Company on Broadway

Knowing nothing about Rosalie beforehand, I thought that she was primarily an actress with a decent/good singing voice. Her vocals were definitely not on par with an MT performer, which wasn't a problem for this role. I actually appreciated her voice even more when I saw Anne Marie Duff. 

Sondheim has long said he prefers actors who sing rather than flat out great singers, and I think both Craig and Lenk fall into that category. One challenge is that so many singers really belt Being Alive when performing it in concert.

Couple that with all the reality performing shows where belting is what usually brings the audience to their feet, and some people have an unrealistic expectation of what Being Alive should sound like in the context of an actual production.

I give Esparza a pass on him really letting it all out because it was in line with how his character has been repressed up until that moment, so the extra flourishes and power make sense.

A lot of people over there didn't like Bands Visit or Lenk so I wouldn't take anything negative said as gospel.

In general it seems like a good principle to not treat comments anywhere as gospel. I certainly wasn't suggesting people on BWW have any final say.

I was lucky to see the first preview and the final performance. That gave me the chance to see what they worked on and how they changed it.

The show I saw last night was marvelous. Whatever didn't work for me in London, and a lot of it did, and it's very hard for me to pinpoint what didn't work, was flipped over its head last night.

The similarities: physically, the production is mainly the same. There might have been some dance movement changes, though I am not absolutely too sure. One specific change is during Sarah and Harry's scene, they both consume their vices rather differently than they did in London. In terms of physical differences, basically everyone has a different costume than the London production, even LuPone's. Another Hundred People has been completely rethought of it. There's no longer a train carriage. Human size letters spelling out COMPANY are now shifted across the stage, with the commuters whizzing in and out of them. The letters also work as a park bench or a seat in a bar lounge to create different scenes during the vignettes with the men that cut through the song.

Thematically, there's something clearer about how this is now set in a corner of Bobbi's mind, or in a dream or an alternative dimension of New York City. More so than ever, Bobbi is now an outsider looking in, and there are new transitions that transpose her from one location to another. Having recently moved to New York, this production truly captures the complexities of navigating the city, in a certain age, trying to negotiate love, relationships and friendships.

The cast really makes this production. Everyone worked from the bottom up to reinvent these characters. Though I've seen one show on both sides of the Atlantic, and though actors bring their own stamp to the role, they normally work off the originals' template. The charactes here absolutely have no resemblance to the original London cast, except Matt Doyle-who was good-but works off of Jonathan Bailey's original Jamie.

Then comes Katrina Lenk who is certainly nothing like Rosalie Craig. Rosalie gave a solid earnest production as a square Ameican girl. There's nothing square about Lenk, and nor could you say she's American per se. My reading of her was of an expatriate New Yorker..an international type, who is from everywhere and nowhere, who just found herself in New York and called it home. Her "un-Americanness" if you will makes her so alluring, and reinforces her outsider status, which explains her inability to full engage or connect to her friends, and their facination with her enigma. Her voice is broken and when she sings, she's sounds like a modern day European chanteuse. Even though her singing is the antithesis of musical theatre projection, that becomes a pesonality trait that works in favor of the character.

Elliot (who was in the audience) mounted a fantastic production in London, but this production takes it to an absolutely new level. Would love to see it again.

Ah, smart take on how they may be framing/interpreting Bobbi in this production. I had not thought of it that way, bit reflecting on the preview, I saw, this makes good sense. I would have liked a bit more from Lenk vocally, but do not find her lack of belting to be near the problem that some others have perceived.

Reopening on Broadway December 20th. Hoping to have another go at seeing it when the UK lets us out and the US lets us in...

Now previewing from 15 November and opening on 9 December

I thought this was absolutely dreadful.

Sondheim obviously saw something in her, but I really don't get it. She just seems wrong for the role and I thought this was a racket.

Finally managed to see this last night and it was so lovely to relive this incredible production. The Broadway cast were excellent and it was so interesting to see some very different interpretations of various characters. Jennifer Simard was so different to Mel Giedroyc and both interpretations were hilarious. Matt Doyle was exceptional. As good as Jonathan Bailey in terms of acting and actually better in terms of enunciation and control during Getting Married Today.

Patti was Patti. ICONIC. Also lots of changes from her characterisation in London which was fun. Lenk really surprised me. I loved her Bobbie and now feel a bit aggrieved for her Tony snub. I do prefer Rosalie in the role but only because of Rosalie’s (far) superior vocals. Lenk’s characterisation of Bobbie was exquisite. she successfully walked the line of making Bobbie seem both like a real, nuanced person and a more abstract observer of her own story , particularly in the transitions between scenes. Her singing really wasn’t up to it though, particularly on Being Alive.

The set looked even more impressive than I remember and the staging of Another Hundred People was far more successful. Nikki Renee Daniels was hilarious as the priest. That whole section was just glorious.

Things that I liked less were the three boyfriends, Clayybourne Elder notwithstanding. You Could Drive A Person Crazy was noticeably less funny and the singing just wasn’t as good. I also felt a few of the bigger name supporting cast played it a little too broad to do a bit of scene stealing. Christopher Fitzgerald, I’m looking at you.

All in all, another exquisite night at the theatre thanks to this fabulous production.

There used to be a pbs channel on sky (or at least got all the pbs stuff) but I don't know if it still exists as I haven't had sky in years. Might be worth looking at Now TV as that's Sky's streaming service