Company

It was a bit of a risk going to see this Sondheim show just three months (to the day) after the Donmar’s extraordinary concert staging and less than two years after the Union Theatre’s excellent production, but it’s a risk which paid off.

This is a fresh look at the show in a contemporary setting which works very well indeed. The life and experiences of central character, singleton Bobby, are if anything more believable today, 40 years after its first outing. His friends, five couples, are relentless in their pressure on him to settle down, though this hides their jealousy; to some extent, they are living their lives through him. Each couple has their own story which weaves in and out of Bobby’s with three very different girlfriends.

This production reveals the play inside the musical without losing the impact of the extraordinary songs. It’s edgier and sexier and really does seem like it was written yesterday. The bare staging is very much like the Union production – you don’t have to do much to conjour up a Manhattan loft apartment in a space beneath the railway arches! The band is hidden in a space behind one of three banks of seats (good to see them come out and take a well deserved bow at the end).

Yet again, the casting director (on this occasion, Menier co-founder Danielle Tarento) has done a cracking job. The couples each have real chemistry. As a chorus they dance well and sound great – the title song and Act II opener are both terrific. Michelle Bishop sang ‘Another Hundred People’ better than I’ve ever heard it before. Cassidy Janson climbed the mountain that is ‘Getting Married Today’ with a real manic intensity. Siobhan McCartney was an excellent Joanna, though I felt ‘Ladies Who Lunch’ was a little harsh, adding passion at the expense of musicality. Rupert Young has yet to fully inhabit the very challenging role of Bobby, but it was only his 5th performance.

Director Joe Fredericks and his team are to be warmly congratulated for this fresh look at a modern musical classic, taking risks which paid off and providing some definitive and thrilling moments.