• Company (Taiwan)

7/12/26 (Sun), Taichung National Theater (Taiwan)

Company, Sondheim’s sardonic look at marriage, has been turned into 42nd Street in this bright, splashy version by Japanese director Amon Miyamoto – and it (more or less) works.

Miyamoto, the go-to director for Sondheim shows in Japan, had been asked by the National Theater in Taiwan’s second-largest city specifically to stage something by the songwriter, and he decided to tackle this groundbreaking show. Only four performances had been scheduled for the run, but a colossal typhoon forced cancellations of the Friday and two Saturday shows. The producers responded creatively by sandwiching two of those around the Sunday matinee, meaning that the actors (with their consent) had to perform the show three times in a single day. Hats off to all for making that possible. The show was oddly performed in English with Chinese subtitles despite an all-but-one Taiwanese cast (the Bobby was from Hong Kong) and Taiwanese audience. I guess they figured that was easier than trying to render Sondheim’s fiendishly tricky lyrics into Chinese.

Miyamoto likes constant movement in his shows, and this was no exception. The show is famously a series of separate, thematically related episodes rather than a straightforward story, with characters appearing only in their own discrete segments as well as group numbers commenting on the action. Miyamoto adeptly managed the flow of characters, giving the women in particular distinctive personalities. He made full use of the large stage with smooth, swift movement of realistic set pieces – nothing like the stripped-down Doyle version of some years past – and ample use of vivid video projections (the superb set and projections were both by Japanese designers). I’m generally not a big fan of projections since they tend to overwhelm the people on stage, and here they were often redundant, like the swirl of birthday gifts in the party scene, as if the director didn’t trust the material. There’s a thin line between enhancing a scene and distracting from it.

Still, they were executed extremely well, most notably in the “Another Hundred People” sequence. The lines of silhouetted passersby, cars and planes moving across the screen in front of the 42nd Street metro station were breathtaking, supplemented by solitary actors wandering, skating and ambling through, and the Central Park setting with the angel statue looming over the couple was impressive. It did feel like a distraction from the lyrics rather than a complement to them – it’s all there in the song – but maybe that’s a necessary evil these days. In any case, it’s hard to complain when done this well. (That said, there must be a better way of getting Marta back on stage than having her repeatedly run in, take her spot, and run off again. Rethink, please.)

The director had some great comic touches, like the blink-or-you’ll-miss-it moment in “You Could Drive a Person Crazy” where the three women kick aside a character as they march downstage. On the other hand, he seemed lost in certain numbers, such as “Have I Got a Girl for You”, where his unfortunate habit of sending actors into the audience to pull viewers into the auction didn’t make much sense in context – aren’t they supposed to be singing to Robert? (It did get a rapturous response from the audience, so maybe it’s just me.)

More damagingly, in “Side by Side by Side”, Robert, shocked by the sudden realization that he has no one of his own to dance with, nevertheless joins the others in a joyous dance. The intention seems more to give the number a blow-out ending, which succeeds, then to explore Robert’s psychology, i.e., the fear of commitment versus the reality of loneliness. That epiphany is one of the key moments in the show (and one of my favorite moments in all musicals), and tossing that aside for a rousing dance leaves a very different impression.

The acting was fine overall, though I do wonder if the performers were hampered by having to act in English (the accents were variable). In any case, all of them boasted powerful singing voices, so the music got its due. I was especially taken by the flawless rendition of “Getting Married Today”, but vocally they batted 100%, including terrific solos by Robert.

The set was fantastic, moving effortlessly from Bobby’s room to living rooms, balconies, disco, and more while adeptly incorporating the many colorful projections. One unexpected pleasure was the quirky subtitle design, such as the flashes of “Bobby Baby, Baby Bubi” in varied fonts and sizes on the subtitle screen and the run-on titles that raced dizzyingly by in “Getting Married Today”. The subtitle designer deserves an award of his/her own.

The choreography by Kim Dohoo was energetic and busy, in line with Amon’s peppy direction. I wonder why they cut half of “The Little Things You Do Together” (where the karate scene was poorly handled). They should have excised “Marry Me a Little” instead, a song, and not an especially good one, that comes too early in Bobby’s journey. (It was not in the original show but has usually been added in subsequent productions, presumably to bring Act 1 to a dramatic close. It dilutes the effect of that aforementioned supreme moment in the Act 2 opening number and should not be there.)

The production is unable to solve the problems inherent in the book. I’m still bothered by Bobby’s out-of-nowhere marriage proposal to a woman on her wedding day – does that sound logical at all? – as well as Joanne’s similar weird proposition to Bobby for a roll in the hay while her husband is in the bathroom. Both scenes end with variations of “I/you just someone did someone a big favor”, neither of which was realistic in the least. The book is not this musical’s strong point. It is the songs that do the heavy lifting.

One person connected with the show disparaged it privately in the belief that marriage is a passé topic. But the show is not about marriage per se; its about the need for true connection – one of the show’s couples is divorced, and others remain together despite their differences, suggesting that the sacrifice of freedom is compensated by something on the other end. It’s not marriage itself that holds them together but a need to love and be loved. While the material can only be updated to an extent given references in the lyrics to answering services and such, the message remains relevant in this age of virtual connections.

With all the caveats above, the production was consistently lively and entertaining. Miyamoto seemed interested mainly in keeping our spirits up, and in that he succeeded. It looked like a million dollars – I’m impressed that the producers agreed to such a huge production for just four performances (and only three in the end). A fun night out for sure. It will be interesting to see if it travels elsewhere.