Review: Late start to ‘Company’ didn’t detract from fantastic performances

Good things are worth waiting for, as seen during opening night of “Company” on Wednesday at the First Interstate Center for the Arts.

After a 25-minute delay because of technical difficulties, the musical, which features music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth, brought the audience into the apartment of happily (or is she?) single Bobbie on the day of her 35th birthday.

This gender-swapped version of “Company” changes Bobby, a male role, to Bobbie, a female role, and the character of Amy to Jamie.

Carrying big Nos. 3 and 5 balloons, which she forces into a corner of the room, Bobbie (a fantastic Britney Coleman) listens to birthday messages her coupled friends have left her, before the group comes in for a surprise party.

Bobbie is unable to blow out any candles, however, though her friends assure her her wish will still come true.

From there, we see Bobbie visit each couple in a series of vignettes. First, Bobbie spends time with Sarah (Jessie Hooker-Bailey), an exercise fanatic who desperately wants a brownie, and her husband Harry (James Earl Jones II), a recovering alcoholic who desperately wants a drink. Both are constantly getting annoyed with each other because of their indulgences.

Hooker-Bailey and Jones were hilarious as they kept up their annoyance with one another through the whole scene, including a jiu-jitsu demonstration, smiling through gritted teeth.

Joanne (Judy McLane) and the couples sing “The Little Things You Do Together,” a fun group number that made good use of a small space, before Bobbie spends time with Peter (Javier Ignacio) and Susan (Elysia Jordan), a seemingly perfect couple that surprises Bobbie with news that they’re, happily, getting divorced.

It was fun to watch Ignacio and Jordan be effusive about divorce, showing that sometimes splitting up brings two people back together.

Next, Bobbie spends time smoking with the cool Jenny (Emma Stratton) and more uptight David (Matt Bittner) in a hilarious scene in which David can’t tell if he feels nothing or everything from the weed. Stratton and Bittner played the “opposites attract” couple well, with a lot of humor and care for one another.

When asked why she isn’t married yet, Bobbie says, “Marriage is avoiding me,” which leads to the trio of men she’s seeing – Andy (Jacob Dickey), PJ (Alexander Ríos) and Theo (David Socolar) – to appear and chastise her for her lack of commitment.

We get to see Bobbie spend quality time with each fella during the show, giving each performer some deserved time in the spotlight. It was especially fun to watch Dickey as the spacy flight attendant.

To close the first act, Matt Rodin was incredible as a groom with cold feet, nervous about marrying his partner (an understanding Jhardon DiShon Milton) of several years. “Getting Married Today” was my favorite moment of the show.

The pacing is slower in Act 2, as the birthday party resets. This time, the fun 3 and 5 balloons Bobbie brought into the apartment at the start of the show are 10 times as big, making Bobbie’s birthday, and her unknown future, feel that much more daunting.

After two great group numbers – “Side by Side by Side” and “What Would We Do Without You?” – and time with the aforementioned spacy flight attendant, Bobbie spends a lot of time with Joanne and Larry (an even-keeled Derrick Davis).

While Larry dances, McLane, as Joanne, tells Bobbie that she isn’t living life, just watching it happen before a beautiful “The Ladies Who Lunch.” From that conversation, Bobbie has a bit of a breakthrough.

The birthday party resets for the final time, with each couple waiting for an absent Bobbie to arrive.

After they leave, Bobbie shows up and with a clearer idea of her future, blows out her birthday candles.

There were some cool visual choices in the show, including using big illuminated letters that spelled out “COMPANY” as set pieces in one scene and another in which multiple versions of Bobbie and her future husband illustrate what her future could look like.

I appreciated that each couple had some time to shine, but the night, as it should have, belonged to the birthday girl. Coleman, as Bobbie, truly ran the gamut of emotions as she reacted to everything her fellow performers threw her way. With her vocals, her solo numbers “Someone Is Waiting,” “Marry Me a Little” and “Being Alive” were treats to hear.

In a world where people can sometimes take pity on those who decide to stay single or get divorced (happily or otherwise), it’s important to remember what Jamie told Bobbie after she suggested they get married so people will quit asking about their future plans: “You have to want to marry somebody, not some body.”