STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S COMPANY – The Review

The world of sports has done this for many, many years -the all-star game. The very best players from all the different teams gathered together for one game. That big all-star type event has happened in the world of monster movie from THE HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN ( Frankenstein’s Monster! Dracula! The Wolfman! etc. ) to DESTROY ALL MONSTERS! ( Godzilla! Rodan! Mothra! etc.). Well you’ve got a limited chance to view an all-star once in a lifetime( although I think they did two performances ). Broadway musical.  This past April the New York Philharmonic presented a staged concert version of Stephan Sondheim’s 1970 musical classic ” Company”.  Broadway veterans and Hollywood stars joined forces to revisit this look at modern relationships. For all you theatre geeks and “gleeks” ( fans of the TV show “Glee” ) this is pure bliss.

The term “staged concert” is a fairly new show term. Like a concert performance of a stage musical, there are no backdrops, limited props ( most items are pantomimed ), and no big costume changes. The “staged” part refers to minimal dance choreography instead of the performers reading and singing from podiums. Here the actors present  the show in front of the orchestra which has joined them on stage as opposed to being out of sight below them in the “pit”.

Enough with the tech stuff! What’s the show about? Well it centers on a single guy-Robert ( Neil Patrick Harris ) who’s given a surprise birthday party by his dear friends-four couples. All but one of the couples is married. We also get to meet three single ladies that swingin’ Bobby is seeing. In flashbacks we see Robert interacting with each of the couples. Harry and Sarah ( Stephen Colbert and Martha Plimpton ) keep track of each other’s indiscretions while confiding in Robert. Peter and Susan ( Craig Bierko and Jill Paice ) stun Robert when they announce their plans to divorce. David and Jenny ( Jon Cryer and Jennifer Lauren Thompson ) are sold suburban parents who share a walk on the wild side via  a joint from Robert. Paul and Amy ( Aaron Lazar and Kate Finneran ) are in pre-wedding panic mode. Robert goes to a club with the much married, hard drinking, cynical Joanne ( Patti LuPone) and her new hubby, Larry ( Jim Walton ) where she challenges the indecisive single guy.

The actors are given a chance to shine with these gorgeous songs and great script. Some smart studio exec has to let Harris headline a big,brassy movie musical in between his excellent award show hosting gigs. The other big standouts are the delightful Tony winning actress Finneran’s exasperated “Not Getting Married Today” and LuPone showing her diva skills by belting out the show’s most enduring ballad, ” The Ladies Who Lunch”. Fans of TV’s “Mad Men” will be surprised by the great comic turn by Christine Hendricks as one of Robert’s girlfriends- the ditsy airline attendant ( or as Austin Powers would say,”sexy stew” ) April. Members of the Colbert Nation will get to see their hero in full singing, dancing mode. There’s no big camera tricks, no cinema enahancements on display here. Just a record of a classic show performed beautifully by an extrordinary group of actors. If you can’t make it out to Broadway, then this is the next best thing to the ” great white way”. It’s  ” tops in taps”!

Overall Rating: Four and a Quarter Out of Five Stars

COMPANY is playing at St. Louis’s Tivoli Theatre ( and around the country ) only on Wednesday, June 15, Thursday June 16, and Tuesday June 21 at 7:30 PM