From the Winner's Circle: COMPANY Producer Chris Harper Talks Sondheim Memories and More

Company has won the 2022 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

In his visit to the press room, the show's producer Chris Harper discussed his journey with the show, his favorite Sondheim memories, and his sincere affection for one Miss Patti LuPone.

On his favorite memories of Stephen Sondheim he shared, "There are two, and they're both the first previews. The first preview in in London was pretty amazing. He decided to let us do the show, he was very supportive of it, but he wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. So the first preview in London he said, 'I'm going to come and I'm just going to be very quiet and not say anything. I won't even come out for a drink afterwards, I'll just go back to my hotel room.' At the interval, he said, 'Actually, can I come out for a drink at the end of the show?' and we said 'OF COURSE! You are Stephen Sondheim and you can do anything you want.' He asked if he could say something to the cast and he said, 'I wasn't sure about this or how it would turn out but it was better than I could have imagined and I think it should have been done this way from the beginning.' So it was incredible to see him embrace the idea."

He continued, "Then when we brought the show back on Broadway. We were all masked and so full of trepidation. He was there, and it was one of the most extraordinary nights of my life. The show got eight standing ovations that night. He was just incredibly happy and he couldn't have been more supportive of the production. So to have shared that night with him, which I think was only ten days before he died, was truly an honor."

On working with, and being name-checked as the man who pays Patti LuPone's salary in her now infamous rant, Harper said, "The great thing about Patti is that you never know what's going to happen. I love her so completely and deeply. She's an extaordinary woman. She's hilarious. I've never left her dressing room without a smile on my face. She's truly a legend. I think she's one of the greatest actors I've ever worked with."

Following the critically acclaimed, sold-out engagement in London's West End, the visionary new production of Sondheim and George Furth's landmark American musical, Company, directed by two-time Tony Award® winner Marianne Elliott comes to Broadway starring Tony and Grammy Award® winner Katrina Lenk as Bobbie and three-time Tony Award and two-time Grammy Award winner Patti LuPone as Joanne.

Joining Lenk and LuPone are some of New York's most beloved and accomplished actors including Tony winner Matt Doyle as Jamie, three-time Tony Award nominee Christopher Fitzgerald as David, two-time Tony Award nominee Christopher Sieber as Harry, two-time Tony Award nominee Jennifer Simard as Sarah, Terence Archie as Larry, Grammy Award winner Etai Benson as Paul, Bobby Conte as P.J., Nikki Renée Daniels as Jenny, Claybourne Elder as Andy, Greg Hildreth as Peter, Manu Narayan as Theo, and Rashidra Scott as Susan.

Company, the musical comedy masterpiece about the search for love and cocktails in the Big Apple is turned on its head in Elliott's revelatory staging, in which musical theatre's most iconic bachelor becomes a bachelorette. At Bobbie's (Lenk) 35th birthday party, all her friends are wondering why isn't she married? Why can't she find the right man? And, why can't she settle down and have a family?

This whip smart musical comedy, given a game-changing makeover for a modern-day Manhattan, features some of Sondheim's best loved songs, including "Company," "You Could Drive a Person Crazy," "The Ladies Who Lunch," "Side by Side," and the iconic "Being Alive.