Review: COMPANY, Kimmel Cultural Campus - US National tour

Photo credit: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

Company is an incredibly vibrant and colourful musical, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth. The original 1970’s production was nominated for an incredible fourteen Tony Awards and won six. Company has been revitalised several times, in 1996, 2007, 2018, and 2021, all of which were nominated and won many awards. The 2018 revival in London’s West End was revitalised by three-time Tony Award winning director Marianne Elliot (with the contribution of the legendary Stephen Sondheim) as they rewrote some of the text to expand on the themes of love and companionship. Marianne Elliot is again leading Company on its current US tour.

Company is the beautifully redesigned and modernised story of Bobbie’s 35th birthday party. In the original musical, Bobby was the epitome of the New York City bachelor who goes to blow out the candles on his birthday cake and his attempts at love and intimacy flash before his eyes. In this version, Bobbie is a female (a fabulous New York City socialite modelled after the likes of Helen Gurley Brown and Carrie Bradshaw, with 50 years of pop-culture and the myths of the sex lives of single women in NYC added to the plot. The birthday party scene shapes the first act and resets for the second act so the audience gets to see Bobbie’s experiences with love and how they perceive the love shared between her close friends. Bobbie and the audience learn that it is human nature to crave connection and intimacy, and while we all go about finding these things in different ways, we are better with company.

The fabulous cast has combined decades of experience, thrilling audiences with storytelling through acting, singing and dancing. Britney Coleman stars as an effervescent Bobbie who illuminates the stage with her charismatic smile. Judy McLane plays her cynical and brutally honest best friend. Her number ‘The Ladies Who Lunch’ is one of the highlights of the show. Other memorable cast members include Matt Rodin as Jamie and Ali Louis Bourzgui as Paul, her gay best friends. Their song, ‘Getting Married Today’, practically gets a standing ovation and we were crying laughing, it was so funny. Jacob Dickey as Andy, David Socolar as Theo and Tyler Hardwick as PJ are amazing in ‘You Could Drive A Person Crazy’. We would have loved to see more of their relationships with Bobbie in the show. Other amazing cast members include Kathryn Allison as Sarah, Will Blum as David, Derrick David as Larry, Javier Ignacio as Peter, James Earl Jones II as Harry, Marina Kondo as Susan, and Emma Stratton as Jenny. The cast work so well together and are perfect in each of their scenes, creating a likeable and relatable group of friends for Bobbie.

The visual delights of the staging and set design by Bunny Christie really help the audience delve into the psyche of Bobbie as she is transported from scene to scene. The use of doors and the ways characters arrive and leave the scenes is reminiscent of the impossible constructions of an M.C. Escher painting. While in many ways the set is fairly basic, just like the rest of the musical, there are details everywhere. Company is only in Philadelphia for about two weeks, so get your tickets now before it’s gone for good!

Dazzling and transformative.

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Jamie Flowers

Company plays at the Forrest Theater at Kimmel Cultural Campus, Philadelphia until 10 December, with further information here.