Company (musical)
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-->Company is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth. It concerns the relationships between Bobby, a single man who is celebrating his 35th birthday, and the five married couples who are his best friends. Unlike most musicals, which follow a clearly delineated plot, Company is comprised of short scenes in no particular chronological order, all of them taking place during a metaphysical birthday party. Company was the first musical to deal with more adult problems through its music. As Sondheim put it, "they are middle class people with middle class problems". It was also the first musical where the songs commented on the characters in the play instead of furthering the plot. Among the memorable songs in the show are "The Little Things You Do Together", "Sorry-Grateful", "Another Hundred People", "Getting Married Today", "The Ladies Who Lunch", "Being Alive", and the title song.
"Company" opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on April 26, 1970 and starred Dean Jones, Barbara Barrie, Charles Kimbrough, Beth Howland, and Elaine Stritch. It was the first of several successful collaborations between Sondheim and director Harold Prince. The musical ran for 706 performances on Broadway and it went on to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and the Tony Award for Best Musical. This musical is almost universally beloved as one of the classics of Musical Theatre.
A major revival of "Company" is in the works for Broadway in the fall of 2006 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on 47th Street. The production, directed by John Doyle (director of the current Broadway revival of Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd"), was initially produced at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in March, 2006. Starring Raul Esparza, it was critically heralded by the New York Times. The limited run (March 14 - April 14) played to sold out houses for the majority of its run.
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