Company (Musical, Cast Album)

 With the holidays and the new year in the rearview mirror and recently concluded, we reflect on the time of year to get together with friends and family. Have dinner, exchange gifts, and talk about life. And with one topic when a group of adults gathers, there comes the inevitability of discussing relationships. This musical applies to adult life, whether the season calls for gatherings, a casual dinner with friends, or a birthday party. Today I am going to deep dive, via the cast album, into what is becoming one of the new favorite shows by the late great Stephen Sondheim.

I hope I can see this walkthrough of Bobby's adult life live and performed on stage someday, but for now, all I have is the cast album or albums I should say. Getting advice and affection from sometimes overbearing friends, Bobby who can be portrayed by either Men or Women as the recent productions have shown, is still navigating the waters of life. Wanting to be in love but yet searching for what that really means, Bobby's friends are there to guide our lead, as well as try to spice up their own lives, relationships, and marriages that they find in a rut of the day-to-day. Wanting to help Bobby means something new, someone new to bring along, and that is shown from when the curtains rise to when they fall. This show looks at marriage, friendship, and all forms of Company.

Taking place on the night of Bobby's birthday, and going from dinner to dinner, the album begins with a great opening really setting the mood. Showing loving friends and our lead being invited here, there, and everywhere. As the album progresses it explores relationships from small moments, to big, but also how it can grow dull and monotonous. ending with Bobby just wanting to be alive. "Being Alive" is a powerful closer and the norm for Sondheim asking the big questions, while wrapped in a blanket of strong emotion and tied together with powerful lyrics. There were many songs on this album I found myself listening to over and over, and I can see myself listening to this alongside my other Sondheim favorites such as "Sunday In The Park With George" which I have and will continue to discuss, or "Into The Woods". 

Sondheim lyrics love to explore human feelings deeply, from creativity, to love itself, and this show is no different. From fun fast-paced numbers to big sweeping ballads, this one catches the big moments, and little pieces of everyday life perfectly. Described as a concept musical, this show explores a topic then a winding plot, still having gripping character moments and music that expresses that. 

Having discovered this around Thanksgiving, I am still listening to this show. I feel it embodies adults gathering together, even for the holiday season. Though this reason is a birthday, it brought me to dinners with friends over the winter season and how the conversations can lead to deeper talks than just the day-to-day. Friends reaching out for friends for winter parties and dinners who they may have not seen in a while and want to catch up, or perhaps someone who has gone through a bad breakup. No matter the time of year or occasion I feel this show applies heavily to adult friend groups and touches on this topic of love and marriage in a way many shows shy away from.

Most shows of the classic era treat love and marriage as a prize, and a goal to obtain. To reach the highest height in the name of love and being in love. Sondheim with this and "Into The Woods" asks what happens when the honeymoon is over. What happens when the so-called prize of love is won and the happily ever after devolves into the day-to-day. When that love becomes the norm and every day, through moments expected and unexpected. 

And that is why I love this show, and am so glad I finally gave it a listen, and want to see it when I can as soon as possible. There is so much to explore with this show from song to song, so I can already tell that I will be looking into the songs, and themes of this show more. Until then, I hope your day is a showstopper, and if you can, give this show a listen. you just might love it


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