‘Company’ about the good, the bad, and the funny
PROVIDENCE – Bobbie is turning 35, and her friends are planning a birthday party. What’s really on their minds, however, is why is Bobbie still single, and why she hasn’t followed them down the path of engagement, marriage and “settling down.”
In a series of visits with these couples, on her own or with one of three boyfriends, Bobbie sees how the marriage path has worked out for them – the good, the bad, and the funny stuff in between.
That’s the bare bones of “Company,” the musical written by George Furth, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original 1970 Broadway production earned a record-breaking 14 Tony Award nominations and won six.
The “Company” that’s coming April 23-28 to the Providence Performing Arts Center, however, is not that production. It is a 21st-century refresh.
Furth and Sondheim updated their own work in the early 1990s, and now director Marianne Elliott has swept out the cobwebs again -- with Sondheim’s blessing and collaboration before his passing in 2021.
“She went to Sondheim, and he was all for it,” says actor Judy McLane, who plays Joanne, one of Bobbie’s oldest friends, in this touring production of Elliott’s Broadway show, named Best Revival of a Musical in 2021.
In the Furth/Sondheim original, the central character was Robert – male -- and McLane suggests changing gender raises the stakes. “It’s different for a woman,” she says. “At age 35, a career and a baby, those are choices. It drives the show in a different way.”
Bobbie’s friends also face contemporary issues and attitudes. There is a gay couple in the mix, dealing with marriage jitters, and the twice-divorced Joanne is now with Larry, a younger man. All the relationships are rife with opportunities for comedy.
“I love Joanne,” McLane says, during a telephone interview. “She’s fun and dangerous, cynical and acerbic. She likes to be in control of things.
“You know, you’re in a bar, having a great time,
you say something she doesn’t like and she attacks you. She throws the dagger first.
“That’s part of her defense mechanism,” McLane points out. “A character like this has a history of being hurt. Where is her vulnerability? How do I show that? There are so many levels.”
The depth applies to Furth’s book for the show, “without much change, except for the pronouns,” she notes, and to Sondheim’s score, with honored songs “You Could Drive a Person Crazy”; “The Ladies Who Lunch,” sung by Joanne; and “Being Alive.”
“The material is so rich. In music and lyrics, Sondheim doesn’t do anything by chance. The melody is married to the lyric and to the feel of the song. He looks at every side of the human being,” she adds, comparing his genius to that of Shakespeare.
McLane speaks from experience, having performed previously in
Sondheim shows including a national and international tour of “Into the Woods” and the musical revue “Side by Side by Sondheim.”
Along with work Off-Broadway, in film and television, her Broadway roles include more than 4,000 performances as Donna and Tanya in “Mamma Mia!” making her the longest-running lead.
A classically trained voice graduate of Ithaca College, she learned acting and musical theater performance in New York City, where she now is a private voice teacher to students like she once was. She also teaches master classes around the world; during the show’s stop in Boston, she led a master class at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
She knew this “Company” would be both insightful and hilarious, but one thing has surprised her is how Bobbie and her friends connect with a new generation.
“There is a huge following of young people for the show.”
“Company” is on stage April 23-28 at the Providence Performing Arts
Center, 220 Weybosset St. Tickets are $38-$80 and available at the box office in the theater, by calling (401) 421-ARTS (2787) or by visiting ppacri. org. College student rush tickets at 50% off regular prices will be available from Friday to Monday, April 19-21, at the box office or online at ppacri. org/company with the code EARLYRUSH outside of box office hours. Students must show college/technical/vocational student ID.