Phone rings, door chimes, in comes reimagined ‘Company’
Britney Coleman (center) is Bobbie with the company of the North American Tour of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s 1970 classic Company. Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade
For such a brilliant musical, Company has a big problem right in the middle of it: the main character who is about to celebrate birthday #35. In the original 1970 production, that character was Bobby, a bachelor with commitment problems, not just with romantic partners but with life in general.
In director Marianne Elliott’s revival, a hit in London and on Broadway and now on tour at the Orpheum Theatre as part of the BroadwaySF season, the main character is now Bobbie, a 2024 woman with those same commitment problem. As a woman, she also gets all the attendant baggage that our culture piles on to women who choose to remain single and who haven’t prioritized either or career or family – or both because, if you haven’t heard, women can have it all!
It’s a fascinating revision (one done with the full support of composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim before his death in 2021), and not the only tweak. Bobbie’s three suitors are now men (although perhaps one could have been a woman because this character has never exactly known what s/he wants), and one of her besties, formerly Amy, is now Jamie, a man about to marry another man.
Elliott’s approach, in both storytelling and design, is to craft a fever dream of anxiety brought on by Bobbie’s birthday. The whole show takes place in an off-kilter, purple-hued liminal space that reflects reality but also has the twisted exaggerations, recurring motifs and harsh truths of a dream state.
Lots of company! Derrick Davis (left) as Larry and Judy McLane (center) as Joanne with Coleman as Bobbie. Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade
It’s a striking production visually, with Bunny Christie’s set and costume design letting Bobbie, in her red jumper, always be standing out in the framed set pieces that often resemble a comic strip. Neil Austin’s lights cut through the dreamy fog at key moments and then swallow characters into the mists of memory at others.
For Bobbie, 35 is apparently a milestone birthday. She’s been coasting through life, content with casual romantic relationships and being the third wheel to her married friend couples. Those friends love her, but she’s also sensing that the longer she’s coasting, the less they understand, respect or maybe even like her. To be older and uncoupled, they seem to be saying, must indicate something is inherently wrong.
What we see from Bobbie’s friends, in the book by George Furth, are between-song vignettes – spiky little sitcoms, that illustrate the ins and mostly outs of coupledom and its many hurts, compromises and constrictions. There’s no plot to speak of in Company beyond Bobbie attempting to come to terms with her lack of emotional availability. She comes close at the end of Act 1, after the brilliantly, frantically staged “Getting Married Today” (performed by Matt Rodin as Jamie), when she sings “Marry Me a Little” (cut from the original, reinstated for ensuing revivals). But the big, emotional moment is programmed for the finale and the well-named “Being Alive.”
Barcelona! Coleman as Bobbie and Jacob Dickey as Andy the flight attendant in Company at the Orpheum Theatre, part of the BroadwaySF season. Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade
Which brings us to the Bobby/Bobbie center of the doughnut. By design, the character is something of a cipher, a work in progress, a shallow puddle for dramatic splashing. In this version, as played by Britney Coleman, Bobbie has charm (which counts for a lot) and seems like someone other people would want to have around. She’s often seen with a drink in her hand (Maker’s Mark appears to be her beverage of choice), and she seems to enjoy her life, even when her friends’ relationship tangles befuddle her. In terms of the showtune psychoanalysis, her breakthrough showstopper “Being Alive” should be the most electrifying moment in the show’s nearly three hours. It comes close here, but doesn’t quite break through.
And as enjoyable and as funny and as trenchant as this production is, it doesn’t break through as much as it should or as much as it seems designed to do. Elliott’s bold ideas and snazzy production feel designed for sharpness, but here the edges come across as somewhat dulled. That said, there are abundant moments that shine,most from the glorious Sondheim score, which never disappoints: “The Little Things You Do Together,” both as a scene between Sarah (Kathryn Allison) and Harry (James Earl Jones II) and as a song led by Judy McLane as Joanne; “You Could Drive a Person Crazy” and “Another Hundred People” as energetically staged musical highlights; and a fleeting Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland moment that made me hope someone will someday do a full Mad Hatter’s Tea Party production of this musical.
Like any great work, Company will withstand all kinds of interesting approaches, boldly curious directors and fresh insights into the core of human connection because what the makes the show work, in spite of anything else, is Sondheim’s genius for surprising, challenging and captivating us.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company continues through June 29 as part of the BroadwaySF season at the Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., San Francisco. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes (including one intermission). Tickets are $55-$148 (subjectto change). Call 888-746-1799 or visit www.broadwaysf.com.
