COMPANY March 14-April 14, 2006 Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park Stephen Sondheim's landmark musical about love and marriage, stylishly staged by John Doyle. This show has been an extraordinary experience in so many ways. The cast is made of People Like Me! They all sing, act, and play instruments. Rehearsals were like a convention of overachiever nerds. John Doyle is as lovely, gracious, and generous a director as I could hope to meet, and I find his philosophy and aesthetics so refreshing and stimulating. Emphasis on story and simplicity, the antithesis of spectacle-style shows. Don't get me wrong, I love spectacular shows too, but doing theater this way highlights the actors and the story, makes for a more richly satisfying kind of entertainment. Mary-Mitchell Campbell has re-orchestrated the score, relieving it of the 1970's flavor that made the original so immediate and modern, but which has held back this score in recent years. I hear so many people say, "Oh yeah, Company. Great show, great songs, too bad it's so dated." John, Mary-Mitchell, and the designers have proven with this new version that the show is not dated at all. It has so much to say about relationships and the human heart. I love to do roles that let me sing and play. But they're so rare, and usually it's "guy at piano in run-down nightclub." This is different, because playing my instrument is really part of my character, and it drives the story. I play bass for about half the numbers in the show, piano and synth for the others. Not only do I express my character and story through my instrument, but the other 13 characters do the same. We're simultaneously a cast of characters and a chamber orchestra. I have so many happy memories of this show, images of Leenya doing trenches while she plays bass in "Side by Side," Kristin ambling around the edge of the stage playing flute in "Sorry-Grateful," Keith tooting his trumpet at Kristin when he says "Don't eat the brownie!" Heather Laws doing anything, ever, on any stage, is a highlight. Bruce's jazzy clarinet solo, punctuated by Barbara's big triangle solo. Rob and me keeping time in "Drive a Person Crazy," Fred and Kelly rocking out on their saxes in Act II, playing 4-hand piano with Amy. Being in the presence of a violin is always wonderful for me, but when it's being played by my friend Angel, it's that much more of a treat. Elizabeth and Raul communing sexually via the tuba... well, it has to be seen to be believed. We're coming to Broadway in the fall of 2006, so come see! And if you haven't seen John's production of Sweeney Todd, then hurry over and catch it. It's really something special. Mano and Lauren (as Tobias and Johanna) are my personal favorites in the cast, but truly everyone in the ensemble is extraordinary. People either love this version or hate it, but either way it gives you something to think about. I love it. Go see it! REVIEWS Click the logos for full reviews  "... Clean-lined and contemporary...This scintillating production of an earlier Sondheim musical, which stars a terrific Raúl Esparza as the famously diffident, chronically single Bobby, affirms that necessity has indeed mothered a reusable tool for theatrical reinvention..." "...'Company' positively drips with complexity and creativity... Throughout the show, considerable pleasure is to be had by 'Company'-philes from the freshness of the orchestrations and the way in which the emotional truths of the show are enhanced by a character picking up a musical instrument. There's a whole other dimension on offer with this particular title, because people really do play music to each other at social and theatrical gatherings. That creates an ease with this idea that Doyle beautifully exploits..." “...The original cast of Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park production of Company will make the transfer to Broadway intact, according to director John Doyle....The decision seemed right to the director: "Mr. Sondheim is thrilled with them, so why would we want to change?," he posed, adding, "and anyway, how many people are there walking around who can play the French horn and sing 'Getting Married Today'? You know, it's a limited pool...” “...Doyle's approach etches the stories more vividly: Less adorned with music or sets, each scene plays more squarely and directly. The show's familiar music also seems fresh and new, less Swinging '60s and more tuneful, all newly rethought....” COMPANY NEWS/UPDATES Content © Copyright 2000 James Matthew Castle; All rights reserved. Technology · Design · Photographs © Copyright 2000 Sue Eskridge and Matt Castle ; All rights reserved. Updated May 2006 Company_News.htmlCompany_files/NYTCOMPANYREVIEW.pdfshapeimage_3_link_0

Back row : Matt Castle, Amy Justman, Robert Cunningham, Kristin Huffman, Keith Buterbaugh, Leenya Rideout, Elizabeth Stanley, Kelly Jeanne Grant, Angel Desai. Kneeling in front, Raul Esparza. Front row: Heather Laws, Director John Doyle, Fred Rose, Bruce Sabath and Barbara Walsh. ( The Enquirer / Cara Owsley

Matt as Peter