Opera program to present ‘Company’
Georgia Southern University’s Opera program will present American composer Stephen Sondheim’s Company on November 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. on campus in the Performing Arts Center. Admission is free. The situations of the show contain mild adult language and subject matter.
Company (1970) marked a turning point for Sondheim and the world of musical theater. Though he wrote the music and lyrics for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Sondheim was best known as the lyricist for the hits West Side Story and Gypsy. Company was his first critical success as composer-lyricist and earned Tony Awards for best lyrics, music, book, scenic design, producer, director and new musical.
The show breaks from the tradition of book musicals such as Oklahoma and Sound of Music that tell a story. Company takes the audience through an exploration of marriage as they meet five couples and Bobby, the single friend who connects their stories while examining his own relationships. The show takes many humorous turns such as one couple holding a karate match in their living room, a bride who sings her frenzied fears at the prospect of matrimony, and Bobby’s girlfriends declaring “You Could Drive A Person Crazy.” The characters also have reflective moments as the husbands contemplate their “Sorry – Grateful” inner struggle with marriage while Bobby progresses from wanting someone who will “Marry Me A Little” to seeking true commitment in the final “Being Alive.”
The Georgia Southern Opera cast includes students who are both music majors and non-majors and undergraduate and graduate students; audiences will recognize cast members David Hopkins and Jacob Furse from recent Georgia Southern Opera and Averitt Center productions. Set design is by Kelly Berry of the Department of Communication Arts. The show is under the musical direction of Michael Braz, and the orchestra is conducted by Carolyn Bryan; Arikka Gregory is the director of Georgia Southern Opera. Funding for Georgia Southern Opera is provided by the Office of the Vice-President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.
For more information, contact the Department of Music at 912-478-5396.
The Department of Music is housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. CLASS, the University’s College of the Creative Mind, prepares students to achieve academic excellence, develop their analytical skills, enhance their creativity, and embrace their responsibilities as citizens of their communities, their nations, and the world.