The new Actors' Theatre production of the Stephen Sondheim musical, Company, advertises itself with the symbol for Wi-Fi superimposed over an image of the New York City skyline, under one of the song lyrics from the show: "You haven't got one good reason to be alone."
This adds an extra thematic dimension to Sondheim's story of a 35-year-old bachelor harassed by his married friends to take the plunge into the joys of matrimony — and all the baggage that comes with it.
Originally produced in 1970, the show is cleverly updated to the digital age by director Andrew Ceglio, who ponders the very notion of connection — like, with another actual person — in this selfie era, when every private experience is recorded, Instagrammed and Shared.
That's the subtext, with characters whipping out their phones at every turn to snap pics of each other or play back their messages, while life marches on around them. But Ceglio and his crew also score points the old-fashioned way in this splendid production, with a strong cast of singing actors, and a minimalist, almost non-existent set (by MarNae Taylor), that gives them all plenty of room to move, sing, and kick up their heels — even at the famously tiny Center Stage.
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| Runaway Bride — Melissa Harrison steals the show |
Bobby Marchessault provides a solid center as bachelor Robert, who may or may not be learning from his friends' mistakes. Lori Rivera delivers a thunderous rendition of the martini-soaked power ballad, "The Ladies Who Lunch."
But Melissa Harrison steals the show as a bride-to-be getting spectacularly cold feet on he wedding day, tearing into Sondheim's complicated comic tongue-twister, "(I Am Not) Getting Married Today," with hilarious brio.
(Read more in this week’s Good Times)
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