This 'Company' better suited to stage
What makes for good live theater doesn't always make for a good movie, and the proof lies in the New York Philharmonic's all-star revival of “Company,” Stephen Sondheim's 1970 musical tribute to the ambivalence of the matrimonial state, opening at select movie theaters today.
“Company” was recorded in April at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in New York.
Its cast features popular TV stars such as Jon Cryer (“Two and a Half Men”), Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men”) and Stephen Colbert (“The Colbert Report”) aligned with Broadway powerhouse diva Patti “Evita” LuPone.
Led by the talented and personable Tony Awards host (and Xfinity TV pitch man) Neil Patrick Harris, the TV transplants acquit themselves nicely in voice, movement and comic timing.
Their primary challenge isn't the lyrics, music and stripped-down sets, but the orchestra.
Oh, the musicians are fine. But they're on the stage. Right behind the actors. If you're in Row 2 at the theater #8212; OK, Row 40 #8212; this would not be a distraction. Your suspension of disbelief is extremely willing.
But in the more literal medium of movies, seeing a musician sitting right behind the performers and looking bored out of his mind is a monumental distraction.
While cast members struggle to pull us into their characters' world, the orchestra members constantly remind us we're watching a stage show with minimal set pieces.
Director Lonny Price compounds the problem by periodically cutting to an unflattering wide lens that shows what #8220;Company#8221; would look like as viewed by an ant on the edge of the stage.
Then, in the strangest of misjudgements, Price keeps cutting to conductor Paul Gemignani, which distances us from the characters' emotional and social dilemmas.
Amazingly, we eventually fall into step with the personable cast and Sondheim's witty, bluntly musical truths, set to a vignette structure inspired by 11 one-act plays from playwright George Furth.
Harris plays Bobby, a single New Yorker whose 35th birthday becomes a rallying point for the upper-middle-class couples, his best friends who want him to be as miserably married as they are. (Cue the song #8220;Sorry-Grateful.#8221;)
Colbert and Martha Plimpton get physical as Harry and Sarah, whose barbed exchanges reveal how they've made denial a lifestyle choice.
Amy (Katie Finneran) isn't sure she can go through with marrying her live-in Jewish boyfriend (Aaron Lazar).
Peter (Craig Bierko) appears to be happily married. News that he's getting a divorce doesn't hit Bobby half as hard as when Peter asks him, #8220;Have you ever had ... a homosexual experience?#8221;
Harris, who is openly gay, gives a reaction that nearly brings down the house, as does LuPone whenever she takes the limelight.
The voluptuous Hendricks, Anika Noni Rose and Chryssie Whitehead are exuberant treats as Bobby's revolving girlfriends.
#8220;Company#8221; became the first Broadway musical to hold up a mirror to its principal fan base, mainly the upper middle class, and musically address its demographic psyche.
It holds up as a fine work with continued relevance, even if you can't quite hum the tunes as you leave the theater.
Tickets ($18) and theaters are available at companyonscreen.com.
“Company”
★ ★ ½
<b>Starring: </b>Neil Patrick Harris, Jon Cryer, Christina Hendricks, Patti LuPone, Craig Bierko, Stephen Colbert, Martha Plimpton
<b>Directed by: </b>Lonny Price
<b>Other: </b>A Screenvision release. Not rated. For mature audiences. 150 minutes