COMPANY review 11/1

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 11:35am

COMPANY is my dream. Always has been, always will. It is my favorite musical. I've lost the chance to be in it three times, and three times have spent weeks heartbroken. And I have longed for the day I'd see a Broadway production. Last night, I spent almost the entire 2 and a half hours in tears.

The production is beautiful. Another Doyle smash. While you can see how the concept will get stale quickly (the overuse of the triangle joke once again, for example) it really works beautifully with this show.

Barbra Walsh is doing deliciously creative work. Her "Ladies Who Lunch", while vocally not a masterpiece, is a stunningly crafted work of art. It's at turns funny and at turns heartbreaking. Really going to be quite the Tony contender, in my opinion.

Raul Esparza does nice work here. While I didn't 100% love him, he has gorgeous moments. All of his solo numbers are sung and acted beautifully. However, he comes across very distant and cruel in the second act - almost so much that all of the appeal he'd received in the first act seemed to quickly disappear. However, his "Being Alive" is stunning. The orchestrations, I think, sound beautiful. It begins stark with a very weak piano arrangement and turns into a lush and full sound - the two supporting Bobby's incredible epiphany and desire.

The other supporting cast does nice work. The orchestrations sound wonderful(though at times, especially in "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" there is a bit too much on the horn section, if you ask me...) and there's a lot to see. "Not Getting Married" got a huge ovation, although I didn't really feel it was deserved. The beats weren't clearly marked (acting-wise, not musically). It seemed as if she was a tad overwhelmed and not each separate thought was just that: separate. However, with a little tweaking, I'd love to see how it grows after opening.

The set and lighting is beautiful, though I think the lighting could use a bit of touching up as there are some moments that arae a little too dim and things are missed. Really enjoy the glass cubes - a nice touch to the set.

I'll definately be returning very, VERY soon.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 12:50pm

Great review. I've finally found someone on who I agree with about this production. I didn't 100% love it or hate it and it seems like thats all the opinions out there so far.

[queenbee2]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 1:06pm

Thanks for that review. I'm seeing it soon and very interested. The whole "Doyle" syndrome of having the actors playing their instruments really didn't work for me in Sweeney, but I'm going into this one with an open mind. I'm hoping to be turned into a Raul fan, as I've never connected with his work thus far and found this casting to be a bit odd (as I agree with the comments about a certain "coldness"), but I love the show and can't wait to see what they've done with it.

-QB

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 1:14pm

Again, I DO hope you like and I hope it turns you on to Raul's work, and I do appreicate the notion of going into this open... but I have to contest that it's almost impossible not to go into this with some natural predisposition. I feel like there's no way not to go into this loaded unless you just didn't see Sweeney.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 7:24pm

I still haven't connected to Raul. He's talented and sings the hell outta the score but I just don't feel anything towards him.

[snl89]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 7:39pm

wowww, its funny how totally opposite I am from you guys who havn't connected to him :) haha. I connected to him even in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was one of the less... difficult?... shows he's been in I think. but even in that, I just felt so much for him- to me, he's just so... captivating. But when I REALLY really connected with him was while i was... ahem.. tick tick boom! and I didn't even see it LIVE, but holy COW, the man has one of the most enchanting stage prescences I have EVER seen! And the VOICE... I have established that Norbert and him have the two most gorgeous voices. Ever :P. But yeah, I think I just have a thing for really open, honest stage actors. I'm the same way with Idina as I am with Raul.. they just have that special thing that makes you feel for them.

But, ya know, opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 7:45pm

I love him to death, but I can understand why people don't connect with him. It's easy to say that everybody has their naysayers, and that things just flat-out work for some people and not for others without really taking it much further. A lot of the responses to his Bobby say that he's cold and emotionless -- which he is sometimes, but to me, that's sort of the point, as long as he isn't such always. But, there are a lot of people who don't "get" Raul's appeal, or connect with his work, and I think his sort of larger-than-life acting works both ways -- it's why people connect with him, but it also causes people not to connect with him, if that makes sense. I think some people just don't respond to that kind of thing, and that the sort of extreme emotional acting and presence people know him for backfires and becomes distancing for certain audiences and turns them off just as much as it turns some other people on to him. Too much of a good thing sort of philosophy, maybe?

I think he is lightyears more talented than Idina and the two are absolutely incomparable, but I wouldn't touch that argument with a ten-foot pole.

Updated On: 11/2/06 at 07:45 PM

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 7:47pm

Company was the first time I saw him live and I thought his Bobby was perfect in every way.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 8:01pm

I agree with those who say he's a rather cold performer. For me, that's what made him so fantastic as the Emcee in Cabaret. However, that is also what made him so distant and unloveable as Caractacus Potts.

I'm interested to see his Bobby. If nothing else, I imagine his Being Alive is amazing.
Updated On: 11/2/06 at 08:01 PM

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 8:03pm

I don't see him as being cold from what I have seen of him. He is brutally honest in his acting, and that can be frightening.

[snl89]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 8:07pm

^exactly, its the brutal honesty and, thinking about it, it probably CAN be... intimidating.. for some audience members. Some people probably are uncomfortable with brutal honesty, and thats totally fine- I can absolutely understand why they'd feel that way. I just personally love it, and thats why I love Raul and Idina so much :)

(not trying to bring idina up randomly, its just.. for some reason they're kind of.. the equivalent of eachother for me lol.. like, I connect with them for the same reasons)

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 8:09pm

I think it is also completely possible to be intimidated and still love his acting. To feel uncomfortable at times and still love it. I can not stop thinking about this show.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 8:11pm

It works well in certain roles. Again, the Emcee is a prime example.

However, I shouldn't feel uncomfortable with Caractacus Potts.

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 8:17pm

Personally I always believe that honesty is best in acting. Whether or not you feel uncomfortable, or intimidated, or overwhelmed with it has to do with preferences, and also possibly what type pf acting you are most exposed to.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 8:23pm

Was his performance as Caractacus really all that honest though? He was starring in family musical comedy. Why the need to be so moody and detached? Did he even love his kids?

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 8:28pm

I never saw him live in the role. I saw him through other means however, and I would say yes, he loved his kids. He really did, but he wasn't a man without any conflicts of his own just because he was in a family show. If we can't challenge children to wrestle with emotion in the theatre, then they might as well not go. I understand that people go just to have fun, but you can have fun and be emotional. You can have fun and be challenged and taken by suprise by how something is played.

Company is a comedy, but by the end of it, when Bobby finally gives in and lets go, I sat with tears streaming down my face. I was completely moved by the performance. That's not to say it wasn't a comedy all along.

[snl89]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 8:31pm

I actually thought his Caractacus WAS really warm and sweet and genuin.. but, again, thats just me :) but thats actually something that really amazed me once I started getting to know more about the other stuff he's done- that he could, in my opinion, do THAT very open, warm, fuzzy kind of person so well, while at the same time having played such detached, kind of outcast characters so brilliantly. But like... as much is he is honest, I def feel he's appropriately warm when its called for. Again, tick tick boom is an awesome example. He was SO loveable in that. Detached kind of, but not in a way that made you feel uncomfortable or anything. He mantained that brutal honesty onstage while still opening his heart to the audience :)

again though, just my opinion!

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 8:32pm

I also definitely felt a warmness from his Caractacus.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 8:33pm

Hah, my favorite discussion. I never FULLY bought the loving father thing; it was very up-and-down, but I don't think it was entirely absent. It wasn't the part for him, but props to him for trying something new, I guess, even if in retrospect it was probably something of a mistake. It wasn't as though he was incapable of doing it, but rather that it was just not a great fit for a lot of reasons -- and those considered, I can still see why they cast him. When he had it, he really had it. When he didn't really feel like it, you could tell.

Bobby, on the other hand, feels like it was written for him. He's perfect.

I think he is very able to MAKE audiences feel uncomfortable, which is an excellent dramatic attribute. But I find him naturally to be an actor that, on the contrary, is very easy to be comfortable with on stage. I've seen that published somewhere, and I totally agree with it.

Updated On: 11/2/06 at 08:33 PM

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 8:35pm

It may just be that I'm young and haven't seen as much as people who've been around longer, but his Bobby, after two days of consideration, is quite possibly the most beautiful and perfect performance I have ever seen.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 9:03pm

I saw Chitty twice and I think that Caractacus isn't the parent to be concerned about....

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 9:32pm

First of all, the acting abilities of Raul Esparza and Idina Menzel should *never* be compared. There is no "lol" about it. Just, no.

Secondly, I think it's a great disservice to this show (and to him) to discuss Raul's performance without having seen it and basing your opinions solely on what you've seen Raul do in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or whatever. This is a different character in a *very* different show and until you witness it, you can't judge what he'll do just because you saw a crappy b**tleg of ttB and think that makes you capable of judging his acting skills.

I think claiming that Raul is "distant" and using that as an insult to his performance misses the entire purpose of the show. Bobby is supposed to be distant. He's also supposed to be more distant in the second and cold act because time has passed since the first and his friends' behaviors are driving him further away. That's what the whole final scene is about- his friends finally realizing that they just need to back off.

Updated On: 11/2/06 at 09:32 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 9:44pm

Skittles wins.

And yes, I echo that about Bobby. Moments of his performance are distant, but that shouldn't be used as an insult when it shows that he GETS Bobby. If you don't like your Bobby distant, then I guess that's another story and explains why you don't feel for him, but I certainly think it works... and I guess ideally, people who didn't feel for his take on Bobby will at least recognize that he's got serious talent. Sometimes distance, even if uncomfortable to see performed, is a very good thing. I think this is absolutely one of those cases. There's a big difference to me between a distant performance that's one out of laziness or incapability and one that is carefully timed and nuanced like this one is.

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 9:49pm

I loved his Caractacus. I found him incredibly endearing.

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 11/2/06 at 9:59pm

Exactly, Em. If anything I feel his distance shows that he is connected to the material.