Theater review: ‘Company’ at Onstage in Bedford

Stephen Sondheim is really hard.

Onstage in Bedford’s production of that musical theater legend’s Company, which opened Friday, underscores that point in both positive and negative ways.

This musical from 1970, with music by Sondheim and a book by George Furth, focuses on Bobby (Aaron C. White), a bachelor with a wide network of friends who are couples.

They worry about Bobby’s love life (one of the trademarks of this show is a pleading, inquisitive choral refrain of “Bobby? Bobby?” as if asking if he is really OK) while being oblivious to the shortcomings of their own relationships, which are numerous.

During the course of the show, we get to know Bobby, his multiple girlfriends and the couples. And, if we care, we might learn something about what it was like to be talented, beloved and single in New York City in the early 1970s.

There are many aspects of this production that come off well. White builds and maintains his character thoroughly, and holds the show together. The choral singing is quite strong, most of the acting is of a high standard and the overall staging works well enough.

Karen Matheny’s choreography makes good use of the theater’s space, Jessie Wallace’s costumes evoke the period and Kevin Brown’s sleek set, painted and lit in the atrocious colors popular at the time of the show’s setting, is a real winner.

But much of Sondheim’s score proves to be too much for some of the singers and musicians. White has a good voice and handles some of the trickiest Sondheim structures with aplomb. But, like a race car driver who is great in the turns but less reliable in the straightaways, he has a tendency to flatten out in the more mundane parts of the show’s numbers.

There is some exceptional vocal work from the supporting players, but few of them have more than one tune to deliver. The four-piece band, which is cleverly placed in the center of the stage behind semi-transparent curtains, is badly undermined by one player who is unable to meet of the challenge of this demanding score.

Director Ashley H. White has done a good job of preparing her cast, but some of her casting decisions are highly suspect. There is a romantic scene in the second act, for example, that is difficult to watch because the casting is so off the mark.

The production’s greatest sin, however, is the lighting by Scott Davis. At the opening-night performance seen for this review, players frequently delivered songs and lines in complete darkness while their silent castmates stood watching from well-lit areas.

This theater has made great strides in recent seasons, mounting a wide range of outstanding shows. But in this case, it has allowed its ambitions to exceed its abilities. Company is not a good choice for this company.

This story was originally published October 8, 2015 at 1:38 PM with the headline "Theater review: ‘Company’ at Onstage in Bedford."