Seeing "Company" on closing night.- Page 3

[keen on kean]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 9:53am

Em - glad they cut the cymbals - that kind of undercuts Bobby's non-musical participation until "Being Alive" (and, of course, the kazoo).

[vfd88]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 10:10am

Ugh, I HATE when people clap along! In fact, I hate when the audience breaks the fourth wall instead of the actors.

[keen on kean]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:02am

Does any audience participation "break the fourth wall"? Cell phones and talking do because they interrupt the attention of the audience, but do theater-appropriate human responses (laughing, clapping, etc.)?

[fishdancer23]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:20am

I think that for many shows, laughing/clapping in the expected places is fine. But in Company, Doyle deliberately eliminated some of the places where applause might have ordinarily occurred. To not comply during these moments breaks the fourth wall.

But I just hate it when there are audience members who try to be the first to applaud. After an exquisite moment, I appreciate the one or two beats of silence before applause occurs. This is particularly true after an exquisite vocal moment. The final note of Being Alive would definitely qualify.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 12:04pm

Side by Side was probably the number that changed the most, and watching it change was fascinating. The great thing about watching Doyle's work in progress was that every change seemed to outdo the last. I'd see something and totally buy it; I'd go "yes, that definitely works, I love it," until I saw the next version which was inevitably even better. The cymbals in Cincinnati worked for me because I was like "oh, he's joining the band -- briefly." And then when they became nothing in early Broadway previews, it worked because I went "oh, well, maybe it should be harder for him" -- then the entire number was re-staged and the kazoo came in.

Updated On: 7/4/07 at 12:04 PM

[BDavis0092]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 12:27pm

Laughing/clapping in the wrong place definently breaks the forth wall. As does singing with the entire show which is what the guy next to me did when I saw Company.

[Sondheim Geek]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 12:33pm

I think it would be amazing to have one performance where there was no applause at all... especially at the end of Being Alive. Just let that moment linger for a minute or so.. in pure silence. It's devistating to hear his voice break at the end of "Alive" on the cast recording, and then have silence.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 12:36pm

If people DID clap because they thought Raúl was encouraging it during that particular point, I find that kind of... odd, especially given that the majority of the people in the theater had presumably seen the show before. Bobby is interacting with his friends at that point -- not gesturing to the audience. Raul definitely didn't break the fourth wall then -- he was always very deliberate when he did during the show; there was never any question.

Helloooooo, past tense. How strange.

Updated On: 7/4/07 at 12:36 PM

[antiandrewx]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 12:51pm

I must be crazy, but from where I was sitting I hear no clapping at all. So maybe it was just really isolated in a certain area?

[violet72]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 12:57pm

I have to say I was happy that no one applauded after Ladies Who Lunch....applause after it would have really broken the tension...the first time I saw it one person clapped and was hushed by the rest of the audience

[misschung]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 1:13pm

"Not the appluase, but Bobby's claps. Sorry, I thought people were saying that in addition to Bobby clapping during Side By Side, he also did an over-the-head clap at the very begining of the act. I didn't notice either myself."

Yeah, I didnt notice that either, but I see what you're saying.

Anyway, moving on - I love the way that Bobby claps in Side by Side sort of against the drink in his hand, it's so perfect. I didn't realize that the kazoo didn't come in until later in the NY preview process. I wonder what else they considered, if anything, before choosing to go that way - other instruments, etc

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 1:17pm

He used to play a little tune on it, too. That became just one note, though.

[misschung]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 1:32pm

It's interesting that he and Barbara...Joanne - are the one-note people. I don't know if that was intentional or not

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 1:36pm

I wonder if it was -- but either way, it worked. The relationship between Bobby and Joanne is fascinating, and kind of frightening, in a way. To me, he freaked out during The Ladies Who Lunch because she's the person he's afraid of becoming. She is so cynical and jaded -- the instrumentation fit her perfectly. Bobby realizes he could be headed there.

Updated On: 7/4/07 at 01:36 PM

[keen on kean]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 1:37pm

I did hear the change with the kazoo from two notes to one over time! Talk about minimalist approaches.


Updated On: 7/4/07 at 01:37 PM

[Sondheim Geek]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 1:44pm

On the CR it's two notes.

[misschung]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 1:49pm

Oh, I thought she was saying it had been like an actual little tune which turned into the one note. But yeah, minimalism at its best.

I love Joanne and Larry's relationship too, how his instrumentation sort of dances around her. Sometimes at the end of Ladies, her call to Larry is so much more desperate and frightened, and other times it sounds just more exhausted. I love watching Bobby's reactions during her performance too though, because he is partly so in awe and attracted to her, but deep down it's like he knows better.

[keen on kean]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 1:57pm

misschung - beautifully stated, about Joanne's call to Larry. At the last performance it seemed very frightened to me - more than I had heard previously. And Bruce Sabath is so lovely and poignant in that scene.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 2:20pm

They tried that little tune "Shave and a Haircut," but the timing for everyone else to come in didn't work, so it became one note, which is obviously much easier to count off of.

Anyway, going back a bit to this idea of musical cues, none of the clapping you saw -- whether it's during the marching band-like sequence or this clap early in the song that I don't remember really did happen -- was a cue. Someone brought up Donna Lynne's cue in Sweeney, and there were things comparable to that in Company, but they were much, much more understated -- little nods of the head, or cutoffs by the musicians out of the playing space. Gestural cues amongst musicians can often be very tiny, because a lot of times you can just feel when it's right. For example, Barbara Walsh would start off the off-stage "Bobby..." part, and then they'd go right in, or Matt Castle would give cues or breaths from the piano, but nothing as noticeable as the Pirelli cue. I think in a way, that was a character choice as well as a practical choice -- if you saw the conceit there as one of, say, music therapy in an asylum, then her position as the sort of maternal doctor made it right for her to start it all off. The Company cues were less direct, if you will.

[misschung]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 4:53pm

I always thought it was incredible how well the cast coordinated all of their movement, playing, and singing on stage and made it seem so effortless. I never noticed any visible cues until I sat in the boxes. During Side by Side, you could catch little visual glances they they'd give each other. It still amazes me that they did all of that without a conductor or anything.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 8:00pm

The relationship between Bobby and Joanne is fascinating, and kind of frightening, in a way. To me, he freaked out during The Ladies Who Lunch because she's the person he's afraid of becoming. She is so cynical and jaded -- the instrumentation fit her perfectly. Bobby realizes he could be headed there.

And she's so lonely, too, even with a husband who adores her. Seeing that in her probably dissuades Bobby from his view that he should get married for convenience and just to be married.

You know, I've always wondered the opposite, too -- what Joanne feels when she's with Bobby. She "only drinks with him"... perhaps being around him makes her reflect on her own inadequacies and missed opportunities. I also think, deep down and though she'd never admit it (probably even to herself), that she doesn't want to see him end up on the same path she took, even though misery loves company.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 8:10pm

Right; she's with someone who adores her and STILL lonely. So Bobby sees that even if someone is THERE, he may still end up totally lonely. Amy tells him that it's funny: she's afraid to get married and he's afraid not to... but I think he's just afraid, period. Of both. Because, yeah, what if he gets married and it sucks? I think he's afraid of ending up miserable no matter what he does -- and that's his big leap. Raúl did that great interview right before the Tonys where he said that to him, Bobby's story was about realizing that you make note of the risks and the possible crappy things, but you go ahead and you do it anyway, because that's life.

On another note, I also think it's interesting that Larry tells Bobby Joanne is only this way when he's around. I do wonder if being around him, because misery loves company, helps her to cover those things up, too, if she acts like a completely different person. I agree that she doesn't want him to end up there -- I do think she cares about him, certainly.