[cover story]

Marry Me A Little!
Opera House opens ‘Company’ at Thalian Hall’s main stage

By: Shea Carver

Date, fall in love, get married, have children—we’re programmed. The problem is “‘til death do us part” is a much longer period of time than it was in the past, so this cultural dance seems to frequently require repetition. The biggest social difference between 1970, when the musical comedy “Company” premiered, and 2008 is the number of combination families that have evolved from multiple marriages. Ironically, relationship problems have essentially remained the same, for not just years, but centuries.

Ovid wrote, “Love is a kind of warfare.” Thematically, Stephen Sondheim’s Company is as relevant now as it was 38 years ago and it received the 2007 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

Theme
In a 1970 interview, The New York Times writer Tom Burke suggested that “certain critics had reservations . . . about (the play’s) attitude toward marriage.” Sondeim responded: “I do not understand that because it’s the most pro-marriage show in the world. It says, very clearly, that to be emotionally committed to somebody is very difficult, but to be alone is impossible; to commit is to live, and not to commit is to be dead.

“Every marriage on that stage has its problems, but every one is a good marriage. It’s the central character, Robert, who is cold, who chooses to see his married friends at their worst moments. He’s a type one sees more and more these days, a product of a depersonalized society, unable to commit himself.”

Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim, who just this year received the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater, has also won seven more Tony Awards than any other composer, multiple Grammy Awards, numerous Drama Desk Awards, an Academy Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Famous lyricist Oscar Hammerstein, who was the father of a school friend, mentored Sondheim. Sondheim wrote his first musical as a teenager and asked Hammerstein to read it.

“I went home and dreamed about being the first 15-year-old with a musical on Broadway,” Sondheim told Burke during the Times interview. “The next day, Oscar said, ‘Now do you really want me to speak to you as a producer?’ I nodded, and he said, ‘Then in that case, it’s the worst thing I ever read.’ My lower lip started to quiver. He smiled and said, ‘I told you it was terrible, not untalented. Let me show you what’s wrong.’

“He started at the first stage direction and went right through, tearing songs limb from limb, explaining about character, and scenes, and what a song was and wasn’t. I really believe that at the end of that afternoon, I had a better education in musical theater than 90 percent of songwriters get in a lifetime . . . ’First,’ he told me, ‘turn a good play into a musical, then a not-so-good play, then a novel or short story, and finally, write an original. Finish all of them; when you’re done, you’ll know a great deal more about the theater.’”
Early Musicials

In his 20s he wrote the lyrics for “West Side Story” and “Gypsy,” but his phenomenal musical talent was not apparent until the premiere of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” for which he wrote both the lyrics and music. Though the musical won a Tony Award, Sondheim was not even nominated. His genius was not fully acknowledged until “Company” premiered on Broadway in 1970.

The New York Times reviewer Clive Barnes wrote, “Creatively, Mr. Sondheim’s lyrics are way above the rest of the show; they have a lyric suppleness, sparse, elegant wit, and range from the virtuosity of a patter song to a kind of sweetly laconic cynicism in a modern love song. The music is academically very interesting. Mr. Sondheim must be one of the most sophisticated composers ever to write Broadway musicals . . . the result is slick, clever and eclectic.”

‘Company’
Writer and actor George Furth had written 11 one-act plays, thematically based on the realities of contemporary marriage and relationships. He sought Sondheim’s advice concerning his work, who, in turn, consulted producer and director Harold Prince. Prince thought the plays could become a musical, and the result was “Company,” a series of vignettes about five New York couples. A central character, 35-year-old bachelor Robert, links their stories.

Opera House Theater Company director Ray Kennedy explained that the realism of the relationships made “Company” “a landmark musical, which changed the way people looked at musicals.”
Prior to 1970 they had never been considered a realistic genre.

Musical theater audiences expected idealized love, farcical comedy and infinite fantasy. The protagonist of “Company” is practically the antithesis of the typical romantic hero, and the relationship problems, though presented comically, remained real concerns today.

“It’s like Sex and the City for married couples,” Kennedy said. “People still have affairs, get divorced and are struggling to find themselves.”
Jeff Phillips, who plays Robert-the-bachelor in the production, added, “‘Company’ transcends time because Sondheim was way before his time.”

Innovation
Having mastered musicals as bonafide theater, Sondheim went one step further, molding “Company” into a “concept musical.” It is based on character and themes rather than plot. “It is 360-degrees opposite from ‘South Pacific,’” Kennedy said, referring to the last Opera House Theatre Company production. The cast doesn’t just arbitrarily burst into song.

“The songs push the scenes, and the dialogue comes out of the music,” Phillips explained.

Sondheim was a pioneer of modern musical theater and believed in 1970 that change was vital. During The New York Times interview, he clarified such a notion. “I want very much for any show which tries to move the musical theater forward, which has fun with the old forms, to be encouraged. I mean, there’s a good reason that young people aren’t interested in the theater: what they see is mostly what they’ve already seen, in movies or on TV, and when you go to the theater, especially at $90,000 a ticket, you ought to have a unique experience. Somebody told me the other day, ‘The essential difference between theater and movies is that theater always acknowledges the existence of the audience,’ and I find that a simple but very profound statement. A movie doesn’t know you’re alive; theater does, but most of it today tries to play into popular taste, instead of creating popular taste.”

In 1970 audiences and critics were apparently ready for creative realism in a musical comedy. “Company” won six Tony Awards, including Best Original Score and Best Lyrics, the first and only time they have been awarded separately.

Cast
Opera House patrons will recognize most of the cast, which Kennedy considers “perfect.” Veteran actor Cindy Colucci (Joanne) praises, “It’s one of the best casts ever, with all of the heavy-hitters in one show.” She has known Phillips for 18 years, and, though he has not been in a recent Opera House production, he certainly does not lack credentials. Prior to a four-year hiatus, he starred in many Opera House productions. He and Colucci are longtime members of Opera House Acting Corps. Richard Bunting, whose last starring role was in “South Pacific,” plays Colucci’s husband, Larry.

David Heck (Harry) and Shannon Playl (Susan) were also in “South Pacific,” and Denise Bass (Sarah) and Robin Dale Robertson (Peter) play their respective spouses. Many may remember Robertson from his extremely funny role as “the old man” in Thalian Association’s production of “A Christmas Story.”

Kendra Goehring, who was stunning as the star of “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” plays Jenny, with Zack Simcoe acting as her husband, David. The fifth couple is Rachel Moser (Amy) and Zack Turner (Paul), as Heather Dahlberg, Heather Setzler and Teri Harding play Robert’s three very different girlfriends, a constant reminder to his bachelorhood throughout the show.

Direction
Ray Kennedy has had heaps and heaps of experience, directing and choreographing three Opera House productions last year alone. He and Opera House artistic director Lou Criscuolo actually performed together in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” One of the aspects that he enjoys about “Company” is that it can be directed in so many different ways. In British director John Doyle’s 2006 revival of the musical, the actors memorized the score and played their own instruments onstage. Kennedy believes that the acting is too important to “clutter the stage with instruments,” so Opera House music director Lorene Walsh will once again be expertly in charge of the music. This is her sixth season with Opera House, and she occasionally plays keyboard for other theater company productions.

Opera House Theater Company is once again bringing Broadway to Wilmington. Their productions are always extravagant and extremely professional. Everyone can relate to relationships, and when human frailty is treated comically, life is simply a little easier to understand.
Someone famous and dead wrote, “Tragedy is for those who feel; comedy is for those who think.” But don’t think about it too much; make a reservation today. “Company” runs at Thalian Hall Main Stage July 2nd-6th, 11th-13th and 18th-20th, Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm and on Sundays at 3pm; (910) 343 3664.