Company

Critiqued by Holly Bartges

Cast of Company in Town Hall’s production Photo by Sam Trojanovich

Company doesn’t have a plot. Company doesn’t need a plot. It doesn’t even want to tell a story, although it does in a most unique way. It wants to plow into relationships with the fervor of a geological dig. It does.

Director, Robert Wells surrounded himself with a star-studded cast to bring Stephen Sondheim’s vibrant Company to life at Littleton’s Town Hall. It would take some serious digging to out-sing, out-dance, out- play, out-characterize, out-anything this production. It is the finest, most exciting production of Company I’ve ever experienced.

On a stripped down set designed by Michael R. Duran, the various scenes in a den, a terrace, a living room, a kitchen, a private club relies on various shaped boxes, creating an illusion for the characters to “squibble”, squabble, fuss, laugh, poke fun, draw lines in the sand, tease, taunt, giggle, and bemoan their human existence. Without defined set pieces, nothing is lost; a great deal gained. You know where they are at all times and where space and time melt exiting walls, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the Who.

The 14 cast members provide delicious, delectable characters from the first note to the last bow.

With an awesome voice that could melt the artic ice caps, Joel Sutliffe wraps himself tightly into Robert’s persona. It‘s Robert’s 35th Birthday, and oh, mercy, what are we going to do? He’s not married. His ten closet friends, five couples, are, and they very much want to get him settled.

With three enormously different girlfriends, Robert suffers from the inability to make a decision, much less a commitment.

When Company opened on Broadway in 1970, it made its own headlines as being the first musical to deal with adult problems through music. Evidently it spoke richly through sharp corners winning five Tony Awards and two Drama Desk Awards. The songs humorously and poignantly reveal the outside persona of the characters as well as their deepest, darkest anxieties. This production does a wondrous job of captivating the intent inside an upbeat tempo that never misses a beat.

In Sarah and Harry’s living room (Heather Larson and Keegan Flaugh), with kind and friendly talk, an undercurrent sweeps menacingly between the couple. Harry promised to stop drinking. Sarah promised to go on a diet. Inadvertently, Bobby brings Brownies for dessert. Larson and Flaugh’s characters steam under the pressure ending in a hilarious uproar of secret binging. They want Bobby to get married in the middle of this? Leading to the song The Little Things You Do Together, which leads Bobby to innocently ask Harry if he has any regrets getting married. This leads to the grand song of Sorry-Grateful by Harry, David (Daniel Langhoff), and Larry (Reece Livingstone). Attempt at karate between Harry and Sarah becomes “gigglesville”.

Bobby joins Susan (Margie Lamb) and Peter (Brian Murray) on their terrace. Oh, oh another discombobulated circumstance. Behind the smiles and polite words, Susan and Peter drop a bomb onto Bobby’s head, as they swing through the tree branches unscathed from being stoned. Their giggling overrides the bomb’s explosion, which strangely enough provides depth to their characters.

Between Wells and the expertise of the actors, the characters transform into five dimensional human beings. You know these people. They are friends, acquaintances, neighbors, and business associates. The musical tells the story while the humor rounds off the sharp edges.

One of Bobby’s girlfriends, Marta flirts with the unconventional. Janelle Christie turns her into a marvel. Marta’s song Another Hundred People haunts, jives, seeks laughability, and catches the breath all at the same time.

Stacy Ryfun D’Angelo turns airline stewardess and girlfriend, April, into a classical dumb blond rimmed with wisdom. D’Angelo’s expressions remind just how many muscles the face actually has. She uses every one of them, confessing she’s boring always wanting to live in Radio City

Amy (Amanda Earls) and Paul (Mark J. Middlebrooks) are getting married today. Earls reveals Amy’s tormented soul in the song Getting Married Today, Talk about breath control. Earls owns it, needs it, and simply wows the audience.

Bobby goes for a walk in the park with girlfriend #3, Kathy (Kelsey L, Rich). He wonders why they never got married. Simple answer. She moved to Cape Cod and married someone else. Rich paints Kathy with water colored undertones of regret. They emulate a closeness resembling a discontented distance.

Then there’s the very wealthy Joanne put together with sharp lines and sharp words wonderfully infiltrated by Megan Van De Hay who sees to it Joanne stands out in a crowd along with her husband Larry. Her song The Ladies Who Lunch commands startling attention.

With a smile of grace and celebration, Company embraces the wonders of human nature, the fragility of relationships, the foibles, misgivings, and heart warmings folded neatly together with powerful music and insightful lyrics. Deborah Schmidt-Lobis commands her own attention at the piano with high-powered musical expertise. Seth Alison’s lighting design underscores calculated moments of brightness. Lisa Murray’s costume design fits perfectly for the time, allowing the actors to stand out, and giving the characters an air of distinction.

The Birthday party becomes a focus for the five couples opening Act One and Two. In the end, however, Bobby slyly takes matters into his own hands, giving the Birthday Party a twist of his own confidence and awareness.

Wells and his company attack Sondheim’s Company with delicious intent and precise determination. No one should miss this production. Every scenario can be identified with, while wisdom and perception peek eagerly around the corners to laugh at, to laugh with, to applaud its very own magic.