People are bending over backwards for a gender-bent production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company. The female-driven revival will finally make its way across the pond from the West End. The show is set to begin previews on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on March 2 with an official opening on Sondheim’s 90th anniversary of “being alive” on March 22.
The original 1970 production of Company follows the story of “Bobby,” a bachelor approaching his 35th birthday in a community where everyone seems to be married. Tony Award-winning director Marianne Elliott has reimagined the musical in present day with the lead character as a woman, “Bobbie,” giving the social implications of the unmarried character a whole new meaning as she wades through the dating pool.
Because of the fact the revival is centered around the social treatment of women, it’s only fitting the show has a female director. Last Broadway season, Rachel Chavkin was the only woman directing a musical on Broadway and the 10th in Tony Awards history to be nominated for direction. To quote Sondheim, a lack of representation is really a way “you could drive a person crazy.”
Fellow Tony Award-winners Katrina Lenk and Patti LuPone are set to star in the musical as Bobbie and “Joanne.” With these powerhouses on stage, I predict nothing less than captivated crowds. While the full cast has not yet been announced, audience members can expect other changes to traditional casting besides the main character Bobbie. Shall we compare them side by side (by side)?
“Marta,” “Kathy” and “April,” the three girlfriends in Bobby’s life, now serve as Bobbie’s boyfriends: “PJ,” “Theo” and “Andy.” Additionally, the character “Amy” has also been gender-bent and is now a man named “Jamie.” This change makes his indecisive engagement to “Paul” a same-sex marriage in a modern America where it is now legal. Even the 11 o’clock number, “Ladies Who Lunch,” has been revisited and now takes place in a hip-hop club with pulsing electronic music.
All of these changes serve to reflect today’s world. Don’t get me wrong, watching a male Bobby struggle with marital expectations and loneliness in traditional productions still makes for an interesting story. I think the difference is when men are single, society accepts it as a reasonable, career-motivated decision. Women in the same scenario are seen as criminals, robbing society of its sexist presumptions of what a woman’s life should look like.
This is not to say men don’t also face pressure to get married, but they certainly don’t face the same maternal expectations. On Bobbie’s 35th birthday, her biological clock ticks as she grows further away from the possibility of having children. This new narrative poses a radical idea that it is okay for women to not desire a domestic lifestyle and challenges what it means to be a woman in 2019.
Bobbie’s problem isn’t that she doesn’t want to be married, rather she simply hasn’t found someone worthy of the job yet. The denouement of the show portrays Bobbie’s rendition of the gut-wrenching ballad, “Being Alive,” where she sings about wanting to be in love with someone, not just anyone.
What has and always will set Company apart from other musicals is there is no “happily-ever-after.” Though Bobbie finally comes to the conclusion she’s ready for a serious relationship, she still doesn’t have anyone in mind. The resolution of the show is therefore an internal one, arguing personal growth is just as important as tangible accomplishments.
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