Company (musical)

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Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

Larry Kert and cast of the original Broadway production

The plot revolves around Bobby (a single man unable to commit fully to a steady relationship, let alone marriage), the five married couples who are his best friends, and his three girlfriends. Unlike most "book musicals," which follow a clearly delineated plot, Company is a "concept musical," comprised of short vignettes in no particular chronological order, linked by a celebration for Bobby's 35th birthday.

Originally entitled Threes, Company was among the first musicals to deal with adult problems through its music. As Sondheim put it, "they are middle-class people with middle class-problems". It is also one of the first musicals where the songs commented on the characters in the play instead of furthering the plot, a device which became a Sondheim standard.

After seven previews, the Broadway production, directed by Hal Prince, opened on April 26, 1970 at the Alvin Theatre, where it ran for 705 performances. The opening night cast included Dean Jones, Donna McKechnie, Susan Browning, Pamela Myers, Barbara Barrie, Charles Kimbrough, Beth Howland, and Elaine Stritch.

Shortly after opening night, Jones withdrew from the show, allegedly due to illness, but actually due to stress he was suffering from ongoing divorce proceedings. He was replaced by Larry Kert, who earned rave reviews for his performance when the critics were invited to return. In an unusual move, the Tony Awards committee deemed Kert eligible for a nomination, an honor usually reserved for the actor who originates a role.

A documentary of the recording of the original cast album was created by D. A. Pennebaker shortly after the show opened on Broadway [1]. In the film Stritch struggles to record the now immortal song "The Ladies Who Lunch."

The 1996 Roundabout Revival Poster

Playbill from 2006 revival

The show's success prompted a 1971-72 national tour, a 1972 London production at Her Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket, a 1995 Broadway revival by the Roundabout Theatre Company, a 1996 London revival at the Donmar Warehouse, a Brazilian production in Rio in 2001, a limited run at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2002, and yet another Broadway revival in 2006, directed by John Doyle, who helmed the 2005 Broadway revival of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. As they did in the Sweeney Todd production, the actors themselves provide the orchestral accompaniment.

1 Song list
2 Original production awards and nominations
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Song list

Act I

Overture
Company
The Little Things You Do Together
Sorry-Grateful
You Could Drive a Person Crazy
Have I Got A Girl for You
Someone Is Waiting
Another Hundred People
Getting Married Today
Marry Me a Little^*

Act II

Side by Side by Side (What Would We Do Without You?)
Poor Baby
Tick-Tock^**
Barcelona
The Ladies Who Lunch
Being Alive

^*The song "Marry Me a Little" was cut from the original score but was permanently restored in the 1990s to close Act I. Added to the 1995 and 2006 revivals, it is also included in the official composer's edition of the vocal selections, published in 1996. ISBN 0-7935-6763-7.

^**The dance number "Tick-Tock" (arranged by David Shire) was abridged for the first Broadway revival, and afterwards deleted entirely from the score. It had become a liability in productions without dancers of the caliber of Donna McKechnie.