwise, nothing really came close to what was seen on Broadway. I truly missed the intensity and power of the Broadway production. If Lenk's divisive performance (and singing) bothered you, Coleman's performance will likely be more your speed. She is a charming actress and singer, but Lenk's gutsy performance can never be erased from my memory. If you've never seen Company, it's still worth giving it a shot on tour - it's a nice introduction to the show and good opportunity to see Marianne Elliot's vision. If you did see this revival on Broadway, you will likely be disappointed in many aspects of the tour.

Updated On: 12/3/23 at 04:19 PM

‘Smilyness’ sounds like the complete opposite of Katrina Lenk, who was complex, vulnerable, strange, sexy….it was such a haunting performance and given no cast recording or video exists feels like a ‘you had to be there’ moment. I’m still upset that many people didn’t seem to get it. These vanilla bobbies (including Rosalie Craig) sound so boring.

Call_me_jorge said: "Jed Resnick joins the cast as David this Tuesday in Greenville and is scheduled to perform through March 31st when the show is in DC.


I hope all is well with Matt Bittner!"

Did Will Blum stay with the show through Jan. 21? He was originally scheduled through Dec. 10 only. Sounds like Matt Bittner isn't joining the tour at all.

Unsure if Matt Bittner isn’t joining the tour at all anymore, but it is interesting they’ve only contracted Jed through March.

Did a little day trip up to New Haven to see this today. I had a great time and am definitely glad I went up to see it. I saw the Broadway production once in March, 2022 and fell head over heels in love with it. I meant to go see it again, but the stars never aligned during that semester and then I was out of the City for the whole summer. This totally scratched my itch.

I thought the whole cast was solid with the biggest standout being Tyler Hardwick, who was probably the only cast member I thought was distinctly better than their Broadway counterpart. I don't blame anyone else in this cast for that though. The Broadway cast was a collection of some of the best character actors working in New York right now. Tour casting was never going to beat that.

I liked Judy's interpretation of Joanne a lot as well as the costume and (baruch hashem) hair redesign. I think it came across more like a business woman at the top of her game. I did also like Britney a bunch, but she definitely messed up the crucial "who will take care of me?" It just didn't pack the punch that moment needs to.

I think they did a pretty solid job adapting the physical production for tour. Most of the key stuff is still there, even if pared down a bit and almost all of the changes didn't take much away. The one big change that is awful are the aforementioned letters. I just don't get why they had to change THAT much and who signed off on them. I really likes how they did the church singer and the reveal of the miniature set. That was great ingenuity.

Overall, I think the strength of the production and vision still come through and that made it a wonderful and effective afternoon.

Also, the ending of this production is still sublime. Just brilliant and a perfect update to the original!