Review: COMPANY at Orpheum Theatre Memphis

Company returns to the Orpheum stage but it's likely not the show you remember! A 1970 muscial with music and lyrics by the late great Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, Company has been transformed since its revival, which is what Memphis audiences are witnessing this week. 

The show follows 35 year old Bobby/Bobbie, surrounded by friends who constantly ask why aren't they married yet. It was among the first show to center around dating, marriage, and divorce. The musical, directed by Hal Prince, opened in 1970 at the Alvin Theatre and closed in January of 1972, after 705 performances. It was nominated for 14 Tony Awards, winning six of them including Best Musical. The first national tour launched in 1971 and closed in May of 1972. The show went on to open in the West End and Australia.

In the early 1990s, Furth and Sondheim started to revise the show, cutting certain dialogue that had become dated and completely rewriting the end of act one.

In 1995, a revival was anounced and opened on October 5, 1995. It ran for 68 performances and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. In 2006, another revival was announced, opening on November 29, 2006 and won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. It closed on July 1, 2007 and was filmed for broadcast in 2008. 

In 2018, things started to change a little. A West End revival was announced in 2018 and featured changes to the genders of several characters. Bobby was changed to Bobbie, now a female role, and for the first time, it featured a same-sex couple with Jonathan Bailey as Jamie (originally Amy) and Alex Gaumond as his fiance Paul. (Yes, ladies and gents, there ARE homosexuals in theatre. What a shocker!)

Sondheim approved the changes and worked closely with the director on the revisions. In 2021, the show transferred from the West End to Broadway and was an immediate hit. After only nine performances, however, the show went dark due to the pandemic. It resumed previews in November of 2021, with Sondheim in the audience only days before his death. Five days before his death, Sondheim was asked about the change of the lead character's gender, to which he responded, "you can do it in different ways from generation to generation… What keeps theater alive is the chance always to do it differently, with not only fresh casts, but fresh viewpoints. It's not just a matter of changing pronouns, but attitudes." 

The production received nine Tony Award nominations, winning five including Best Revival of a Musical. The musical closed on July 31, 2022 after 265 performances. The second North American tour opened on October 8, 2023 and features a powerhouse cast that rocks the Orpheum stage this week. 

Britney Coleman portrays Bobbie and brings out a whole new layer of the character, with a touch of vulnerability added to her fiery personality. Britney was actually Bobbie understudy on Broadway, and breathes new life into the character with her background. In a Broadway interview, she was asked 

"This revival got a lot of attention for gender-swapping Bobby to Bobbie. I think it’s exciting that now we get to see you as a Black woman playing this role. How do you feel like your identity adds layers to the story?"

To which she replied, 

"Growing up, my parents had a season subscription to a theatre in Detroit, and I think about if baby Britney had seen someone who looked like me up there doing that, it would have been a game-changer. To know it had been done would have been thrilling to me instead of questioning every step of my career and asking “Is there space for me?” I’m excited to be that for a lot of little Britneys out there." 

There is a lot of diversity on the stage and that is wonderful to see. Coleman crushes Bobbie's solo songs with raw emotion and a belt that echoes throughout the Orpheum. She is a captivating presence that allows people to relate to Bobbie, which I can honestly say I did not feel when Bobby was a male character. 

My next call out (and standing ovation) goes to Matt Rodin, who portrays Jamie, the groom with cold feet. We theatre majors know "Getting Married Today" is not easy (understatement) but Rodin handles the fast-paced patter song with ease. It's fun to see the calm and collected Jamie losing his cool in front of the audience while Rodins emotions and humor make the song one of the favorites of the night! 

Like Bobbie is supported by her friends, the show is supported by an outstanding ensemble! Much like Come From Away, each performer dazzles in their own songs and in their own way. With toe-tapping choreography and iconic numbers, everyone was a delight to watch in this production. 

The set design for this production is rather simple but stunning. Also, It is rare that we see the word "Illusions" in the Who's Who, but Chris Fisher's work is extraordinary (if you don't know, Fisher worked on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and after seeing it, I expressed to my friends that I had never seen such magic in the theatre before) 

All in all, Company is a wonderfully fun night of theatre. As a single 35 year old, I took the show personally when everyone started asking Bobbie why she hadn't settled down yet, haha. But it's a fun look at relationships in general and have us all thinking, perhaps, that "someone is waiting".

Get your tickets to Company before it leaves on the 7th! And enjoy a night, side by side by side, with your closest theatre friends! 

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