Photo : Marge design
Company
Forget traditional stage spectacles because this groundbreaking production dismantles the idea of the perfect relationship with razor-sharp wit. It captures the restless soul of a perpetual bachelor navigating the expectations of his coupled-up friends through iconic songs and poignant storytelling. A masterclass in musical theater that turns the mirror back onto our own messy, beautiful lives.
Théâtre du Châtelet (Paris 1st)
About
The Théâtre du Châtelet presents Stephen Sondheim's iconic musical, Company, from March 30 to April 11, 2027. This production follows Bobby, a thirty-five-year-old bachelor navigating the complexities of commitment and friendship while surrounded by his married peers. Through a series of vignettes, the show offers a thoughtful examination of urban life, loneliness, and the nature of adult relationships. This performance is fully accessible to blind or visually impaired guests. Tickets for this limited engagement are priced between 10 and 109 €.
As a composer and lyricist – and a genre unto himself – Sondheim challenges his audience. His greatest hits are not simple tunes to hum along to; they are meditations on the roads not taken, on misguided wishes, on relationships so worn and fractured that there is no choice left but to send in the clowns. And yet, Stephen's music is so beautiful, his lyrics so precise, that the very moment he reveals the imperfections of daily life, he transcends them. And we transcend them. It's very simple: Stephen reinvented the American musical.
Barack Obama,On April 4, 1994, in the pages of New York Magazine, James Kaplan published an article dedicated to Stephen Sondheim. Titled "The Cult of Saint Stephen Sondheim," and cited time and again under an erroneous title, "Is Stephen Sondheim God?," this article still characterizes, even today, the importance of the American author and composer in the history of musical theater: an inventor of a new form of theatrical dialogue, he not only offered new perspectives to the musical, but simply reinvented it. After cutting his teeth alongside Oscar Hammerstein II, he became, in 1957, the lyricist for Leonard Bernstein for West Side Story. A little less than fifteen years later, on April 26, 1970, Stephen Sondheim premiered Company at the Alvin Theatre: it was his first Broadway masterpiece. Winner of six Tony Awards, the author and composer immediately established himself on the New York and global stage.
In collaboration with librettist George Furth and director Harold Prince, Stephen Sondheim produced the very first "concept musical." Without big dance numbers, without a linear story, Company is a succession of vignettes that question the entry into adult life, based on a fragmented narrative. The songs catalyze emotion and provoke reflection in the audience on the torments of a young man, Bobby, who is celebrating his thirty-fifth birthday surrounded by his friends who are already settled. Single and fickle, Bobby is perplexed about marriage, and Stephen Sondheim plays on the complexity of this thirtysomething's state of mind just as much as he interrogates individualism, the couple, and the supposed virtues of commitment.
Much like a study of manners, Company is certainly a fine observation of the urban life of the bourgeoisie in the United States at the end of the sixties, but the work is also a pretext for a sensitive and intelligent look at friendship, love, and loneliness.
Our take on this event
Widely recognized as the first true concept musical, Company represents a masterclass in theatrical innovation. Originally debuting in 1970 and winning six Tony Awards, the work replaces traditional linear storytelling with a fragmented narrative that centers on the internal struggles of its protagonist, Bobby. As he celebrates his thirty-fifth birthday, he contemplates the lives of his coupled friends, prompting the audience to reflect on the tension between individualism and the societal expectations of marriage.
Running from March 30 to April 11, 2027, at the Théâtre du Châtelet, this production highlights the sharp wit and emotional depth of Sondheim’s compositions. Rather than relying on large dance numbers, the show focuses on the nuanced interplay of human emotions and the challenges of navigating intimate relationships in a metropolitan environment. Tickets are available at prices ranging from 10 to 109 €. To ensure inclusivity, the venue provides specific access accommodations for blind or visually impaired attendees.
