Boston Review: SpeakEasy Stage Keeps "Company" Cozy and Warm

"Company"

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Book by George Furth

Director, Paul Daigneault

Music Director/Conductor, Paul S. Katz

Choreographer, David Connolly

Set Designer, Eric Levenson

Lighting Design, Karen Perlow

Costume Design, Gail Astrid Buckley

Cast:

Robert, Michael Mendiola

Sarah, Julie Jirousek

Harry, Jerry Bisantz

Susan, Merle Perkins

Peter, Ted Hewlett

Jenny, Kerry A. Dowling

David, Will McGarrahan

Amy, Elaine Theodore

Paul, David Krinitt

Joanne, Nancy E. Carroll

Larry, Sean McGuirk

Marta, Sara Chase

Kathy, Aimee Doherty

April, Stephanie Carlson

Performances: Now through November 13

Box Office: 617-933-8600 or www.SpeakEasyStage.com

The beautiful new Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts has been launched in style with a sparkling 35^th anniversary production of Stephen Sondheim's "Company." Presented by the SpeakEasy Stage Company, this high-spirited mounting is a champagne toast to the original pre-Broadway Boston tryout, the benefactors who made the state-of-the-art multi-cultural facility possible, and all those good and crazy married people of the play who won't let their single friend Robert spend yet another birthday alone.

This SpeakEasy production is a somewhat kinder, gentler "Company" than the original, which was written back in the day when the prevailing romantic philosophy was "If you can't be with the one you love, honey, love the one you're with." Gone from this updated version is the pulsating lovemaking number "Tick Tock," and added is the Act One finale, "Marry Me a Little," the guarded bachelor Robert's goose-bump inducing anthem to his fear of commitment at war with his desire for companionship.

Throughout the play, which uses the occasion of Robert's 35^th birthday to trigger an analysis of his own – and his married friends' – personal relationships, "Bobby" conjures up scene after scene of daily encounters that illustrate how being alive and in love creates a paradox of pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, humor and sadness, tenderness and cynicism. Sarah and Harry's seemingly endless bitter battle for control ultimately manifests itself in a hilarious karate match that melts into hugs. Susan and Peter finally find true happiness living together – after they divorce. Jenny and David each seem to have sacrificed dreams and settled for complacency, but a pot-enhanced evening with Bobby reveals that their apparently regretful choices have really been unspoken acts of selfless love.

Contrasted against the couples that have, for better or worse, settled comfortably into long-term marriages are newlyweds Amy and Paul, two sides of an excruciatingly funny neurotic seesaw on which her anxieties are balanced by his endless devotion. At the other end of the neurotic spectrum are Joanne and Larry, the many times married – and much scarred – couple whose thick and very prickly outward defenses nevertheless give way to supportive understanding when threatening forces are no longer around.

Terrific performances by each and every cast member make this "Company" intimate and endearing. Michael Mendiola gives us a Robert who is less critical of his married friends than he is bewildered by their willingness to be in less-than-perfect relationships. He is a bit tortured by his inability to nest, yet his insecurities won't allow him to get any closer than casual with his dates du jour – the madcap Marta, the steadfast Kathy, or the scatter-brained April. Instead he sings of his ideal girl – a composite of the best traits of all the women in his life – and one that is, of course, unattainable.

Standout musical numbers are delivered throughout this SpeakEasy Stage production. Most notable are "Another Hundred People" sung by Marta (Sara Chase), Amy's show-stopping "Getting Married Today" performed with brilliant comic twists by Elaine Theodore, Robert's spine-tingling "Marry Me a Little," and Joanne's barbed ode to the "Ladies Who Lunch" sung with piercing sarcasm and self-deprecation by the fabulous Nancy E. Carroll.

Ensemble performances are also wonderfully inventive. The exuberant choreography of David Connolly combines with the fluid staging of director Paul Daigneault to create just the right mix of affection and satire in "The Little Things You Do Together," "Side by Side by Side," and "Poor Baby." Each of these numbers begins innocently enough as a simple narrative of marriage, friendship, and singleness, then builds in intensity to expose the gentle hypocrisy that lies ever so closely beneath the socially acceptable façade.

Sets by Eric Levenson and lighting by Karen Perlow capture the contrasting moods in "Company" perfectly. Steel gray platforms and twisting stairways isolate playing areas that punctuate Bobby's cold scrutiny of his friends' – and his own – relationships. As interactions warm, however, so does the lighting. Translucent panels that serve as part of the set's backdrop glow white/blue whenever the ensemble of husbands and wives share tender moments or encourage Robert to pursue something deeper. Lighting changes also ease transitions from the real time of the birthday party to the memories and analyses taking shape in Robert's imagination.

The SpeakEasy Stage makes excellent use of the resources available at the Boston Center for the Arts in this inaugural production of "Company." The ample stage yet still intimate theater enables cast and crew to expand the production values of this contemporary musical without losing the subtle ambiguities that enrich the performances.

In the end, this "Company" is an affirmation of marriage and commitment, however flawed love between two people can be. When Robert finally allows himself to see the complete picture, he opens the door at last to "Being Alive."

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