Tony/Olivier-winner to direct gender-swapped COMPANY; Sondheim approves

[jacobsnchz14]

Gender switch:#StephenSondheim has given @_elliottharper permission for Bobby to become Bobbie in COMPANY

 

Someone Is Waiting:RosalieCraig @Rosiemae to play BOBBIE in COMPANY for dir #MarianneElliott @_elliottharper prods

[gypsy101]

at first i thought this meant every character would be gender swapped and thought "but why..." This might me kind of cool! she'll be a lesbian, right?

[sabrelady]

UMMM 'h'okay.

[Valentina3]

Ugh I have been gunning for Sutton Foster to play BBobby for such a long time

[Jordan Catalano]

BBobby hits me up on Scruff every day. 

[Valentina3]

That's our Sutton. Method acting even before being cast.

[Wilmingtom]

No, she won't be a lesbian.  They've rewritten "Have I Got a Guy for You."  The director and producer say making Bobbie a woman brings it into the present.  Well it sure doesn't bring the score into the present.  Just listen to the first few bars of the opening.  It is firmly embedded in 1970, as are most of the mores of the story.  I'm afraid that three men singing "You Could Dive a Person Crazy" might be a bit twee.  There's much rewriting to be done and while it's awfully nice for Sondheim to agree, I wonder if Furth would be as magnanimous were he still alive.

[Mr. Nowack]

It'll inspire all the young queens to kill "Another Hundred People," "You Could Drive A Person Crazy" and the "Tick Tock "dance somewhere other than their bedrooms.

[gypsy101]

if she's not a lesbian why is she dating three women at once??

[sabrelady]

"once you're curious, twice your experimenting, three times- you like, it you really like it"

[ukpuppetboy]

Cynthia Erivo expresses her interest..

I'd definitely be interested a heck of a lot more if this was the casting choice announced.

Rosalie Craig is definitely a victim of the "3 strikes rule" in my book: Ragtime, Light Princess, Wonder.Land

[Brave Sir Robin2]

ukpuppetboy said: "Rosalie Craig is definitely a victim of the "3 strikes rule" in my book: Ragtime, Light Princess, Wonder.Land"

Three strikes? For what it's worth, I adore her on The Light Princess cast recording!

[BroadwayConcierge]

I would pay a bajillion dollars to see Cynthia Erivo rip "Being Alive."

[Rumpelstiltskin]

I remember seeing Company for the first time when I was around 17 and dinosaurs ruled the earth.  It was a very different time.  This was about five years before I would hear the word "gay" for the first time, which was only in the context of a mental illness that ensured someone a future as a serial killer in a dress.  So deep inside I felt that I understood Bobby in ways no one else could.  I just assumed Sondheim was writing about the gay (without that word to describe it) male experience, and I've seen it that way ever since.

I suppose this gender-swapping version is the first step toward the gay version that I've always pictured in my mind, but it seems like such an unnecessary tease.

[GavestonPS]

For what it's worth, Rumpelstiltskin, Larry Kert told me and countless others that he always played Bobby as gay. In his view, the entire show was about a man's coming to terms with his own sexuality.

As I'm sure you know, the authors have always vigorously denied this; and I must admit (though I too saw it when the dinosaurs ruled) I think it deflates the content quite a bit to think of the show as merely about a member of a sexual minority instead of a statement on all relationships.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't view it in whatever way moves you the most.

[ukpuppetboy]

Broadway Concierge - I'd second that.

Brave Sir Robin2 - I assume you didn't see the show then?

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Thanks for your comments Gaveston.  I always appreciate your anecdotes and insight.  

[darquegk]

When I saw Jim Stanek play Bobby, he played him in a way that was unfamiliar to me: as a fairly happy, seemingly fulfilled fellow. Part of the reason Bobby is such a cipher is that the introspective, moody and awkward fellow we see does not appear to be the gregarious and vivacious cool guy that all the married couples see and sing about. (Frankly, many Bobbys come off as a downer!)

His epiphany at the end of the show was not that or a stoutly middle aged man realizing that he must succumb to the inevitable, but that of a man who was perfectly content, not at all troubled or lonely, suddenly realizing that maybe he was. Without changing the script at all, this new take on Bobby modernized the show immensely: while a middle aged man with relationship hang ups in 1970 can conceivably be in the closet, a thirty-five-year-old in 2014 dating multiple women and going out on the town all the time is no longer an unusual or unconventional figure.

[Valentina3]

The gay subtext has been denied by the book-writer (George Furth), and the only real nod to it in the original text is the conversation between Peter and Bobby about having fooled around with other men. I think it's a very strong scene personally. I don't know anything about the 2013 retooled version which Roundabout was producing where they were actively pursuing a gay Bobby dating three men at the same time, apart from the articles I found online. Some of these claim that Sondheim had revised some lyrics and dialogue to serve the purpose a bit better.

I think a female Bobby actively denying her (bi)sexuality could be a very strong show. Some of the other characters can use gender-swapping, but in the 11th hour scene - Joanne could remain a woman who finally heavily flirts and visibly arouses Bobby. (Beth Malone for Joanne please?)

It would fundamentally change the show. Apart from showing relationships, it will also be a commentary of how far feminism has brought our society - which we could use. A lot. It definitely needs a good director though.

[Valentina3]

darquegk said: "When I saw Jim Stanek play Bobby, he played him in a way that was unfamiliar to me: as a fairly happy, seemingly fulfilled fellow. Part of the reason Bobby is such a cipher is that the introspective, moody and awkward fellow we see does not appear to be the gregarious and vivacious cool guy that all the married couples see and sing about. (Frankly, many Bobbys come off as a downer!)"

 

??????Raul Esparza played his Bobby kinda chipper. A little subtle/sarcastic sense of humor, but definitely wouldn't call him a downer.

 

[Brave Sir Robin2]

ukpuppetboy - unfortunately no, but I love the cast recording!

[Melissa25]

"I would pay a bajillion dollars to see Cynthia Erivo rip "Being Alive."

Last March at The Ladies Who Sing Sondheim Classic Stage Company benefit, Cynthia Erivo actually gave a bajillion dollar performance singing Being Alive.  It was definitely a highlight of the evening for me and I'd like to see her play Bobbie.

 

[RippedMan]

I think it comes down to gender. Bisexuality, I think, its more prevalent in women. You won't meet many straight males who will admit to having "fooled around" or "kissed" other men, but I know plenty of women who have done such. Not that it makes the idea less interesting, but a bisexual woman is - to me - less interesting because it's a fairly pedestrian concept. I'm more interested in this straight male who is struggling with his sexuality. But maybe I'm biased. 

[imeldasturn]

Cynthia sang a stellar being alive in London a couple of years ago

http://through-my-memoirs.tumblr.com/post/136061019929/cynthia-erivo-sings-being-alive-from-company#notes

[Valentina3]

imeldasturn said: "Cynthia sang a stellar being alive in London a couple of years ago

http://through-my-memoirs.tumblr.com/post/136061019929/cynthia-erivo-sings-being-alive-from-company#notes"

 

I'm crying here. THANKYOU SO MUCH.