It's hard to believe so much talent could fit on a single stage, even the one at Lincoln Center, but the dazzling production of Stephen Sondheim's "Company," coming here tonight for the first of three on-screen performances at the Tivoli, is simply amazing. With the New York Philharmonic Orchestra behind it, it's a spellbinding evening, a semi-staged, semi-concert version of what may be Sondheim's finest work. It plays at the Tivoli tonight (Wednesday), tomorrow and next Tuesday (June 21), starting at 7:30 p.m.
If you watched the Tonys the other night, the cast's "Side by Side" was superb but not quite up to the stage-to-movie version, and think of the magical Neil Patrick Harris as Bobby, without Brooke Shields to worry about.
There's also amazing singing, as expected, from Patti LuPone and Katie Finneran, along with surprisingly successful song-and-dance work from such as Martha Plimpton and Stephen Colbert, the latter providing the largest surprise of all.
Lonny Price directed the movie, and with the principals downstage, it was easy to keep them in focus all the time. The story, by George Furth, is simple enough. Bobby is single. He has many friends and they're busy trying to find him a wife. They also are hosts of a surprise birthday party, which gives the 14 principals plenty of opportunity to sing and dance, which they do in spectacular style.
Finneran, for example, is matchless as Amy, who sings the glorious "(I'm Not) Getting Married Today," a Gilbert-and-Sullivan style patter song that wraps up all the tension and anxiety of a wedding.
LuPone, one of the great theater stars of the last 30 years (and once a Muny star, too), is Joanne, who sings the show-stopping classic, "The Ladies Who Lunch," is vicious and perfect throughout. LuPone played the Muny in 1976, co-starring with Topol in a musical version of "The Baker's Wife," which was en route from Los Angeles to the Kennedy Center, where producer David Merrick replaced Topol with Paul Sorvino, but deemed the production unworthy of Broadway and pulled the plug. Speaking of LuPone, when she was part of John Houseman's Acting Company, she appeared at the Edison Theatre in a production of "The Robber Bridegroom."
Harris, as Bobby (or Bobby Baby or Bobby Bubby), epitomizes the definition of the song-and-dance man, and probably won several starring roles in musicals with his performance in this and as the host of the Tony awards, where his closing number was another noteworthy performance. Other standouts are Anika Noni Rose (Marta), Colbert (Harry), Craig Bieerko (Peter), Chrissie Whitehead (Kathy) and Christina Hendricks (April).
Company, a film of a live Lincoln Center concert production with the New York Philharmonic, plays at the Tivoli tonight (June 15), tomorrow (June 16) and next Tuesday (June 21), starting at 7:30 p.m.
—Joe