Seeing "Company" on closing night. — Page 3

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

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.)?

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.

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

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.

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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?

"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

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

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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

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.

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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.

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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.