Company Reviews (and beyond) — Page 2

Variety is positive.

‘Company’ Review: A Sublime Revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Beloved Musical

Chicago Tribune

Broadway review: A fascinating ‘Company’ that no longer believes so much in love

Well, that was unexpected.

imeldasturn said: "MemorableUserName said: "NYTimes is negative.

Bobby is now Bobbie in this confusing, sour remake of the 1970 musical by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth."

And to to think NYTimes raved about the London production!"

I imagine Mr. Green and Mr. Wolf could have some interesting discussions about their very different reviews.

Updated On: 12/9/21 at 09:19 PM

Jessie Green is such a hack.

What a bizarre review from Green. He veers from criticizing the original text’s lack of coherence… to criticizing Marianne Elliott’s attempt to make it cohere (which, in my opinion, she has done more successfully than any other version of the show). And ends it by saying he transfixed the whole time… but not in the way he wanted? He really seems to want to have his cake and eat it, too. But all he’ll get is another mark against him as a critic.

The Wall Street Journal is Mixed:

"I’m skeptical about the larger point of these changes [to modernize the show]. After all, the original “Company,” like “Angels in America,” is now a history play, a kind of theatrical time capsule in which Mr. Sondheim and George Furth, who wrote the book, show us what it was like to be a member of what Whit Stillman has called the “urban haute bourgeoisie” at the exact moment when Americans were starting to collectively renounce the concept of marriage for life, even as an ideal. Yet all the revivals of the show that I’ve reviewed on Broadway and elsewhere have updated it in one way or another, not trusting their audiences to be able to make the imaginative leap between past and present.[...]

What, conversely, is good about this production? To begin with, the “Getting Married Today” scene is phenomenally well-staged and sung, so much so that Mr. Doyle’s headlong sprint through Mr. Sondheim’s tongue-twisting, incomparably virtuosic patter song came within a hair of stopping the show at the preview I saw. On top of that, you never feel that same-sex marriage has been tacked onto “Company” as an afterthought: Instead, it appears to arise organically out of the original material [...]

So yes, I had sharply mixed feelings about this “Company,” but I still got much pleasure out of it—and it was a comfort to be able to see it at a moment when those of us who love Stephen Sondheim’s work are bereft at his passing. For that reason alone, it deserves a long, successful run."

https://www.wsj.com/articles/company-stephen-sondheim-george-furth-katrina-lenk-marianne-elliott-matt-doyle-11639084586#refreshed?mod=books_arts_minor_2_pos7

Updated On: 12/9/21 at 09:37 PM

Green is spot on. I called it earlier in the week. Lenk is fatally miscast. And whole production suffers in myriad ways.

ashley0139 said: "It's not even a coherent or well-written review."

I think its perfectly coherent, even though I disagree with it. I do agree with him that the post-Getting Married Today scene between Bobbi and Jamie did not work and felt shoe-horned in. But otherwise its just baffling to me that he is so tough on this show but was a gushing fan over, say, Jagged Little Pill.

Meanwhile, I thought the hostility to Lenk in these parts was just plain silly but both Green and more harshly Rooney in the Hollywood Reporter echo those sentiments so mea culpa there.

I honestly can’t remember a time when I have felt this strongly that a critic was off the mark.

SophiaPetrillo said: "CityLights3 said: "Most of the shows positive reviews even mention the unfortunate miscasting of Lenk and being unable to vocally handle the role. Not only is it a shame, it’s a problem. I wouldn’t mind seeing the understudy go on myself either."

I’m no critic, but my experience of her performance was completely different, and I’m not the only one. Whether she’s miscast is a matter of opinion, not a fact."

agreed-- and i can understand thinking she is miscast (though im not sure i've ever seen anyone turn Bobbi into anything remotely charming). but so many insist she can't sing this score and i just.dont.get.it.

Georgeanddot2 said: "Suddenly remembering why I turned my back on Broadway. Not even professional critics have any f*cking taste."

I'm with you. I took a break for a while after I moved away from NYC and though I've seen many shows since I left in 2012, this is the first one that really gave me that magical, musical theatre feeling again. The first show that I said "I need to see that again immediately" and fall in love with a single person's performance so much again.