North Central College revives 'Company'

A meditation on the relative merits of marriage versus singlehood comes to North Central College's Pfeiffer Hall on Friday for a four-performance run.

"Company" is a Tony Award-winning show featuring music by Stephen Sondheim and a script by George Fürth that debuted in 1970. For this turn, it is being produced, directed and performed by North Central College students.

Though written almost four decades ago, its themes remain relevant and riveting, said co-director Lauren Omelson, a senior musical theater major. Revived on Broadway in 2006, North Central has opted to present the original version, with a few minor changes that set the action in 2009, she said.

"It centers around Robert, who is about to turn 35. He's friends with five couples," she said. "He's got all these friends that are married, but he's not. He hasn't let anyone get too close."

Robert, also known as Bobby, reviews moments that typify his relationships with his friends and three of his former girlfriends through a series of vignettes, arranged in a non-chronological order.

"It's really abstract," Omelson said. "Our set reflects that as well."

"The set - it looks different from anything we've done," said stage manager Erin McIntyre, a junior technical theater major. She added that the geometric shapes on stage are representational, not realistic, in a move designed to echo Bobby's life.

"The set is what he has to live with, what he has to take home every night," she said.

McIntyre said the cast, dressed in black and white, takes on different hues through creative lighting. The colors, she said, represent how Bobby's perceptions color each scene.

Though a melancholy thread winds through the show, "Company" is not a somber piece, McIntyre said.

"The music is very catchy," she said. "(Bobby's) numbers are catchy and upbeat, but they're kind of moving."

Mandy Nousain, a junior musical theater major, plays one of Bobby's girlfriends.

"I play April, who's a flight attendant," Nousain said. "She's kind of dumb, she's kind of ditsy. I play it kind of air-headed, but not over the edge. She really likes Bobby because he's intelligent."

There's a morning-after scene, she said, where she and Bobby are having an awkward conversation before she leaves for her next assignment in Barcelona.

"It's all just about Bobby trying to decide if he should be married," she said. "He really wants someone in his life. He doesn't really want her. It's kind of sad because he really wants a relationship, but he's not finding the right person."

Omelson, who is sharing directorial duties with student Alex Mersman, said the show is unusually rich in character development for a musical.

"It's a very heavy actor show," she said. "It's not musical fluff."