Community Theatre Group Gives Sondheim’s Classic COMPANY a Modern-day Makeover

Pictured are cast members Annie Litchfield and Fidel Calderon. (PHOTO SUPPLIED)

University Park-(ENEWSPF)- Sex in the City meets classic Sondheim in this hilarious romp through the dating and married lives of 5 couples and a perpetual bachelor named Bobby.

It’s Stephen Sondheim’s COMPANY, presented by the Southland Area Theatre Ensemble, and it’s coming to a stage near you — the Center for Performing Arts at Governors State University. Performance dates are January 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m. and January 26 at 2 p.m.

Winner of 6 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Stephen Sondheim’s COMPANY is considered a landmark “concept” show that inaugurated the modern era of musical theatre. Set in New York, the play tells the story of five couples and their mutual friend, Robert, on the night of his 35th birthday as he contemplates his unmarried state and eventually realizes that fairytale or not, life is better shared.

Director of Southland Area Theatre Ensemble, J.R. Rose from Tinley Park, says “This will not be your traditional 1970‘s COMPANY! We will be re-imagining the traditional view of COMPANY in the contemporary 21st century.” Music is by Aaron Kaplan and choreography is by Becky Dedecker. The 13-member cast is all local, hailing from Crete, Chicago, Chicago Heights, Homewood, Flossmoor and Oak Lawn.

SLATE was established in 2009 as an artistic collaboration between the Center for Performing Arts, local theater educators, and veterans of area community theater companies. SLATE has produced five critically acclaimed summer productions, “Into the Woods” in 2009, “The Wedding Singer” in 2010, “Ragtime” in 2011, “Legally Blonde: The Musical,” in 2012, and “HAIR,” in 2013, as well as a number of cabaret performances, including Sondheim’s timeless “Assassins.”

Tickets are $25 and may be purchased at the Center’s website at www.centertickets.net or by calling the box office at (708) 235-2222. This program is supported in part by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Governors State University is located at 1 University Parkway, University Park, Illinois. For more information about SLATE, visit www.slatetheatre.org.

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