Why I Love Sondheim's Company

Company is about a bachelor and his married friends living in New York. The show opens with the main character's friends calling his name softly, melodically. "Bobby, Bobby..." They leave him quirky voice mails on his 35th birthday. Then the song changes and becomes a chaotic affirmation of what defines the term company- "life is company; love is company."

Bobby, for being a sort of modern-day Everyman, is wonderfully charming and lovable. He's just a little dense about himself. He's lonely, but he immerses himself in the lives of his married friends rather than settle down himself. His girlfriends in the show are all ridiculous in one way or another, and he displays no real attachment to any of them. Bobby is looking for an ideal, a woman who embodies all the beautiful characteristics of his female friends, who could rouse him from his bachelor state. If only such a woman existed...

His female friends lament his sad loneliness, while his male friends encourage him to keep his single life and to date around. But, to quote one of the most touching moments of the show, his friend Harry assures him that he's always sorry he got married, but always grateful. "You'll always be what you always were, which has nothing to do with, all to do with her."

Meanwhile, Bobby tries to figure it out for himself. He tries to connect with his three lovers in the play. He even asks his friend Amy to marry him while she panics about her upcoming wedding to another man. He cries out that he's ready now for someone to marry him, but the all-knowing audience member knows better. He only wants to be married a little, loved just enough.

In the end, when his friend Joanne shocks him into self-realization, he says that being alone is not being alive. In one of the most beautiful songs ever written (in my humble opinion), he cries out for "someone to hold you too close, someone to hurt you too deep." Bobby realizes, as we all must, that he cannot live his life through his friends; he wants to make his way through the frightening world with someone who he can love, not just someone to shower him with affection.

With a cast of quirky and lovable characters and some of Sondheim's best music, Company will quickly work its way into your heart. And into your head, if you're having an existential crisis.

The best Company experience that I have had is with the most recent production of it. The 2006 Revival Cast of Company starring Raul Esparza as Bobby is absolutely amazing. What sets it apart from the other recordings you may ask?

1. There is no orchestra. The cast members play the music themselves. Wow.

2. Raul Esparza. It would be worth listening to if only for his performance.

3. Sondheim's music, which is timeless and refreshing in its musicality, has never sounded better. The orchestral arrangements are very unique and very impressive.

4. The way these actors portray their characters. I really love them all, and I'm a very critical person. While my favorites are Joanne and Amy (and Bobby, which goes without saying), there is no weak link in this cast.

5. The energy of this play. While conveying some very serious themes, the non-stop energy of New York City is embodied in the music and the dialogue.

6. The unique format. Company is not a plot-driven story. It's a series of reflections upon a life as a man turns another year older.

The CD and DVD are availible at Barnes and Noble or Amazon.