“Company” Revival Debuts in San Francisco – With a Twist
“Company” has come to call at the Orpheum in San Francisco in the form of a gender-flipped revival of the original 1970 version. It opened Thursday, June 5th, at BroadwaySF’s Orpheum Theater running through the 29th. Originally a story of a marriage avoidant bachelor, the story takes on an a new meaning in this version. Bobby becomes Bobbie (Brittany Coleman) in this gender-swapped update directed by Marianne Elliot.
Britney Coleman as Bobbie (center) and the North American Tour of COMPANY. Photo by Matthew Murphy for Broadway SF/Orpheum Theater.
On the cusp of her 35th birthday Bobbie enters her tiny New York apartment. A host of married friends squish themselves into the space. All the better to frame the lonely, single Bobbie. From there the pressure is on for Bobbie to marry and settle down. Couples assault her on all sides, first with their “concern” for her unmarried status. A host of their secret couple problems follow the concern. Anyone in the audience who has experienced this particular form of torture can’t help an eye roll in commiseration. The friends wield worry like a knife, taking Bobbie’s life choices as a rebuke of their own. Through all this Bobbie smiles benignly with an Alice-never-weeps-in-Wonderland kind of vibe.
Some Favorite Moments During Broadway’s “Company”:
Beloved songs from the original music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim keep us laughing. “Getting Married Today” sung by the adorable, neurotic Jamie (formerly Amy in the original version) played by Matt Rodin shows a man hunted down by love. The cast pops out of every part of Bunny Christie’s clever set with the rainbow-sock-and-Birkenstock-wearing priest (Marina Kondo) leading the charge. Poor sweet Jamie never had a chance. If the pressure to marry doesn’t get him, the spontaneous (and oddly placed) proposal by Bobbie does. Jamie goes running into the rain after his soon to be husband and that’s that.
Marina Kondo, Kathryn Allison, Emma Stratton, Britney Coleman, Matt Rodin and Judy McLane in “Company”. Photo by Matthew Murphy for Broadway SF/Orpheum Theater.
Bobbie might be unmarried, but she’s not alone with three very different lovers. As she dates (and then eventually beds) the gorgeous and dim flight attendant Andy (Jacob Dickey). From here we depart fully from the original production with fever dream of other Bobbies appearing on stage miming the every day difficulties of being a married woman (cue the toilet seats and babies crying). Marriage takes on a nightmarish hue. In the end, Bobbie navigates to a place that slams the door on the nonsense and allows her own autonomy to take over.
Britney Coleman as Bobbie and Jacob Dickey as Andy in the North American Tour of COMPANY. Photo by Matthew Murphy for Broadway SF/Orpheum Theater.
Ticket Information:
A ridiculous and delightful romp around the fallacy of Happily Ever After awaits you with this production. “Company” will run through June 29 at the Orpheum Theater, 1192 Market St., SF.
For tickets: broadwaysf.com
Follow BroadwaySF on IG: @broadwaysf
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