re: In comes COMPANY....- Page 8

[ashley0139]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 10:20pm

I love reading all the analysis of this show. Very cool stuff.

Umm... I would so anything to be in the same theatre as Sondheim. That is so cool. Why would he not sign autographs, though? Not that I expect him to, but most people would.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 10:29pm

Morosco, that was a rather ingenous post. Don't necessarily agree but it was a swell way to express a specific opinion.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 10:32pm

Sondheim's notoriously shy and doesn't like attention drawn to himself.

[Jane2]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 10:38pm

re: Sondheim at a show. The night he came to see Tick Tick Boom, I felt sorry for him. Yes, I did. First of all, once the word got around that he was there, everyone started staring at him. You could see his discomfort. Then at every reference to him during the show, there was some applause and more attention towards him. On the way out of the theater, I could see him cowering in embarrassment.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 11:09pm

Bravo to the entire production. Everyone involved is fierce.

And I just wanted to add that I disagree with people who think Bobby is struggeling with sexual preference. He isn't gay, and I have to go with what Seth Rudetsky said. To say that Bobby is gay, would be taking away so much brilliance of the song "Being Alive".

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 11:11pm

Is this the show with Christine Ebersole?

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 11:14pm

Did they keep the amazing tableau at the end of BEING ALIVE that they had in the Cincy production?

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 11:23pm

Jane, that's awful. I'd hate for him to not be able to see/enjoy other shows just because people create a spectacle out of him. Personally, I can't imagine ever asking him for his autograph. Mainly because I'm not sure I'd have the capacity to speak in the first place.

I've always wondered about his opinion of ttB- namely his reaction to Sunday - but I figured that discussion would come up, like, when I bump into him in the afterlife.

Anyway. Company. The show's been over for an hour. I've been waiting impatiently to hear back from tonight's audience members. Where are they? *pokes*

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 11:35pm

LJay, I know you were one of the people concerned about the lack of dancing, especially during "You Could Drive A Person Crazy." How do you think the show works without the choreography?
Updated On: 11/1/06 at 11:35 PM

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 11:40pm

Sorry, no analysis tonight from me but OH MY GOD.

It is brilliant.

Actually, comletely, totally, amazingly brilliant.

Raúl is perfect in the role. It is one of the best performances I have ever seen.

The new orchestrations are incredible. The set is great. The ensemble is SO STRONG!

I was literally speechless both during intermission and right after the show.

Being Alive was magnificent.

The actor-musician concept is chilling and beatiful here. All of the influence of Bobby's friends creeps it's way into every thought he has and the intruments say it perfectly.

I am literally buzzing right now.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 11:45pm

Fosca,

The show did work without choreography. The girls moved around quite about during YOU COULD DRIVE A PERSON CRAZY. I was thinking they would just stand still in three spotlights and sing the song. But they moved around quite a bit, and played their saxes.

There was a lot of movement in SIDE BY SIDE/WHAT WHAT WE DO, not really choreography. But there was a lot of movement, that really kept the number entertaining, and kept it from dragging. Obiously that is the big number that needs choreography or some sort of movement.
Updated On: 10/31/06 at 11:45 PM

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 11:48pm

Is TICK TOCK still in? Or did they take that out?

[Ciaron McCarthy]

Posted: 11/1/06 at 12:00am

I would love to know when the last time someone actually saw "Tick Tock"? Its not in this one.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/1/06 at 12:13am

It never was. BSo was just being a smartass.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 11/1/06 at 12:22am

Thanks, LJay. I'm one of the people who was a bit reluctant (not necessarily against) about the idea of a Company without a specific amount of choreography.
Ciarion, "Tick Tock" was included in the pedestrian 1995 revival and was adequately performed by Charlotte D'Amboisse. I can only imagine what McKechnie did with this number in the original production.
I'm rather excited to see this show, especially since Walsh
(my biggest reservation) is apparently doing a great job.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/1/06 at 12:30am

I'm back. :) They started the show a bit late, so forgive the delay. I'm really tired and really hungry, and I have a lot of work to do -- plus, everyone already knows how deeply in love I am with this production, so I'm just going to quickly post a few thoughts. For the record, I grinned my face off through pretty much the entire show. To the point of being sore.

Sat second row mezz, center aisle of the side section. Absolutely ideal location. There's no curtain, as some have already stated, and it totally works. It's like walking into the apartment; the set is beautiful to look at. The "bleacher" blocks are not distracting at all. There are three staggered heights, and then there are flat ones, that are used really nicely, too. They actually managed to keep the diamond structure and just implant it onto the proscenium, which I was thrilled to see. The show looks great, and it sounds great. The costumes are subtle, but sexy. My one aesthetic quibble was incredibly minor; I'm not loving Susan's costume, but whatever. On the whole, it looks like they just picked up the show, stuck it in a box and brought it to New York, on the most basic physical level, and that's a very positive thing. The lighting is subtle, but again, beautiful, and the actors seemed much more comfortable with it tonight than people seem to be saying they were last night. I didn't notice many blocking problems at all. It just looks wonderful.

Heather's understudy is FANTASTIC as Amy -- fanatical, funny, adorable. Heather's even better, but everyone seeing Jane is definitely in for a treat.

There were two scenes I wasn't crazy about in Cincinnati, and I'm happy to say both have improved so, so much. I'm still not thrilled with Walsh's Ladies Who Lunch, but I found it much more subtle and enjoyable this time around. I found her and Raul to act sort of like opposing magnets -- too much of the same thing, all of the deadpan between them, but they finally clicked. I'm still not crazy about the musical number, but I finally felt like I understood that Joanne really "gets" Bobby. I also liked Elizabeth Stanley's performance as April much better; she's still playing the cardboard dumb blonde, but she's funnier and also much more enjoyable to watch. The blocking of the *very* implied sex (during the reprise of You Could Drive a Person Crazy) before Barcelona has changed; it's a bit hammier and much racier (April hikes her leg up on Bobby, he feels her up like there is simply no tomorrow, and there's copious ass-grabbing) as opposed to a sexy sort of subtlty, which some people may not go for, BUT, hey, it's a comedy -- and the even bigger but is that it is sexy as all get-out. They really went for it, and I think it works -- it's very urgent and immediate, which totally makes sense.

People have also mentioned the changes to You Could Drive a Person Crazy; I LOVE what they've done with the saxes; it's one of the few times in Company where the actor-instrument concept acts as a characterization tool as it did in Sweeney -- it makes the three girlfriends into a unit. It's cute, and I like that the "do do do do" part is now instrumental -- that was always pretty seventies. The choreography is still a little clunky, and I hope they make it a bit more simplistic, but I also hope they keep the sax element.

Moving right along... the other instrumentation change I noticed is very minor, but Raul doesn't play the cymbals anymore during Side by Side by Side. At first I was bummed out, because it was an adorable moment, but also pleasing to look at -- him sort of standing atop the pyramid of people, and so forth. Instead, now he only has a kazoo solo. He stands off to the side and follows the clarinet and sax solos. It's also a bit hammy, but it works -- especially if you consider that when he played the cymbals in Cincinnati, Bobby was literally joining in with everyone else. The change makes it so that he's more hesitant -- still testing the waters, but also still on his own. The Playbill lists him as being on percussion, so I expected the cymbals to be in, but really, it would look like a joke to list "Raúl Esparza -- kazoo" in the Playbill. He's not listed as playing piano, which I kind of like. It's a neat surprise. :)

I've said many, many times what I think of the conceptual conceit as a whole, so I'm not going to repeat myself there.

One of the other things I found to be fairly uneven in Cincinnati was the so-called "gay scene." I felt like it was ambiguous, but in some ways too much so, because I felt not as though it was intentionally left open-ended, but rather like (since it was so early in the run), Doyle and/or Raul hadn't really decided which way they wanted to push the audience just about yet. Tonight the scene felt a bit more decisive, in a hesitant sort of way. I think what I took away from it may have been aided a little bit by the fact that this time I caught the line where April comments on the phallic imagery of the column in Bobby's apartment and he says "yes, I'll take it," but the scene itself did seem like it had a little bit more of a sense of direction. I won't post what I took from it entirely, because I think it's still very open to personal interpretive perspective. I will say that no, I still don't think Bobby is fundamentally gay.

All of that said, the rest of the cast who hasn't been mentioned is in phenomenal shape. They're funny and a really tight ensemble, as they were in Cincinnati. I definitely have some favorite scenes, but the entire cast is incredibly able and very, very talented.

Now the big one, shall we?

Raúl. F*CKing. Esparza. I will, as I have said many times before, lose my faith in the system entirely if he doesn't get a Tony for this. I think Being Alive and Marry Me a Little have slowed down some, which I like. His voice sounds strong and completely stunning and he is truly some sort of larger-than-life performative force. The PERFECT Bobby, Raul is sexy, sarcastic, brooding, funny, sweet and at the same time, devastatingly heartbreaking -- he gets you to root for him; for Bobby to go ahead and step into that light. Being Alive is one of the single most thrilling theatrical experiences I have ever witnessed; my heart was racing afterward, and several can vouch for the fact that I was in tears for a good ten minutes following. I tend not to be a crier, and no performance other than this one has truly moved me to tears. The crazy thing is that I can't even explain why, other than to say that the emotional impact, comprised of both thrill and heartbreak, all in the name of catharsis, is so strong -- of the whole show, really, with Being Alive at the pinnacle; I definitely made an almost-sobbing phone call shortly after it ended that pretty much consisted of "oh my God, it's so beautiful", over and over. This is going to make him a star. The audience was lukewarm for most of the show, but they went batsh*t crazy for Being Alive, as they should have. I can't really find the right compliments for the performance, and call it a cop-out to say that if you wish, but he really feels beyond any praise that I can give him. He is breathtaking.

So in closing, since this post was longer than I intended it to be, the show is still changing, but it's very solid and just as beautiful as it was six months ago. Many, many thumbs up and my deepest thanks to Mr. Doyle for his genius direction, and all of my best wishes to the uber-talented cast. The critics are going to gobble it up, and I sincerely hope that people love this production at least half as much as I do. I'm so overjoyed that it's finally here, to be shared, as it deserves to be.

Updated On: 11/1/06 at 12:30 AM

[mijofly19]

Posted: 11/1/06 at 12:33am

I don't have time to write a review tonight. But I went in knowing absolutely nothing about Company, and loved every second of it. The performances were amazing, the staging is amazing. Raul has the Tony Award right now, and Jane Pfitsch also did a tremendous job. Raul's scream right before the final number actually sent chills down my back. Student Rush for the front row is totally worth it.

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 11/1/06 at 12:34am

Yay! Awesome review.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 11/1/06 at 12:36am

I fully believe Charlotte should take over and perform the TICK TOCK number, complete with the original Michael McKechnie...I mean Bennett...choreography!

Great review, Em. Though I am pretty sure the Times would never print a review with "F*CKing" in it...
Updated On: 11/1/06 at 12:36 AM

[ashley0139]

Posted: 11/1/06 at 12:39am

Great "few thoughts" Emcee. Yay!

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 11/1/06 at 12:46am

Em, great post as usual. When I was your age Being Alive was one of my audition songs!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/1/06 at 12:55am

That's it. I'm dropping out of school and moving to New York. Now. There's no way I can wait until the 18th. I've been listening to the recordings, but it will never be the same.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 11/1/06 at 1:04am

I agree, OS.

I have to wait until Thanksgiving until I'm back in the city. Maybe COMPANY and GREY GARDENS in one day. That would be sweet.

And then LES MIS and LITTLE DOG WHO LAUGHED another. Super sweet.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/1/06 at 1:23am

Sweet. We can whore ourselves out for rush tickets and live in a cardboard box in Shubert Alley.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 11/1/06 at 1:24am

Cardboard box? What for?