Company

Two's a company, three's a crowd, and one is a bachelor's paradise or hell
Anne-Margret Bellavoine, Anaheim Bulletin

Sondheim may not be a musical household name in every circle, but he has enjoyed a recent resurgence of interest in Southern California, on small and large stages. The Chance chose Company, directed and choreographed by Martie Ramm. We follow entrenched bachelor Robert (Patrick Rowley) through the year beginning on his 35th birthday, and ending on his 36th.

Most of his buddies are now married, with various degrees of success, but all, especially the wives, make it their duty to encourage Robert to join their ranks in the socially sanctioned state of matrimony.

Thus, Sarah and Harry (Rachel Greenlee and Jason Wesley Green), Susan and Peter (Lisa Zaradich and Dean Anderson), Jenny and David (Erika Miller and Michael Irish), Amy and Paul (Bonnie Wickeraad and Geoffrey Varga) and Joanne and Larry (Clare Solly and Frank Martinelli), all socialize with Robert, expressing their concern about his welfare and extolling the virtues of married life in spite of the obvious flaws in all their relationships.

Sarah and Harry vie for superiority and fight eating and drinking problems. Susan and Peter court divorce in spite of an apparent deep love for each other. Jenny and David get high when the kids are asleep, David bemoaning the squareness of his wife. Amy and Paul have lived together a long time and she is considering suicide on their very wedding day. Joanne and Larry have an unequal match which leaves her deeply dissatisfied but him masochistically pleased.

Robert does not lack for companionship with an assortment of girlfriends, young gen Y'er Marta (Kim Kerry-Tyerma), Kathy (Neena Tilton), ill at ease in the City, and April (Sarah Moreau), the airhead air hostess in pre P.C. days.

The piece was written in 1971 and won numerous awards. Reset in contemporary New York, it has lost nothing of its validity and verve.
Chuck Retter's set delineates two levels with apartment interiors and an overhead balcony with a skyline background covering the live orchestra led by Bill Wolfe, also Musical Director.

The unifying theme is Robert's central role in his social circle, as we all are, and whether he his a different person or the same when relating to his friends. Marriage is a paradox of contradictions, happiness and misery woven into one, with its reality traps versus the elusive contradictory goal of freedom and self actualization through an other.

Robert himself seeks an elusive idealized mate, as we all do, looking for a composite in his friends' wives. The women see in him the embodiment of the perfect catch in this eminently eligible and likeable, but confirmed bachelor.
Is one lonely when alone or in a couple or with company? Each song highlights a couple or individual's relationship with Robert. The truth is that just being alive is reason enough for happiness, regardless of the dichotomy and contradictions in life. Live happily ever after, or at least enjoy life as best you can while you have it to enjoy.

Good 'Company' for an evening
Chance Theatre captures the poignancy and sharp edge of the award-winning 1970 musical.
by Eric Marchese, Special to the Register

"Company" is the kind of superb musical that both celebrates its era - the free-wheeling 1970s - and transcends it, so there's no reason any current revival can't be as smashingly enjoyable as the original.

Stephen Sondheim's songs and George Furth's libretto focus on Robert, a single guy who, at 35, has begun to question his life of solitude. In counterpoint are his 10 "good and crazy" married friends - five couples whose attitudes toward being married are as varied as those of the bachelor they call Bobby.

Fans of "Company" should check out The Chance Theater's staging, which encapsulates everything innovative and insightful about the Tony Award-winning show. Director and choreographer Martie Ramm makes the action less specific to the '70s and to New York City, using smooth blocking and pacing to ease us into the show's many laughs. What also emerge are subtle observations about our society and a bittersweet look at the institution of marriage.

Though on the youngish side, Ramm's ensemble is outstanding, their dramatic skills matched only by their mastery of the score's 14 brilliant songs. Patrick Rowley's serious portrayal of Robert eschews the image of a swinging bachelor in favor of a considerate, often introspective guy whose reactions to the antics of his wedded friends speak volumes. Rowley invests the role with increasing desperation for the pluses - and also the minuses - of married life, lending solid vocals to the poignant, searing lyrics of the show's closing number, "Being Alive."

Among the indelible characterizations are Erika C. Miller's sweet, kooky Jenny and Michael Irish's warm, quietly devoted David; Jason Wesley Green's bearish, urban Harry and Rachel Greenlee's blunt Sarah; Lisa C. Zaradich's Southern belle Susan and Dean Anderson's genial, gentle Peter.

We gain the most insight into Amy and Paul, in that nether land between being engaged and actually tying the knot. Geoffrey Varga's Paul is adoring of Bonnie Wickeraad's openly neurotic Amy, whose carefully controlled panic over marriage mirrors Robert's and explodes in the hilariously breathless, rapid-fire lyrics of "Getting Married Today."

Frank Martinelli is smiling and unruffled in the underwritten role of Larry; as Joanne, his jaded, sneering, thrice-married wife, Clare Solly is effective but ultimately miscast in a role that requires a more strident, harsh persona. Of Robert's three girlfriends, only Sarah Moreau's cheerfully dense April creates a meaningful impression. Lacking quirkiness is Kim Kerry-Tyerman's Marta, who is honest and funny in an earthy way, while Neena Tilton needs a stuffier façade as New England society-bred Kathy.

With a black, gray and magenta color scheme, Chuck Ketter's set design creates an abstract urban feel complemented by Clarissa C. Pitts' costumes - for Robert, neutral colors, for each of the couples, a distinct look reflecting their varying income levels and social status. With Bill Wolfe's musical direction as a substantial foundation, the songs - including "Sorry-Grateful," "Marry Me a Little," "Side by Side by Side" and the title song - are well-staged and well-sung (a four-woman chorus is neatly placed near the tech booth), underscoring Sondheim's genius for harmony, counterpoint and penetrating lyrics.
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Freelance writer Eric Marchese has covered entertainment for the Register since 1984.

Every Stephen Sondheim fan has a soft spot for Company, his acerbic examination of sexual politics and the single life, circa 1970. All of Bobby's friends want to see him married, but their messy, imperfect marriages convince him otherwise. $15-$25. The Chance Theater, 5552 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim Hills. Friday through Oct. 17. (714) 777-3033 or www.chancetheater.com.

Sondheim’s ‘Company’ is Still Welcome
Groundbreaking musical remains fresh 30 years after its Broadway debut.
by Christopher Trela, O.C. Metro

Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s innovative musical comedy “Company” swept the 1971 Tony Awards with seven wins, including Best Musical, and paved the way for such Broadway sensations as “A Chorus Line” and “Rent.” “Company” is a wry and witty look at modern-day urban marriage whose story revolves around a confirmed bachelor and his married friends, and explores the themes of love and commitment, fear and longing, and the simple joy of being alive.

Sondheim himself stated, “’Company’ is a show where the audience would sit for two hours screaming their heads off with laughter and then go home and not be able to sleep.” The show is being revived at the Chance Theater in Anaheim through Oct. 17, and Sondheim’s right: The show is very funny, with witty, wry and occasionally caustic comments on marriage strewn among 20 songs and snippits of music. And, as the Chance Theater’s terrific production shows, “Company” still holds up well after 30 years

In fact, notes director and choreographer Martie Ramm, “Company” remains as fresh and vital as ever.

“The show was so far ahead of its time,” notes Ramm. “It was only the second concept musical the first being “Hair” and had little scenery, a unit set, and a few furniture changes. The music and dance are not only part of the action, but are used to comment on the situations and characters. It was revolutionary, which is why it seems so current today.”

A member of the theater arts department at both Fullerton College and Golden West College, Ramm started her career in theater as a dancer. After appearing in the original London cast of “A Chorus Line” and performing in the chorus of a handful of Broadway shows, including “Annie” and “Evita,” Ramm turned to directing and choreography. Ironically, she worked on a production of “Company” many years ago and hated the show. Now, 28 years later, Ramm says she is enjoying the experience much more because she has a better understanding of the show, and of life.

“I was very young, and I thought marriage should not be like this,” explains Ramm.
“Now, I’m looking at the show from a different perspective, and I see huge sections of humor that I did not understand before.”