COMPANY Sondheim Broadway Musical 12 Original RARE Playbill/Programs 1970 - 2022

Description

COMPANY Sondheim Broadway Musical 1970 to 2022  Twelve Original Playbill/Programs
Phone rings, door chimes, in comes company!
No strings, good times, room hums, company!
A rare and definitive collection of the 52 years of Playbill/programs from the landmark Sondheim musical Company.
Company can be easily argued to have changed everything.
It was the first mega hit with both music and lyrics by the late great Stephen Sondheim.
It was the first hit Broadway musical that moved away from the traditional book linear storytelling structure that dominated the art form up until that moment.
It was the first show of the highly fruitful and impactful Sondheim and Hal Prince (and Bennett and Furth to a lesser volume extent) partnership.
I offer for your consideration that the Broadway musical would never be the same again.  This lot/collection contains twelve Playbill/programs from key productions across 52 years.  The original landmark production made such an impact on audiences that it would be 25 years before it returned to Broadway albeit under the auspicious of the non-commercial Roundabout theatre Company.  In between those years were three perhaps forgotten, but important revivals at other non-profit theatre companies in New York. There were then two more Broadway revivals including one interrupted by a pandemic.  This collection celebrates all of those great productions.  The Playbill/Programs are from:
1970 Broadway Production
Opened April 26, 1970 at the Alvin Theatre
Closed January 1, 1972; Ran for 690 performances
Robert - Dean Jones
1970 Broadway Production
Robert - Larry Kert, who replaced Dean Jones on May 29, 1970
1970 Broadway Production
Robert - Larry Kert, who replaced Dean Jones on May 29, 1970
Joanne -
Jane Russell who replaced Elaine Stritch
1972 London Production
Opened January 18, 1972 at Her Majesty's Theatre, London
Closed November 4, 1972; Ran for 344 performances
Robert - Larry Kert
Joanne - Elaine Stritch
1978 Equity Library Production
Opened May 4, 1978 at the Equity Library Theatre [off-Broadway]
Closed May 28, 1978; Ran for 30 performances
Robert - Albert Harris
Sarah- Janet MacKenzie
Harry - Richard Kevlin-Bell
Susan - Joy Bond
Peter - Bob Morrisey
Jenny - Becky McSpadden
David - Lenny Wolpe
Amy - Lauren White
Paul - Michael Hirsch
Joanne - Renee Roy
Larry - Edward Penn
Marta - Paige O'Hara
Kathy - Gillian Scalici
April - Valerie Beamon
1980 Playwrights Horizons Production
Opened March 8, 1980 at Queens Theater-in-the-Park
Closed March 30, 1980
Produced by Playwrights Horizons
Cast :
Peter Evans, Christine Baranski, Patricia Richardson, Diane Findlay, Cynthia Cramlish, Walter Bobbie, Sheilah Roe, Tony Blake, James Seymour, Jane Galloway, Randall Easterbrook, Conrad McLaren, Mary Testa, and Sonja Stuart
1987 York Theatre Company Production
Opened October 23, 1987 at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, NYC
Closed November 14, 1987; Ran for 20 performances
Produced by the York Theatre Company
Directed by Susan H. Schulman
Choreography by Michael Lichtefeld
Cast
Robert - David Carroll
Sarah - Susan Elizabeth Scott
Harry - Lenny Wolpe
Susan - Debra Dickinson
Peter - Michael Elich
Jenny - Jeanne Lehman
David - John P. Connolly
Amy - Judith Blazer
Paul - Robert Michael Baker
Joanne - Barbara Andres
Larry - Kip Niven
Marta - Liz Larsen
Kathy - Louise Hickey
April - Donna English
1995 Roundabout Theatre Production (First B'dway revival)
Previews began August 30, 1995;
Ran for 43 preview performances
Opened October 5, 1995 at the Criterion Center Stage Right
Closed December 3, 1995; Ran for 60 performances
Produced by The Roundabout Theatre Company
Directed by Scott Ellis
Musical Staging by Rob Marshall
Musical Direction by David Loud
Settings Designed by Tony Walton
Costumes Designed by William Ivey Long
CAST
Robert - Boyd Gaines [understudied by James Clow]
Sarah - Kate Burton
Harry - Robert Westenberg
Susan - Patricia Ben Peterson
Peter - Jonathan Dokuchitz
Jenny - Diana Canova
David - John Hillner
Amy - Veanne Cox
Paul - Danny Burstein
Joanne - Debra Monk
Larry - Timothy Landfield
Marta - La Chanze
Kathy - Charlotte d' Amboise
April - Jane Krakowski
1996 London Revival
Originally produced at the Donmar Warehouse, London
Previews began December 1, 1995
Opened December 13, 1995; Closed March 2, 1996
Previews at the Albery Theatre began March 7, 1996
Opened March 13, 1996 at the Albery Theatre, London
Closed June 29, 1996
Directed by Sam Mendes
2006 Broadway Revival (2nd)
Previews began October 30, 2006 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, NYC
Opened November 29, 2006; Closed July 1, 2007
Ran for 34 previews and 246 performances
Directed and Choreographed by John Doyl
e
CAST
Robert - Raúl Esparza (Percussion, Piano)
Sarah - Kristin Huffman (Flute, Alto Sax, Piccolo)
Harry - Keith Buterbaugh (Trumpet, Trombone)
Susan - Amy Justman (Piano/Keyboards, Orchestra Bells)
Peter - Matt Castle (Piano/Keyboards, Double Bass)
Jenny - Leenya Rideout (Violin, Guitar, Double Bass)
David - Fred Rose (Cello, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax)
Amy - Heather Laws (French Horn, Trumpet, Flute)
Paul - Robert Cunningham (Trumpet, Drums)
Joanne - Barbara Walsh (Orchestra Bells, Percussion)
Larry - Bruce Sabath (Clarinet, Drums)
Marta - Angel Desai (Keyboard, Violin, Alto Sax)
Kathy - Kelly Jeanne Grant (Flute, Alto Sax)
April - Elizabeth Stanley (Oboe, Tuba, Alto Sax)
2020 Broadway Revival (3rd - shuttered and paused by a pandemic)
March 8, 2020
- From one of the six previews and then paused
owing to the pandemic and not resumed until November 2021
This a rare Playbill from one of those six preview performances.
Katrin Link as Bobbie
Patti Lupone as Joanne
2021 Broadway Revival OPENING NIGHT SPECIAL SONDHEIM PHOTO COVER ONE NIGHT ONLY
Katrin Link as Bobbie
Patti Lupone as Joanne
Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Company is a 1970 musical comedy with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth. The original production was nominated for a record-setting 14 Tony Awards, and won six.
Originally titled Threes, its story revolves around Robert (a single man unable to commit fully to a steady relationship, let alone marriage), the five married couples who are his best friends, and his three girlfriends. Unlike most book musicals, which follow a clearly delineated plot, Company is a concept musical composed of short vignettes, presented in no particular chronological order, linked by a celebration for Robert's 35th birthday.
Dean Jones withdrew from the production of COMPANY after the first month of Broadway performances.  Theatrical legend has it that he was managing through his own personal issues (his marriage coming to an end) which came too close to the show's dark themes about relationships and made a deal with Hal Prince to stay with the show one month past the opening night, when he was replaced by Larry Kert, who gave a more traditional Broadway musical star performance.  Jones did rejoin his fellow cast members for several fundraising concert reunions decades later.
Company was among the first musicals to deal with adult themes and relationships. As Sondheim puts it, "Broadway theater has been for many years supported by upper-middle-class people with upper-middle-class problems. These people really want to escape that world when they go to the theatre, and then here we are with Company talking about how we're going to bring it right back in their faces"