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Bobby Baby!
THE CHARACTER OF BOBBY IN COMPANY
by June Abernathy
With the recent revivals of Company in NYC and now London, many old debates and a few new ones have
surfaced regarding Bobby. Hal Prince has said that Bobby was, at least originally, a device used to link a series of
vignettes about marriage. As originally directed, the whole evening is a "flashback" on the occasion of Bobby's
35th Birthday, and as such, happens in his head. Although we see everything through Bobby's point of view, or
perhaps because we do, we don't get much opportunity to examine HIS feelings and motivations in detail. One
reviewer (Mel Gussow of The New York Times) felt that Bobby's part was "intentionally underwritten" and
therefore, "especially difficult to play".
Sondheim has that the whole score is "Brechtian" in nature - the songs standing outside the action and
commenting, rather than being born within the scene from a character's intense emotion. This can make the
show, (and Bobby) seem very cold and remote. Exactly what to do with Bobby was evidently as much a question
with the creators as it has remained for fans. Perhaps the most telling evidence of this is the three separate
numbers written for Bobby's final "anthem" - "Marry Me a Little", "Happily Ever After" and finally, "Being
Alive". It is in that song, many contend, that Bobby finally becomes a character - finally establishes a point of
view. Both Sondheim and Prince have said that "Being Alive" is not the end they wanted, but Prince knew that
the show needed some kind of resolution at the end, and if the book wasn't going to provide it, then the score
would have to. Of course, in the recent revivals, "Marry Me a Little" has been reinserted, but at the end of Act I
- to sort of define a halfway point for Bobby. What this also does is to make Bobby more of a three dimensional
and realized character much earlier in the play. It almost forces an actor and director to weight Bobby's character
with more importance than in the original production.
The actor who originates a role often has a great effect on what the character becomes, and it is interesting to
note that the character was conceived with Tony Perkins in mind, developed with Dean Jones in the role, and
refined with Larry Kert. Three quite different takes on the role, which can only add to the trouble everyone has in
defining it.
One of the central questions in an audience member's mind is "Why won't/can't Bobby commit?" Perhaps in the
90's the answer seems obvious, and he doesn't seem so unusual, but in the 70's, to be anti-marriage and
commitment implied that there was something "wrong" with you. Audiences and critics began inventing reasons -
that Bobby was a closet homosexual was the most obvious. This would not work, of course, since such a pat
reason for Bobby's doubts and fears would negate much of the message of the play. Sondheim and all of the
original creators have repeatedly said that this isn't the case, but the rumor continues. Apparently, early drafts of
the show had a scene where Bobby mentions past liasons with men to Peter, who promptly propositions him, and
is turned down. One can imagine that the scene was originally there to give Bobby the opportunity to examine,
and remain unfulfilled by, ALL forms of romantic committment. One can also imagine several dozen reasons why
the scenes may have been cut, but the least inflammatory and probably most true would be that to drop a bomb
like that without examining it would be too distracting, and that examining it would pull the play off course. The
new British production is said to be restoring this scene. We'll have to wait and see what comes of it.
There has been a trend in the more recent revivals to humanize Bobby more, making the show more about him
than about his friends. While this was not the original intention, it is certainly a valid choice, and one which
allows for some fresh perspective on an old show. "And that's what it's all about, isn't it . . ."
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