Stephen Sondheim OK'd Reading of All-Male Version of COMPANY from Director John Tiffany

Speaking at an event at the National Theatre this week, Stephen Sondheim revealed that he passed down an offer from ONCE director John Tiffany to put up an all-male version of COMPANY. According to Whatsonstage, the legendary composer shared, "I will tell you, John Tiffany, who is one of the most inventive and brilliant directors around, he really wanted to do an all-male version of Company. There's always talk about if Bobby is gay or not (he isn't)... [Tiffany] said he'd like to do an all-male version."

He continued, "I said OK, let's do a reading of it, and it didn't work, because it wasn't written that way." Despite the disappointing results, the INTO THE WOODS composer went on to praise Tiffany's efforts, commenting, "It's an idea that Tiffany didn't suggest to serve himself, it was just another way of looking at the piece. I went along with it and it just didn't work."

As BWW reported last month, Marianne Elliott is set to direct a version of COMPANY, featuring an actress in the role of Bobby. At this week's event, Sondheim commented, "There is going to be a production of Company directed by Marianne Elliott, one of the best directors in the world, in which Bobby is a woman. I think there may be a same sex couple in there too, but she has a point she wants to make about women today." He adds, "If it doesn't work, it's not going to kill Company...to me, [the gender change] is exciting."

Aaron Tveit (Broadway's Catch Me If You Can, Next to Normal) is currently starring as Bobby in Barrington Stage Company's production of COMPANY. Featuring a book by George Furth, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, the BSC production features choreography by Jeffrey Page, music supervision by Darren Cohen, music direction by Alex Shields, and direction by JuliAnne Boyd.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos