Award-winning ‘Company’ to be staged at UW-Stevens Point

For the Metro Wire

A confirmed bachelor contemplates marriage in a Tony Award-winning comedy musical staged May 4-6 and 9-12 by the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

“Company” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 4-5, and Wednesday through Saturday, May 9-11, in the Studio Theatre in the Noel Fine Arts Center. Matinees will be staged at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 6, and Saturday, May 12. On Sunday, May 6, the public may attend a free 1 p.m. pre-show discussion with the director in the center’s room 221.

“Company,” first staged on Broadway in 1971, won six Tony Awards that year, including Best Musical and Best Score for Stephen Sondheim. It also won a Tony for Best Revival in 2007. Set on the night of bachelor Robert’s 35th birthday, it uses a series of vignettes and songs to examine his life, friendships, relationships and whether he is ready for marriage.

“The show explores the company we keep, and why,” said Emma Kiel, Neenah, a drama major serving as the production’s assistant director and dramaturg (researcher/adviser). “It’s a dark comedy in that it is really funny, but it exposes our own feelings of loneliness, our insecurities and fear of commitment. It will make you think.”

Tickets are $23 for adults and seniors or $13 for age 17 and under. They are available at the UW-Stevens Point Information and Tickets Office, located in the Dreyfus University Center concourse, by calling 715-346-4100 or at http://tickets.uwsp.edu.

Discounts are available for UW-Stevens Point students, faculty and staff.

Tickets are also available for the First Nighters package Friday, May 4, which includes dinner before the performance (www.uwsp.edu/theatre-dance/Pages/First-Nighters.aspx).