Review-Company (11.22.06)

Company (Wednesday, 11.22.06, 8:00 p.m.)
Ethel Barrymore Theatre (Broadway)

By: Stephen Sondheim (music, lyrics), George Furth (book), John Doyle (direction)

Starring: Raul Esparza (Robert), Barbara Walsh (Joanne), Keith Buterbaugh (Harry), Matt Castle (Peter), Robert Cunningham (Paul), Angel Desai (Marta), Kelly Jeanne Grant (Kathy), Kristin Huffman (Sarah), Amy Justman (Susan), Heather Laws (Amy), Leenya Rideout (Jenny), Fred Rose (David), Bruce Sabath (Larry), Elizabeth Stanley (April)

Single, 35-year-old Bobby is the center of attention. He’s the only single guy amongst a group of otherwise married friends. Everyone is obsessed with Bobby. They hang out with him, they laugh with him, they live vicariously through him. On some level, they desperately want him to join them in marital bliss; yet at the same time they seem envious of his freedom and lack of commitment.

Although Bobby is the center of attention, he is also an observer, at least with respect to the institution of marriage. Here is where Raul Esparza is so successful in the role. Esparza is at once the center of attention -- he is charismatic, handsome, likeable -- and yet at the same time he is an observer. In scene after scene, while the attention is ostensibly on him, it really is on the situation between whichever married couple happens to be entertaining him. Esparza straddles this fine line between center and observer with ease.

But when he needs to take the reigns and assert himself as the true center of attention, Esparza steps up and does so brilliantly. His Act I-ending number -- Marry Me a Little, and his triumphant and moving final number -- Being Alive -- are marvelous theatrical moments. Esparza brilliantly captures the essence of the Bobby, and in doing so provides a blissful heart to the show.

Esparza aside, this Company is brilliant all around. John Doyle, who rode a wave of success last season with his ground-breaking version of “Sweeney Todd” here employs the same gimmick -- not just putting the orchestra on stage, but actually usurping it with a cast of impossibly talented orchestral actors. To be sure, the effect could not be more different. Whereas in Sweeney Todd the use of the orchestra-actors created an eerie, seamless chamber piece quality, here it creates a slick and cool urban setting. After the first number, one barely notices the instruments, except when Doyle dabbles in musical amusement -- such as the clever saxophone trio of “You Could Drive A Person Crazy” or the triangle-teasing by Joanne in “Side By Side.”

The score this time around is more successfully orchestrated than that was the case with Sweeney. Though Sweeney had a lovely haunting quality about it, the full sound of the orchestra was, at times, missed. Here, the orchestrations glisten. They are sharp and full, and aside from the occasional overbalancing by the trumpets, extremely skillfully played.

The acting and singing, too, is quite universally brilliant. Barbara Walsh gives a particularly stirring performance as Joanne, acting and singing the hell out of her big number, “The Ladies Who Lunch,” and promising to put her own stamp on the role made so famous by Elaine Stritch. Angel Desai also gives a lovely rendition of “Another Hundred People,” while Heather Laws gives a deliciously entertaining turn in “Not Getting Married Today.” The women in the cast generally fare better than the men (who are generally less memorable), though truly there are noticeably weak links in the cast.

The stylish and cool set perfectly complements the piece, the timing of which is unspecified but presumed to be present-day. The glass cubes and elegant grand piano sufficiently set the scene for the entire show -- one really doesn’t miss more traditional set pieces at all. Though some have commented that Bobby's act two scene with April (normally on a bed) is awkward, I did not find it to be so.

This Company is a resounding success. While it might not be thought of as quite as groundbreaking as last season’s Sweeney, this should really only be because Company is itself somewhat more abstract to begin with. To my mind, this production is as groundbreaking as was Sweeney, and perhaps in some ways superior. This remarkable production achieves the perfect synergy of reinvention, design, music, concept, acting, and singing, all the while celebrating the original work. What more could a body ask for?