Dear Musical Theatre Fans...

I didn't particularly want to write this. I love musical theatre, I am a textbook musical theatre boy. I am currently listening to Sondheim as I type this. But sometimes you musical theatre fans drive me up the wall. To quote the show in question, "ya'll could REALLY drive a person crazy."

Some news was released that, in theory, would unite musical theatre fans across the UK — nay, the world. Stephen Sondheim's Company would be returning to London with none other than Tony Award winning actress and Theatre Etiquette Warrior, Patti LuPone, reprising her role as Joanne. However, what grabbed my attention about this upcoming production is that the central character of the show would go from Bobby, to Bobbi. Yes. Bobbi would be played by Rosalie Craig. A woman.

Personally, I was incredibly excited and, of course, my mind instantly went to the idea of Bobbi being a lesbian (spot the guy who studied a lot of queer theory) and I could have crapped a rainbow with excitement at the very idea. Now none of this is confirmed as of yet, with the rumour mill suggesting that the script is still undergoing some changes leading up to the production, but this didn't stop the internet having their say, and certain complaints came to my attention. I could get into the misogynistic undertones of some of the things I saw (I legit saw someone say 'women don't think like Bobby does'), but that's another giraffe for an another zoo.

All I will say is this.

The same show can mean different things in different times. Company in the 1970s was among the first musicals to reflect the upper-middle class problems that were faced by the theatre going audience, as opposed to being a musical that offered escapism like many, many others before it. The 1970s were different times to now, and the way women are shown in media outlets has also changed. So Company having a female lead feels like a natural creative evolution, especially in regards to the complex way the show looks at adult relationships.

This production has been given the seal of approval by Stephen Sondheim himself. This isn’t the first time a production of this musical has been changed for a new production. A version featuring Bobby as a gay man (possibly inspired by the queer subtext of the piece, or an attempt to modernise the piece) was in the works in 2013, featuring openly queer actors Alan Cumming and Michael Urie. The role of Bobby in Company is more of a cipher for the audience (to paraphrase Sondheim in The Paris Review), as opposed to a fixed entity within the show. Existing as a plot device essentially, a window into these marriages and relationships depicted in the show, further justifies the fluidity when it comes to the gender of the lead role in the show. As fans of the show, we may have become accustomed to that way into the relationships being male. It is legitimately exciting to see what would happen if that window into the relationships were female.

Changing productions has a lot of potential to improve them, and the notion that productions should all stay the same works against the idea of theatre being a living entity. In 1992, Nicholas Hynter revived Carousel, making many changes to it, including racially non-specific casting, and blocking that emphasizes the tragedy of the piece, with reviews celebrating the piece and changes. This production was so well-received that it transferred to Broadway and was the production in which Audra McDonald won her first Tony Award.

So what I'm saying, musical theatre fans... is that musicals need to change to survive. Not drastically, but enough so that the subject matter of the piece doesn't become stale and tired, so why don't you all embrace the idea of a production changing to fit the times?