Sullivan Rep presents ‘Company’ – Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by George Furth. Direction & Choreography by Dan Sullivan. Musical Direction by Andrew Wray. Hair & Makeup Design by Bridget Sullivan. Costume Design by Dan Sullivan. Lighting Design by Erik Fox. Properties Design by Rick Grenier. Sound Design by Andrew Mulholland. At the American Legion Nonantum Post 440, Newton. Run has ended.
By Linda Chin
Once again, Sullivan Rep has shown that they are the little company that could — do justice to the work of late, great musical theater giant Stephen Sondheim, that is. Last year’s production of A Little Night Music garnered Norton nominations for Outstanding Musical (in good company with established giants ART, SpeakEasy, Central Square & Front Porch) and Outstanding Musical Direction (Jenny Tsai). Sullivan Rep’s limited engagement (four-show run) of Company on Easter/Passover holiday weekend has ended – but could easily have been enjoyed by another hundred people – or two, three, or four hundred more – if an extension, or expanded audience capacity, had been possible.
Company, which Sondheim wrote and premiered on Broadway in 1970, is a collection of songs and stories about 14 New Yorkers (5 married couples and 4 singles) in various combinations of commitment, connection and coupledom. Main character Robert/Bobby – single, and about to turn 35, feels pressure from his married friends to stop dating and start mating, but seeing the ups and downs of marriage firsthand, he’s reluctant to settle down, preoccupied with the question “What do you get?”
Boston audiences may have caught the new “gender-swapped” Broadway revival during its recent tour – the title character is now Bobbie and other characters’ songs and stories have been transformed as well. Or going further back in time, Boston audiences may remember excellent productions by Lyric Stage in 2016 (directed by the late Spiro Veloudos) and Moonbox Productions in 2014 (which included Dan Sullivan in the ensemble).
Sullivan Rep’s Company is based on the original version, and the beloved main character Robert is played by the tremendously talented and versatile Dan Sullivan, who also directs and choreographs and designed the costumes for this production. Most often presented on proscenium stages, at Post 440 (Steel Peer, Hairspray), audiences are rewarded with an intimate and inventively staged production of Company in the round.
Sullivan and company put every square inch of the floor space to good use: a well-worn sofa and arm chair with harvest gold, brown and beige upholstery and other vintage furniture pieces lining the perimeter (at 12, 2, 4, 6, 8 o’clock marks), and a clutter of pizza boxes and Chinese takeout containers on the coffee table, VHS tapes near the tube tv transport us to a bachelor pad in NYC in the 1970s (a mess of empty Anthora coffee-to-go cups would’ve made the properties design by Rick Grenier picture-perfect).
From the moment we meet Robert (Sullivan, donning a baseball cap and boxers), waking up from a snooze on the couch, stuffing his face with leftover pizza, and listening to the “cheery” birthday messages his married friends leave on the answering machine (super sound design by Andrew Mulholland) to the final number, when Sullivan delivers a subtle yet powerful, hopeful yet heart-wrenching, rendition of the anthem “Being Alive,” audiences are engaged in Bobby’s search for somebody to love. Time to add “outstanding storytelling” to Sullivan’s list of skills.
In between are over a dozen musical numbers that are amongst Sondheim’s best and show off the ensemble’s acting, singing, and dancing talents.
The second number, “The Little Things You Do Together,” was sung with great flair by Joanne (Veronica Anastasia Wiseman), her husband Larry (Ray O’Hare), and the other four couples to Robert, the eleventh wheel. Sondheim’s lyrics – “the hobbies you pursue together, savings you accrue together, looks you misconstrue together, that make marriage a joy” or “the neighbors you annoy together, children you destroy together, that keep marriage intact” are spot on, and laugh-out-loud funny.
Chantel O’Brien as Marta, one of the women Robert is dating, also did justice to Sondheim’s “Another Hundred People,” a challenging song with a quick tempo that requires precise execution and endurance. As Bobby’s friend Amy, a beautiful bride-to-be who has a panic attack on her wedding day, Meghan Rose was simply sensational in performing the fast-paced, tongue-twisting “Getting Married Today.” In an amazingly well-executed angry-turned-comedic moment, she takes off her shoes and hurls them at the wedding party, one at a time. Remarkably, the male attendant at the front of the line catches each one, in succession, with just an outstretched hand. Former jai alai player” should be added to that actor’s list of skills.
Sullivan also demonstrates his diverse range of skills in the number “Side by Side by Side”/“What Would We Do Without You?” As choreographer and performer, the number started with him darting across the stage to get a pile of umbrellas stored in one of the pieces of furniture, distributing one to each half of the couples, and joining the dance without missing a beat (and did I mention that in another number he juggled three silk scarves?). As Bobby’s old friend (but not flame), Kathy, Melissa Paz demonstrated lovely technique and expression in a solo number in Act Two.
By show’s end, there is not a single nor straightforward answer to Bobby’s recurring question “What Do You Get?” [from marriage]. Like marriage, Sullivan Rep can be considered a labor of love. Seeing Company was the perfect “little thing to do together” with my husband of thirty-three years, who, like me, is a native New Yorker and has seen thousands (okay, hundreds of musicals), but was a newbie to this show’s sensational score. My gratitude and admiration to Sullivan Rep – he is now obsessed with Sondheim.
