Being Alive

Company

Happy 35th birthday, Bobbie! The festive celebration will soon be shared by Bobbie’s married friends, all crammed into her tiny Manhattan apartment to throw a surprise party for their single friend. Throughout this wonderfully re-imagined, mellifluous  musical, filled with new surprises and laugh-out-loud hilarity, and some heartbreaking sentiment and truths, Bobbie decides that maybe it’s time to make a big change in her life, which she sing in her plaintive, “Marry Me a Little.”

Most avid musical theatergoers have already, no doubt, enjoyed the original, 1970 Stephen Sondheim (music & lyrics) and George Furth (book) Tony Award-winning musical. When it first opened, the show was considered controversial because it was one of the first book musicals to tackle dating, marriage and divorce. However, the real contentious issue was that the new Sondheim work was a concept musical. This meant that it was pretty much devoid of a plot. Instead the musical is told in a series of short related scenes and musical vignettes.

But just when audiences had become comfortable with Sondheim’s abstract view of marriage, British director Marianne Elliott wanted to shake things up. She contacted the master composer about producing a new, 21st century version of the musical. Ms. Elliott was enthusiastically granted permission to change the gender of the main character, formerly called Robert or Bobby, to a unwed, swinging female named Bobbie. She also switched the gender of two of Bobbie’s friends, who were planning to get married, to become a same-sex couple. And, since Bobbie was now a woman, the three people she was dating were, naturally, men. Sondheim worked on revisions to the script, changing lyrics and dialogue, as well as writing a new ending to the show. This exciting reimagined production first opened in London in 2018. Three years later, after the pandemic had forced the shutdown of every Broadway theater, the revised, gender-swapped revival opened in New York. This third Broadway revival swept the 2022 Tony Awards, winning five accolades, including Best Revival of a Musical.

This is the must-see production that’s now playing at the Cadillac Palace for two weeks, thanks to Broadway in Chicago. Whether you’ve seen a performance of the original script, or any of several earlier revised productions; whether you’re a Sondheim fan or its your first visit to Bobbie’s birthday bash, this is a thoroughly magnificent theatrical experience. 

Marianne Elliott’s exhilarating direction is so imaginative! The changes in genders, dialogue and lyrics are so unique and inspired that this new “Company” feels like a brand new show. Clearly, Ms. Elliott’s vision for Bobbie and her “good and crazy married friends” is an Alice in Wonderland view of Manhattan. Bunny Christie’s inspired scenic and costume design, beautifully enhanced by hair, wig and makeup design by Campbell Young Associates, as well as the visual illusions created by Chris Fisher and the inventive lighting designed by Neil Austin, all make this production eye-popping and totally enjoyable. And kudos to the unseen backstage staff who make all the fast scenic and costume changes work.

This cast is truly talented and so likable. Bobbie is played by the incomparable Britney Coleman. A Michigan native, this Broadway baby, who’s appeared in countless New York and National Touring productions, has a beautiful voice, charismatic charm and so much energy she could light up a whole city. Dressed in a frilly, fiery red jumpsuit, Ms. Coleman simply dazzles and absolutely owns the entire stage.

The supporting cast are individually and collectively superb and unbelievably gifted. Chicago’s own James Earl Jones II is hilarious as Harry. His velvety vocals caress Sondheim’s melodies in songs like “Sorry-Grateful” and “Poor Baby.” He’s paired with vivacious and very funny Kathryn Allison as his wife, Sarah. She’s a foodie who’s dieting and he’s a former social drinker who’s now a recovering alcoholic. During a party they engage in a knock-down, drag-out wrestling match, which is musically commented upon by Joanne, the oldest and most cynical of Bobbie’s married friends. Played with mocking pessimism and a powerful voice by Judy McLane, Joanne sings a derisive, “The Little Things You Do Together,” that sets the tone for many of the upcoming musical vignettes. Later in 

Act II, Joanne brings down the house with her sardonic, “The Ladies Who Lunch.”

The same-gender couple who are “Getting Married Today” are expertly portrayed by Ali Louis Bourzgui (recently seen in the Goodman’s Broadway bound production of “The Who’s Tommy”), as a sweet and loving Paul, and Northbrook native Matt Rodin, as Jamie, his nervous fiancee, who has an overwhelming case of cold feet. This number is another hilarious showstopper, especially as creatively staged by Ms. Elliott, and superbly musical directed by Charlie Alterman (whose ten-member pit orchestra is incredible). Marina Kondo, as Susan, also plays the humorous soprano Church Lady soloist in the number.

Other standout numbers include the Andrew Sisters-inspired trio, “You Could Drive a Person Crazy.” Originally sung by three single ladies, in this gender-switching production Bobbie’s dates are the delightful and talented Jacob Dickey (Andy), Tyler Hardwick (PJ) and David Socolar (Theo). Sondheim’s skillful lyrics are delectable and rapidly fire at the audience. The great Sondheim patter song, “Another Hundred People,” is sung by Tyler Hardwick. He comments to Bobbie about the multitudes of commuters who arrive in New York City every day. And later, in Act II, we see a fast, Chaplin-esque montage from Bobbie’s imagination, as she envisions herself married. It comes during Bobbie’s date with Andy, the fussy and fastidious airline attendant she brings home for an evening of romantic pleasure. This nightmare is followed by Jacob Dickey’s melancholy number, “Barcelona,” in which Andy tells Bobbie that he’s running late for work. Wait for the final punchline in this song.

But the moment that the audience has waited for all evening is the finale. The journey that theatergoers have taken with our heroine leads to Bobbie’s gorgeous, melodic, self-discovery, the soaring “Being Alive.” Lovely Britney Coleman pours her heart and soul into this ode to love, living and sharing moments and feelings. In this scene Bobbie is finally able to blow out the candles on her cake and accept that, not only is she now 35 years of age, but ready for a new chapter in her life. Or is she? This moment of enlightenment leaves the audience thinking about his or her own life journey. It’s a subjective and gut-wrenching finale to a fantastic “new” Sondheim musical that should not be missed.        

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented October 31-November 12 by Broadway in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph, Chicago.

Tickets are available at all BIC box offices, at all Ticketmaster retail locations, by calling the Broadway in Chicago Ticket Line at 800-775-2000 or by going to www.BroadwayInChicago.com

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found at www.theatreinchicago.com.