Would COMPANY be an even better show if...

.... the supporting men were a quarter as interesting as the supporting women?

The women are funny, individuated and distinctive.
Notwithstanding Peter's attraction to Bobby, the men are all conventional and boring.

(here I'm talking gender in the original book)

Updated On: 10/21/19 at 11:04 AM

Isn't that kind of the point of Furth's original book? That Bobby's by far the most interesting man onstage, yet he can't find love?

Kad said: "I find it very hard to keep track of the names of the husbands."

Same, but I also know some of that is because their names are all way more similar than the women's names. There's a Harry, Larry, Peter AND Paul?

I've never found Bobby all that interesting, just mostly annoying. The score to this show is, in my opinion, far superior to the book, so it's always been a hit-and-miss experience for me. Joanne comes alive for me, but I always wonder if that's the 'Elaine Stritch' factor being impressed upon my memory.

Bobby is a difficult character to give much radiance to, because he's a good-time sad sack, a guy who is a little down at the best of times and a little up at the worst of times. You almost need not so much an actor who can play that, as an actor whose wheelhouse IS that. It's an eccentric blandness baked into the character.

When I read that description, the names I immediately think are Sam Rockwell and ESPECIALLY David Duchovny, who has been exclusively playing successful and charismatic schlubs for the past twenty years.

Bettyboy72 said: "I agree with this. I completely understand why he hasn’t found love. He’s annoying and one of the least interesting people on stage. I thoughtRaul Esparzas brooding made the character even worse. I’m glad he didn’t get the Tony. The songs are brilliant. I go that musical for the songs and tolerate some of the story."

I'm with you all the way on this. I really, really despised so much of that revival, and the brooding, depressed portrayal of Bobby that Doyle and Esparza came up with just felt like it was fighting against every thing that the script said about Bobby. I certainly would not call Esparza's Bobby to "cheer us up when we're blue" or think of him as someone who'd "take the kids to the zoo."

But to answer henrik's original question, I agree the supporting females are much more interesting than the men. And that's just one more reason we should believe the authors that they intended no homosexual subtext when they created the show.

The women are interesting because they all represent actual or theoretical possible spouses for Bobby. He even sings a song about them.

The men are more or less generic male friends. The intricacies of male-male bonding was not what captured the authors' interest.

Mister Matt said:

And agreed with those about the Doyle revival. God, I thought the direction was dreadful and I didn't understand all the love for Esparza's performance other than Esparza fans thrilling over Esparza because he was cast as the lead. It was like the anti-Company production of Company."

I definitely agree. Aside from the actors playing the instruments, which I hated (the "choreography" made them look like a marching band), I thought the staging was inept and confusing at times. The whole production had a dour, depressing feel to it and I thought Esparza made it worse. There's fun to be had in that show, but it wasn't found in this production.

jimmycurry01 said: "I'm not really much of an Esparza fan. Other than Company and Rocky Horror, I'd really have to think hard before coming up with another Broadway credit. With that being said, I saw him perform the show live the Tuesday after the Tony Awards, and I was blown away by his performance. I found him to be quite charming, witty, and fun in the role. Maybe it was the post Tony Awards energy, maybe you caught him in an off night, maybe you only saw him on DVD. In any case, my experience was quite different from what is being described here."

I saw him in the 'Cabaret' revival in 2002 and he was terrific. He was very funny and added a lightness and charm to the darkness of the story-line. He was everything he could have been but wasn't in 'Company'.