(Matt Wolf’s article appeared in The New York Times, 10/25; via Pam Green.)
LONDON — At last, “Company” has a human pulse and a proper dramatic core. And for that to happen, it took a woman.
The Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical from 1970 long ago entered the canon with its tale of a commitment-phobic Manhattan bachelor named Bobby who ricochets among multiple couples while searching for a soul mate of his own.
Now enter the twice Tony-winning English director Marianne Elliott, who has replaced Bobby with a female equivalent called — what else? — Bobbie. (I sense a trend afoot: The forthcoming film of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Cats” will feature Judi Dench cast in the male role of Old Deuteronomy.)
The result is entirely transformative: This production is the commercial theatrical event of the year to date. And the Gielgud Theater — where the show and its resplendent leading lady, Rosalie Craig, are on view through March 30 — is not likely to be its final resting place. (It’s just one measure of the intense interest in the show that it has already doubled the length of its run, originally announced through Dec. 22.)
