Company
Original Broadway playbill
Music	Stephen Sondheim
Lyrics	Stephen Sondheim
Book	George Furth
Premiere	March 24, 1970 (1970-03-24): Shubert Theatre, Boston
Productions	1970 Broadway 1971 North American Tour 1972 West End 1995 Broadway revival 1995 London revival 2006 Broadway revival 2018 West End revival 2021 Broadway revival 2023 North American Tour
Awards	1971 Tony Award for Best Musical 1971 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical 1971 Tony Award for Best Score (music) 1971 Tony Award for Best Lyrics 2007 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical 2019 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival 2022 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical

Company is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth. The original 1970 production was nominated for a record-setting 14 Tony Awards, winning six. Company was among the first book musicals to deal with contemporary dating, marriage, and divorce,^[1] and is a notable example of a concept musical lacking a linear plot.^[2] In a series of vignettes, Company follows bachelor Bobby interacting with his married friends, who throw a party for his 35th birthday.^[3]

Background

George Furth wrote 11 one-act plays planned for Kim Stanley. Anthony Perkins was interested in directing and gave the material to Sondheim, who asked Harold Prince for his opinion. Prince said the plays could be a good basis for a musical about New York marriages with a central character to examine those marriages.^[4]

Synopsis

In the early 1990s, Furth and Sondheim revised the libretto, cutting and altering dialogue that had become dated and rewriting the end of act one. This synopsis is based on the revised libretto.

Act I

Robert is a well-liked single man living in New York City whose friends are married or engaged couples. The couples are Joanne and Larry, Peter and Susan, Harry and Sarah, David and Jenny, and Paul and Amy. It is Robert's 35th birthday and the couples have gathered to throw him a surprise party. When Robert fails to blow out any candles on his birthday cake, the couples promise him that his birthday wish will still come true, although Bobby wished for nothing, and said that his friends are all he needs ("Company").

What follows is a series of disconnected vignettes in no chronological order, each featuring Robert visiting with one of the couples or alone on a date with a girlfriend.

In the first vignette, Robert visits Sarah, a foodie who is dieting, and her husband, Harry, a recovering alcoholic. Sarah and Harry taunt each other on their vices, escalating toward karate-like fighting and thrashing that may or may not be playful. This prompts the caustic Joanne, the oldest, most cynical, and most-often divorced of Robert's friends, to sarcastically comment to the audience that it is the little things that make a marriage work ("The Little Things You Do Together"). Harry explains, and the men concur, that most people are both thankful and regretful about getting married, and that marriage changes both everything and nothing about the way they live ("Sorry – Grateful").

Robert is next with Peter and Susan, on their apartment terrace. Peter is an Ivy League graduate, and Susan is a Southern belle; the two seem to be a perfect couple, yet they surprise Robert with the news of their upcoming divorce. At the home of the uptight Jenny and chic David, Robert has brought along some marijuana that the three share. The couple turns to grilling Robert on why he has not yet gotten married. Robert claims he is not against the notion, but three women he is currently dating—Kathy, Marta, and April—appear and proceed, Andrews Sisters-style, to chastise Robert for his reluctance to being committed ("You Could Drive a Person Crazy"). After Jenny asks for another joint, but is discouraged by David, David privately tells Robert that Jenny does not actually like marijuana, but partakes in it as a show of her love for him.

All of Robert's male friends are deeply envious about his commitment-free status, and each has found someone they find perfect for Robert ("Have I Got a Girl for You"), but Robert is waiting for someone who merges the best features of all his married female friends ("Someone Is Waiting"). Robert meets his three girlfriends in a small park on separate occasions, as Marta sings of the city: crowded, dirty, uncaring, yet somehow wonderful ("Another Hundred People"). Robert first gets to know April, a slow-witted airline flight attendant. Robert then spends time with Kathy. They had dated previously and both admit that they had each secretly considered marrying the other. They laugh at this coincidence before Robert suddenly considers the idea seriously. However, Kathy reveals that she is leaving for Cape Cod with a new fiancé. Finally, Robert meets with Marta; she loves New York, and babbles on about topics both highbrow and lowbrow. Robert is left stunned.

The scene turns to the day of Amy and Paul's wedding; they have lived together for years, but are just now getting married. Amy has gotten an overwhelming case of cold feet, and as the upbeat Paul harmonizes rapturously, a panicking Amy confesses to the audience that she can't go through with it ("Getting Married Today"). Robert, the best man, and Paul watch as Amy complains and self-destructs over every petty thing she can possibly think of, and then finally explicitly calls off the wedding. Paul dejectedly storms out into the rain and Robert tries to comfort Amy, but emotionally winds up offering an impromptu proposal to her himself. His words jolt Amy back into reality, and she runs out after Paul, at last ready to marry him. The setting returns to the scene of the birthday party, where Robert is given his cake and tries to blow out the candles again. He wishes for something this time ("Marry Me A Little").

Act II

The birthday party scene is reset, and Robert goes to blow out his candles. This time, he gets them about half out, and the couples have to help him with the rest. The couples share their views on Robert — both complimentary and unflattering – with each other as Robert reflects on being the third wheel ("Side By Side By Side"), soon followed by the up-tempo paean to Robert's role as the perfect friend ("What Would We Do Without You?"). In a dance break in the middle of the number, each man, in turn, does a dance step that is answered by his wife. Robert likewise does a step but he has no partner to answer it.

Robert brings April to his apartment for a nightcap, after a date. She marvels at how homey his place is, and he casually leads her to the bed, sitting next to her on it and working on getting her into it. She earnestly tells him of an experience from her past, involving the death of a butterfly; he counters with a bizarre remembrance of his own, obviously fabricated and designed to put her in the mood to succumb to his seduction. Meanwhile, the married women worry about Robert's single status and the unsuitable qualities they find in the women he dates ("Poor Baby"). As Robert and April have sex, we hear Robert and April's thoughts, interspersed with music that expresses and mirrors their increasing excitement ("Tick-Tock"). In some productions, including the original Broadway production, this is accompanied by a solo dance by Kathy.^[5] The next morning, April rises early, to report for duty aboard a flight to Barcelona. Robert tries to get her to stay, at first wholeheartedly, parrying her apologetic protestations that she cannot with playful begging and insistence. As April continues to reluctantly resist his entreaties, and sleepiness retakes him, Bobby loses conviction, agreeing that she should go; that change apparently gets to her, and she joyfully declares that she will stay, after all. This takes Robert by surprise, and his astonished, plaintive "Oh, God!" is suffused with fear and regret ("Barcelona").

Robert and Marta visit Peter and Susan, and learn that Peter flew to Mexico to get the divorce, but he phoned Susan and she joined him there for a vacation. Though they are divorced, they are still living together, claiming they have too many responsibilities to actually leave each other's lives, and that their relationship has actually been strengthened. Susan takes Marta inside to make lunch, and Peter asks Robert if he has ever had a homosexual experience. They both admit they have, and Peter hints at the possibility that Robert and he could have such an encounter, but Robert uncomfortably laughs off the conversation as a joke.

Joanne and Larry take Robert out to a nightclub, where Larry dances, and Joanne and Robert sit watching, getting thoroughly drunk. She blames Robert for always being an outsider, only watching life rather than living it, and also persists in berating Larry. She raises her glass in a mocking toast, passing judgment on various types of rich, middle-aged women wasting their lives away with mostly meaningless activities ("The Ladies Who Lunch"). Her harshest criticism is reserved for those, like herself, who "just watch",^[6] and she concludes with the observation that all these ladies are bound together by a terror that comes with the knowledge that "everybody dies". Larry returns from the dance floor, taking Joanne's drunken rant without complaint and explains to Robert that he still loves her dearly. When Larry leaves to pay the check, Joanne bluntly invites Robert to begin an affair with her, assuring him that she will "take care of him". Robert's reply, "But who will I take care of?" seems to surprise even him, and strikes Joanne as a profound breakthrough on his part. Robert insists he has been open to marriages and commitment, but questions "What do you get?" Upon Larry's return, Robert asks again, angrily, "What do you get?" Joanne declares, with some satisfaction, "I just did someone a big favor". She and Larry go home, leaving Robert lost in frustrated contemplation.

The couples' recurrent musical motif begins yet again, as they all again invite Bobby to "drop by anytime...". Rather than the cheery, indulgent tone he had responded with in earlier scenes, Robert suddenly, desperately, shouts "STOP!" He sings, openly enumerating the many traps and dangers he perceives in marriage; speaking their disagreements, his friends counter his ideas, one by one, encouraging him to dare to try for love and commitment. Finally, Bobby's words change, expressing a desire, increasing in urgency, for loving intimacy, even with all its problems, and the wish to meet someone with whom to face the challenge of living ("Being Alive"). The opening party resets a final time; Robert's friends have waited two hours, with still no sign of him. At last, they all prepare to leave, expressing a new hopefulness about their absent friend's chances for loving fulfillment, and wishing him a happy birthday, wherever he may be, as they leave. Robert then appears alone, smiles, and blows out his candles ("Finale").

Principal casts

Character	Broadway	North American Tour	West End	First Broadway Revival	First West End Revival	Kennedy Center	Second Broadway Revival	New York Philharmonic Concert	Second West End Revival	Third Broadway Revival	Second National Tour
	1970	1971	1972	1995	1996	2002	2006	2011	2018	2020	2023
Robert	Dean Jones	George Chakiris	Larry Kert	Boyd Gaines	Adrian Lester	John Barrowman	Raúl Esparza	Neil Patrick Harris	Rosalie Craig (as Bobbie)	Katrina Lenk (as Bobbie)	Britney Coleman (as Bobbie)
Joanne	Elaine Stritch			Debra Monk	Sheila Gish	Lynn Redgrave	Barbara Walsh	Patti LuPone			Judy McLane
Larry	Charles Braswell	Robert Goss		Timothy Landfield	Paul Bentley	Walter Charles	Bruce Sabath	Jim Walton	Ben Lewis	Terence Archie	Derrick Davis
Amy	Beth Howland			Veanne Cox	Sophie Thompson	Alice Ripley	Heather Laws	Katie Finneran	Jonathan Bailey (as Jamie)	Matt Doyle (as Jamie)	Matt Rodin (as Jamie)
Paul	Steve Elmore	Del Hinkley	Steve Elmore	Danny Burstein	Michael Simkins	Matt Bogart	Robert Cunningham	Aaron Lazar	Alex Gaumond	Etai Benson	Ali Louis Bourzgui
Sarah	Barbara Barrie	Marti Stevens		Kate Burton	Rebecca Front	Keira Naughton	Kristin Huffman	Martha Plimpton	Mel Giedroyc	Jennifer Simard	Kathryn Allison
Harry	Charles Kimbrough	Charles Braswell	Kenneth Kimmins	Robert Westenberg	Clive Rowe	David Pittu	Keith Buterbaugh	Stephen Colbert	Gavin Spokes	Christopher Sieber	James Earl Jones II
Susan	Merle Louise	Milly Ericson	Joy Franz	Patricia Ben Peterson	Clare Burt	Christy Baron	Amy Justman	Jill Paice	Daisy Maywood	Rashidra Scott	Marina Kondo
Peter	John Cunningham	Gary Krawford	J. T. Cromwell	Jonathan Dokuchitz	Gareth Snook	Dan Cooney	Matt Castle	Craig Bierko	Ashley Campbell	Greg Hildreth	Javier Ignacio
Jenny	Teri Ralston			Diana Canova	Liza Sadovy	Emily Skinner	Leenya Rideout	Jennifer Laura Thompson	Jennifer Saayeng	Nikki Renée Daniels	Emma Stratton
David	George Coe	Lee Goodman		John Hillner	Teddy Kempner	Marc Vietor	Fred Rose	Jon Cryer	Richard Henders	Christopher Fitzgerald	Matt Bittner
April	Susan Browning	Bobbi Jordan	Carol Richards	Jane Krakowski	Hannah James	Kim Director	Elizabeth Stanley	Christina Hendricks	Richard Fleeshman (as Andy)	Claybourne Elder (as Andy)	Jacob Dickey (as Andy)
Marta	Pamela Myers			LaChanze	Anna Francolini	Marcy Harriel	Angel Desai	Anika Noni Rose	George Blagden (as PJ)	Bobby Conte Thornton (as PJ)	Tyler Hardwick (as PJ)
Kathy	Donna McKechnie			Charlotte d'Amboise	Kiran Hocking	Elizabeth Zins	Kelly Jeanne Grant	Chryssie Whitehead	Matthew Seadon-Young (as Theo)	Manu Narayan (as Theo)	David Socolar (as Theo)

Notable replacements

Broadway (1970–1972)

• Robert: Larry Kert
• Joanne: Vivian Blaine, Jane Russell
• Larry: Stanley Grover
• Amy: Marian Haley
• Sarah: Cynthia Harris
• Harry: Kenneth Kimmins
• David: George D. Wallace
• Kathy: Priscilla Lopez

2nd Broadway revival (1995)

• Robert: Bradley Dean (s/b)

3rd Broadway revival (2020-2022)

• David: Jeff Kready
• Theo: Kyle Dean Massey^[7]

Song list

Productions

Original Broadway production

Company opened in Boston in out-of-town tryouts, receiving mixed reviews.^[11]

Directed by Hal Prince, the musical opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on April 26, 1970, and closed on January 1, 1972, after 705 performances and 12 previews.^[12][13] The opening cast included Dean Jones, who replaced Anthony Perkins early in the rehearsals, Donna McKechnie, Susan Browning, George Coe, Pamela Myers, Barbara Barrie, Charles Kimbrough, Merle Louise, Beth Howland, and Elaine Stritch.^[14] Musical staging was by Michael Bennett, assisted by Bob Avian. The set design by Boris Aronson consisted of two working elevators and various vertical platforms that emphasized the musical's theme of isolation.^[12]

Displeased with the show and struggling with personal issues, Jones left the show on May 28, 1970, and was replaced by understudy Larry Kert, who had created the role of Tony in West Side Story.^[15]

In his September 2, 2015, obituary for Jones in The New York Times, Mike Flaherty reported that "he quit the production, citing stress and depression related to the recent collapse of his own marriage." Flaherty quotes Jones' 1982 autobiography, Under running laughter, in which he wrote of Company: "It was a clever, bright show on the surface, but its underlying message declared that marriage was, at best, a vapid compromise, insoluble and finally destructive."^[16]

Kert earned rave reviews for his performance, and the Tony Awards committee decided that he was eligible to compete for Best Actor in a Musical, an honor usually reserved for the actor who originates a role.^[17]

Original replacement cast members included John Cunningham, the original Peter, as Bobby, and Vivian Blaine and Jane Russell, as Joanne.^[12][18]

Original Cast Album: Company

Award-winning documentary filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker captured the making-of the original cast recording shortly after the show opened on Broadway. His 1970 film Original Cast Album: Company earned early accolades, as well as a cult following, for its unvarnished look at a grueling recording session.^[19][20] Stritch, Sondheim, and producer Thomas Z. Shepard are featured prominently.

First national tour

The first national tour opened on May 20, 1971, at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California, with George Chakiris as Bobby, and closed on May 20, 1972, at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C.^[21]

Original London production

The first West End production opened on January 18, 1972, at Her Majesty's Theatre, where it closed on November 4, 1972, after 344 performances. The original cast, directed by Harold Prince with choreography by Michael Bennett, featured Larry Kert, Elaine Stritch, Joy Franz (Susan), Beth Howland (Amy) and Donna McKechnie (Kathy). Dilys Watling (Amy) and Julia McKenzie (April) were replacements, later in the run.^[22]

With so many Broadway cast members reprising their roles, producers chose not to record a new cast album; instead, they re-released the original cast album, replacing Jones's vocals with Kert's, and branded it the London cast album.^[23]

Original Australian production

The Sydney Theatre Company presented the first Australian production at the Sydney Opera House's Drama Theatre in January and February 1986. Directed by Richard Wherrett, it featured John O'May as Bobby, Geraldine Turner as Joanne, with other cast members, including Tony Sheldon, Simon Burke, Terence Donovan, and Barry Quin.^[24][25]

1993 reunion concerts

Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Company_(musical)
Text je dostupný za podmienok Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 Unported; prípadne za ďalších podmienok. Podrobnejšie informácie nájdete na stránke Podmienky použitia.

---