Student Blog: Company Is The Musical We Need Right Now

Aside from icons Katrina Lenk and Patti LuPone starring in Marianne Elliott's revival of Company, the story and heart of the show are what really resonated with me when I saw the show this past week in New York. Even though Bobbie, the main character, struggles with turning 35, the root of the story is not so much about age but about uncertainty for the future. Going on two years in this pandemic when we all thought it was only going to last a few weeks has absolutely changed how I look at the future. Watching this play prompted me to further think about how we as a society can confront the challenge of uncertainty while also adapting to whatever comes our way and how to not live in fear when we are faced with difficult obstacles.

As a college student, what really stuck out to me was the concept of having company and what it means to be in good company. Bobbie spends the entire show searching for something real and something worthwhile mostly because she feels it's expected of her. By the end, she fully realizes on some level what she wants as an individual and how to express that want, but it takes her a while to get to that point. For me, I saw a lot of how throughout the play Bobbie finding herself was mirroring my trajectory in college. Right now, it is one crazy time to be a student. On top of all the typical pressures of undergrad with finding out who we are and what we want to do with our lives, we have to do all this in a pandemic where interaction is limited. College is a lot right now and every day is a learning experience. All the points where Bobbie had emotional overloads and felt a sense of entrapment, fear, and doubt, I really resonated with her as being a college student also comes with feeling a lot of these emotions too.

But the show gave me hope. In a more realistic sense, it first gave me hope that theatre will come back and be stronger than ever coming out of this pandemic. It also gave me hope in another way. Right now, everyone is starting to adjust back into in-person life with hesitancy. This show, however, encouraged interaction and showed how powerful friendship can be. After two years in a more isolative state, this show welcomes and displays genuine human connection - something we've all missed. It asks questions about what it means to be surrounded by people who care about you and how they can push you in the right direction when you feel lost. How with the right people and the right mindset, we can move forward even if we are scared of the uncertain future ahead.

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Sondheim's musical Company is a timeless story that can be universally relevant in addition to the fact that these characters can be played by all types of actors. Marianne Elliot took this adaptation to the next level by genderbending, including queer relationships and modernizing many of the design elements. Having three men sing "You Can Drive a Person Crazy," for example, instead of three women really emphasized a new power dynamic. Even just having Bobbie being played by a woman shifts who is in power. Bobbie has all of these men in the palm of her hand and she calls the shots as evidenced by the pilot Andy. There is so much packed into this show that leaves the audience with a lot of questions about how we can (hopefully) start adapting to a post-pandemic life. It's the perfect show to see right now and it reminds us all what it means to be human and what it means to be alive.