Dripping with talent - COMPANY REVIEW!
2005
by Stephen Sondheim
Company. Wow. What a show. And it's not just the (slightly biased) gang at Just Pretending.
This from Craig Westwood in The Age, Thursday 27 October, 2005.
"Seriously good for 'pretend' performers
Stephen Sondheim once famously sat down at his piano, announced he was going to play a medley of his greatest hits, and launched with feeling into a rendition of Send in the Clowns. It was false modesty, of course, but his wit and charm are characteristic, and nowhere better evidenced than in Company, his "concept musical" about contemporary marriage.
Company involves a New York bachelor, Robert, and his friends: five married couples who harangue him into finding a suitable partner, while exemplifying every sort of marital dysfunction from adultery to smoking pot behind their kids' backs. For all its sophisticated drollery, it's a demanding show at almost every level, requiring frequent scene-changes, mastery of a difficult score, and the kind of expert comic acting that can keep enough froth on the cappuccino.
That Just Pretending - a company with no history of staging musicals - has mounted a magnificent production of Company is a testament to its ability.
The cast drips with talent. All the couples are accomplished, uniting with gusto for chorus numbers, and taking turns to shine in the show's comic vignettes. Nicole Car, Margaret Paul and Annie Hildebrand provided the most exciting musical moment as jilted bachelorettes roasting their erstwhile paramours in song. The male lead, Ryan Coffey, sometimes struggled to jump through the arduous vocal hoops required by the part, but was redeemed by the lightness of his comic touch.
For directors Tom Stringer and Sahr Lucas to have marshalled their vision into such a slick and professional reality is no mean feat. Kath Haynes' set design, the clever choreography of Andrew Plant, and Gordon Little's musical direction of a more-than-capable 16-piece orchestra overcome the show's technical challenges.
Because it is so confident, this production allows you to relax into Sondheim's pillow-humour. That it was all achieved on a shoestring seems nothing short of a miracle."
Company production photos
Company Cast Bios and Headshots, Crew and Orchestra listings
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