A re-gendered revival of the 1970 musical “Company,” which had a well-received production in London that opened last year, will arrive on Broadway next spring starring the Tony Award winners Katrina Lenk and Patti LuPone.
Tuesday, September 03, 2019
‘Company’ Returning to Broadway, With a Woman at Its Center
A re-gendered revival of the 1970 musical “Company,” which had a well-received production in London that opened last year, will arrive on Broadway next spring starring the Tony Award winners Katrina Lenk and Patti LuPone.
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Katrina Lenk is probably the most awe-inspiring performer I’ve ever had the opportunity to see. I have never listened to or seen Company but this article and the upcoming Broadway revival makes me want to. Marianne Eliott’s works through the National Theatre always push the boundaries of what people expect from a theatrical piece, and I consider her to be on of the most ground-breaking directors of our time. The National Theatre also has produced consistently high-quality work that often makes its way across the Atlantic, and it constantly blows my mind how innovative all of their productions are in terms of technical elements and also how they take classic pieces and put new, fresh spins on them. I’m glad that the re-gendering of the main character is not the only change; that other, deliberate modifications were made to the script & the stories so that the changes aren’t just about gender, they’re about refreshing the story to fit a modern representation of the world.
-Bridget Doherty
I’m so glad we get a chance to catch this production stateside. I’m also in love with the comment from the director, Marianne Elliot, made about the changes, “there’s no way we’re just going to reproduce what we did in London — hopefully we’ve learned what we can make better, and now we get a chance to do that.” What an excellent way to highlight the opportunities that live entertainment has to make better new works, or new takes on works in this case. It is also an excellent reminder of how temporary theater often is, and how that makes it special. I’m hopeful to get a chance to see this “modern” retelling of a not-that-old story. I think it’s a great commentary on how fast society moves that we are already ready for a new version of Bobby/Bobbie, their married friends, and the “classic” struggles starting to flip and how that affects all genders differently due to societal expectations
I’m really excited about this production. Reframing the story to be in Bobbie’s head is an interesting idea. There is a perception difference between single men and single women and I’m interested to see how the show approaches it. Changing the narrative is an innovative way to change the story, however, I wonder if there is a story written by a woman that would tell the same or a similar story. Though Company is a great musical, Sondheim will have four musicals on Broadway this season. If a director like Ms. Elliott had asked to produce a Women written musical, I wonder if the producers would have invested in it, especially with the all star cast of Patti LuPone and Rosalie Craig. Introducing a new or lesser known female playwright could have brought a person into the spotlight. Nevertheless, I’m excited to see how this production changes the story and creates a new narrative.
Now THIS is the way to do a revival!! Too often we see revivals being thrown on the broadway stage with barely a decade between the original and the new production. The point of a revival is to look at the morals/messages/ideas of a show from decades ago and reanalyze how that story fits into the world we live in now. Sondheim is a genius but he LOVES his angsty male leads. To see his incredible work reimagined with a woman at the center is incredibly refreshing, and far overdue. This vision brings the beautiful show that is Company into the modern world and brings a new female-driven show to the forefront of Broadway, which is something we can never have enough of. Sondheim deserves to be celebrated for his contribution to the theatre world, but it is nice to see recognition of his lack of strong female and POC characters in his works.
Theres something extremely compelling about this complete rebranding of a beloved Broadway musical. Katrina Lenk as Bobbie is one of the most exciting things I've ever heard, and I feel as though this revival is gonna create major waves in the Broadway community. I am so glad that instead of getting more revivals that are simply a version of the same exact musical, done exactly the same way, or done in a way that is clearly trying to be super edgy is being avoided with this production of Company. I think that Patti LuPone singing Ladies Who Lunch is about to be simply iconic. I am hoping the technical elements of this production will support the revamped concept, making for a very exciting new story, and hopefully a Tony award winning revival. Ive already listened to the West End version of this revival, and all I have to say is Katrina Lenk is about to blow everyone away with this material. Very excited.
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