Musical Review - Company

About the show: 

Company is a 1970 musical comedy with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six.

Originally titled Threes, its plot revolves around Robert (a single man unable to commit fully to a steady relationship, let alone marriage), the five married couples who are his best friends, and his three girlfriends. Unlike most book musicals, which follow a clearly delineated plot, Company is a concept musical composed of short vignettes, presented in no particular chronological order, linked by a celebration for Robert's 35th birthday.

Company was among the first musicals to deal with adult themes and relationships. As Sondheim puts it, "Broadway theater has been for many years supported by upper-middle-class people with upper-middle-class problems. These people really want to escape that world when they go to the theatre, and then here we are with Company talking about how we're going to bring it right back in their faces.

My own opinion: 

I saw Company once before, 20 years ago (I was about nine years old), when my theatre group performed it. My mum was in it and since I was still quite young, I only allowed to watch the dress rehearsal. It’s not really a show you would take your children to, because of what it is about. 

Anyway, here we are in 2019 and I finally got to see a West End production of this fab show. Stephen Sondheim is one of my fave musical composers and I just love the songs from Company. I also think the story is fun and entertaining. The lyrics are absolutely brilliant!

The special thing about this production was the transgender aspect of it. The main role Bobbie is originally played by a man, but they did it with a woman this time. They also turned some other things around. It worked really well and made it special and unique. 

The production and the staging were brilliant!!! It’s a very lively show, there are so many things going on, but they did an awesome job with all the scenes, as well as the choreography for the songs. The show is so much fun to watch, I would go again immediately!