Heritage Theatre Festival to Present Stephen Sondheim's Musical Masterpiece Company

Sondheim’s Groundbreaking 1970 Musical Explores Many Sides of Commitment Through Story of Bachelor on His 35th Birthday And the Lessons He Learns From the Couples Around Him  Featuring All-Time-Classic Sondheim Songs Including “Being Alive” and “The Ladies Who Lunch”

Directed by Former Heritage Producing Artistic Director Robert Chapel

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – July 21, 2017 – Heritage Theatre Festival is wrapping up its 2017 season with one of the all-time classic American musicals when it presents Stephen Sondheim’s Company. The production will be directed by longtime Heritage Producing Artistic Director Robert Chapel, returning to HTF for the first time since his retirement in 2015.

Company, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, will be presented in the Culbreth Theatre from July 28 through August 4. Tickets for Company are $30 if purchased before July 28 and $35 if purchased on or after that date. Student/Child tickets are available for $15 regardless of when purchased. Tickets for this and all 2017 Heritage Theatre Festival shows are available at the UVA Arts Box Office (located in the lobby of the Drama Building), online at www.heritagetheatrefestival.org or by phone at 434-924-3376.

Company, first presented on Broadway in 1970 when it earned a record-setting 14 Tony nominations and won six Tony Awards, is the story of Bobby, a bachelor celebrating his 35th birthday on the outside looking in at the world of relationships and commitment. Revolutionary at the time as one of Broadway’s first non-linear musicals, Company was originally conceived by Furth as 11 different one-act plays. The plays and the subject matter, a no-punches-pulled look at upper-middle-class New York marriages, appealed to Sondheim. He shared them with legendary Broadway producer Hal Prince, who agreed there was indeed a musical there.

In each vignette, Bobby is surrounded by different couples he knows, and he gets and shares an intimate an unvarnished look at their various relationships while they look back at him and his carefree independence with a good bit of envy. The show is Sondheim at his brilliant and often caustic best, featuring a treasure trove of unforgettable numbers including “Being Alive,” “The Ladies Who Lunch,” “Marry Me a Little,” “Side by Side by Side,” and more.

While Company marks the end of the “official” 2017 Heritage season, there is a special treat in store for audiences of all ages when International Clown Hall of Fame member Barry Lubin, the face of the Big Apple Circus, brings his iconic and irrepressible character “Grandma” for performances in the Ruth Caplin Theatre on August 4 and 5.

Parking for Heritage Theatre Festival performances is available at the Culbreth Road Parking Garage, conveniently located alongside the theaters.

To access photos of this production, visit https://virginia.box.com/s/753z8aud1bvj1k5ih7uve4zs236ftvb1