Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...Brown has a long and distinguished history with Sondheim (the book to "Company" is by George Furth) at this theater. This is my favorite of his endeavors. I had some resistance to the very final scene, part of my long-standing artistic quibble with this gifted director's frequent temptation to wrap a conclusive bow around ambiguity. But that is about 15 seconds of what is otherwise a masterfully directed and beautifully performed Sondheim production, a true enrichment to whatever other company you are enjoying this summer."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...The actors' conversational approach to the lyrics is superb, even if there is a bit of off-key singing at times in this fiendishly difficult score (under the musical direction of Tom Vendafreddo, with a fine seven-piece orchestra led by Michael Kaish). Todd Rosenthal's dramatic set features a wildly vertiginous view of New York highrises, plus a series of multi-leveled "balconies" that make for perilous climbing. But that is the least of the "perils" explored in this deeply unsettling musical."
Daily Herald - Highly Recommended
"..."Company" is a brilliant choice as the first musical to be staged in Writers Theatre's new performing arts complex in Glencoe. The groundbreaking contemporary musical by composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim and playwright George Furth jolted Broadway back when it debuted in 1970, so the artistic and emotional reverberations of "Company" are still resonant amid this sleek Studio Gang-designed theater."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...It's smooth, entertaining, great looking (thanks to Todd Rosenthal's witty set), and features 14 talented actor/singer/dancers doing delightful work. But there's a problem with William Brown's staging of the musical by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth: cell phones. The tale of Robert, a 35-year-old Manhattanite whose married friends force him to confront his bachelor status, Company premiered in 1970 and its sensibilities are consistent with the era. Which makes them passe for ours. Brown clearly has an impulse to update, yet cell phones are where his rethinking ends."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...Company is the famous musical ( music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim ) about a man named Bobby having crises on love and commitment reviewing the marriages and lives of his married friends. This is a very fine production in Writer's Theatre's gorgeous new space."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Robert, the character at the center of Stephen Sondheim's 1970 breakthrough musical, is turning 35 and single in a sea of "those good and crazy people," his married friends. But if those friends worry about Bobby-baby-Robby-darling having aged past his sell-by date at 35, Company itself is now more than a decade longer in the tooth than its protagonist. And despite being stocked with some of Sondheim's richest, most insightful numbers (like "Sorry-Grateful," "Marry Me a Little" and "Being Alive"), both George Furth's book and Sondheim's lyrics are saddled with very 1970 cultural references and attitudes about sexual politics that can make the show, though it's among my favorite musicals, feel like a relic."
Chicago On the Aisle - Highly Recommended
"..."Company," a popular hit for Writers that was extended for additional sell-out audiences but now absolutely, positively must close Aug. 7, works so well in part because of a flexible performance space that director William Brown puts to optimal creative use."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...Company may seem dated in its view of the Big Apple as a couples' mecca where anonymity and intimacy constantly vie for dominance. References to the "generation gap" mingle with mobile phones and 70's disco harmonies in an inevitably uneven updating. But the interpersonal dynamics so cleverly lampooned and confirmed by these songs remain in full force: The show keeps the crowds it earned 46 years ago."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...This 1970 concept show contains a multilevel assortment of comments on marriage verses being single, commitment, freedom, and being alone. Musically and lyrically, Sondheim's tunes are challenging yet this cast mostly delivered. While this mixed bag of a production will hopefully come together better as the run continues, it still has Stephen Sondheim's exquisite score. Those of us who know and love the show will have mixed feelings about this production, those new to this brilliant show will experience the essence of Company. It is worth a look."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...My regular readers are aware that to me, Stephen Sondheim is the most magical wordsmith in his amazingly clever musicals. One of my all-time favorites, filled with songs that I absolutely adore is "Company" with a book by George Furth. Unlike most of his works, this particular musical is more of a "chamber piece". No fancy sets, but a clever stage area designed by Todd Rosenthal allowing the intimacy of the story to be seen from every angle in the beautiful Nichols Theatre at Writers in Glencoe.Directed by William Brown, who is more known for straight plays than musicals, we have a diverse cast to bring this wonderful story to life."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Writers Theatre demonstrates in this, their second production staged in their gorgeous, new main stage space, why they remain one of Chicagoland's premiere companies. With each production, the theatre company displays unparalleled excellence. William Brown's production of this classic, musically directed by the gifted Tom Vendafreddo and choreographed by the award-winning Brock Clawson, smoothly brings this 70's musical into the 21st century. Sondheim's beautiful music and biting lyrics together with Furth's no-holds-barred book prove to be the perfect fit for this stellar, ever-evolving "Company.""
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...I have seen revivals of “Company” that take a more sardonic attitude in their view of romantic relationships. In William Brown’s vision, the characters aren’t envious or jealous or resentful. They are essentially nice people, if pushy in getting Bobby to join the ranks of the married. The young man is fortunate in having them as a network of friends. They all make entertaining company in “Company.”"
Dueling Critics - Recommended
"...Another show that refuses to date, this Stephen Sondheim/George Furth tale of a man-child watching marriage from the safe cocoon of singlehood works beautifully as directed by William Brown. Interesting to note that a show about a man is most distinguished for three knockout numbers by women, and all are brilliantly performed here: Allison Hendrix gives "I'm Not Getting Married" just the right touch of frantic kookiness, Lia Mortensen channels drunken rage in "The Ladies Who Lunch," and Christine Mild does the best "Another 100 People" I've ever heard or ever expect to hear. The show takes a while to get going--for the first half-hour, the actors' energy levels seemed unequal to the work's demands--but once it does, Katie bar the door! Thom Miller (a fine actor with a good voice and an unfortunate resemblance to Ted Cruz) makes Robert simultaneously shallow and impenetrable, which he doubtless is, but a bit more obvious charisma would help explain why all these people are so obsessed with him. Todd Rosenthal's scenic design, featuring a projection of Manhattan as seen through a giant window, tells the whole story: here's someone looking down from above and on the outside looking in."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Recommended
"...It's also the first opportunity for musical theatre fans to see the genre in Writers' beautiful new performance space. On Todd Rosenthal's multi-tiered, mostly conceptual, thrust set featuring a giant askew window looking out to the New York street below, the talented cast under direction of William Brown music direction of Tommy Vendafreddo and Brock Clawson's minimalist choreography is perfectly professional."
Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended
"...Overall, though, this was a fantastic production, with an immensely talented cast that produced a lot of laughs, a lot of misty eyes, and at least for me, a real appreciation for love as it really is, instead of love as we find it in fairy tales. The tunes are catchy, the cast is talented, and this is a show you shouldn't miss."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...The leading character of Robert is a charmer who doesn't indulge in self-examination, surrounded by friends who do. His journey toward that higher calling is the plot of "Company," pure and simple. If we get to his cathartic fulcrum number, "Being Alive," and it feels more like assault than enlightenment, we are in a very particular production of the piece. At the beginning of this show's run, what feels like the search for a fresh approach has forced the arc out of proportion."
