For Immediate Release: September 13, 2005
Media Contact: Patricia Allen, Temple Theaters, 215.204.1334

It's about getting (and staying?) married. Or not. It's about relationships. Or flying solo. It's about birthdays and growing older together. Or alone.

It's Stephen Sondheim's "Company," the Tony Award-winning musical that broke new ground when it opened on Broadway more than three decades ago with its spare, sophisticated, character-driven exploration of the heady highs and abysmal lows of coupledom and marriage.

Honoring composer/lyricist Sondheim in his 75th birthday year, Temple Theaters opens its 2005-2006 season with its production of "Company," Oct. 6-15 in Tomlinson Theater.

At the center of "Company" is Robert, a 35-year-old bachelor afraid of commitment, surrounded by a whirling circle of married friends, all urging him to get married while affording glimpses into their own not so happily-ever-after relationships.

Robert's disconnectedness and the malfunctioning marriages of his friends resonate perhaps even more soundly for contemporary audiences, said director Peter Reynolds, an '05 graduate of Temple's M.F.A. Directing program.

"With our cell phones and other assorted gadgetry of 21st century technology, a 24-hour news cycle and 'reality' shows that have nothing to do with reality, are we truly connecting and communicating more, or are we getting more detached?

"Sondheim has given us a thoughtful musical; it may look and sound like a musical, but between the overture and the final curtain he's posing a lot of questions without providing easy answers."

In describing "Company," Sondheim reportedly said he wanted to create a musical where "the audience would sit for two hours screaming their heads off with laughter, and then go home and not be able to sleep."

With such a not-so-ringing endorsement from his married friend Larry, will Robert decide to say "I do?" Or will he retreat to the safe harbor of "I don't" or "I can't" or "I won't"?

For Reynolds, who has taught the history of the American musical theater at Temple since 2002 and has been directing at regional theaters nationwide for a decade, the tensions of "Company" play out in its characters, and the actors he has cast face formidable challenges in finding the inner emotional life of the strongly delineated roles.

"It's a musical as complex as any relationship, and as complex as the world that we are living in.

"Being with someone is difficult, but being alone may be worse."

Musical director for the Temple production of "Company" is Katie Stanislavskaya, who received her master's in piano accompaniment from Temple's Boyer College of Music and Dance and has served as pianist/music director for productions at numerous theaters in the region.

Choreographer Samantha Fitschen won Joseph Jefferson awards for (Sondheim's) "Merrily We Roll Along" and "Grand Hotel" in Chicago, where she has choreographed numerous musicals, performed, taught dance and recorded voice-overs.

Set designer is Meghan Jones, a third-year M.F.A. design candidate in Temple's School of Communications and Theater. Lighting design is by Shon Causer, also in his third year. Costume design is by Brian Strachan, a second-year M.F.A. design candidate.

Opening night curtain for "Company" on Thursday, Oct. 6, is at 7 p.m. at Temple's Tomlinson Theater, 13th and Norris streets. Performances continue Friday and Saturday, Oct. 7 and 8, and Wednesday through Saturday, Oct. 12-15, at 8 p.m., with a Saturday matinee Oct. 15 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $18. Seniors, students and Temple employees and alumni pay $13, and are available at the Liacouras Center Box Office, located at 1776 N. Broad St, online at www.ticketmaster.com, or Charge-By-Phone at 215.336.2000. For more information call the The Temple Theaters Information Line at 215.204.1122.

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