By: Jean Javert
Broadway ushers have an incredibly difficult job during the best of circumstances, compounded by the stress of managing an audience during COVID-19, and one never knows what to expect. Page Six of the New York Post reports that opening night of “Company” Thursday, December 9th was the place to be! The producers of the show took the opportunity to honor the show’s composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who passed away on November 26th, with special Playbills featuring him on the cover. According to The New York Post, two boxes of the one-night-only Playbills went “missing” and the celebrities and vip’s in attendance were left scrambling! If you didn’t manage to score one, they can be found on eBay, with current offers ranging from $50 all the way to $10,000.
Company began previews on March 2, 2020 and, like the rest of Broadway was shut down March 12, 2020 due to Covid. They resumed preview performances again November 15, 2021 and have been playing to sold out crowds. Spontaneous mid-show standing ovations are common for this show as people respond to songs and even lines that they know and love. Sondheim has inspired a legion of rabid fans for his decades of contributions to the American musical theatre canon and his death has meant they are even more demonstrative in their affection and devotion. Sondheim was born in New York City and always had a city sensibility and sophisticated in his works but spent his later years in Connecticut and passed away peacefully at his estate in Roxbury.
Company may be well-known to most savvy Broadway audiences, this production brings an entirely new interpretation to this beloved classic. Many of the roles, including the lead, have their genders reversed. The show takes on deeper meaning when you can see the characters from both sides. Sondheim is getting a quite a bit of press recently with the release of the West Side Story remake, for which he did the lyrics. The new West Side Story film is special because the cast includes many Puerto Rican actors as well as dialogue in Spanish. The director, Steven Spielberg, made the artistic choice to not subtitle the Spanish so as not to portray any language as being “other”. Audiences have applauded and embraced the seamless blend.
Whether one sees a musical in-person or on-screen, Broadway has long been an antidote for trying times. Even during the Great Depression, theatre and movies thrived as people sought an escape from the stress of the reality of their everyday lives. Sondheim’s talent was allowing his music and lyrics to reflect the human condition in a way that allows the audience to both feel and heal. We should all feel grateful to be alive in a era that brought us the gift of Stephen Sondheim.
