Company. The Hills Musical Company. Nov 2015
For actors Jessica Rossiter and Jonathan Knoblauch, playing the roles of Amy and Paul in Company is like a case of art imitating life… imitating art!
The onstage couple, Amy and Paul, are engaged to be married. Offstage Jess and Jonathan were dating, until Jonathan popped the question!
“It’s been a bit surreal really!” declares Jess.
“How often do you get to play opposite your partner, whilst playing an engaged couple onstage and offstage…!”
For Jonathan, the mid-scene proposal was a strategy to catch Jess off guard.
“Jess is rather hard to surprise” he says.
“She’d never guess that I’d do that at a rehearsal.”
It all happened just after their main song together when Jess’s character Amy is supposed to interrupt with a lengthy monologue. Instead, Jonathan dropped to one knee and asked for her hand. The whole thing was captured on film and has since racked up and impressive 4,300 views.
“It’s been great for publicity” laughs Jess.
The show, which opens at the end of the week, will be the first performance of Sondheim’s Company in Adelaide for 16 years.
Company is a 70s musical, with a timeless message. It tells the story of bachelor, Robert, and his three girlfriends April, Marta, and Kathy. Crucially, Robert is afraid of commitment and sees only the negatives in the relationships of his friends, a string of couples called Sarah and Harry, Susan and Peter, Jenny and David, Amy and Paul and Joanne and Larry.
“I feel so lucky to be part of such a talented group of people” says Jess of her fellow cast members.
“I love watching them every night; they are all very funny and very clever”.
For Jonathan, Company is a first foray into musical theatre.
“There’s nothing like a baptism of fire,” says Jess, referencing the difficulty of Sondheim for a musical theatre novice.
“It brings me back to my high school days,” Jonathan continues. “I used to be in ensembles and choirs.”
Behind the scenes of the production is another couple. The show's director Fiona DeLaine is married to its musical director Mark De Laine.
“Fiona has got a really great take on it” says Jess.
“She is pushing a few conventional boundaries in the show.”
“She gave us scrapbooks and encouraged us to write things in there that reminded us of our characters. We also had one-on-ones and did character profiles.
“We had a really great time putting that profile together… obviously we live together, so whenever we’ve got free time [we] look at Company.”
In the play, Amy is neurotic and prone to wedding day jitters and Paul has learnt to put up with her manic spells.
“I definitely hope I’m not as neurotic as Amy” Jess laughs,
“She’s a nutbag who just flies off the handle.”
The cast of 14 incorporates some old faces but many new ones, for Jess.
“It’s a new company for me with lots of new people,” she explains.
“My favourite thing about theatre was always the new friendships that are formed.”
“It’s [also] great being part of a small group, everyone has important roles… they are equals”
Company is a concept musical. It doesn’t have a linear plot but rather jumps around between short vignettes, all tied together by the celebration of Robert’s 35th birthday. In these vignettes his married friends explain the pros and cons of taking on a spouse.
“All the couples should be couples that you recognise in your everyday life,” says Jess.
“You should be able to see yourself in them or someone else you know.
“It is very human, very relatable, very intelligent, and very funny.”
The Hills Musical Company will perform Company as their November production.
The show opens at the Stirling Community Theatre on Friday the 6th of November and closes on the 21st.
Bookings can be made online at hillsmusical.org.au/tickets/.
Paul Rodda
When: 6 to 21 Nov
Where: Stirling Community Theatre
Bookings: hillsmusical.org.au
