#1
Posted: 11/20/06 at 8:57am
After reading the reviews here, I was very nervous about seeing COMPANY this past Saturday night. It's probably my favorite musical, so I was perfectly content to listen to the score even if I hated the show--I also wasn't looking forward to Barbara Walsh either, having seen her sleep-walk through HAIRSPRAY last fall.
I'm thrilled to say that I found the show remarkably fresh, funny and more accessible than I ever previously thought...I even liked it more than SWEENEY.
Doyle's musician concept seems much more organic here than it did in SWEENEY--I'm not sure why or how, perhaps it's the time period--this COMPANY is set in the present day and yet I didn't find it dated at all. Of course, I'm also very familiar with the show, so the dialogue wasn't new to me either, which to some IS dated.
Doyle directs with a light touch, even giving a nod to the original production: In "What Would We Do Without You?" the tap dance breaks have been replaced with instrumental solos and Bobby still playing alone--a textbook example of how to do the same thing as the original production without doing THE SAME THING--take a note, future URINETOWN directors. The "do-do-do-dos" in "You Could Drive A Person Crazy" have been replaced with sax notes (he he).
Having been in a college production of COMPANY, I was also surprised about how conventional much of the staging and design was. But never before has the concept of the show as a creation of Bobby's imagination been more clear (pun intended). Bobby says "The unexamined life is not worth living," and that's what this production presents; Bobby is standing outside his door, contemplating attending his own 35th surprise birthday party.
The lucite set and empty glass props afford Bobby an unobstructed view of his friends and lovers, giving him what is ultimately the impetus to start living his own life without benefit and insulation of those good and crazy people.
Raul Esparza is terrific as Bobby-he's melancholy but charming, sexy but schlubby-what you'd call a fixer-upper. Raul's Bobby is the kind of guy you can use and show off, a human accessory. Using him are Barbara Walsh's Joanne, a pleasantly surprising performance in the Stritch mode but not mold. Is it possible to play Joanne without the acerb and whiskey-voice? Probably, but hardly advisable. I do wish there had been an applause break for "Ladies Who Lunch" but alas!
My personal favorite was Angel Desai as Marta. She's sexy, gorgeous, very funny and very Marta. As soon as I saw her, I knew what character she was playing and I loved the way she performed--the energy and joy she brought to the stage was exhilarating. Heather Laws is also very good as Amy, although she looks just as Jewish as Paul! She sings "Getting Married Today" FASTER than Beth Howland--when I heard that tempo come in, I thought "Holy sh!t! Is she really going to be able to do this that fast?" Yes.
Bruce Sabath's dancing as Larry brought a huge smile to my face in "Side by Side by Side"...he seems so much more confident than other Larrys I've seen; he doesn't let Joanne walk all over him, he's quiet but forceful.
Keith Butterbaugh and Kristin Huffman as Harry and Sarah have some nice acting moments and I also loved the way the karate fight was staged.
Matt Castle and Amy Justman are Peter and Susan with varying success--her accent is obviously fake and detracts, he (this is tacky of me) would probaly be more effective if he were more attractive. His come-on to Bobby wasn't a bit persuasive to either me or to Raul. They do alot of the heavy lifting musically though, and beautifully so.
Also doing alot of the musical lifting is Leenya Rideout as Jenny--she is easily the weakest in the cast, throwing away what can be the funniest scene in the show. She does get the cutest husband, though.
April (Elizabeth Stanley) is also good, her "butterfly" monlogue isn't as treacly as it could be, but it still drags. I loved the use of the piano as both bed and door--Bobby relies on it for support and later, for freedom, just as he does with his friends.
After seeing SWEENEY, I'm amazed at how full the orchestrations and vocal arrangements sound--they are clean, precise and I don't miss that full orchestra (nice though it would be). I don't really understand why anyone wouldn't like this version of COMPANY, but they obviously don't, so there you go.
Another a$$hole's opinion.
I'm thrilled to say that I found the show remarkably fresh, funny and more accessible than I ever previously thought...I even liked it more than SWEENEY.
Doyle's musician concept seems much more organic here than it did in SWEENEY--I'm not sure why or how, perhaps it's the time period--this COMPANY is set in the present day and yet I didn't find it dated at all. Of course, I'm also very familiar with the show, so the dialogue wasn't new to me either, which to some IS dated.
Doyle directs with a light touch, even giving a nod to the original production: In "What Would We Do Without You?" the tap dance breaks have been replaced with instrumental solos and Bobby still playing alone--a textbook example of how to do the same thing as the original production without doing THE SAME THING--take a note, future URINETOWN directors. The "do-do-do-dos" in "You Could Drive A Person Crazy" have been replaced with sax notes (he he).
Having been in a college production of COMPANY, I was also surprised about how conventional much of the staging and design was. But never before has the concept of the show as a creation of Bobby's imagination been more clear (pun intended). Bobby says "The unexamined life is not worth living," and that's what this production presents; Bobby is standing outside his door, contemplating attending his own 35th surprise birthday party.
The lucite set and empty glass props afford Bobby an unobstructed view of his friends and lovers, giving him what is ultimately the impetus to start living his own life without benefit and insulation of those good and crazy people.
Raul Esparza is terrific as Bobby-he's melancholy but charming, sexy but schlubby-what you'd call a fixer-upper. Raul's Bobby is the kind of guy you can use and show off, a human accessory. Using him are Barbara Walsh's Joanne, a pleasantly surprising performance in the Stritch mode but not mold. Is it possible to play Joanne without the acerb and whiskey-voice? Probably, but hardly advisable. I do wish there had been an applause break for "Ladies Who Lunch" but alas!
My personal favorite was Angel Desai as Marta. She's sexy, gorgeous, very funny and very Marta. As soon as I saw her, I knew what character she was playing and I loved the way she performed--the energy and joy she brought to the stage was exhilarating. Heather Laws is also very good as Amy, although she looks just as Jewish as Paul! She sings "Getting Married Today" FASTER than Beth Howland--when I heard that tempo come in, I thought "Holy sh!t! Is she really going to be able to do this that fast?" Yes.
Bruce Sabath's dancing as Larry brought a huge smile to my face in "Side by Side by Side"...he seems so much more confident than other Larrys I've seen; he doesn't let Joanne walk all over him, he's quiet but forceful.
Keith Butterbaugh and Kristin Huffman as Harry and Sarah have some nice acting moments and I also loved the way the karate fight was staged.
Matt Castle and Amy Justman are Peter and Susan with varying success--her accent is obviously fake and detracts, he (this is tacky of me) would probaly be more effective if he were more attractive. His come-on to Bobby wasn't a bit persuasive to either me or to Raul. They do alot of the heavy lifting musically though, and beautifully so.
Also doing alot of the musical lifting is Leenya Rideout as Jenny--she is easily the weakest in the cast, throwing away what can be the funniest scene in the show. She does get the cutest husband, though.
April (Elizabeth Stanley) is also good, her "butterfly" monlogue isn't as treacly as it could be, but it still drags. I loved the use of the piano as both bed and door--Bobby relies on it for support and later, for freedom, just as he does with his friends.
After seeing SWEENEY, I'm amazed at how full the orchestrations and vocal arrangements sound--they are clean, precise and I don't miss that full orchestra (nice though it would be). I don't really understand why anyone wouldn't like this version of COMPANY, but they obviously don't, so there you go.
Another a$$hole's opinion.
