Sondheim’s classic ‘Company’ still has it

Published 9:00 pm Friday, October 20, 2006

Seeing Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” was like crossing off one of my life’s goals.

I know. That sounds over the top. It’s just a musical after all.

But this is more than a review. This is a tribute, really.

If this were just a review, it would read that I know now why “Company” is a landmark musical, from which all modern musicals were born. It broke the mold of musicals. Its message is timeless. Every song is a winner and a testament to Sondheim’s lyrical genius. It’s even got a sex scene.

That’s just the nuts-and-bolts review stuff. But this show meant so much more to me.

I first heard the music for “Company” in 1980. At the time, I felt a lot like 5th Avenue Theatre Artistic Director David Armstrong felt when he heard a song from “Company” for the first time: No one else would, or could, have written “Company.”

I wore that album out. I bought a tape. Wore that out. Bought the CD. Replaced it with another. I’ve been listening to the “Company” soundtrack for 26 years. 26 years. But I’ve never seen the show.

“Company” opened in 1970. The show was last seen on Broadway for a limited engagement in 1995. I missed both.

So I’ve had to imagine what the show was like all these years. I knew the basic plot about Robert, the perennial bachelor who watched life go by and viewed it through the fractured lenses of his friends: five crazy married couples. I knew the show was broken into vignettes. I knew I identified most with the character of wacky Amy, so afraid of marriage that she has a breakdown and sings the hilarious “Getting Married Today.” And I used to love to sing “The Ladies Who Lunch,” because I imagined my then cigarette-tainted voice matched most closely with that of Elaine Stritch, who played Joanne.

But I had to use my imagination to fill in the blanks for the rest of it. And Thursday night the reality matched up nicely with my well-worn fantasies.

Robert, or Bobby, who was superbly played by Hugh Panaro, was as dreamy as I had dreamed: boyish, cute in a Tom Cruisey way, sarcastic, charming. I always wondered what was going on between him and sexy stewardess April, played here by Billie Wildrick, during the instrumental segment before the song “Barcelona.” It turns out my hunch was correct.

I never realized the song “Sorry-Grateful,” sung by three of the married guys: Harry, David and Larry, was so funny. “What’s it like to be married? You’re always sorry; you’re always grateful.”

And I didn’t know the story turned so dark for Robert.

Before I knew what I know today about Sondheim, I used to imagine the end would be a happy one for Robert. But Sondheim’s too brilliant for that sap.

The end is neither happy nor sad, but I felt relief knowing Bobby would go on in life, for me and hopefully for others out there, for another 26 years on his own terms.

Arts writer Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com.

Review

“Company”: Through Nov. 5, The 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 Fifth Ave, Seattle. $20 to $73. 206-625-1900, 888-5TH-4TIX or www.5thavenue.org.