Company: A Musical Comedy

Marry me a little...Love me just enough...Cry but not too often...Play but not too rough...Keep a tender distance...So we'll both be free...That's the way it ought to be....

Only Stephen Sondheim could come up with such sophisticated couplets to a love song as disquieting as the beautiful "Marry Me a Little". I was very fortunate to have seen the enthralling 2006 production at the Ethel Barrymore Theater last season, and I'm thrilled it has been captured for posterity on DVD as part of PBS's "Great Performances" series. There is something supremely ironic about how a 37-year old show, already revived twice, can feel fresher than most Broadway musicals written today. However, when the music reflects Sondheim at his most accomplished with performers so adept, it becomes a moot point, even though several of the songs here have been inescapable at karaoke bars for years from the lips of overly zealous musical theater aficionados.

Staged like a minimalist cabaret act, John Doyle's joyous revival uses the same technique he used in his 2005 production of Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd", specifically he has the actors play their own musical instruments, a daring move which actually helps underline the characters' feelings. The story is blessedly simple as it revolves around perennial bachelor Bobby, as he turns 35 and observes his circle of upscale Manhattanite friends, five married couples at different stages in various vignettes that make him reconsider what he wants out of life. Juggling three girlfriends, Bobby is a likable but elliptical figure with commitment issues, and the story really follows his journey toward self-acceptance. There is an element of contrivance to the structure, but what I thought would be a severely dated libretto by George Furth continues to resonate with wit and insight.

For a canon as legendary and often erratic as his, Sondheim's sophisticated music and lyrics never seemed as accessible and hummable as they do here. So much of the show rides on the crucial casting of Bobby, and Raúl Esparza is terrifically bold and poignant in managing the precarious balance between yearning romantic and cynical hedonist. With a beautifully expressive singing voice coupled with a common-guy demeanor, he captures the character's arc with an escalating emotional intensity from the measured romanticism of "Someone Is Waiting" to the tender tentativeness of "Marry Me a Little" (with the beautiful, Sondheim-trademarked rolling piano) to the bursting climactic catharsis of "Being Alive".

The rest of the cast accomplish wonderful moments that already come with high expectations - Heather Laws' dexterously motors her way through "Getting Married Today" with her character's nerve-wracking intensity intact; Elizabeth Stanley brings a likable warmth to the dim-bulb flight attendant April as she duets sweetly with Esparza on the comically post-coital "Barcelona"; Angel Desai's saucy turn as hip Marta on "Another Hundred People"; the poignant "Sorry-Grateful" performed by the comparatively less spotlighted male ensemble; and of course, there are the lacerating observations in "The Ladies Who Lunch", handled with fierce worldliness by Barbara Walsh as Joanne. In the intimidating shadow of Elaine Stritch, Walsh lets out repeated primal screams at the end that pierce with wounding acuity.

TV director Lonny Price does a fluent job transferring the production to the small screen with minimum fuss. The 2008 DVD contains three terrific extras. First, there is a fifteen-minute interview with an articulate and thoughtful Esparza who discusses his connection with Bobby, the challenge of learning piano, and the alternating joy and pressure of working with Sondheim (for the third time). There is also a nine-minute interview with the erudite Doyle who explains how his unique use of actors as musicians went over with Sondheim. The centerpiece has to be a fascinating, 38-minute interview that Australian TV personality Jonathan Biggins conducted with Sondheim last year in Sydney's Theatre Royal. Sondheim is particularly forthcoming with humorous anecdotes about working with the likes of Leonard Bernstein, Ethel Merman, Barbra Streisand, and his mentor Oscar Hammerstein II during his long, illustrious career. This is a wonderful DVD for any Broadway aficionado and particularly for fans of Sondheim, Esparza and Doyle. I happen to be all three.

This is an incredible production of a great musical, with snappy songs and an interesting premise. The show has an unconventional plot as a man is trying to sort out all kinds of feelings which are projected onto a number of people who he knows. What the title Compnay implies is a matter of subjective interpretation, but what is evident is the sheer talent of the performers who not only sing and dance and have dialogue, but play musical instruments too. It's a rare show that gives actors the opportunity to showcase such an array of talent. If you are expecting a conventional kind of story, this production may not be for you. But if you watch the show with an open mind, you will be in for a pleasant surprise as the music and story work their magic. Raul Esparza and the rest of the cast are wonderful. They're performances are superb. Congratulations to Stephen Sondheim for his terrific lyrics. This is a video that is well worth watching.

If you love Stephen Sondheim you'll love Company. Maybe not his absolute best as a whole, Sweeney Todd from a personal opinion is his masterpiece, but has everything that is to love about his musicals and quite possibly his most accessible too. Smartly written, funny and poignant with clever, poetic lyrics and beautiful music as well as characters you can identify with, even when not Sondheim's very best it is one of his best. The story is somewhat unconventional in that there isn't hugely much of one, but it is still so entertaining while taking on a very emotional journey that you don't care. It also develops its characters strongly, and relationships are handled in a deft and sometimes cynical way.

This is an excellent production. For me the Neil Patrick Harris production from 2011 was marginally better, the omission of Tick-Tock in this production was disappointing(though it's not the first time it's been cut from the show) and Angel Desai has a few moments of strain in Another Hundred People. The 2011 production has Tick-Tock and has Another Hundred People sung perfectly. The orchestra don't sound as powerful either, those who love the big band Sondheim will want to look elsewhere as how it's performed here is part of John Doyle's concept, with some of the actors also taking on the roles of instrumentalists. To be said though, it did work very well for the production and was very well performed.

Doyle's stage direction is fine, it is minimalist and done like a cabaret act- Company is essentially a concept musical in the first place so doing something different is not a problem- but the smart, funny moments still make you laugh and the poignant moments genuinely moving. The piano is like a character itself in this production and it's very effectively done, with people singing on top of it and also bringing out Bobby's "boyish voyeur". The production is also remarkably intimate, that works because some of the themes in Company require that touch, and it was good that it was clear that Bobby was the focal point while not wholly neglecting the supporting cast.

Production values-wise, the production is striking in how simple it is. Some may find it stark in colour, and it is understandable with the performers in black and the stage being bare a lot of the time, but personally it fitted perfectly with the intimacy of the staging. The video directing is clear, while not cinematic it's never stage bound either as well as not too close or too distant, there's a good deal of professionalism here. With the close ups of Bobby's face you can feel and see the emotion. The sound is excellent and the picture quality is generally good.

Raul Esparza does a wonderful job as Bobby, he has a lovely voice and has a great sensitivity, charisma and boyish charm. Barbara Walsh attacks her role with fierce abandon and a good sense of worldliness(especially in Ladies at Lunch), true she's not Elaine Stritch nor did she try or need to be. Her voice is great, it's not as volcanic as Patti Lupone's but quality-wise it is a much more appealing sound. Angel Desai does sound a little strained at times in her big number Another Hundred People but is appropriately saucy and charming. Heather Laws is wonderfully intense, Elizabeth Stanley is affecting and warm personality-wise and the male ensemble while simplified in number sing beautifully.

All in all, excellent and hugely enjoyable. 8.5/10 Bethany Cox

Since PBS's "Great Performances" was the first time I ever watched any version of Stephen Sondheim's late '60s/early '70s musical "Company", I didn't really have any idea what to expect. Actually, to go back, I've read some reviews and looked at the back of a DVD of a documentary of the original run of the show and I knew it had something to do with marriages and relationships and many of these couples being the friends of this one single guy. Bobby is his name, I believe. Anyway, it takes place at his apartment where everyone is waiting for him to show up for his surprise birthday. And then it goes back and forth in his conversations with these friends and with some of his former dates. Since it's Sondheim, you definitely don't expect anything conventional to be going on. In fact, this version is even more unusual since the entire cast are also playing instruments while enacting their parts. Most of the women are fine here especially the ones playing Marta and Joanne. And I was impressed throughout with Raul Esparza as the leading character especially when he sang "Being Alive". Nice humorous touches throughout and still a timely observation of what it's like trying to connect with love in the big city. For that reason, not to mention Sondheim himself discussing his contributions in a separate segment afterward, I highly recommend this version of "Company".

Second rate cast. Third rate production. Fourth rate concept.

I have the highest praise for "Company" as a musical. Smart dialog. Witty songs. The idea of creating a musical based not on a story (it doesn't have one), but on the concept of interpersonal relationships was ground breaking. This is one of Stephen Sondheim's best! In this production the cast plays all the musical instruments. I guess that saved on paying for an orchestra. What we end up with is a group of performers who must be actor/singer/musician. That is asking a lot. And not one person in the cast is good at all three. We end up with the actors delivering lines while holding on to their musical instruments. To be true to the musical they would also have to dance. The director has saved them from that be removing all the dancing. "Tic-Toc" is gone and "Side-by-side-by-side" looses its punch.

The star/director also includes a solo for himself at the end of act one that did not make it to Broadway and for good reason. It's a nice song, but it diminishes the impact of Robert's singing "Being Alive" at the end of act two.

"Company" deserves better treatment than this production. Just watch the DVD of the making of the Original Broadway Cast album and you will see the potential. It is great that "Company" is finally out on DVD. It is sad that this is the production they give us.