Posted: 7/15/16 at 9:22am
Has anyone seen Company at The Writers Theater in Chicago? I'll be seeing it this weekend and wanted to hear what people thought of it. Any insight or reviews would be great! Thanks
Posted: 7/15/16 at 9:28am
We're subscribers at Writers and I've loved almost everything I've seen there. I saw the last preview and thought it was terrible. I thought the acting was superficial at best and cartoonish at worst (except for Joanne who is marvelous). Company usually casts solid actors who can sing... but for some reason this cast is almost entirely singers who can act... which is an odd choice for Company. The design is beautiful and interesting but it doesn't change a bit throughout the evening. I was really disappointed as I thought Company at Writers would be a can't miss proposition.
HOWEVER. It got AMAZING reviews pretty much across the board. What do I know?
Updated On: 7/15/16 at 09:28 AM
Posted: 7/15/16 at 10:15am
I have not gone to see it based on the opinion of several theatrical colleagues that I trust. Apparently there are some bizarre staging choices going on in the show. I do hope you can enjoy the show, but with a constantly long list of things to see in this town I was told it was a very strong show to pass on.
Updated On: 7/16/16 at 10:15 AM
Posted: 7/15/16 at 10:55am
Ah that makes me sad! Thanks for the feedback. I already bought tickets, so at least I'll have the incredible score to look forward to!
Posted: 7/15/16 at 11:10am
I thought the staging was pretty solid. No bizarre choices here.
Also. Don't be sad because I said I didn't like it... and a friend of a friend of a friend of someone said they didn't like it. It got RAVE reviews from the Tribune and Time Out. Odds are you're gonna love it!
Updated On: 7/15/16 at 11:10 AM
Posted: 7/15/16 at 11:31am
Posted: 7/15/16 at 12:08pm
I'm seeing it in a few weeks. I've seen some positive comments about it on Facebook, but a lot of them are by people who have friends in the cast, and it's hard to tell what's honest and what's just customary "my friends are killing it" praise.
I had initially been really excited about it because I love the show and the cast is off the hook, but I developed a lot of reservations once I read that it's touching on the suicide theory. I decided to go see for myself because there's a good chance it's not as overt as the reviewer sensationalized it to be and because I know I shouldn't pass up an opportunity to see a potentially-interesting (if personally disagreeable) interpretation of the show, but I would not currently describe myself as "excited."
