Tsz Yum Yiu ’25

Staff Writer

I went to watch “Company” to support my friends who were performing. I have to say that I was not expected to be so surprised. I had high expectations since all the other shows that I have seen at Holy Cross have been amazing, so I was holding “Company” to a high standard. I might have said it so many times already, but if you have not seen “Company”, then you should. The singing is wonderful and the choreography is incredibly well done. My favorite song of the musical is “Getting Married Today”, featuring Paul and Jamie. It was so interesting that I could take my eyes off it.

I used to focus so much on the plot of the story, and I tend to judge it by it. However, interesting plot is not the only way to attract the attention of the audience. During the performance, the director will have to use every trick up their sleeves to keep the audience attentive. One of the easiest ways to do so is through stage business. And you can achieve this through setting and staging. “Company” demonstrates the good use of setting and staging resourcefully. 

The staging of “Company” is very intriguing. In order to maximize the use of space and efficiency, the production team decides to have fixed a part of the stage. For most of the musicals that I have seen, they either change  the scene completely or they have movable stages. The production team built multiple platforms and combined them into one. The shortest platforms at the side and the tallest are in the middle. There are two entrances on the shortest sides of the platforms; one leads to the side stage, the other leads to the center of the stage. Underneath the middle platform, there are three hollow spaces that are covered with blinds. These blinds can be pulled up to reveal an empty space that leads to the back stage. In “Company,” they put up small sets that could fit in those empty spaces. Each set represents a unique setting that is designed for that particular scene. This maximizes the efficiency of changing between the scenes, breaking a big scene into smaller pieces with a unique setting respectively. The platforms are also very effective in big scenes where a lot of people all show up on the stage to perform. Overall, the design is not only efficient and effective, but it is also fun to see how the director choreographs different scenes. 

Another interesting thing about“Company” is the representation of the LGBTQ+ community. As part of the LGBTQ+ community, it is very refreshing to see same gender couples. The director changes the gender of the characters so seamlessly that I would have believed that it was the original design. I hope that in the future, there will be more plays that include  the LGBTQ+ community on screen to show more representation of the minorities. 

Lastly, if you have not seen “Company,” tickets are still available! Don’t miss it because you will regret it!

Featured image courtesy of Holy Cross Theatre and Dance