Since his Olivier award-winning performances in Sunday in the Park with George and Merrily We Roll Along, Daniel Evans has become synonymous with Sondheim, so what better way for him to finally take to the Crucible stage after 18 months as Artistic Director than playing the lead in Company? Sondheim’s 1970 musical, set in the bright lights of New York City, centres on Bobby, a Manhattan playboy more keen on living it up than settling down. His prolific dating and lack of commitment draws envy and chastisement by turns from his smug married friends who believe he would be better off getting hitched.
This premise is about as far as it goes in terms of plot, in a musical that avoids any kind of narrative arc in favour of stringing together a number of set pieces. In these we learn that each of Bobby’s friends’ marriages aren’t as perfect as they might first appear, as well as following his own ruminations on the struggle to find a partner in this ‘city of strangers’. This dislocated arrangement is curiously unsatisfying as you often find yourself waiting out the chat in order to get to the next big number.
That said, there are some powerful numbers. Samantha Spiro as the neurotic Amy puts in a virtuoso performance of Getting Married Today where her frantic trilling as an unwilling bride is perfectly complimented by Anna Jane Casey’s heavenly voice as a chorister trying to persuade her to get to the church on time. Francesca Annis shows less musical talent but brilliant bravado as she snarls her way through the witty and embittered Ladies That Lunch. In a show where the women have a lot of the best songs, the men make a fine job of Sorry-Grateful a poignantly honest mediation on the dichotomy of joy and misery that comes of joining your life to another person.
Although she doesn’t have a show stopping song, Lucy Montgomery stands out as a consummate comic actress as quirky trolly-dolly April who flies in and out of Bobby’s life, but you can’t help feeling that she and her rivals for Bobby’s affections – played by Kelly Price and Rosalie Craig – are somewhat underused. Daniel Evans gives a fine central performance as the hapless Bobby. With an ear perfectly attuned to the emotional complexity of Sondheim’s score he presents a man adrift in his huge loft apartment, caught between urban loneliness, claustrophobic friendships and a deep desire to love and be loved.
As well as the onstage talent there’s much to admire in Jonathan Munby’s careful direction which plays the comedy with real pizzazz but also finds alienation and dread in-between the jokes, best signified by an excruciatingly haunting refrain as the goulish friends close around Bobby singing his name. Christopher Oram’s apartment set has all the stylish emptiness of Bobby’s life and the lighted floor panels change colour with his moods as well as doubling as a Studio 54-like dance floor.
Despite all these high-class elements the musical itself seems curiously hollow, perhaps due to its disjointed episodic nature. The wigs and the turtlenecks are pleasingly retro but the obsession with marriage feels dated. Although the would-be cosmopolitan Marta talks about her Hispanic and black friends and Peter mentions a homosexual encounter, this is a surprisingly white, straight and white collar vision of New York. Given these flaws, perhaps it’s not surprising this is the first major revival of Company in a long time, but nevertheless it’s a revival worth seeing for the performances alone.
Company runs at the Crucible in Sheffield until 7 January 2012. Learn more and buy your tickets here.
Oh I’d disagree! No slight on your opinion but I adore this musical. I saw this last night (final performance). I may be bias as this is my favourite musical (I had ‘Marry Me A Little’ lyrics read at my wedding and used to always audition/use in exams songs from this score) but I don’t see the interactions as hollow. The relationships of the married couples transcend the time it was written for and is hugely representative of today as well as the 70’s. I was married last year, attended 3 more weddings and have 5 this year and I’m only 26. Marriage appears to still be on the agenda and the hounding of friends to settle down happens in many social groups, especially when friends are in mid-late 30’s.
As for revivals, the industry knows that when they do this show, they need to do it right. Usually with a top class cast. The first time I saw it was 1995 (with Adrian Lester, Sophie Thompson, Sheila Gish, Rebecca Front) which was wonderful.
“Given these flaws, perhaps it’s not surprising this is the first major revival of Company in a long time” Ahem – see the biggest, New York Philharmonic, all-star-cast version, performed to be recorded and shown in cinemas… in Summer 2011!
http://nyphil.org/concertsTicks/companyonscreen.cfm
And when they say All Star Cast, they mean it – Neil Patrick Harris, Jon Cryer, Patti LuPone, Stephen Colbert, Christina Hendricks, Martha Plimpton)
Sorry for the pedantry but this was an extremely good performance of an incredible musical written by the hugely talented Sondheim. Even my husband enjoyed it commenting on how relevant the storyline is and how real the characters are, testament to how accessible this musical is.
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