The Cavalier daily :: Friday, October 30, 1970 :: University of Virginia Library

NEW YORK — With the new
theater season already well under
way, it occurs to me that, due to
the strike and the excess of
strike-related articles that filled this
page last May, my reviews of two of
last season's late-arriving musicals
never reached print. I therefore
think it best to devote my first
Broadway column this fall to what
are now two established hits, "Applause"
and "Company."

"Applause" is a musicalization
of the film (and original story),
"All About Eve," which, as most of
you probably know, concerns an
ambitious, stage-struck young girl
who befriends a first lady of the
theater and then almost destroys
her in a reckless climb to stardom
and personal fulfillment. The show
was written as a star vehicle in the
fashion of "Hello, Dolly!" and
"Mame," and though it doesn't
quite measure up to those two which
it stylistically emulates, there is
enough quality material on view to
to put it a notch or so above the
run-of-the-mill musical.

Plenty Of Chances

The emphasis in Betty Comden
and Adolph Green's libretto is less
on the young bitch and more on
the older one, giving Lauren Bacall
plenty of chances to display her
considerable talents in her musical-comedy
debut. The book itself
is long on plot, character, and
action, but a trifle short on humor
and gripping drama. Likewise, the
score, by Charles Strouse and Lee
Adams, is good enough, but not
exceptional.

Director-choreographer Ron
Field has given "Applause" an unmistakably
professional gloss and
has evoked some first-rate performances
from Penny Fuller as the
young Lady Macbeth, Len Cariou
as Miss Bacall's director-lover, Bonnie
Franklin (appearing only in the
show's two brilliant production
numbers, but totally winning the
audience), and, of course, most of
all, Miss Bacall herself. In short,
"Applause" may not greatly excite
you, but it should leave you fairly
well satisfied.

Thoroughly Original

Whereas "Applause" emulates a
style, "Company" initiates one. It
is the revolutionary musical which
"Hair" tried so hard to be and (at
least for me) failed. And what a
rare pleasure to see a show that is
thoroughly original — not only in
style, but in concept as well. "Company"
is easily last season's best
musical.

George Furth's book follows
Bobby, a bachelor in his
mid-thirties, through his escapades
with five sets of his married friends
and three of his female companions.
It is an entertaining enterprise,
but, moreover, it is a thoughtful
probing into modern marriage, the
whys and the wherefores, the disadvantages
and (ultimately) the
overwhelming advantages.

Stephen Sondheim's music has a
wonderful rhythmic contemporary
sound to it and his lyrics are the
best to be heard on Broadway in
years. It is significant to note that
the songs are unusually well integrated
with the book and that,
unlike in many musicals, each song
serves an important function.

Strong as Mr. Furth's libretto is
and outstanding as Mr. Sondheim's
songs are, it is perhaps, above all,
Harold Prince's immaculate, fluid
staging that makes "Company"
such an extraordinary achievement.
As with most Hal Prince musicals,
"Company" opens with a stunning
production number that sets the
style, pace, and, tone of the show.
Mr. Prince moves the actors in and
around and up and down Boris
Aronson's breath taking modernistic
set with the skill and intuitive sense
of theater we have come to expect
of this master craftsman.

Larry Kert has replaced Dean
Jones in the role of Bobby since I
saw the show last spring, but, from
all reports, is as good as, if not
better than, his predecessor. Of the
others, Elaine Stritch, Barbara Barrie,
Donna McKechnie, and Pamela
Myers are standouts. But then everything
about "Company" stands
out. It is innovative. And meaningful.
And slick. And incisive. And
sophisticated. And one hell of a
fine musical.