Five couples whose lives are examined in ‘Company’ are framed and ready for their closeups. Photo by Michael Pringle @illumigarden.

By WOODY WEINGARTEN

Legendary composer Stephen Sondheim enjoyed turning concepts on their heads in his lyrics, and writing music that likewise broke an oeuvre of rules. When he finished a Broadway show, or a single song, he’d often find himself at a destination difficult for many theatergoers to fully comprehend.

Company is less problematic. Sondheim’s 1970 breakthrough musical comedy slyly — despite little deep diving — deconstructs the institution of marriage and its equally troubled partner, singlehood by focusing on paradoxical relationships and obstacles to commitment.

Via lots of humor. With several touches of pathos.

Sophistication might be Sondheim’s middle name. Too much for high school-age actors to fathom, much less stage? Nope!

The Throckmorton Theatre Youth Performers is producing an extraordinary version of the show through March 22 in Mill Valley. Opening weekend, the actors had almost as much fun as the screeching/hooting/clapping audience that clearly was crowded with friends and families.

Bobby (Parker Hall, in foreground) and Amy (Sam Garfinkel) both contemplate marriage — in very different ways. Photo by Michael Pringle @illumigarden.

In that production, which spotlighted one of two large ensemble casts, Parker Hall portrayed Bobby, a well-liked perma-bachelor whose friends had planned a non-surprise 35th birthday party. They long ago launched a nag-nag-nag campaign aimed at convincing him to get a wife.

Hall is masterful as he solos on “Someone Is Waiting,” performs a duet with April (Anya Lamb) on “Barcelona,” and gracefully leads the entire ensemble on “The Little Things You Do Together.”

Five couples find themselves at various levels of disintegration. One is divorcing, another’s lived together for years but is imperiled by the female’s fear of getting married, a third pictures a woman experiencing momentary freedom by inhaling pot even though she doesn’t really want it, yet another contains a male partner constantly demeaned by his thrice-married wife, and the last spotlights two quasi-addicts, one a recovering drunk and the other a practicing ultra-foodie.

Each couple literally gets its time in the limelight by singing behind a large wooden frame that’s the most striking part of a marvelous atmosphere created by set designers Steve Coleman and Jean-Paul LaRosee.

The complex but superb show — whose book was written by George Furth, and which was nominated after its debut for a record-breaking 14 Tony awards, winning six — is peppered with simply wonderful songs.

The biggest laugh-evoking, show-stopping tune, “Getting Married Today,” is exquisitely performed — over-the-top both physically and musically — by Sam Garfinkel in the role of Amy, the reluctant bride. It’s impossible not to laugh when she, at great length, sings with the frenetic speed of an auctioneer or horse race caller.

Sarah (Madison Bishop) shows that her yoga lessons have paid off. Photo by Michael Pringle @illumigarden

Poignant but mocking tones are interjected by Joanne (fleshed out perfectly by Noa Weis) in “The Ladies Who Lunch,” and in “Sorry/Grateful,” which features three guys (Harry, David, and Larry, portrayed, respectively, by Beckett Hepp, Lucas Cedolin, and Morgan Hunt).

That one shows how marriage simultaneously changes everything and nothing.

Plaudits are also especially deserved by co-directors Erin Gentry and Adam Maggio for keeping the two-plus-hour musical snug. Gentry’s playful choreography, not incidentally, draws smiles and appreciation.

To be sure, not everything works perfectly in the 142 Throckmorton production. Choruses occasionally muffle lyrics, and excessively loud music by a seven-piece adult band at the foot of the stage drowns out some others.

Not surprisingly, since Sondheim was gay, the show includes passing references to homosexual relationships. Also predictable is that the inherent sexuality in Company is played down in this production.

Sondheim musically painted the multiple vignettes of Company, which began as 11 separate one-act plays, so cleverly he was able to successfully observe marriage in such universal ways they’re just as recognizable today as when first staged more than half a century ago.

Company will run at the 142 Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley, through March 22. Tickets: $30 to $38. Info: 415-383-9600 or throckmortontheatre.org.

Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a longtime voting member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.net or on his websites, https://woodyweingarten.comand https://vitalitypress.com. His books include Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner’s breast cancer, aimed at male caregivers; MysteryDates — How to keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, a compilation of 70 of his newspaper columns; and Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, a whimsical fantasy intended for 6- to 10-year-olds that he co-authored with his then 8-year-old granddaughter.

Cast of Hands on a Hardbody appear with Nissan pickup truck that’s the focus of the Rohnert Park show. Photo by Jeff Thomas.

By WOODY WEINGARTEN

Hands on a Hardbody, which plays in Rohnert Park through March 1, virtually demands that audience members root for their favorite character.

The country-rock musical pits each of 10 needy Texans against the other nine in a cruel endurance contest that screws with participants bodies and minds. The stated goal: To be the last man/woman standing in a competition to determine who can keep one hand on a hardbody pickup truck longer than the rest.

The storyline, by Doug Wright, is based on the real-life saga of a Longview auto dealer’s annual promotion in excessive summer heat from 1992 to 2005. The competition — which actually ended because of a contestant’s suicide — shallow dives into the inner life of those snagged on the underbelly of society, part of the working class that’s often crushed by big corporations and incompetent, uncaring politicians.

Serena Elize Flores, playing Norma, is the show-stopper. Looking on as she sings is Malik Charles D. Wade I (Ronald). Photo by Lauren Heney.

Theatergoers get a batch of characters to root for. They can sympathize, for instance, with Norma, a fervent Christian who apparently has multiple church congregations praying for her to win. She’s portrayed by Serena Elize Flores, who stops the show with a booming gospel tune, “Joy of the Lord,” showing off what’s easily the best voice on stage. The cast — 16 actors of different shapes, sizes, ethnicities, and vocal abilities —makes the number even better by rhythmically pounding on the truck with white cotton gloves they’re ordered to wear.

But maybe a viewer can better relate to Chris (played by Jake Druzgala), an ex-Marine with survivor guilt who poignantly sings “Stronger,” a melody about needing to be macho while in the service but being vulnerable afterwards. He’s clearly now in a war with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Or perhaps sensitive observers might feel sorry for one half of a couple, J.D. Drew (Larry Williams), who’s the oldest participant, a dude forced to retire without a pension by an injury he got falling off an oil rig, or his wife, Virginia (Julianne Bretan), who J.D.’s taken for granted despite her taking care of him. They add another emotional moment in “Alone with Me.”

Mark Bradbury (Mike) puts the moves on Katie Kelley (Heather). Photo by Jeff Thomas.

Compassion might also be given Ronald (Malik Charles D. Wade I), a big, black guy who thinks devouring candy bars will somehow be a winning strategy; Jesus (Maick Poroj), a veterinary student who quietly rails against prejudice and wants to sell the truck so he can pay his tuition; or Heather (Katie Kelly), who gulps down speed pills given her by the somewhat lecherous dealership manager to ensure a fixed victory.

Direction by Sheri Lee Miller makes sure the 2½-hour run-time moves swiftly, and that person after person’s self-explorations are tight and the whole enchilada isn’t choppy. She also underscores the humor that’s sprinkled throughout, keeping the show from descending into sentimental tragedy.

A shiny cherry red Nissan truck on a center-stage turntable might itself by the way be considered a character. It swirls and moves forward and backward and symbolizes a chance for the winner to make a 180-degree life change from down-on-your-luck to light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel.

The playwright, 63-year-old Doug Wright, may well believe his tale is more relevant today than when it arrived on Broadway in 2013 since he has contended that “our economic tumult has brought age-old fissures of race, class, and income inequality to the fore.”

Hands on a Hardbody certainly offers plenty to chew on. It covers, if superficially, the major disappearance of the American dream, the destruction of the U.S. healthcare system, and the hardship of the blue-collar class in general.

But every now and then, the text spits out a distracting behind-the-times reference. Such as when it refers to Desert Storm in current terms, or it lists the then-spanking new truck at only $22,000.

The basically plotless show — reminiscent of A Chorus Line or Sondheim — features southern rock, gospel, country, and Delta blues. It is, according to music director Lucas Sherman, who’s onstage at Spreckels on keyboards, backed by a violinist, guitarist, bass-player and drummer — “gritty at times and beautiful the rest of the time.” Gritty, of course, wins more often.

Trey Anastasio, lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, co-wrote the music with Amanda Green, who also did the lyrics.

Everyone involved worked on making sure that Hands on a Hardbody, in effect stuck in place by the musical’s arc, doesn’t remain static. They break the story’s theme by having contestants leave the truck to move upstage and sing (without being thrown out of the contest). Characters constantly and gracefully slip ‘n’ slide in front of and behind each other while still touching the hardbody. And Karen Miles’ choreography is wonderfully silly in spite of having most of her dance creations needing to be limited — one-handed.

It’s a show that sounds vastly heavier in a review than it is. It’s extremely likable. And the more a theatergoer thinks about it after leaving, the more that person’s apt to like it even more.

Hands on a Hardbody will play in the Nellie W. Codding Theater of the Spreckels Arts Center, 5409 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park, through March 1. Tickets: $16 to $44. Info: www.spreckelsonline.com or 707-588-3400.

Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a longtime voting member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.net or on his websites, https://woodyweingarten.comand https://vitalitypress.com. His books include Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner’s breast cancer, aimed at male caregivers; MysteryDates — How to keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, a compilation of 70 of his newspaper columns; and Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, a whimsical fantasy intended for 6- to 10-year-olds that he co-authored with his then 8-year-old granddaughter.

Conrad Cady, Tyler Null, Alicia von Kugelgen and Simon Patton are excellent in Masquers Playhouse’s production of Improbable Fiction.” (Mike Padua via Bay City News) 

By WOODY WEINGARTEN

Arnold, a disoriented wannabe writer, suddenly finds several hunters in his living room trolling for aliens from outer space in Masquers Playhouse’s production of Alan Ayckbourn’s “Improbable Fiction” onstage in Point Richmond.

Played deftly by C. Conrad Cady, Arnold’s jumpy, overheated befuddlement hit the audience’s collective funny-bone so hard and long, their laughter drowned out more than a few of the next lines.

The first act of this farce — about a do-it-yourself writer’s group whose members talk more about writing than doing it — starts slowly. While audiences may momentarily worry about reacting well to the British humor, they should watch out: the pace quickly becomes frenetic. Then, Act 2 incites laughter immediately. With physical and verbal slapstick antics and quick-change costuming, it demands out-loud laughs as Arnold finds himself in the middle of a collaborative story.

Also very funny are Simon Patton as Brevis, who writes the book for musicals and whose comic crabbiness is so inflated it surpasses Lewis Black’s nasty/funny attitude; Tyler Null as Clem, who garbles one word after another, concocts conspiracy stories and adopts a noir detective persona as an alter ego; and Anna Kosiarek as Vivvi, a horny woman whose hangdog expressions are reminiscent of Stan Laurel.

None of the members, however, have a greater burning desire to finish their projects than Grace (played by Alicia von Kugelgen), who for years has been futilely trying to write a kids’ book about Doblin the Goblin to accompany her drawings.

Indeed, only Arnold has completed anything, and that’s been in the form of instruction manuals.

Masquers Playhouse, an amazing intimate community theater, consistently stages musicals and plays like this 2 ¼-quarter hour comedy that’s so tightly directed by Angela Mason. Here, the actors are superb, even when being intentionally hammy.

Equally excellent are the light and sound design by Michael O’Brien and dazzling, imaginative costumes by Ava Byrd.

Sir Alan Ayckbourn improbably has written and produced more than 90 plays, 10 of which have landed on Broadway, but he spends the bulk of his time directing. At a Masquers opening-week matinee, his delightful “Improbable Fiction” received an almost unanimous standing ovation. It was merited.

“Improbable Fiction” continues through March 1 at Masquers’ Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Tickets are $15 to $35 at masquers.org.

This article was first published on LocalNewsMatters.org, a nonprofit site supported by Bay City News Foundation http://www.baycitynews.org/contact/. 

Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a longtime voting member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, can be contacted by email at voodee@sbcglobal.net or on his websites, https://woodyweingarten.comand https://vitalitypress.com. His books include Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner’s breast cancer, aimed at male caregivers; MysteryDates — How to keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, a compilation of 70 of his newspaper columns; and Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, a whimsical fantasy intended for 6- to 10-year-olds that he co-authored with his then 8-year-old granddaughter.