Sondheim orchestrates a birthday bash at SF Playhouse
Bobby is thirty-five and unmarried, and all his friends wonder why.
What’s a guy to do?
That’s the dilemma facing the protagonist of Stephen Sondheim’s groundbreaking 1970 musical, Company, now in a handsome, fine-tuned revival at San Francisco Playhouse. A Manhattanite, Bobby is eminently eligible. He’s also not gay, a fact the 45-year-old script seems to need to point out. His sexual orientation is not an issue in 2015, of course, but the fact that it was addressed back then may be the original production’s only significantly dated aspect.
Company remains a sharply funny satire of the self-aware marriages of educated people, and of their itchy need to urge their unmarried friends to join them in an institution that may not be all that fulfilling. Some of the musical’s wedded couples long for freedom from marriage, and one seemingly well-matched pair gets blithely divorced.
The sometimes sneaky, sometimes blatant assault on Bobby’s single status plays out in a theme-driven series of scenes that set out with a surprise 35th birthday party for him, then segue into moments in which the footloose Bobby visits this couple or that, dates three women, and puzzles over himself. He has a pretty good life, plenty of friends, women who willingly slide under his sheets. He doesn’t seem in any hurry to marry, but he wonders if he’s on the right track. Is real, authentic life sailing on without him?
These encounters and ruminations are enriched by Sondheim’s pungent, edgy compositions, like “You Could Drive a Person Crazy,” “Another Hundred People,” “The Ladies Who Lunch,” and “Being Alive.” Psychologically and rhythmically the songs are remarkable, with lyrics that get under your skin, so it’s surprising to reflect that the most significant songwriter of the last half century has had only one big pop hit, “Send in the Clowns.”
This production should be a hit for the Bay Area. It’s directed with shrewd grace by Susi Damilano, who orchestrates every moment with fluid precision. She gets expert help from choreographer Kimberly Richards and music director Dave Dobrusky. The spacious, open set, marked by platforms of various heights, by Bill English and Jacquelyn Scott, takes splendid advantage of SF Playhouse’s broad stage, and Micha Steiglitz’s big projections of New York backgrounds enhance every moment. Anton Hedman (sound) and Michele Oesch (lighting) add to the quality, and Shannon Sigman dresses the cast in smart, character-apt costumes.
The fine, singin’ and dancin’ actors display a winning expertise. Their easy confidence assures you from the first moment that nothing will go wrong. Headed by compact, likable Keith Pinto as Bobby, they are: Teresa Attridge, Velina Brown, Morgan Dayley, Michelle Drexler, Ryan Drummond, Richard Frederick, John Paul Gonzalez, Monique Hafen, Stephanie Prentice, Christopher Reber, Abby Sammons, Nicole Weber and Michael Scott Wells.
An admirable revival, Company plays on Post Street until September 12th. SF Playhouse’s 2015-16 “Truth or Dare” season begins in September with the musical, Dogfight. For tickets/information call 415-677-9596 or visit www.sfplayhouse.org.
–ROBERT HALL