Review: Classy and Complex Production of COMPANY at Biddeford City Theater

Stephen Sondheim's musical Company made a sensation when it premiered on Broadway in 1970, winning six Tony awards and being nominated for a record-breaking fourteen. Savvy, urbane, with a brilliant score and dazzling lyrics, Sondheim's exploration of the joys and travails of marriage remains a masterwork of the musical stage. The current revival, directed by Linda Sturdivant, at Biddeford's City Theater gives a classy account of this complex work.

Set in New York City, Company focuses on Bobby, a bachelor beloved by his married friends, attractive to a trio of women, and yet somehow feeling unfulfilled and uncertain, debating whether marriage would be a cure. The book by George Furth allows the audience to examine the institution of marriage from multiple perspectives - through the eyes of five couples who are Bobby's friends, as well as through those of the three women he dates, and ultimately from his own perspective. The subtleties of these often contradictory viewpoints, expressed in Sondheim's sophisticated lyrics and stunning, multi-textured score with its graceful orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, performed by an ensemble of colorful characters makes for theatre at its best.

That said, mounting a production of Company in community theatre is an ambitious undertaking because the technical and artistic demands on the performers and musicians are intense. So, it is all the more impressive what the City Theater company of local actors achieves. Sturdivant directs with a sure hand, keeping the pace brisk, the humor subtle, and successfully striking the right tone of urbane wit mixed with jaded disillusionment. Mariel Roy provides appropriate choreography, scaling the big dance numbers to the ensemble's talents, and if the chorus line choreography of "Side by Side" is more earnest than rousing, the dancing for "Tick-Tock" is beautifully executed especially by Adelyn Bell and Elizabeth Lester. Music Director Sara Sturdivant on piano leads the seven-person orchestra in an excellent account of the music alternating the lyricism with moments of staccato to keep the edgy feel of the score.

The physical production is attractive and functional: Set designer, Karl Carrigan, and props designers, Peter Salisbury and Lisa Gayle Leary, have created geometric panels of skrim in neutral frames and similarly modernist multi-purpose pieces of furniture which serve to transform the stage into the various New York locales, while Daniel Brodhead's lighting design adds kinetic energy in its changing colors. Barbara Kelly provides the period costumes, and Todd Hutchisen offers a genrally well-balanced sound design (though a few of the concerted passages had a touch of overly metallic quality to them).

The cast works beautifully together as an ensemble, bringing to the production fine voices and god character insight. As Sarah and Harry, Rebecca Rinaldi and Brian McAloon sing strongly and project the passive aggressive competitiveness of this long married pair. Alyssa Rojecki as Susan and Seth Crockett as Peter capture the irony of their relationship where divorce leads to a closer relationship, and Crockett's scene where he makes a pass at Bobby is well-played. Gusta Johnson as Jenny and Tim Steiner as David find the hilarity and poignancy in a scene where the couple and Bobby get stoned, and Johnson also adds a powerful vocal presence to Amy's wedding. Mia Foley Perron as the manic bride-to-be, Amy, and Schuyler White as her groom Paul make "Getting Married Today" a showstopper. Peter Salisbury is the indulgent Larry with Jennine Cannizzo as his wife, the caustic Joanne, who also manages to find that spot of wisdom and tenderness at the end, and both her solos, "The Little Things You Do Together" and the "Ladies Who Lunch" are highlights. The trio of women whom Bobby dates, Marta, Kathy, and April each has a moment to shine, while together they bring lovely voices and a kinetic energy to their contrasting characters. As Marta, Elizabeth Lester gives a rousing account of one of Sondheim's best songs, "Another Hundred People" and projects the feline intensity of the character. Adelyn Bell makes a wistful Kathy, while Joanna Clarke is pitch perfect (everything from the Ohio accent to the dimness) as April, the flight attendant whom Bobby's beds. The Vocal Minority - Hannah Brown, Briana Chu, Anna Devoe, and Andrew Lamb - are an onstage presence in this production, assisting in the transitions and providing vocal backups.

As the sometimes bewildered, always winning Bobby, Caleb Lacy gives an intense performance. He captures the feigned insouciance of the character, the casual charm that endears him to his friends, and the inner vulnerability. Lacy possesses a lovely creamy voice that acquits itself elegantly in Bobby's solos, and while the role may lie just a touch too high for him in places, his eleventh hour number with its emotional intensity, "Being Alive" still crowns the closing minutes of the show.

Linda Sturdivant and the Biddeford City Theater company are to be congratulated for this ambitious undertaking and for their commitment to some of the finest and most difficult works in the American musical canon.

Photos courtesy of the Biddeford City Theater, Audra Hatch photographer

Company runs March 9-25, 2018 at the City Theater, 205 Main Street, Biddeford, ME 207-282-0849 www.citytheater.org

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