Livin’ in New York City Post 4: “Company,” a Musical Comedy Told in One and Two Half Acts.
The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre was teaming with excitement for one of the final performances of “Company.”
As I become more assimilated into New York life, I’ve found myself going to the movies a lot. It’s just a great way to get out of the heat and to unwind for a few hours. Thanks to my AMC Stubs A-List account, I’ve been to four different AMC theaters in the past week and I’ve just been working my way up the island. There’s over 200 movie theaters across the five boroughs and it’s likely that I’ll have been to every one by the end of the decade.
As I’ve been getting to know my roommates, they’ve been inviting me to places which have given me the opportunity to explore different scenes in the city. This past week, my roommate David invited me to a club with some of his friends which meant we had to meet them on the Upper West Side. There were a lot fewer dancing gangs then I thought there would be. It was mostly just swank apartment buildings so I guess I was lied to.
Upon arriving at the club in Greenwich Village (a club whose name escapes me), it was obvious that this was a more exclusive club which is why I was thankful to be wearing a button-up shirt and nice jeans. There was even a bouncer with a velvet rope. That’s how fancy it was. As for the music, it was fine (mostly dance music from the 2000s) but it was LOUD. Whenever people talked to each other in these clubs, I’m pretty sure the most common word to hear was “What?”
Everytime one of David’s friends went outside for a cigarette, we were right behind them to get some relief from the noise. With that said, we all danced and it was a very nice venture into Greenwich Village. I’m not sure if the club scene is for me but it was nice to try.
After less than two weeks here, I also got a job. Starting next week, I’ll be a barista extraordinaire for the Long Island City Corner Cafe in Queens. It’s a quiet and intimate setting and they do make one hell of a cup of coffee (two creams and three sugars for me). Plus, it’s also close to several film studios in the area which I feel is a great way to make some connections.
Riding the high of my newfound employment, I went to the Theater District just north of 42nd St. to see “Company,” my favorite Stephen Sondheim musical. Ever since I got to New York, I knew that I had to see a live performance and, when I heard “Company” was going to wrap on July 31st, I knew I had to get tickets ASAP.
For those unfamiliar with “Company,” it was originally performed on Broadway in 1970 and tells the story of Bobby, a single man whose friends are all married. As Bobby’s 35th birthday approaches, he interacts with his friends and lovers in a series of vignettes which tackle dating, divorce, marriage and love in an adult manner which was unheard of back then and is still revolutionary today. Eventually, Bobby realizes that he wants a committed relationship and delivers Stephen Sondheim’s best song ever written “Being Alive.”
I first fell in love with this musical when I heard Adam Driver sing “Being Alive” in the 2019 film “Marriage Story.” Since then, I’ve listened to the cast albums relentlessly and have watched the documentary “Original Cast Album: Company,” which depicts the recording of the first cast album, repeatedly. However, I’ve never seen the musical live which further incentivised me to attend.
In “Company,” Bobbie (Katrina Lenk) ponders her own relationships and the relationships of her friends as her 35th birthday approaches.
What made this run of the show different was that, in this version, the musical has been modernized with Bobby now being played by a woman (the name has been changed to Bobbie) for the first time on Broadway. This change was first done at West End (London’s theater district) back in 2018 and it’s become a massive success. Other modernizations to the show included featuring a gay couple and various technological updates which were approved of by Sondheim.
With the reputation the show has, I decided to dress up for the occasion. I went to see “Company” at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in a suit and I think I was the only one dressed in formal wear. Not that everyone dressed like slobs, but it was obvious that everyone decided to forgo formalities due to the heat.
The entire theater was packed and you could feel the love for musicals in the room. One person who shared my love for the arts was Robb, the guy sitting next to me, who was a teacher of religious studies at The University of Oklahoma. We talked about the show and its history before it started. When the lights went down, the entire audience started applauding like crazy. Then, it began.
The next three hours were absolutely wonderful. This revival of “Company” won five Tonys and it earned every one. Katrina Lenk was magnificent as Bobbie and she perfectly balanced the drama and comedy needed for the role. Matt Doyle’s Tony-Award-winning performance as Jaime was also stellar, especially when he had to sing “Getting Married Today” which, at one point, had him rapidly singing 68 words in 11 seconds.
However, following the song “Barcelona” halfway through the second act, there were technical difficulties and the show had to stop for a few minutes. Fortunately, we were up and running quickly which was good news for the audience when we got to experience Broadway legend Patti LuPone’s rendition of “The Ladies Who Lunch.” Before she even began, the audience knew what was coming and began a two-minute standing ovation. She killed it and absolutely earned the Tony she received for this performance.
Seeing “Company” on Broadway was a mesmerizing experience which cemented my love for Broadway shows.
And then there was Katrina Lenk who had the show stopping song “Being Alive,” which I consider to not only be the best song of the show and Sondheim’s career but also one of the best Broadway songs ever written. As soon as she started, I knew that she was going to be fabulous. She incorporated all of Bobbie’s pain into her performance without detracting from her beautiful singing which resulted in another standing ovation at the song’s conclusion.
Following the end of the show, I truly wished that this wasn’t the final weekend of the show so I could see it again. However, I definitely now want to see even more Broadway shows and I’m now contemplating which one is next. “Mr. Saturday Night” with Billy Crystal? “The Book of Mormon” perhaps. Maybe even “Hamilton.”
As I exited the theater, I aimlessly wandered through the theater district and I saw the marquees of different exciting musicals until I realized that the people were becoming more plentiful and seemed to be a bit more obnoxious. Then I had a horrifying realization. I had wandered into Times Square. I lasted less than five minutes there and I felt my Mid-Western manners vanish like a mirage in the desert.
I swear on the Bible and every book I own, if I have to hear the song “Empire State of Mind” one more time, I’m going to snap and kill a tourist from Montana. It’s not that I don’t like the song. It’s just that it’s getting old when every tourist and their cousin, their grandmother, their grandmother’s cousin and guys named Fred are playing it at the tourist hubs of New York. There’s a million songs about New York City so please just diversify your selection.
I’ll even help. Here’s a list:
“New York State of Mind” - Billy Joel
“Theme to ‘New York, New York’” - Frank Sinatra or Liza Minnelli
“Autumn in New York” - Billie Holiday
“Welcome to New York” - Taylor Swift
Hell, even the bass riff from “Seinfeld” would be nice to hear every once in a while. I would actually like going into Times Square if I heard that familiar theme from the show about nothing. In the meantime, after a day of excitement, I’m up to my own personal day of nothing.
