It is no shock to those who read G-Sync on a regular basis that I believe Stephen Sondheim is a god (if not The god) of the American musical.
When you look at the creativity he has wielded in his musicals, from his first (
West Side Story) to his most thrilling (
Sweeney Todd) to even his most quirky (
Assassins, Into The Woods), he is truly the reason so many stages across the nation wait eagerly for his productions to become available to be performed locally.
Now comes Sondheim's
Company to Circle Theatre's stage – a thrilling moment for Broadway when it premiered 45 years ago, as it was one of the first and most honest musical productions looking at the lives and loves of the modern man and woman. This relationship-driven piece is divided into segments, all surrounding a "best man" for the men and women in his life acting out on the stage of his life.
Bobby, a name that will earworm into your brain once you hear it so don't say I didn't warn you, is our everyman, our single guy in the city. He is, over the course of the musical, presented with every reason why and why not one would consider ever settling down. The thrilling, show-stopping number delivered by Larry Young (who also has performed in many other productions, including Circle's roof-raising performance in
Sweeney Todd in the title role) will truly make you feel alive.
It is also the hit musical whose soundtrack launched the voice of Elaine Stritch (formerly of Detroit, Michigan) into the stratosphere of camp heaven, as gay men the world over still lift a martini high in the air singing "
The Ladies Who Lunch" at piano bars while proclaiming, "I'll drink to that!"
Company's local production marks the third time that Circle has produced a revival of it for the Grand Rapids audience and will feature five real-life couples that are a part of the production, ranging from actors to the deck crew to stage managers.
If you love Sondheim, and who couldn't, then you cannot miss this thrilling production.
Admission: $25-27 (and $13.50 rush tickets)