by Lynn Lee
Company may be approaching its 50th birthday, but it’s never looked hipper – not that it ever really went out of fashion. But between its prominent appearance in last year’s Marriage Story, a recent successful gender-switched revival in London that’s transferring to Broadway (previews just started!), Sondheim’s musical about a thirtysomething Manhattan bachelor and his various coupled friends is definitely having a(nother) moment.
Which raises the inevitable question: why hasn’t anyone tried to make a movie out of it? Could it even work as a movie? I think it could...
True, Company doesn’t really have a plot – it’s more a series of sketches and conversations revolving around the commitment-shy Bobby's 35th birthday – and let’s face it, with a couple of notable exceptions, most of Bobby’s friends tend to blur together as characters. Even Bobby can register as opaque at best, a cipher at worst. Yet the themes and questions Sondheim plays out without ever quite resolving – the meaning of commitment, companionship, sexuality, maturity – remain eternally relevant, even as the music runs the stylistic gamut from ’20s vaudeville to a swinging, late ’60s sound to Sondheim’s own signature mix of jagged and tender melodies. There’s plenty of reason to believe that done right, Bobby (or Bobbie)’s ongoing dialogue with his/her not-so-smug “marrieds” and not-so-significant others would resonate just as sharply on the screen as it does on stage. I’d love to see Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig take on the project together, or maybe someone like Damien Chazelle. (Thanks but no thanks, Rob Marshall.)
But – skipping to the most fun part of imagining such an adaptation – who would star in this hypothetical movie?
ROBERT/BOBBY
Anyone who saw Adam Driver belt out an emotionally cathartic “Being Alive” near the end of Marriage Story might be tempted to award him the central role of Bobby. And he’d be great. However, I have to admit I’ve set my heart on Oscar Isaac. Dude can turn the charm on and, most importantly, he can sing like a dream and hasn’t had the chance to do it in a movie since…well, since his breakout in Inside Llewyn Davis. He also hasn’t had a really good movie role in a while (not counting Poe Dameron, if you count that).
Alternates: Jonathan Groff; Donald Glover; Justin Timberlake; Chris Pine; maybe Tom Hiddleston? (I didn’t see I Saw the Light, can he actually sing?) Some combo of these guys could also play Bobby’s male married friends – except for Larry, Joanne’s husband, who should probably be a bit older. (Apart from Joanne and Larry, I’d mostly want to stay in the age range of mid-30s to early 40s for most of the casting.)
If it’s a “Bobbie”: Anne Hathaway could knock this out of the park.
JOANNE
Who could ever live up to Elaine Stritch (famously losing it during the cast album recording above)A.k.a. Queen of “The Ladies Who Lunch”: I know some of you are thinking Meryl Streep…but at 70 she’s too old. Notwithstanding that the great Patti Lupone, who’s Meryl’s age, took on the role in the 2018 London production and is reprising it on Broadway, I envision Joanne as only about 10 years older than Bobby and the rest. I propose Catherine Zeta-Jones, who can sing and do world-weary with the best of them and is overdue for a show-stopping return to the big screen. (Idina Menzel would also be great.) And maybe John C. Reilly as Joanne’s husband Larry?
AMY AND PAUL
Cold-feet bride Amy has to read neurotic and be able to carry off the hilariously frantic patter of “Not Getting Married Today” – Anna Kendrick could nail this. Meanwhile, Paul has to be patient and adoring; I’m seeing Joseph Gordon-Levitt with his puppy dog eyes.
Gender switch? In the London revival (and I assume the Broadway one too), this couple is same-sex and “Amy” becomes the male “Jamie.” Haven’t really thought through who could be a good Jamie – Neil Patrick Harris, perhaps, although he’s pushing the outer age limit. Other thoughts?
THE GIRLFRIENDS
April (the flight attendant who may not be as vapid as she seems) – Zooey Deschanel
Marta (the “tacky” city girl) – Anna Kendrick would be a hoot if she isn’t cast as Amy or one of the other wives, but either of her Pitch Perfect co-stars Brittany Snow or Anna Camp could pull it off, too.
Kathy (the one that got away) – Maybe Zoe Saldana or Tessa Thompson? Or Lily James, although she’s on the edge of being too young.
Gender switch? Matt Bomer, Edgar Ramirez, and Sterling K. Brown are easy on the eyes and can croon, too, from what I’ve heard. (See also list of alternates for Robert.)
THE OTHER MARRIEDS
(Sarah/Harry, Susan/Peter, Jenny/David)
I’ve already listed plenty of potential candidates for the men; as for the women, in addition to those already mentioned, don’t forget that Emmy Rossum, Amanda Seyfried, Emily Blunt, Kristen Bell, and Cynthia Erivo are all fine actresses who can sing proficiently (and in Erivo’s case, divinely) and deserve all the good work they can get.
Sondheim fans - do you think Company could work as a movie? And how would you cast it?