In 1970, George Furth and Stephen Sondheim brought a show named Company to Broadway for a very successful run. It has since been produced hundreds of times across the country and discussed incessantly by theater buffs who argue about it, primarily about the central character, Robert. Robert, aka Bobby-Baby, is unmarried, unable (or perhaps unwilling) to commit to any of three comely lady friends, and badgered to marry by five couples he knows. All five couples have substantive problems in their own relationships and Robert functions as observer to these as he tries to sort out his own life on his 35th birthday.
The notion that Robert is wrestling with homosexuality has been suggested by some and rejected by others. The authors have denied it, but not all that convincingly. In fact, in a 1995 script revision, he and one of the husbands confess to having had separate gay experiences, though not perhaps the kind that classifies one irrevocably as gay. Or maybe they're both lying or maybe the scene is a dream. Furth seems to have decided to expand on that area of confusion about Robert by giving the character (and us) more to be confused about.
It has also been argued that Robert is just a cold fish and/or that his friends' marital squabbles have scared him off. A few heretics have gone so far as to opine that there really is no explanation for Robert's lot in life; that the text, deliberately or not, makes him a cipher for whom there is no rational analysis. Not unrelated is that the play is episodic in nature with a non-chronological throughline and some scenes that are arguably more in Robert's imagination than his reality. The material began life when Furth wrote it as a number of unrelated plays. Some critics have said that, despite interjecting Robert to connect the scenes, it's still a number of unrelated plays.
I have seen Company performed a number of times. That it has many wonderful scenes and songs is obvious, but I'd never decided if I actually liked the show as a whole. There were always things — usually, the same things — that bothered me about it. Still, so much was wonderful that I felt like the bad things had to be the fault of the productions, which were professional but not first-rate. I was therefore ambivalent about seeing the new Reprise! production, currently playing up at U.C.L.A.'s Freud Playhouse. Even though I had subscription tickets, already paid-for, I almost didn't go…but I did, last night, and I guess I'm glad I did…
Because now I know: I really don't like Company.
I like parts of it. This production has some wonderful performances and brilliant moments but I don't think they all add up to a show I enjoy. It's also one I think was probably a lot more relevant and meaningful in 1970 than it is now. The passage of time has also muddled an already-muddy show. The program book for this version says it's set in "now" and there are cell phones and a couple of newly-added current references. But the song lyrics still refer to reading Life magazine to stay up-to-date and "op art" and the feel of many scenes, like the one about the couple trying marijuana for the first time, is extremely 1970. So which is it — then or now? Like Robert's sexuality, the ambiguity could in theory be intriguing or it could be frustrating, and I felt more of the latter than the former.
The cast of the Reprise! version works hard and generally succeeds in their moments. Jean Louisa Kelly as Amy sings "Getting Married Today" about as well as anyone ever could. Deborah Gibson (yes, the former pop star) plays Marta and performs "Another Hundred People" in wonderful voice. Judith Light, playing Joanne, sings "The Ladies Who Lunch" about as well as anyone who is not Elaine Stritch ever will. (People love this song but I've never cared for it, nor do I understand what it's doing in this show, especially so near the end.) Christopher Sieber, who plays Robert, sings the hell out of "Being Alive"…but I'm afraid I still don't get what Bobby has to sing about by then. The other roles are filled by Sharon Lawrence, Scott Waara, Kathryn Blake, John Scherer, Anastasia Barzee, Kevin Chamberlin, Josh Radnor, Richard Kline, Cady Huffman and Amy Pietz. They're all pretty good but the production still gave me whiplash, alternating between good moments and bad.
That greatest of all philosophers, Henny Youngman, used to define ambivalence as watching your mother-in-law drive your new car off a cliff. This is pretty much how I now feel about Company. And why it'll probably be a long time before I subject myself to another production of it.