Misery loves 'Company,' but we don't

What relevance could a 1970s Stephen Sondheim musical about the trials and tribulations of middle age have for the average Princeton student?

"Not much" is the obvious answer, and I was pleased to see director Dave Holtz '10 address this issue directly in his program notes. After admitting that even he was initially unsure of the resonance "Company" would have with a college audience, Holtz wrote that he eventually came to see the George Furth and Sondheim classic as a story of growing up. "Midlife is certainly a time of transformation and growth," he commented, "but so is college ... I think from Bobby we can all learn a lot - how to love, how to accept oneself and how to take a giant risk." It's a plausible and appealing take on the show, and it's a shame that Princeton University Players' "Company," despite some inspired performances from a seasoned cast, fails to live up to Holtz' ambitious vision.

"Company" opens with Bobby (Billy Hepfinger '10) returning home on the night of his 35th birthday. He pours himself a glass of Wild Turkey and listens to a series of birthday wishes left by his friends on his answering machine. After this brief introduction, the show quickly progresses to a series of vignettes exploring the lives and marriages of Bobby's 10 friends and three girlfriends. With no single coherent plot, Bobby and his eclectic mix of friendships become the show's unifying principle. He is the only member of his cohort of acquaintances who has not married and settled down comfortably into domestic life. Bobby is a complex, nuanced character: restless, ambivalent toward marriage and approaching a mid-life crisis. As the glue that holds these disparate vignettes together, Hepfinger captures his character's emotional troubles superbly, capturing perfectly the timing and tone of the deadpan, self-deprecating humor so central to his character.

Where Hepfinger's performance comes up short, however, is in depth of emotion. When, nearly two-and-a-half hours after the first note is sung, Bobby blows out the candle on his birthday cake and smiles slightly, we should feel that his perspective on life has changed in important ways. Yet the details of that transformation remain regrettably shrouded in mystery. Hepfinger is so good at capturing Bobby's initial defensive indifference that his rendition ultimately becomes staid and flat, devoid of the emotional complexity needed to fulfill Holtz' vision of "Company" as a chronicle of personal metamorphosis. As such, the disparate scenes of "Company" often appear fragmented and lacking purpose, and the relevance of the show quickly becomes murky.

This fragmentation aside, the ensemble numbers - especially "Company," "Side By Side By Side" and "Being Alive" - are excellent, meticulously choreographed pieces executed by a strong, self-assured cast. Phoenix Gonzalez '11 turns in a commanding performance as Bobby's restless and street-savvy girlfriend Marta, and her rendition of "Another Hundred People" is a highlight of the show. Hannah Wilson '11 is also impressive as Bobby's other love interest, the dreamy and dimwitted flight attendant April. Among Bobby's friends, rising star Carolyn Vasko '13 delivers another strong performance as the sheltered Southern belle Susan, which she plays with an effective and unobtrusive accent. Buddy Gardineer '11 shines as her husband Peter in one of the show's most poignant scenes, when he longingly asks Bobby if he has ever had a "homosexual experience" and is rebuffed with a quick joke.

Compared to the exceptional technical prowess of "Ragtime," this PUP production, whether for artistic or fiscal reasons, is decidedly more understated. The backdrop to the whole production - a scrim with a cityscape painted on it - feels a bit simple and amateurish.

And despite giving the audience a more intimate view of the performance than they would have in any other theater on campus, the choice to stage a 14-person musical with a fairly large pit orchestra in the Class of 1970 Theatre at Whitman College baffles me. Too often, I felt like I was watching a performance meant for a sprawling proscenium stage that had been stuffed into Whitman's tiny dimensions. Like so much of this production of "Company," the choice of venue is an intriguing idea whose possibilities are never fully realized.

2.5 Paws