Now in its fifth season, The Garden Theatre, I’m ashamed to say, is new to me. In its own words it is “semi-professional,” regional, and non-equity. The Houston Press cannot possibly cover every company in town. There is a surfeit of theater riches, and most weekends are chock-a-block with multiple offerings, usually opening on the same night. But after seeing Garden’s superlative rendition of Stephen Sondheim/George Furth’s Company (1970), I will not make that mistake again. What a glorious night for Houston musicals.
After his first solo Broadway endeavor, the phenomenally successful farce A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Sondheim’s next venture was the nine-performance flop Anyone Can Whistle (1964), even though it introduced Angela Lansbury to the musical stage. Lyrics for Richard Rodgers’ Do I Hear a Waltz (1964) followed, a so-so hit, but then came Company, and the Broadway musical has never been the same. It was an eye-opener, and won the Tony for Best Musical.
Brittle, caustic, and funny, it dissects marriage, life in New York City, and commitment. The story is brief, if a story at all. Bachelor Bobby, “Bobby, baby, Bobby bubi,” (Logan Vaden, artistic director of Garden, with a powerful dramatic tenor) has the unenviable task of watching and reacting to the five married couples who are his best friends. He’s content to remain single, but they nag him to settle down. He’s turning 35 and it’s time to move past his casual, anonymous flings. Be a grownup. But as he visits each couple, he sees their “sorry/grateful” state. It’s not encouraging.
Harry and Sarah (Seth Daniel Cunningham and Whitney Zangarine, both exceptional singing actors) are locked into a battle of the sexes, literally, as they wrestle in front of him, trying to prove each other’s dominance. Jenny and David (Whitney Wyatt and Baker Morrison), get stoned to show how hip they are. The hilarious pot scene is a showstopper. They want to be young, but time and having children has slowed them down.
Susan and Peter (Morgan Kaupert and Miles Estes) seem to be the perfect married couple, Robert’s ideal. They announce to their stunned guest that they’re getting a divorce. Paul and Amy (Stephen D’Amico and the extraordinary Daniel Edwards) have been living together and now are getting married. She’s Catholic, he’s Jewish. Minutes before the ceremony, neurotic Amy blurts out her indecision – and craziness – in the breathtaking mile-a-minute tongue-twister “Not Getting Married Today.” Edwards, in lace blouse and lacquered fingernails, positively gleams in this highlight from a show filled with highlights. The song and he are both tour-de-forces.
Bitch-goddess Joanne and devoted Larry (regal Angela Pinina and light-on-his-feet David Allen III) are rich and jaded. She’s on her third marriage, but Larry dotes on her. Pinina gets the show’s most iconic number “The Ladies Who Lunch,” the ultimate put down of those social biddies with empty lives who pretend to like Mahler, who wear hats (“Does anyone wear a hat?”), and who slug back vodka stingers while backstabbing. That Joanne slugs back vodka with a vengeance does not go unnoticed. This is Sondheim as Truman Capote, and Panina absolutely nails the bitterness and heartache in her wailing plea to be relevant.
Then there are Bobby’s flings: airline flight attendant, hot but dim-bulb April (Katie Chaisson, she of the beautiful soprano), sincere Kathy (lovely Jackie Cortina) who can’t wait any longer for Bobby to commit, and wild child Marta (full-throttle Ivanna Martinez). They perform Sondheim’s witty ‘40s pastiche “You Could Drive a Person Crazy,” as they cut Bobby down to size. “You impersonate a person better than a zombie should,” sung to close three-part harmony like the Andrews Sisters with their “doo-doo-doo-doo-doos,” radiantly staged by choreographer Courtney Chilton. She and Sara Denton are co-directors, neither of whose work I know, but I want to get to know them better. Their combined work is gloriously theatrical, right, and true.
Both envious and jealous, the five married men try to fix up Bobby, while the wives long for a Bobby that doesn’t exist – yet. By the end of this open-concept musical, Bobby is ready to have “somebody hold me too close, somebody hurt me too deep.” He is now ready to commit. He is whole.
The performers sing to a background score from Musical Theatre International that uses those classic award-winning Jonathan Tunick orchestrations that make Sondheim sound like Sondheim. While we miss a live orchestra, we certainly understand the finances involved. It is the best substitute.
Seeing Garden Theatre’s ultra-polished production with its platform unit set by Nicholas White and its backdrop panorama of the Manhattan skyline, its period costumes by Kimberly Hart, precise lighting by Blake Minor, and performers who knock it out of the park, Houston’s hometown musical theater is in very fine hands indeed. Thank you all for showing me the way. I’ll be back. So should you.
Company continues through April 19 at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday,; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday at Garden Theatre at MATCH, 3400 Main. For more information, call 713-521-4533 or visit thegardentheatre.org. or matchhouston.org. $25-$30.
