Review: Sondheim's Company in Concert

Musical: Company
Venue: Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York
Date: 9th April 2011 at 14:00
Cast: Neil Patrick Harris (Robert), Stephen Colbert (Harry), Martha Plimpton (Sarah), Craig Bierko (Peter), Jill Paice (Susan), Jon Cryer (David), Jennifer Laura Thompson (Jenny), Aaron Lazar (Paul), Katie Finneran (Amy), Jim Walton (Larry), Patti LuPone (Joanne), Anika Noni Rose (Marta), Christina Hendricks (April) and Chryssie Whitehead (Kathy)
Conductor: Paul Gemignani
Orchestra: New York Philharmonic
Rating: ****1/2


Review:
It's day three in New York and today Bomb and I got tickets to see the limited engagement of Stephen Sondheim's Company in Concert at the Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center featuring the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Paul Gemignani!!! There were only 4 performances of this star-studded concert and all of them were sold out so I felt very lucky to be able to go to this one.The Avery Fisher Hall is such a large, beautiful concert hall. We got quite good seats in the centre orchestra, if a bit to the back, but still very good seats.

Me with the sign inside the Avery Fisher Hall

The concert was absolutely amazing. I knew there were lots of stars of the stage and screen involved but I didn't know how much until I opened the playbill. There must be at least someone in there that you know. To my surprise, including in the cast were Stephen Colbert (of the Colbert Report), Jon Cryer (of Two and a Half Men), Aaron Lazar (of A Little Night Music and more), Christina Hendricks (of Mad Men), to name a few. And all of them performed their hearts out. However, I felt that there was quite a waste of star in this concert because you got all these amazing talents but since the show involves 1 bachelor, 5 married couples and 3 girlfriends in 2 and a half hours, there wasn't any real spotlight moments for most of the cast members.

The stage setting was pretty simple as most concerts, with the New York Philharmonic at the back and Paul on a high-rise conductor podium with pulled-out bed under it. I like how they use wheeled sofa as the symbols of marriage. All the married couples were seated on sofa while Bobby, the main character, would sit on a smaller individual one-man-sofa throughout the show until after 'Being Alive' that he would sit on a bigger sofa with a room for another person to share it with. Clever and I actually figured it out before the show ended! ;)

This production chose to perform the whole show with its full script so it's a bit weird to call it a concert since they sang less than they talked, not that it's bad or anything because, having mostly listened to the cast recording, the book of the show was actually very good and emotional and gave the story and the songs more depth to it especially for numbers like 'Another Hundred People' and 'Being Alive'.

We started at Bobby's (surprise?) 35th birthday party with all of his married friends. The opening number (Company) was just an amazing beginning to the whole concert. Neil Patrick Harris did very well as Bobby in terms of acting. He adopted a playboy-ish personality, similar to the one we've seen him in How I Met Your Mother. His singing was good as always, though his high voice (both falsettos and belts) was quite thin but still beautiful. All of his solos in the show were such a great treat.

Full cast during the opening number

We first followed Harry and Sarah (Colbert and Plimpton) who were very funny with the karate and the drinking and diet problems. With that acting to the hilarious performance of 'Little Things (You Do Together)' by Patti LuPone in the role of Joanne made the evening so much fun.

Martha Plimpton, Stephen Colbert and Neil Patrick Harris

I was a bit disappointed with 'You Could Drive a Person Crazy' which was supposed to be a really funny song but here the girls (Rose, Hendricks and Whitehead) were drowned by the powerful New York Philharmonic and the way they sang it was too pretty. Bierko and Paice played Peter and Susan and I really liked how they adapted the sofa to portray the terrace of a New York house. The homosexual bit (which I wasn't aware of) in the second act was simply hilarious.

Anika Noni Rose, Christina Hendricks and Chryssie Whitehead

I was very much looking forward to Anika Noni Rose's 'Another Hundred People' but again she was drowned out by the orchestra which made it really hard to hear the lyrics and she chose not to belt the song which made it kinda less impressive for me. (Or maybe it's the mike problem?) But she really did a lot better job acting as the feisty New York lover, Marta.

Anika Noni Rose and Neil Patrick Harris

Cryer and Thompson (as David and Jenny) were just so much fun in their scene with Bobby. I wish the show could give more chance for Cryer to sing.

The 'Getting Married Today' bit was just amazing delivered by the Tony Winning Katie Finneran (as Amy) with Aaron Lazar (as her soon-to-be husband Paul) and Jill Paice (as the 'Bless This Day...' Woman). I really like the scene that came after it and it really set a nice mood for Act One closer, Marry Me a Little, for Bobby. Too bad, I wish Lazar could have sung more.

Aaron Lazar and Katie Finneran who are not "getting married today"

Act Two opening (Side By Side By Side/What Would We do Without You) was just beyond amazing. The choreography, the dancing, the props and everything were just top-notch and really energized the audience to be ready for the second act. After that, we went into Bobby's relationship with flight attendant April (Hendricks). She nailed the part perfectly and got lots of laugh from the audience. Their making-love sequence (Tick-Tock) was good with Chryssie Whitehead (of the 2006 Chorus Line revival) as the main dancer. Somehow I felt the songs in the second act were less emotional-engaging and at times, boring. Or maybe that's just too much Sondheim for me? However, the bok was very interesting and engaging.



Neil Patrick Harris and the married couples in Act Two Opening
"Side by Side by Side/What Would We Do without You?"



Martha Plimpton and Jennifer Laura Thompson
lead the wives in "Poor Baby"

Christina Hendricks and Neil Patrick Harris (showing his abs)
during "Barcelona" number

And then we came to the last scene with Larry and Joanne (Walton and LuPone). I almost forgot that she was in the show.. The dialogue there was quite good and thought-provoking. And then it came to the song that everyone had waited for 'The Ladies Who Lunch'. I actually preferred the version that LuPone sang at Sondheim Birthday concert which was funnier but I guess it was funnier because she was singing as LuPone and not as Joanne. However, this rendition that she gave was still fantastic and poor the people in the front row when she splashed the drinks in her hand at them at her last "RISE!".

Patti LuPone during her "The Ladies Who Lunch"
with Paul Gemignani, the musical diretor at the back

'Being Alive' was wonderful and it was the first time that I cried listening to that song. "What do you get?", asked Bobby.. I just loved that line before he started singing.. 'Someone to hold you too close...' It really made you think a lot about marriage and made you appreciate having someone there by your side and when he didn't show up for that last Birthday at the end of the show was just cute and then he went to sit down on a sofa with a space for another "somebody".

It was such a fulfilling show for me musically and emotionally and I'm looking forward to watching it again on DVD when it releases. I just wished that I could hear more singing from many of the cast members. And though it was a grand performance, I would still deduct half-a-star for its sound quality and some part of the show which, to me, dragged the production a little. Still a great revival of a great show. Get a DVD of it if you can.



MUSICAL NUMBERS
ACT ONE
Overture... New York Philharmonic
Company... Neil Patrick Harris and Couples
Little Things... Patti LuPone and Couples
Sorry-Grateful... Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer and Jim Walton
You Could Drive a Person Crazy... Anika Noni Rose, Christina Hendricks and Chryssie Whitehead
Have I Got a Girl for You... Husbands
Someone Is Waiting... Neil Patrick Harris
Another Hundred People... Anika Noni Rose
Getting Married Today... Jill Paice, Aaron Lazar and Katie Finneran
Marry Me a Little... Neil Patrick Harris


ACT TWO
Side by Side by Side... Neil Patrick Harris and Couples
What Would We Do without You?... Neil Patrick Harris and Couples
Poor Baby... Martha Plimpton, Jennifer Laura Thompson and Wives
Tick-Tock... Chryssie Whitehead
Barcelona... Neil Patrick Harris and Christina Hendricks
The Ladies Who Lunch... Patti LuPone
Being Alive... Neil Patrick Harris and Couples
Bows... Company