Questions about "Company" libretto

A) I recently co-developed a small theatre group with a couple of my friends. There are 14 members of the group in total and we are looking at presenting Sondheim's "Company" as our premiere production. We are all in 10th - 12th grade and have lots of musical theatre experience so we thought it appropriate to try a challenging piece (i.e. Sondheim). We were shy at first about portraying married couples, quite a stretch from our actual ages. But we decided - this show is meant to be a mockery of married life (albeit with a touch of poignancy and truth). Overall, it is just a spoof, if you will. It would even add another dimension of humor if we, high school students, were portraying these couples. What's your opinion on this?
B) Is there anything really race in the libretto? Coarse language is fine, alchohol usage is do-able, the "Tick Tock" number is manageable, but is there anything else we should be aware of? I've heard that there is a scene in which David and Jenny smoke pot. Is this a script-specific necessity? Are there any lines that require it? How might it be avoided?
C) Has anyone ever been involved with/seen a youth (high school or college) production of Company? How does it come off? Have any alterations been made to the book? Any answers would be much appreciated. Bottom line - we want to make this show work because we've got the perfect cast for it!

i agree, munku. i can almost hear the awful version of Being Alive now

Anyone else care to add anything on the matter? I'd really appreciate it.

Okay, thanks.

Thanks. Good advice.

The pot-smoking is definitely in the script, and intended. It's a very funny scene, too. I realize the hurdles you'll face with this one. (It's an entire vignette scene, not just one or two lines of dialogue.)

That leads me to my next thought... this show is solidly a product of its time... it screams "1970," not just musically, but mostly with its attitudes toward social behavior in big-city America. If you try to update that or "revise history," you will likely remove the heart and soul of the piece along with it.

I don't want to see "Hair" set in 1997, either, in other words. It would lose its emotional impact completely.

---

Updated On: 6/1/06 at 10:20 AM

Read it here

---

Updated On: 6/1/06 at 10:21 AM

"Maybe they gave you real grass, right off the front lawn...."


I would disagree about updating the show, all the productions I've seen have had a contemporary setting and the heart and soul, hasn't been taken out of it.

The pot smoking scene is about so much more than smoking pot and I'm glad now that it doesn't have the same sense of the shock value, because the actors and the audience can really concentrate on the particular dynamic of David and Jenny's relationship, which is a great deal more interesting.

Updated On: 6/1/06 at 10:27 AM

I'm heading to school for a couple of hours. Keep the advice coming. You've all been so helpful.

The pot smoking is played for laughs mostly, and a bit of shock-value.

I'm not saying "Company" can't be updated, but it does lose impact. I've seen two productions of it that tried to set the show in "modern times" and while they were both terrifically cast and directed, the show felt very weak, as far as sensibilities for so many reasons.

"The Ladies Who Lunch" is a very dated piece on women standing up and being counted as human beings. This was written and performed right in the middle of the Women's Lib movement, where it made so much more sense and had more of a dramatic effect at the time. Joanne's excessive drinking is not the "socially acceptable norm" that it was in 1970. They were trying to expose it for what it was during her number, and that's not exactly new "news" now. The single women in Bobby's life are not exactly self-sufficient, proud women. Not any one of them. The necessity of marriage itself isn't as relevant today.

These and many other factors lessen the shows dramatic impact if you try to set it in today's world.

---

This is not really a good show for young people to do. Age is really an issue with these characters. That doesn't mean you guys aren't great performers... but age is really a motivating factor for many of the characters in the play. It would sort of like be doing Hairspray with all white people... could it be done? Maybe... but why would you want to do that? You would be putting yourself at such a disadvantage. Do something where age is not an issue. Follies perhaps.


kmc

---

The age of the characters in FOLLIES is detrimental, are you kidding mE?

I agree - stay away from shows like this. I love them to death, but I would never put productions on with younger people - I think too much of the integrity would suffer.

Regardless of how talented you all think you are, age is something that cannot be faked.

---

When shows are revived in New York, they often limit the rights, but not restrict them entirely.

Sometimes it's only full-scale professional productions that are restricted entirely while a revival is running on Broadway.

Sometimes it's only for certain regions (like a 200 mile radius, or "the East Coast," etc.).

It varies, based on individual decisions... but it's definitely worth looking into, since I'm sure there will be at least LIMITED rights.

---

Updated On: 6/1/06 at 11:10 AM