Love Is Company! Well maybe not love but like...

Company - Theater Bielefeld, 5th May 2012

Two Sondheim shows in ten days sound like a treat for a Sondheim fan as me. Well Sweeney Todd was an utter one, Company well.. am still torn a few days later.

It was certainly a great production BUT having seen others of this show in the UK before which were most outstanding I am aware what true potential this show has and this production only partly delivered that for me.

Company is IMO one most challenging piece of musical theatre, well it is not your typical musical but a "concept" one with an idea telling of adult relationships rather than a A - Z plot with texts that are so sharp detailed and songs that are so engaging and even after over 40 years still sound remarkably fresh.Yes it has its flaws and a lot of the scenes are snap shots and you are left without answers for some of the issues set up during the show though I suppose it is just like real life and as they sing during "Sorry-Grateful" "Why look for answers? When none occur?" but other parts of it totally make up for these.
I cannot be bothered to go into detail about the story, too many reviews and articles have been written about it. For a full synopsis, read the Wikipedia >> entry or ask >> Google.

For a repertoire theatre unlike most others which too often cast too many people from their in house opera ensembles the Theater Bielefeld still casts surprisingly well in the kind of getting largely musical performers as guests so casting wise there were some great names in that production.

Robert - Alexander Franzen
Sarah - Melanie Kreuter
Harry - Thomas Winter
Susan - Jessica Krüger
Peter - Frank Wöhrmann
Jenny - Michaela Duhme
David - Tilmann von Blomberg
Amy - Carolin Soyka
Paul - Thomas Klotz
Joanne - Kerstin Marie Mäkelburg
Larry - Nico Gaik
Marta - Rebecca Stahlhut
Kathy - Karin Seyfried
April - Roberta Valentini

I had booked my ticket the morning they went on sale last autumn before knowing who would be in it, so much I had wanted to see another Sondheim show but when I learnt that Alexander Franzen, whom I saw in Curtains in November the last time, was cast I was even more excited and he did not disappoint.

He is as bachelor Robert the crown jewel of this production for me, full of charisma, congeniality and sentiments that especially at the end when he sings the spine-tingling "Being Alive" (unfortunately translated as "Leben spüren" - "Feel Life", which does not mean the same for me, in general the German translation by Michael Kunze is sometimes questionable; it has become some sort of pet hate when the whole meaning of a song is lost) I really want to marry him a little. ;-) (yeah old joke I know).
The inner conflict and struggle that he goes through of fear and desire for commitment at the same time was so believable, so strong, so powerful walking that fine line of the contradictory feelings so perfectly for me. His voice is so versatile, you can tell he is not only musical trained by also opera (saying that it never is "operatic" but has the strength some musical trained baritones occasionally miss IMO, not that it matters too much in this show) and just gives me goose bumps. Besides Thomas Christ he has for me the most amazing voice I know in this business in this country.

Roberta Valentini's simply hilarious turn as charmingly slightly dim flight attendant April is just pure perfected comedy magic and captures the spirit of the character so well not just playing the dumb part as you often get but also gives a glimpse of her frustration with it. She harmonises so wonderfully with Alexander in the date scene and had me in stitches when she tells her little story of the crushed butterfly. She was definitely outshining the other female performers with her subtle, perceptive and elaborated portrayal.

Rebecca Stahlhut as Marta, the second girlfriend, is another personal favourite of the evening. She is full of energy, self-confidence and excitement, so bubbly and bright. I can just feel her love for life and happiness.
Her "Another Hundred People" is sung with so much fervour and joy that it is such an enjoyment watching and listening to it.

The third of Robert's girlfriends, Karin Seyfried as Kathy, only partly convinces me. I am not a fan of her voice in general anyway, it sounds so characterless and bland for me missing colour and depth, Roberta and Rebecca totally outacted her during "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" and when she e.g tells Robert that she leaves the city it sounds so cold with so little affection.

Jessica Krüger as Susan and Frank Wöhrmann as Peter were an adorable couple, well ex-couple. Jessica is such a gracious, classy southern belle, Frank has a great stage presence and both are loveable playing the whole "divorce" scene so well and equipped with great voices. Frank is also later convincing as when he talks to Robert about homosexual experiences etc. I have seen it turning into an embarrassing scene for the audience but it felt rather human this time. I am still not sure though what this scene really is to tell me. It was just added in the 90s when the show was revised after long discussions by reviewers etc. whether Robert is actually secretly gay >> Great article about this subject.

Melanie Kreuter (who is actually not a guest but from the opera ensemble) as Sarah and Michaela Duhme as Jenny both were enjoyable for me. Certainly the numbers help as the kung fu  (yes kung fu and not karate as usual. Why the change??) or the marijuana scene both are so smartly written and they worked well with their respective partners Thomas Winter as Harry and Tilmann von Blomberg as David.

Also enjoyable was Thomas Klotz as Paul though vocally I was a bit disappointed knowing he can do a lot better, especially the few lines he sings just before the whole big wedding scene with him, Amy and Robert sounded stretched. But other scenes made for that.

Talking about Amy as the actress who played her was mentioned in other reviews as outstanding I did not get it. Yes, it was funny BUT my issue is that while the part is hilariously written, as Amy's number "Getting Married Today" which is so full of astonishingly quickfire lines with the typical Sondheim wit, Carolin Soyka playing it isn’t for me.

Having seen the stunning exquisite Cassidy Janson (an actress with a most incredible comic timing) in the London production Carolin Soyka fails delivering this part to the true vivid potential I saw back then. In her big scene as the bride to be I expect her to be hysterical, desperate and lunatic but I could only partly see and hear this in her face, her voice, her whole body. Yes, the lines were delivered as the script says and made me laugh and nicely sung but just big eyes and a puckered face is not enough for me.

I was also not impressed by Kerstin Marie Mäkelburg as Joanne. Again most other reviews praised her but being mainly LOUD is also not enough for me.

"The Ladies Who Lunch" was sung well though am not a fan of her rather harsh voice and does deserve some more rage and haunt and not just purely a drunk state. And yes, Joanne is a brassy, cynic, rather bitter and acerbic woman on the outside but the despair and hurt that seethes so close under the surface too which occasionally comes through in the things she said was never matched by her acting which stayed so one dimensional most of the time.
Nico Gaik as Larry, her understanding 3rd husband, was lovely playing the slightly desperate and caring hubby well with me feeling and caring for his character more than in other seen productions. Suppose it "helped" that I didn't like the wife too much.

The set, well what shall I say, was rather abstract. A gigantic piece you could call a hamster wheel filled the stage more or less fully which was put into different positions. Some reviews I read were impressed by it, other comments I heard weren’t – I agree with the latter. WTF I was thinking? So life is like a hamster wheel? In "Being Alive" it was even used like one. Wow, what a finding. And it was actually for me too late as the song is about Bobby realising that he wants to take the chance despite seeing what life his friends have, get involved with someone "or whatever happens when you decide to love and be loved." It is about getting out there and not being stuck in a hamster wheel. If they wanted to use it that way it should have been a lot earlier. To close it as it opened with this black cover in front of it so just a square appears - yeah... Sorry, but hasn't Bobby just sung about change in his life? Why does the set looks like it opened?? DOES NOT make sense...

In other scenes it was used as storage to place glasses etc, even for the balcony scene the protagonists would climb up to the top of it. So high that my neck still hurts. WTF? Or when Amy visits him it is his "bed" with the two actually first leaning against it then ending up "in" it.I liked it though during the scene when Robert smokes some pot with Jenny and David, as it was used to highlight them being stoned moving it a bit from left to right and back as if the world is moving.

Again other productions often were just with a couple of chairs and some other props while a lot more simpler was a lot more effective. And the opening scene it is to show the isolation of Robert to his friends which was also supported by the staging with the other acting towards the audience with Alexander Franzen standing behind them and answering etc..?? Okay....

I seriously cannot stand such productions where such sets want me to follow their understanding. I want to make up my own mind and this massive hamster wheel often did not allow me this. I still think anyway that a rather simply minimalistic stage is most perfect as it seems they often tried to get my focus more on this thing than the performance taking up so much space onstage - think of an A319 plane (nah, the wheel's not as big as A380) and some people next to them in some scenes - the first thing you may notice seeing a picture of such a situation is the plane not the people and even if you eventually notice the people your attention often goes back to the plane - basic psychology.

The scene changes also take too long sometimes with this wheel being put into the right position (by the cast usually) for the next scene interrupting the flow of the story and scenes were not tight and firm enough which is really my biggest issue I have with Roland Hüve's direction besides some of the character interpretations.

The lighting though on the other hand effectively creates atmospheres without intruding and being overwhelming - at least something most of the time though it also had its very odd moments.

Choreography by Katharina Wiedenhofer was .... well if you already copy from big shows than do it properly. "Side By Side By Side" seemed to try to be a number straight out of Chicago but failed looking just ridiculous too often combining dance routines which never should be combined IMO.
Maybe my expectations were just too high having seen it before as I have to say again but I just wanted MORE or actually less in some scenes.
Costumes by the same guys who are to be blamed for the set were a mix of nice as Kathy's simple red white dotted dress to WTF as Amy's wedding "dress" .

To finish this post what was most impressive though was the orchestration of the 10 (?) piece band well conducted by William Ward Murta which had the right drive giving the songs the right power but never being overpowering an well balanced.

Overall: An largely entertaining evening of a fantastic piece of musical. Anyone who has never seen the show before will most probably love the show. For me though who had seen it before it was not as perfect as it could be or as I had seen it before.
The excellent performances by Alexander Franzen and Roberta Valentini and the amazing band though totally were worth the visit.

Short video published by Theater Bielefeld: