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[0:07] Richie Grasso: Hello, and welcome to Half Hour, a Theater Entertainment Podcast through Two Worlds Entertainment.

[0:12] Jeff Malone: I'm Jeff.

[0:13] Richie Grasso: And today we are bringing you a conversation on Company, the Broadway Revival.

[0:19] Jeff Malone: That is at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater in New York City.

[0:23] Richie Grasso: It is fall of 2021, and we are loving all the shows coming back.

[0:28] Jeff Malone: Today's discussion is on Company.

[0:30] Richie Grasso: So we're warning you if you haven't seen this yet.

[0:34] Jeff Malone: That we are going to get lots of spoilers.

[0:36] Richie Grasso: There's a lot of spoilers coming your way here.

[0:38] Jeff Malone: So you have been warned.

[0:39] Richie Grasso: This is not anywhere on any streaming platform.

[0:42] Jeff Malone: This is the Broadway revival of Company at the Jacobs Theater in New York City, which is where we're going today.

[0:49] Richie Grasso: So talk about today, I should say.

[0:51] Jeff Malone: So I'm gonna give a little bit of background on the show as I always do, and then we'll kind of dive into what we thought.

[0:56] Richie Grasso: We saw this last night.

[0:57] Jeff Malone: We're really excited to kind of discuss this today.

[1:00] Richie Grasso: So Company, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by George Furth, originally produced and directed on Broadway by Harold Prince, the very popular Hal Prince.

[1:13] Jeff Malone: This was a 1970 Broadway musical, revived on Broadway later again in 1995, revived again in 2006, now revived again here.

[1:23] Richie Grasso: This was playing right before the pandemic.

[1:25] Jeff Malone: I mean it was coming, it was wildly successful in London.

[1:28] Richie Grasso: This production came to New York and ran a couple weeks, maybe a week or two, and then closed down with the pandemic, and now it's back with the cast that was gonna be doing a pre-pandemic.

[1:43] Jeff Malone: Lighting design by Neil Austin, sound design by Ian Dickinson for Autograph, illusions by Chris Fisher.

[1:51] Richie Grasso: There's Hair Wig and Makeup Design by Campbell Young Associates, Music Supervision and Music Directions by Joel Fram, choreography by Liam Steele, directed by Marianne Elliott.

[2:01] Jeff Malone: And for those of you who don't know, Marianne Elliott also directed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.

[2:01] Richie Grasso: She also directed War Horse, and she also directed Angels in America, the revival that we saw a few years ago.

[2:13] Jeff Malone: So Marianne Elliott is bringing this revival here to Broadway.

[2:18] Richie Grasso: And for those of you who have seen it, there is a big gender bender on this.

[2:22] Jeff Malone: This is a very fresh model, it's set in the modern day, the present day.

[2:26] Richie Grasso: Bobby is played by a female, Katrina Lenk, and Patti LuPone playing Joanne, amongst a slew of other wonderful Broadway talents in the show.

[2:37] Jeff Malone: So that's where we're kind of at.

[2:39] Richie Grasso: What are your overall thoughts on this?

[2:42] Jeff Malone: We really enjoyed the show last night, I think.

[2:44] Richie Grasso: I just want to know your overall thoughts before we kind of dive in.

[2:47] Jeff Malone: What did you think?

[2:48] Richie Grasso: It goes to me first with my overall thoughts.

[2:51] Jeff Malone: I was making a joke as we were walking to Grand Central last night, and I was like, it would be so funny if we could record ourselves like from this quick little walk from here to there.

[3:01] Richie Grasso: Because we always say like our one to two comments that like I think we sleep on them and we maybe change our minds a little bit.

[3:07] Jeff Malone: But change our minds.

[3:09] Richie Grasso: It's like those off the cuff remarks that I think would be so funny.

[3:13] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[3:13] Richie Grasso: But anyway, my overall opinion.

[3:16] Jeff Malone: I thought the show was good.

[3:17] Richie Grasso: You know, I, well, first of all, what do you think of the show?

[3:21] Jeff Malone: Like, regardless of this revival of it, when you look at the plot or the, there's a little bit of a lack of plot because it's a lot of vignettes kind of tied to this 35th birthday.

[3:30] Richie Grasso: When you see the way the show is written, for the time, the music, the lyrics, the message, what do you think of that overall first?

[3:38] Jeff Malone: I think for the time, the show made sense.

[3:42] Richie Grasso: Like the original story and when it came out.

[3:44] Jeff Malone: I think bringing it to the modern day works at times, and then other times it didn't fully work.

[3:50] Richie Grasso: And I don't know if that was just some around certain direction choices and whatnot.

[3:55] Jeff Malone: But I, you know, I like the story.

[3:59] Richie Grasso: I don't love the story, but I like the story.

[4:01] Jeff Malone: I think that it's very telling for many people today, and even then that I'm sure there are people struggling around their mid-30s trying to figure out life still in this world of relationships and trying to fit into a social norm of like what am I, who am I supposed to be with?

[4:20] Richie Grasso: Where am I supposed to be in my life right now?

[4:22] Jeff Malone: Am I supposed to have kids?

[4:23] Richie Grasso: Am I not supposed to have kids?

[4:24] Jeff Malone: Am I supposed to be married?

[4:25] Richie Grasso: Who am I supposed to be married to?

[4:26] Jeff Malone: Whether it be a man, a woman, or anyone.

[4:29] Richie Grasso: And where am I in my career?

[4:32] Jeff Malone: Where am I in my life of drinking and partying and hanging out with friends?

[4:36] Richie Grasso: You know, it's just so many different things.

[4:38] Jeff Malone: And I think many times we look at other people and we judge what they're doing, and we try to compare how we supposed to be on our timeline.

[4:49] Richie Grasso: And I think what's kind of beautiful about this show is there is no right timeline.

[4:54] Jeff Malone: Right.

[4:55] Richie Grasso: So I think like the message behind that is like everyone is going to be at a certain stage in their life, but you just might not be where they are, and they might not be where you are.

[5:05] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[5:05] Richie Grasso: So I do think that there is a beautiful message in the show.

[5:08] Jeff Malone: I just didn't love every single thing about the show.

[5:12] Richie Grasso: I think as a show, it was groundbreaking for its time.

[5:17] Jeff Malone: It was one of the first shows to deal with adult themes and relationships.

[5:23] Richie Grasso: You have to remember what was happening on Broadway in the 50s and 60s, romance plot about town, village of people, you know, or you know, but this was about like real people going through real things.

[5:33] Jeff Malone: And I think that was pretty groundbreaking for the time.

[5:36] Richie Grasso: I think bringing it to the modern day in this revival and freshening a lot of things up and modernizing it was really smart.

[5:43] Jeff Malone: And I'm glad that they didn't kind of set it in the 70s still.

[5:46] Richie Grasso: I think that was really great.

[5:47] Jeff Malone: I do personally think it's one of Sondheim's best shows.

[5:50] Richie Grasso: I don't know if it's the best.

[5:52] Jeff Malone: I don't know if I have one of those.

[5:55] Richie Grasso: But for him to really put, you know, he had done a lot of work on Broadway in the 50s and 60s prior.

[6:00] Jeff Malone: Now he's kind of here in the 70s, and he had some great things come after too.

[6:03] Richie Grasso: But this was like his middle of the middle of his career kind of show, where like he got a chance to really write some cool stuff that he didn't.

[6:10] Jeff Malone: I feel like he got to write what he wanted to, and really what he truly wanted to.

[6:15] Richie Grasso: And you could tell it's like his baby, in a way.

[6:19] Jeff Malone: I think the music is wonderful.

[6:22] Richie Grasso: You gotta catch those lyrics when they come because they come and they go.

[6:25] Jeff Malone: And I think the what they're trying to say, there's such comedy, there's some tragedy, there's a little bit of everything.

[6:31] Richie Grasso: I think the music really helps move the show definitely along.

[6:35] Jeff Malone: The music is a huge character for me.

[6:37] Richie Grasso: So, like I, we I find that we have this conversation a lot whether should a show be completely sung through, should there be more book scenes?

[6:45] Jeff Malone: And this is actually a show that I think needed more music.

[6:49] Richie Grasso: I thought the book scenes were too long at times, and I know that we're there was character development with Bobby and the different couples that she's meeting along her journey, but some of them I was like these, some of these scenes are just falling a little flat.

[7:03] Jeff Malone: And I just wanted to get to the point.

[7:04] Richie Grasso: I wanted to get to more singing because the music is great, and the music does tell the story pretty well too, which is really nice.

[7:10] Jeff Malone: Yeah, so that was one thing that I guess I didn't fully love about the show.

[7:14] Richie Grasso: Was sometimes there was dialogue happening that it was just like it kept going and going.

[7:18] Jeff Malone: And it was like there was maybe one too many lines in certain scenes.

[7:22] Richie Grasso: And I know that's part of the development, but that was just my opinion.

[7:26] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[7:27] Richie Grasso: You know.

[7:27] Jeff Malone: I think as a kind of taking shift towards this production.

[7:32] Richie Grasso: I think that it's tough because there's some amazing things going on.

[7:37] Jeff Malone: If I had to start with that, I would say, I really think this was a well-directed piece.

[7:44] Richie Grasso: Someone had a creative vision to take this show, not just modernize it, freshen up.

[7:49] Jeff Malone: Anybody can modernize and freshen something up and set it, and then put a cell phone in everyone's hand, and there we go.

[7:54] Richie Grasso: But there was something about the neon was great.

[7:57] Jeff Malone: The cubicle style apartment.

[8:01] Richie Grasso: This was not people living in big houses.

[8:03] Jeff Malone: Why fill the whole stage with big apartments?

[8:06] Richie Grasso: Keep them segmented like that.

[8:10] Jeff Malone: It was great.

[8:10] Richie Grasso: I thought there was like, you know, a lot of times the audience applauded the route.

[8:13] Jeff Malone: I thought the reveal of the orchestra was a moment for me.

[8:15] Richie Grasso: I didn't know where they were, and I was like, where is this orchestra?

[8:18] Jeff Malone: And they just, the curtain lifted and they were there and they were lingering, looming.

[8:22] Richie Grasso: That orchestra.

[8:23] Jeff Malone: How often do you see an orchestra up at the top of all the action at the bottom?

[8:26] Richie Grasso: Very rare.

[8:27] Jeff Malone: Like Cabaret, I think we've seen that.

[8:29] Richie Grasso: A couple shows where we've seen that, but not a lot.

[8:31] Jeff Malone: Like fully up top of the stuff.

[8:33] Richie Grasso: Yeah, this was like fully up there.

[8:34] Jeff Malone: Yeah, that was, but I don't remember that in Cabaret.

[8:36] Richie Grasso: Yeah, they were up at the...

[8:36] Jeff Malone: I know.

[8:40] Richie Grasso: No, I did think it was cool because you did see them and they were almost like a lingering presence of the time.

[8:46] Jeff Malone: And the scene change music of her going from scene to scene.

[8:50] Richie Grasso: Because it's very easy for this show to be segmented.

[8:52] Jeff Malone: And I think that the direction of putting her through, I mean, it's to clearly an Alice in Wonderland style exploration.

[9:00] Richie Grasso: The big three-five.

[9:01] Jeff Malone: Then she crawls through the little door.

[9:03] Richie Grasso: There's the little, it's her perspective on what 35 is.

[9:06] Jeff Malone: Sometimes it's overbearing to her.

[9:08] Richie Grasso: Sometimes she's like, all right, I'm 35, I'll move on.

[9:11] Jeff Malone: And the move and the way the set moved, as well as, and I think this is interesting.

[9:15] Richie Grasso: It says illusions by Chris Fisher in the playbill.

[9:18] Jeff Malone: There are illusion moments.

[9:20] Richie Grasso: That cast disappears.

[9:22] Jeff Malone: They back up and they come in and they back up.

[9:25] Richie Grasso: And I'm like, ooh, it's really haunting to see them with the fog and the neon lighting, and even this, the company spelled out in that song, "Another Hundred People" just got off the draw.

[9:35] Jeff Malone: That's really cool.

[9:36] Richie Grasso: I just think it was choreographed and directed really well.

[9:39] Jeff Malone: That I would praise that as well.

[9:41] Richie Grasso: Yeah, that's the scenic and costume.

[9:43] Jeff Malone: The scenic design, the lighting design was great.

[9:45] Richie Grasso: And we did see Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, right?

[9:49] Jeff Malone: Where and I do remember that neon light.

[9:53] Richie Grasso: And Angels in America had that neon vibe to it too.

[9:55] Jeff Malone: And it adds a haunting element.

[9:57] Richie Grasso: Yes.

[9:58] Jeff Malone: It really does.

[10:00] Richie Grasso: You know, to say something like that, I think that part of the one of the best parts of the show was that.

[10:05] Jeff Malone: Yeah, and sometimes you don't want to have to say that.

[10:08] Richie Grasso: No, I think that was that elevated the whole thing.

[10:11] Jeff Malone: I mean, you have the 35 hidden throughout the set, 3-5, 35.

[10:15] Richie Grasso: The fact that the set is very gray allows these characters to pop, especially Bobby and the red the whole time.

[10:21] Jeff Malone: You allow the actors to pop, and the gray as a director choice.

[10:28] Jeff Malone: It was like hiding little Easter eggs throughout the set. And those were the things that were making me think more than the actual storyline.

[10:34] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[10:34] Jeff Malone: Because it was making me think about, okay, what is going on in Bobby's head right now? Because I kind of feel like this is what the show is.

[10:41] Richie Grasso: Yes.

[10:41] Jeff Malone: Well, let's go to Bobby for a second because obviously big change there in this. Bobby, as many of you may or may not know, is normally played by a male. Um, it's usually Bobby, a man, and this was changed to Bobby a female. Um, Rosalie Craig played her in the London production a couple years ago before I came here. Patti LuPone also played Joanne over there when the Olivier Award is now here playing Joanne, a different person playing Bobby now, Katrina Lenk. To me, your show, I think a production of Company does come down to Bobby.

[11:06] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[11:13] Jeff Malone: How strong you want Bobby, how much Bobby may disappear in the plot at times. And for me, I found that this whole entire ensemble, like literally everyone worked together as a team, and unfortunately at times overshadowed and outshined Bobby. Bobby to me disappeared a lot throughout the show. Bobby to me was forgotten at times because of the comedy, because of the movement, because of the progressive feel of the Company, which was amazing, and we'll give a few shout outs to a few amazing performances in there. Bobby to me was like forgotten.

[11:46] Richie Grasso: And I got to her act "Marry Me a Little" end of act one, her being alive end of act two, and I didn't feel, I thought at times, like, and maybe this was a director choice. I don't know.

[11:59] Jeff Malone: I know, but I felt like, does she want to be married? I know that's the point, right? It's like, am I supposed to be or not? But I think the character is supposed, she says, "Marry me a little, love me just enough." Like there's the moments where like she doesn't know if she wants to be full, but the ebb and flow of the pull of, oh my gosh, do I want this? Do I not? Where am I supposed to be? It's almost like she's, I think Bobby's supposed to end the show with like a maybe like a quarter life crisis or a midlife crisis. Like, what's going on? What am I supposed to do? Be, I want to feel alive. Someone make me feel alive. And I didn't feel like she was going there with it.

[12:34] Richie Grasso: It was almost safe to me.

[12:36] Jeff Malone: It seemed very safe. It wasn't almost, it definitely was safe. And I think that's one more thing before I you chime in. I think Katrina Lenk is very talented. I've seen her in some plays on Broadway. I thought she was great in The Band's Visit. She played that wonderful character, won a Tony for it. And then I come here and I'm like, I don't know if I believe—I hate to say this, but like I had a hard time believing that she wanted it because there were times when she like loved being alone. I think she was like alone. There was this like dun dun dun dun dun. I'm alone in my apartment and I'm okay with it. And I'm like, are you? I don't know. You know?

[13:11] Richie Grasso: So I think I don't know. That's how I kind of felt about that.

[13:14] Jeff Malone: So I think that there's two ways Bobby could be played. It could either be this person that you're watching go through a journey and then ending up being almost manic at the end.

[13:25] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[13:25] Jeff Malone: Because it's like you hear Bobby throughout the whole show, and it's like the voice in his head or her head going, Bobby, Bobby, Bobby the whole time. And then like you just boom, you know, you blow up and you're like, I can't take it anymore. Or it should really go the opposite way, and being like, no, I'm proud that I'm alone. I'm proud of the decisions I'm making. And I can feel alive on my own. Right, and I can be this on my own. And I don't think either of those happened with her.

[13:56] Richie Grasso: It almost kind of lingered in between both.

[13:58] Jeff Malone: And to me, that could be an actor choice, it could be a director choice, or it could be both.

[14:04] Richie Grasso: Right.

[14:04] Jeff Malone: And I guess it means like we're supposed to come up with that out of our own. Because she leaves at the end. But I don't think they leave it for us to come up on our own with her because the performance didn't have a journey going each way.

[14:18] Richie Grasso: Yeah, and then like at the end, she's alone, she can't blow out the candles, she does, she gets the fire extinguisher, she does, and then there's one candle left. And what does that mean?

[14:26] Jeff Malone: Yeah, one more chance, maybe she's gonna try. But I don't know. I think back to the Raul Esparza, excuse me, 2006 revival. And if you listen to that recording, the passion in his voice in "Being Alive," when they're Bobby, Bobby, but he goes, "Stop!" Like, I feel as the audience, we're supposed to be on that journey by like the multiple times throughout the show, we keep hearing Bobby, come on, Bobby, but that's supposed to be like drilling to the point where he or she is sick of it by the end.

[14:53] Richie Grasso: Right.

[14:54] Jeff Malone: I didn't get the vibe that she was sick of it by the end.

[14:56] Richie Grasso: No, and also like as an audience member, like what are we supposed to take away from this? Are we supposed to take away being like, hey, maybe we're not supposed to be so hard on everyone all the time about like where they are in their career, where they are in their relationships, where they are, do they have kids?

[15:17] Jeff Malone: Yeah, you know, and as an audience member, I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel after seeing that. Sometimes we've talked about this in the past. Sometimes the greatest shows we've seen leave us discussing and saying, well, what about this? What about that? Like leaving it up to the audience to decide. To me, there was just a little bit too much of that rope to pull with.

[15:35] Richie Grasso: Right.

[15:36] Jeff Malone: And I think that I would have liked to, you know, a lot of times people will say, is Bobby gay? Is that another—we I've heard that argument since this ever since this show came out in the 70s, people will always argue, well, maybe he's gay.

[15:46] Richie Grasso: And that was not something that I needed to think of yesterday.

[15:48] Jeff Malone: No, but because they always say maybe Bobby is gay, maybe Bobby is asexual, maybe Bobby doesn't want it, maybe Bobby does want it. Does you and thinking what if, what if, what if, that's normal for this piece because you're supposed to kind of leave thinking what Bobby really wants, but I just left the case.

[16:03] Richie Grasso: But you should be on the—you should be on the edge of your seat trying to figure it out.

[16:07] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[16:08] Richie Grasso: That to me puts the theater into the new level.

[16:11] Jeff Malone: Yeah, and I thought there was something missing with when the rain was pouring down at the end of Act One, soak that in, live in it, like, oh my god, it's raining. I don't know. There was moments where I didn't feel like she truly—almost like she was holding back a lot.

[16:24] Richie Grasso: The belt came out a couple times, vocally, it wasn't going to the place I wanted to.

[16:28] Jeff Malone: Not when you're hearing someone like, I mean, and we can give some of these shout outs now, like Matt Doyle doing "Not Getting Married Today." I mean, the energy that needs to be matched in that that he did so well, right? Jennifer Samard steals every minute of every scene she's ever been in, and I've ever seen her in. This woman can do no wrong in my book on a stage. And her and Chris Siebert together, like working the scene.

[16:53] Richie Grasso: And then when you're alone, Bobby, or Katrina Lenk in this case, and you're on that stage and there's no neon cubicle and you're just on a bare stage. I think you gotta leave your heart on that stage. And I don't know. Listen, we're seeing this in previews right now. Maybe she's a million things. Is she holding back? Is she not? Is she waiting for a moment? She's finding the character still, maybe. I don't know. She didn't do this in London. She's one of the newer people. I don't know.

[17:15] Jeff Malone: Um, I guess now one of my questions to you is we're watching this kind of like Alice from Wonderland take on this. And I don't know if that's how it was done in the other performances either.

[17:28] Richie Grasso: Yeah, I mean like in the other productions, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[17:31] Jeff Malone: That's what I don't know. But and we're starting with the birthday, so it's interesting because then she goes down through the rabbit hole and we're going into each little scene. And for me, I said to you yesterday, I was like, are we—is are these scenes real or are they made up in Bobby's head?

[17:48] Richie Grasso: Well, that's interesting because I'm pretty sure there's supposed to be like real moments that she's had with them.

[17:54] Jeff Malone: And but then there's dream sequences, like when there was multiple Bobbies in the apartment.

[17:59] Richie Grasso: Right.

[17:59] Jeff Malone: And I was like, oh, seeing her life unfold again. That was cool. Because then I was like, oh, well, this is interesting. Because if they're not really happening, then Bobby's just imagining what they're doing in their lives. And she's just an outsider looking in, watching it happening. The same way that they were all down their rabbit holes, yes, thinking what's Bobby doing right now.

[18:20] Richie Grasso: Right.

[18:21] Jeff Malone: And you know, when they're going through her bedroom while she's, you know, with the flight attendant.

[18:28] Richie Grasso: Right.

[18:29] Jeff Malone: They're all saying, what's Bobby doing right now?

[18:31] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[18:32] Jeff Malone: I'm wondering while she's also having the same scenes happening in her head of what they're all doing. So that's what I was curious. Like, are these actually going through this? Because we start with the birthday, then all of this stuff happens in between, and we end at her birthday.

[18:47] Richie Grasso: And was it—well, did all the—are these all flashbacks prior to the birthday? Are these things that have happened around the week of the birthday? Did they leave? You know, she doesn't show up to the apparently according to the last scene. They keep waiting for her and she's not there.

[19:00] Jeff Malone: Right.

[19:00] Richie Grasso: And they say, okay, and it was supposed to be a surprise. And they said, we're gonna leave, we'll leave the gifts here. And she comes back in, and there she is alone, you know.

[19:08] Jeff Malone: Uh, there was also this—there was like the clubby scene at the end, the drinking, the partying, that modernization, the taking of the selfies throughout. That was cool. I thought there were some cool ways to tell it, but to me, I found that Bobby really disappeared a lot. And maybe that was a choice. And if it was a choice, well, I think that it accomplished that choice. But because it does become about like the cameos, the comedy of that.

[19:32] Richie Grasso: To me, but that's like very similar to the Alice in Wonderland story.

[19:39] Jeff Malone: She then goes to each one. Like she goes to Tweedledee and Tweedledum and she goes to the Caterpillar and she goes to the flowers. So watching her go through each couple and being like, yeah, yeah. I don't want that.

[19:51] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[19:51] Jeff Malone: You know, I watched the married couple who is always nagging each other because they don't like certain traits about them, or the couple that's about to get married, or the couple that's gonna have a baby, yeah, or have children and then get a divorce, you know, and then the rich couple that—what do they have?

[20:10] Richie Grasso: Right, and that was interesting.

[20:11] Jeff Malone: Well, we'll talk about that because we have to, of course, talk about Miss Patty LaPone, who wins an Olivier Award for this role in London. I'm hoping we'll get Tony nominated for this at least. She was, to me, she was like born to play Joanne. She encompasses it, she's in the coat, she's in the wig, she's doing her thing. And "Ladies Who Lunch," what an 11 o'clock number for her. The longest applause, probably in the whole show. Um, and just she's delivering, and I'm like, wait, is she gonna sing this whole song seated? And I'm like, everybody rise, would have been the moment where maybe she's gonna stand up and she doesn't, and I'm like, oh, what a choice.

[20:47] Jeff Malone: Because I think that she's like, you know what? I'm gonna sit here and sing the song. I'm not standing up and singing this. I thought that was an interesting choice. But I definitely think it was a choice because I kind of wanted her to own the stage, yeah. I know she owns it from sitting down, but I also wanted her to walk own, yeah. And I think, like, I've heard she's gotten her standing O's a few times, but like, didn't it happen in our show?

[21:09] Richie Grasso: Yeah, yeah, we didn't know that we could from where we were sitting to see anyone's standing, but I mean, but I was like, I think if she just owned it a hair more, where if she got up in that moment, which would have been a choice. It also is interesting to me to see her in like the, I think the app, oh, the opening act to "Side by Side" is like this awesome, like what would we do with that? Yeah, it's and she's in there doing all the ensemble dancing. And I was like, oh, part of me was like, would she option out of some of these ensemble things? Like, I'll play Joanne and I'll only play Joanne. Like I was wondering that.

[21:40] Jeff Malone: Like maybe she'll just go in, do her three or four scenes and no, she was in there dancing. It's an ensemble piece. She realizes that it's such an ensemble piece. You are part of Bobby's life. And I think it was important that she was in them. I think I'm just so not used to seeing her doing ensemble dancing. It would have been that she comes out just in the one number or the two numbers that she's saying.

[22:02] Richie Grasso: Yeah, but she realizes that this is an ensemble piece. She's not gonna do that to her fellow ensemble. She was to me the best part of it. I would say the top two things were her and the direction. And I think that that was really, really strong. I love this show. Um, I think that it's so timeless in a way, because what does marriage mean today for a woman and for Bobby being a man all those years to now having people saying, when are you getting married, Bobby? Are you gonna get married? Do you want to have kids? I don't, you know, what is marriage like and the whole theme of that. Very, very interesting.

[22:31] Jeff Malone: But and also I do think that Matt Doyle and Jennifer Samard's performances were also some scene stealers at times, because that's such a song to sing "I'm Not Getting Married Today." Yeah, and I will say there's, I have a few, there's a lot of one-liners in this show that are really, really great. If I had to throw out my fate, I think there's two moments, there's two lines that are really great. Um, when it said, but who will I take care of? Someone says, well, don't you who who will you take care of? Who will I who will take care of you? Who I take care of, and what is marriage like who taking care of someone and that companion side by side, the companionship of life, there's that whole theme.

[23:13] Richie Grasso: Another awesome line they say, I think it's in, um, I believe it's in "Another Hundred People" when they say I'm paraphrasing, but it's something along the lines of well, you know New York best when you know when to come to New York and you know when to leave New York, because one of those people she's dating is leaving. And I think that's so interesting too. It is such an homage to New York, yeah. And what the just to me, I love "A Hundred People" just got off of the train because a city of strangers, city of strange, and then "Another Hundred People," and how many times are you walking down? There's literally a hundred people coming off the train, and there's the city of strangers. So it is a love letter to New York. And what is New York for these people? Some people it's alone, some people it's with family, some people it's dating, married, not career-driven, not and I love that that it's this beautiful homage to New York.

[24:01] Jeff Malone: So many musicals are set in New York. I get that. This is just this beautiful telling of like, how do you what is it like being a resident of New York and New York Cities, especially, you know?

[24:10] Richie Grasso: Well, that's an interesting take as well, because she has this whole not about like taking care of someone and who's gonna take care of her, but like look at all of these friends that she has in her life. And is she actually helping take care of them? And are they helping take care of her? And why does she need an individual person, like one person just to take care of her?

[24:34] Jeff Malone: Yeah, yeah. When she has all these people already taking care of her, looking out for her. It's her 35th birthday, they threw her this big surprise.

[24:40] Richie Grasso: Which is all right. Going back to what we were saying, if the story took more of the role of like she's okay with being this empowered individual on her own, but that she was just happy with her friends.

[24:53] Jeff Malone: Yeah, then maybe that was a great choice, but it didn't seem to go that way. It didn't even seem like she was happy with her friends, or she would have showed up her. And to me it always comes back to the lyric. As we talk about music, lyrics to me are a big deal. Like when they say, um, Bobby, come on over for dinner. They always invite her at places. Um, just be the three of us. Maybe that's what's in her head. Just the three of us, just or I want you to meet someone, or they say, you I love and you I love. We love you.

[25:22] Richie Grasso: Right. And so she feels that love. But then it is so interesting to me that they all leave.

[25:29] Jeff Malone: Yes. I think that's so interesting that they all decide when they hear the 10th neighbor come home down the hall, whatever. You know what? Let's go. Not one person says, no, no, no, she'll be home eventually. I don't want her to come home, and I'll sit here and wait for her.

[25:41] Richie Grasso: Right. Out of all those people, that is a choice in the writing in the direction for them to leave her. Oh, we'll leave. You know, someone had a key to get in, I guess. So they leave all these gifts, the cake with the candles still lit, the balloon. That's an interesting choice to leave.

[25:56] Jeff Malone: So they all love her to what extent.

[25:58] Richie Grasso: Exactly. They all love her to the point where at the end of the night, who's getting into bed with her? Who's called talking to her before she dozes to sleep? Who's living in the apartment? No one. And I think that's the point of it. That empowered story.

[26:11] Jeff Malone: Yeah. It's not her being happy on her own.

[26:15] Richie Grasso: Yeah. Because it's like she would have showed up and they would have stayed. So then it goes back to the other way where it's like, no, she's lonely.

[26:22] Jeff Malone: Yeah. But the name of the piece is "Company." What is company? Is company the person in the bed with you? Is the company the spouse? Is company your friends? What does it mean to have company? We're gonna have company over just be the three of us.

[26:37] Richie Grasso: I just keep the Bobby come on over for dinner. It's just a recurring theme throughout the whole thing.

[26:42] Jeff Malone: Um, and like I said, I will say, I will say this too. This is musical comedy. It literally says it on the playbook "Company," a musical comedy. And to me, they hit the nail on the head with the comedy.

[26:54] Richie Grasso: But there, I just think there's some tragedy in it. And I don't, I think they almost steered clear of that 95% of the time. I think a tragic, but I think there is tragedy in "Marry Me a Little." And I really, really think there's tragedy in "Being Alive." That song makes me tear up sometimes when I hear it.

[27:14] Jeff Malone: Someone to hold me too close, someone to those lyrics some and ruin my sleep and let me make me aware of being alive. Like I, she wants someone to ruin her sleep because then she'll realize that she's alive. Didn't really feel that way.

[27:27] Richie Grasso: Which is something actually to think about like what made her feel alive? Drinking?

[27:31] Jeff Malone: Well, there was a lot of partying and drinking in her life.

[27:33] Richie Grasso: Yeah, well, her career, her success. But we don't know what she's really drinking her. We just know, like, yeah, we just see her at this, but like every time she's in the vignette, she's also just drinking.

[27:44] Jeff Malone: Yeah, and that was an interesting choice too. Maybe that was her way of getting through the just be the three of us romance. And what I don't know, but also like what are certain people's vices, I guess.

[27:53] Richie Grasso: Yeah. And that's yeah, and that's why I just I don't know. I find "Being Alive" to be one of the greatest closing songs of a show. I think that song is so perfectly written, and it really takes a strong, strong person to tell that gut right.

[28:07] Jeff Malone: I thought I was maybe gonna cry at the end of it, and then I'm watching her do it. I'm like, it didn't go there for me. And that's okay, because maybe this was just gonna focus on the comedy and good, good because life should be comedic and light and fun, but it didn't go to the depths of the tragedy.

[28:20] Richie Grasso: I thought they could have got I've seen and heard of productions doing a real serious take on "Being Alive," and it didn't go there for me. And that's okay. That was just the this revival of it.

[28:28] Jeff Malone: I do think it's gonna get some Tony nominations. It's a really, really great production, and I really liked it. Liked it.

[28:34] Richie Grasso: So oh ding dong. Time, time, time. Dora chimes. Here we go.

[28:41] Jeff Malone: All right, our one-minute recap. Go.

[28:43] Richie Grasso: Uh, I think mine's gonna be quicker, but I think that the show is great. I think it's another great piece of theater that just makes you think about things about life and was enjoyable to watch.

[28:55] Jeff Malone: I think there were maybe some different direction choices I would have made, but I didn't direct this. So that's it. And I think everyone should go see it. There's great performances in the show, and it will definitely make you think.

[29:07] Richie Grasso: It'll definitely make you think that's what theater is supposed to do in a way, right? Is make us think in a way.

[29:11] Jeff Malone: Um, yeah, my recap is I love the show. I've never seen a professional Broadway revival of this show before. I'm really glad I did. I love hearing the live music, some great cameo performances throughout. I'm if any if it is any reason to see it, I would see it, like I said earlier for the direction and Patti LuPone's performance.

[29:30] Richie Grasso: I think those two are the strongest things.

[29:31] Jeff Malone: He loves Patti LuPone.

[29:32] Richie Grasso: I love Patti LuPone and anything she does. Um, I would say, yes, go see it. It'll make you think. If you really want to see some cutting-edge theater, some groundbreaking stuff, some new stuff.

[29:42] Jeff Malone: And oh, and one thing I will say too, I'm glad Steven Sondheim's given his blessing for all this. I'm glad that they asked for his permission on a lot of these changes. I'm glad that he was alive to see this.

[29:51] Richie Grasso: And I'm glad that he gave a blessing for this because a lot of people won't. A lot, I think that's what I'll end on saying. A lot of people write things and say, don't change my things, don't change my things. And there's someone in his 90s who's saying, you know what? Yeah, make some changes.

[30:01] Jeff Malone: Because I think the integrity of the piece sticks.

[30:05] Richie Grasso: And that's impressive.

[30:06] Jeff Malone: And that's impressive. Because I a lot of revivals, like I like to see different takes of the theater.

[30:13] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[30:13] Jeff Malone: Yeah. And that's what this did. It wasn't a traditional just like, let's throw "Company" up on the stage.

[30:19] Richie Grasso: Yep.

[30:19] Jeff Malone: It was a different take on it.

[30:22] Richie Grasso: It's great.

[30:22] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[30:23] Richie Grasso: Yeah. And it's a great show.

[30:24] Jeff Malone: So I really, really, I really enjoyed it.

[30:27] Richie Grasso: All right. Well, there's our recap. We thank you so much for listening today, and we hope you enjoyed. Please sure to follow us on Instagram at Half Hour Podcast for the latest on our posts.

[30:35] Jeff Malone: You can engage and comment. That's on Instagram at Half Hour Podcast.

[30:41] Richie Grasso: We got some more shows coming up this holiday season. We got some movie musicals coming up we're going to talk about. So check those out.

[30:46] Jeff Malone: And thank you all so much for listening today. We hope you enjoyed. Until next time, signing off for now. I'm Richie.

[30:51] Richie Grasso: And I'm Jeff.

[30:52] Jeff Malone: Saying ta-da.

[30:53] Richie Grasso: Bye.