In comes Company…

New York Times: A Revival Whose Surface of Tundra Conceals a Volcano

Fire flickers, dangerous and beckoning, beneath the frost of John Doyle’s elegant, unexpectedly stirring revival of “Company,” which opened last night at the Ethel Barrymore Theater. This visually severe, aurally lush reinvention of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s era-defining musical of marriage and its discontents from 1970 is the chicest-looking production on Broadway.

Newsday: Bobby and company were never so together

[Raul] Esparza, looking relaxed yet detached in a charcoal suit and tie, turns his seductively sleepy eyelids into virtuoso instruments. Although he has played plenty of flashy roles, Esparza cleverly builds tension by holding back until he breaks loose at the piano for Bobby's ultimate (if psychologically dubious) acceptance of "Being Alive." ... [He] finds all the bitterness, hope, bemusement and sullen charm in the colors of his voice.

Variety: Broadway: Company

As Robert, the central figure marking his 35th birthday by pondering why he's the only one of his circle not married, Raul Esparza strikes just the right balance of easy charm and circumspect distance, alone even in a crowd of friends. He's a deeply ambiguous mass of swirling contradictions -- confused but self-knowing, seductive but standoffish, vulnerable but heavily armored, open to love but ambivalent. And Bobby's sexual identity is called more directly into question here than perhaps ever before.

USA Today: Revival of 'Company' works, most of the time

Barbara Walsh's dry, haunted Joanne is a standout, bringing an extra layer of rage to Sondheim's brilliant barbfest "The Ladies Who Lunch". Heather Laws and Elizabeth Stanley amuse as neurotic Amy and dizzy April.

Associated Press: A Chilly, High-Concept Company

By the time Bobby gets to his revelatory moment — "Being Alive" — and sits down at the piano, we are more than ready for his enlightenment. Esparza, who has a powerful voice, gives it his all. The man finally surrenders to his feelings, and for the first time during the evening, we are touched.

And, well, you already know what I think. After an early preview performance in New York a few weeks ago, my opinion stands: this is the best damn Company I've seen—and I've seen quite a few.

Don't miss it.

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