I made a return trip to the Barrymore last night after having not seen the show since early in previews. Perhaps my mind is just playing tricks on me, but last night almost felt like a different show. While I expected to have a somewhat dull reaction since I had already seen it, my reaction was exactly the opposite. If anything, COMPANY becomes better with each viewing.
While I enjoyed it very much the first time I saw it, I didn't think it was the most incredible thing to ever hit the stage. However, last night, I absolutely loved it. The show has been tightened, and while I made this analogy before, looking back, now it is even more true: the piece is like an incredibly well choreographed ballet. The cast has fallen into a routine, and while that has negative connotations, I don't intend it as such. They know where they have to be when, and they hit their mark every single time, while still managing to find new depth within the piece. It's like clockwork...clean, organized, and with that comes the freedom to develop even more. It's fascinating to see just how much the piece has come alive, and how much the cast has grown.
Last night I saw the show from the from of the orchestra. One of my main complaints after seeing it the first time in the front mezzanine was that Raul's face became easily washed out with the lighting. Seeing it from the orchestra was a completely different experience. I was able to finally see every single one of Raul's reactions, which is pretty essential, since almost half of the show involves him sitting and/or watching and just....reacting. His delivery has a sense of warmth to it that was absent when I first saw it – and which certainly helps for the people who keep questioning why all of these people would want to be friends with him in the first place.
I’m still on the fence about Heather Laws. I felt that she didn’t really have the control that I saw in Jane Pfitsch’s delivery of (Not) Getting Married Today. I sat thinking she was on the verge of losing her footing.
Raul was fantastic. I’ve never seen a show that so heavily relies on one lead, rather than two. Not only does he carry the show on his shoulders, but he does it with ease and grace. One of the comments I made last night was that Raul (in his scene with Kathy at the park) had this soft expression on his face, and the way he was staring at her – it was at that moment when I felt like something had cracked and we were let in to see the soft, sweet, gentle side of Bobby. You know it’s hidden somewhere under the cynical sarcasm, and its wonderful when the audience can finally see it in him. Being Alive made my heart beat a mile a minute, and while I originally thought (on first viewing) that Bobby's development through the show wasn't evident enough, I can now say that I saw the change. And might I say that the scream right before Being Alive began....I have never seen anything like that. It is at that moment that you can truly feel for Bobby, because you are literally seeing him take control.
My one negative, though, is Amy Justman's atrocious Southern accent. (Thank god she doesn't have a full scene like all of the other couples do).
I recognize the addiction to being alive.
Updated On: 12/8/06 at 10:19 AM