pacificnorthwest said: "Back in December, I saw the first 8 minutes of “Company.” I’m sure lots of you here have the full scoop behind the abrupt shutdown (semi-abrupt, we got some quality time when Patti LuPone before they officially pulled the plug)… anyway, the theater announcer said it was an actor with food poisoning. What he didn’t say, based on the the leaks later, is that there weren’t any understudies available due to COVID.
My curiosity about that aside, six months and a day later, I saw "Company" start to finish this afternoon. It was magnificent, every bit worthy of its five Tonys, and all the praise it’s gotten on these boards.
Which brings me to, "WTH(!) Jesse Green??" I read his review again at intermission and felt sick. A "sour remake" Sure, yeah, everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but that one was downright disturbing given the magic I saw on stage. And I'd venture to say the rest of the audience agreed.
He couldn’t make the gender leap and he trashed it. To my mind, it was critical malpractice."
I think it's important to note that Helen Shaw, who many people on this board respect as a critic, gave the show a mixed review, and had issues with Katrina, the gender swap, and the period updating. By many accounts, the show has significantly improved since November/December, so it's entirely possible that she and Jesse Green would give it better reviews now. Unfortunately, unless they go back, the reviews from December are the ones that stand.
Updated On: 6/19/22 at 03:33 PM