Review: Broadway's 'Company' offers 'Bachelorette,' 'Sex and the City' updates to Sondheim classic

Lord knows she has tried.

As pals plan a surprise 35^th birthday party for their singleton friend Bobbie, they all want to know: When will she settle down? Anxious and worried as clocks tick and sirens sound, she responds to the pressure by going on a safari to visit couples in their marriage habitats.

What she finds is a muddled mix in "Company," director Marianne Elliott's playful and thrilling Broadway production that landed Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. The Tony-winning show lights up the legacy of its creators, George Furth and Stephen Sondheim.

In fact, this "Company" feels so contemporary and vital, it's better (holy apocrypha, Batman) than the 1970 original. That version meditated on Bobby, a toxic, narcissistic man with a great New York apartment who juggles three girlfriends. In today's world, he would be less a prince than a pig, and frankly not all that interesting as a character to explore.

But with the gender swap to Bobbie, we get "The Bachelorette" and all the ladies of "Sex and the City" rolled into one. She's got a great life — a lovely pad and close friends that poet Gwendolyn Brooks would label "family in the large." They move in and out of her world willy-nilly, with little sense of personal space or privacy.

And as played with magnetism and angst by Britney Coleman, she is a conflicted and charismatic winner. Coleman shows that she has the range to meet Sondheim's demanding score. She is agile and subtle, injecting small phrases with big meaning and using her body to expressively extend the meaning and emotion of her voice.

The star soars on "Being Alive," the well-earned 11 o'clock number that distills all her learnings from said safari.

Elliott, who also won Tonys for "War Horse" and "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," also has swapped the gender of Amy, who is now Jamie, creating a same-sex couple with Paul. As Jamie, Matt Rodin executes the exacting patter song "(Not) Getting Married Today" with expert breath control.

"The Ladies Who Lunch," delivered with force and authority by Judy McLane as Joanne, also stands out. In the past, this number could have shades of self-pity. But McLane makes it a warning for Bobbie, who is haunted by the number 35 in Bunny Christie's box-themed set.

Her age shows up early in balloons in the first box where Bobbie's friends have gathered, stuffing themselves into a space the size of a service elevator. You can get claustrophobia just by looking at it.

And as 35 travels with her wherever she goes, we are reminded of the limits of time. The small renovations to the show that help it to so profoundly resonate also point to Sondheim's genius. He died Nov. 26, 2021 — two weeks before the Dec. 9 Broadway opening.

Sondheim may not have seen it, but you certainly should. This "Company," whose thrills include a lovely turn by hometown actor Emma Stratton, is a sublime celebration of life.

'Company'
Where: Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.
When: 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Fri., 2 & 7:30 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun.
Tickets: $40-$139. hennepintheatretrust.org.