'Company' on PBS

On Wednesday, Feb. 20, PBS's Great Performances series will showcase the 2006 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's 'Company' starring Raul Esparza and directed by John Doyle. In what has become John Doyle's signature style, all the actors also served as the orchestra and played all their own instruments. John won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical for employing a similar style in the Broadway revival of 'Sweeney Todd'.

I thought the "triple-threat" of actor-musician-singer didn't work as well in 'Company' as it did in 'Sweeney Todd'. One of the drawbacks of using actors as musicians is that you reduce the ability to use wind instruments, as the actors need to keep their voices free for singing and speaking. This did not work as well with the music in 'Company' which benefits from having a more complete orchestra (winds included). Also, it was a bit unwieldly to have the actors roam around the stage with their instruments, especially poor Fred Rose who had to roll around with that cello. But I thought this was an excellent revival with outstanding actors. I especially liked the modern, New York-ish set design and lighting.

During the run of the show, the entire company of 'Company' was on hand to promote the cast album and the performed three songs from the show (Barbara Walsh performing "Ladies Who Lunch"; Angel Desai, Elizabeth Stanley, Kelly Jeanne Grant performing "You Could Drive A Person Crazy"; and the great Raul Esparza performing "Marry Me A Little"). You can view those performances on our YouTube site.