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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (0) Slideshow Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Reid says Republicans want shutdown to close clinics 11:23am EDT Wisconsin court race won't be certified without probe 4:48pm EDT With no budget deal, government shutdown looms | 4:22pm EDT Facebook now wants a say in computer hardware 10:24am EDT WRAPUP 1-Japan to stop pumping radioactive water into sea 11:27am EDT Discussed 120 U.S. to reach debt limit by May 16: Geithner 96 Reid says Republicans want shutdown to close clinics 81 Stumbling blocks remain in budget fight Watched NATO air strike hits Libyan rebels Thu, Apr 7 2011 7.4 magnitude quake strikes Japan Thu, Apr 7 2011 Students clash at Madrid rally 9:29am EDT Theater review: 'Company' Tweet Share this By David Rooney NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - "Phone rings, door chimes, in comes company." So goes the title song from Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's innovative 1970 musical about marriage, commitment and New York neuroticism. But "Company"... Email Print Related News Special report: How News Corp got lost in Myspace Thu, Apr 7 2011 Sex, cash and starlets: Berlusconi's "Rubygate" Tue, Apr 5 2011 Taylor Swift wins top prize at country awards Mon, Apr 4 2011 Green slime rules Kids' Choice Awards Sun, Apr 3 2011 NY Times risks losing readers with new pay model Thu, Mar 17 2011 Analysis & Opinion The SEC comes round to private markets Larry Gagosian, billionaire Related Topics Entertainment » Fashion » 1 / 2 Host Neil Patrick Harris performs the closing number during the 63rd annual Tony Awards ceremony in New York, June 7, 2009. Credit: Reuters/Gary Hershorn By David Rooney Fri Apr 8, 2011 4:40pm EDT NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - "Phone rings, door chimes, in comes company." So goes the title song from Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's innovative 1970 musical about marriage, commitment and New York neuroticism. But "Company" has perhaps never welcomed such a starry guest list as the one performing with the New York Philharmonic. The lineup plucks from TV (Stephen Colbert, Christina Hendricks, Jon Cryer), theater (Patti LuPone, Aaron Lazar, Katie Finneran, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Jill Paice, Jim Walton, Chryssie Whitehead) and a talent pool that comfortably straddles screen and stage (Neil Patrick Harris, Martha Plimpton, Craig Bierko, Anika Noni Rose). Musically speaking, the semi-staged concert was a mixed bag on opening night. But that eclectic cast in itself makes the four-performance run a major New York event, greeted with a hearty standing ovation. The Philharmonic's history with Sondheim includes a memorable 1985 "Follies" concert, considered by many to be that show's pre-eminent recording; and last year's "Sondheim: The Birthday Concert," televised by PBS. Company may fall short of those predecessors, but it provides some rare pleasures. Unconfirmed plans are brewing to film the show in performance for theatrical screenings in June. Harris is ideally cast as commitment-phobic protagonist Bobby, who marks his 35th birthday by assessing the pros and cons of his mostly married friends' relationships while deciding if it's time to take the plunge himself. More observer than participant, Bobby has been described by Sondheim as the camera. Harris is no novice to the composer's notoriously tricky work, having performed in "Sweeney Todd" with the Philharmonic in 2000 and on Broadway in "Assassins" in 2004. While he seems at times to be curbing his natural urge to go for laughs in this introspective role, Harris makes Bobby a believable anchor for the show. He's the single friend adored and fretted over by every couple, doted on with a mix of maternal and sexual feelings by the women and quietly desired by one of the men (Bierko in a funny vignette). In his key songs, "Someone is Waiting," "Marry Me a Little" and especially the revelatory "Being Alive," Harris faces stiff competition. Memories of Raul Esparza's emotionally exposed renditions in the 2006 Broadway revival are still fresh. But despite a somewhat reedy voice, Harris puts across the songs with disarming sincerity and a stirring sense of self-examination. With more performance/rehearsal time under his belt, he could be a great Bobby. Being under-rehearsed was a key obstacle here; reports indicated that the entire cast was only in the same room together for the first time the day they debuted. Sondheim's songs are among the most lyrically, melodically and textually challenging work in American musical theater, and such complexity is best not approached unprepared. Even some of the more vocally accomplished performers floundered a little. Rose (a Tony winner for "Caroline, or Change," currently in a recurring arc on "The Good Wife") has a luscious voice. But she saps the anxiety from "Another Hundred People," a penetrating anthem to New Yorkers and their struggle to connect. Finneran (who nabbed a Tony last season for "Promises, Promises") should have hit a home run with the manic pre-nuptial meltdown "Getting Married Today." But her timing and clarity were off in a song that requires every word to be heard. LuPone puts her own spin on that brilliant backhanded ode to the real housewives of New York, circa 1970, "Ladies Who Lunch," which might have been daunting with the song's eternal owner, Elaine Stritch, in the house. The number earned one of the evening's most explosive applause breaks. But while LuPone brings the right note of booze-soaked cynicism to her dialogue, odd phrasing choices screw with her songs' rhythms and undermine some of the sting of their words. Director Lonny Price could hit the accelerator in the book interludes (no doubt another symptom of short rehearsal time), but these overall are more rewarding than the songs. Plimpton (who can seemingly do anything onstage) and Colbert (way out of the closet as a Sondheim nut) make an inspired comedy team; their depiction of marriage as a no-holds-barred contact sport is hilarious. Cryer and Thompson also inject amusing and melancholy nuances into a pot-smoking scene that shows the fundamental divide separating husband and wife. Colbert and Cryer do a decent job on "Sorry-Grateful," but that wistful song needs more expressive voices, which it only gets when Walton joins in. The standout, along with Plimpton, is Hendricks as April, her curves packed into a flight attendant's uniform from back when they were called stewardesses. Like many fellow cast members, the "Mad Men" star displays only a capable singing voice. But she has a lovely stage presence and delicious timing. Playing dumb with dignity, she gives Bobby's self-deprecating girlfriend an airy sweetness that recalls Marilyn Monroe. Nobody's complaining about hearing this score played by such mighty musicians, with longtime Sondheim collaborators Paul Gemignani and Jonathan Tunick handling conductor and orchestration duties, respectively. But despite a minimal plot that lends itself to scaled-down staging, "Company" is not a snug fit for presentation at this venue. In a hall the size of Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher, the show's intimate exploration of tangled inner feelings gets lost. Unsurprisingly, the closest the concert comes to a musical bull's-eye is the vaudevillian full-ensemble number, "Side By Side By Side." With straw boaters and canes in hand, the cast have a blast. (Editing by Zorianna Kit) Entertainment Fashion Tweet this Share this Link this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language, all capital letters or appear to be spam, and we review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. 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