Somebody hold me too close. Somebody hurt me too deep. Somebody sit in my chair and ruin my sleep and make me aware of being alive. Being alive. That’s the plea of protagonist Bobby in Stephen Sondheim’s musical Company (book by George Furth) which is currently gracing the stage in the elegant Opera House at The John F. Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts in our nation’s capital. Originally produced in 1970 Company was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won six.
Welcome to a show about death! Literally the first second number that bangs out from the stage into the house now that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice BEETLEJUICE!!! (the musical, for the love of God let’s hope he doesn’t appear in your living room or your car or your office board meeting— wherever you’re reading this review!) has returned to The National Theatre in DC. It got it’s pre-Broadway launch there back in 2018 before it’s short-lived-Pandemic-killed run on Broadway in 2019,
Sometimes life goes the way you want it to. And sometimes it doesn’t. But when it doesn’t, sometimes you find something beautiful. And Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is what can be found on the Opera House Stage of The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts this October. Living up to its title, with Words and Music by the infamous Carole King, as well as Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil,