 Company opened this week at Stage 62 in the beautiful Greer Cabaret Theater in downtown Pittsburgh. Being a cabaret-style theater, the Greer has intimate booth and table seating with dim table lights and options for food and beverages.
Company follows Bobby, a single man on his 35th birthday, as he navigates the joys, challenges, and contradictions of love and marriage through the relationships of his married friends. The set for Company is a stunning LED backdrop of New York City, circa late 60s/early 70s, complete with a view of the Twin Towers. It’s clear we are placed in a high rise apartment with a terrace. In the apartment is a couch, table, chair and bar. At one point later in the show, the “windows” on the LED screen begin showing raindrops, and eventually a storm. This was such a fantastic addition to help place the audience in the scene (Hope Debelius). The show begins with some very comedic voice-overs that had the audience chuckling. We are introduced to the fantastic 11-person pit (offstage) with the overture, and eventually, full cast, for the chaotic and fun opening number, “Company”. It’s instantly clear that this production worked with an extremely high-quality cast, with standout, ethereal harmonies during this number from actors Anna Gergerich and Jess Whittington. The full cast periodically delivers strong, eerie, incantatory passages that are impeccably timed. The cast often acts as Bobby’s collective conscience. Everyone’s voices were so clear and diction was perfect. It’s not always very easy to keep up with Sondheim’s musical salad (shoutout to actor Emma Mihok during the song “Another Hundred People” on this one), but this cast nailed it. One thing is for certain; this show was absolutely perfectly cast (Dustin Wickett). The outfits of our main cast are bright, colorful, retro, and individualistic to each character (Ivy Ferris). Our main character, Bobby, is portrayed by Sean Whitney. Sean’s voice is clean and luminous throughout the show. His gentle falsetto is paired with a strong belt to create a truly remarkable performance. But it doesn’t stop there- Sean’s acting is also top notch and easily keeps the audiences attention. Sean’s voice and tonality sounds like it’s autotune’d in real time. But he is truly just that talented. Another favorite performance comes from actor Mike Leahy, with fantastic comedic timing and hilarious small character choices. Mike plays “subtly annoyed” very well. He is exciting to watch on stage and had the audience in an uproar during a fight sequence with highly animated and hilarious actor Jess Whittington. The fight choreography was fun and engaging (Jose Perez) and Mike and Jess- a couple- play the perfect passive-aggressive friends that most of us are all too familiar with. The intentional awkward tension of this scene was palpable, felt by both audience and character Bobby, who is put in the middle. Mike later goes on to sing “sorry-grateful” with beautiful low notes and an almost-vintage quality to his voice. He also begins a highly impressive trio song alongside actors Allante Walker and Jeff Johnston. The lighting changes during the karate sequence were especially well done (Hope Debelius). Kristen Welch is introduced in a scene where she becomes a brand-new stoner. This scene is belly-laugh hilarious and Kristen portrays silly and “high” very well. Her acting is incredibly natural and convincing and she has an adorable and fun giggle. One of my favorite moments comes from the female trio song, “You Could Drive a Person Crazy”, featuring Bobby’s three lovers, actors Grace Phillips, Emma Mihok, and Hannah Taylor, whose beautiful harmonies echoed that of the Andrews Sisters a la “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”. These ladies had voices that melted together like butter, with nobody overpowering the other. This number, complete with well-timed swells and impressive staccato top notes, was truly stunning. Next, we meet my personal favorite performance of the evening, actor Grace Phillips as April. April is a flight attendant who is very gentle, but not very intelligent. Grace was absolutely hilarious and found the perfect pocket for this character with meticulous comedic timing. Every choice she made was so perfect to get across the personality of a woman whose lights are on but nobody is home. Grace played April as air-headed but charming and lovable. Grace fully committed to this character, keeping her vacant nature even while not speaking. She was especially hilarious while telling a painfully boring story in act II. It would be easy to overact playing dumb but grace kept it highly realistic. Later, Grace duets with Sean and their voices meld together insanely well. Enter actor Joyce Hinnebusch for famous and beloved nightmare song “Getting Married Today”. Joyce delivered this fast-paced patter number so well. Joyce’s partner, Kevin Rabbits, played nicely as the oil & water half of the couple, meeting Joyce’s erratic panic with confidence, naivety, and blind optimism. The opening song for act II was definitely my favorite. “Side by Side by Side” gave full company, with wonderful and crisp choreography (Alex Manalo) and hilarious comedic moments. It is always a pleasure to get to see Hannah Taylor dance. In act II, she has a fantastic dance number that spans the whole stage, choreographed again by Alex Manalo. Hannah is so well trained and in control of her movements and is super engaging to watch. I very much enjoyed actor Joann Spencer’s rendition of well-known song “The Ladies Who Lunch”. Joann had a great cynical and sarcastic nature and a gorgeous, slightly-raspy belt. She commanded the stage during her solo number. ADDITIONAL UNCATEGORIZED SHOUTOUTS: Eric Talotta played a riotous, sleazy, and sexually-confused character. I absolutely loved the choice to add reverb to the solo songs. It added such depth and dimension. Another fantastic choice was adding spotlights in different parts of the stage for Bobby to walk in to (Hope Debelius). All of the male cast comes together for the song “Have I Got A Girl For You”, with rich and deep low notes. Company runs 7 more performances through July 26th. Get your tickets at Stage62.org. Next up on their stage- Gypsy- running November 5-15. -Xavier & James, 2026 *As always, feel free to add any comments or corrections, with no need to sign up
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