So, I went to see Company on Broadway today at the matinee. WOW!!! I am so sad that it is closing this weekend. What a gem, and it won the Tony award for Best Musical Revival (2007). If you happened to catch the Tony's, Raul Esparza, who plays Bobby, sang "Being Alive." I was told in all my musical theatre acting classes that the reason people sing in musicals is because the stakes are so high within the world of the show that the character has no other way of expressing how they feel but to sing. His performance in the show was nothing short of stellar and showed that concept better than I could possibly explain it. It truly is the reason I love musical theatre, because when it's done right it moves you, sends chills down your spine, and makes you think. I was crying before he plunked the first note of the song on the piano. The story is of five married couples and three single women in NYC who are all part of Bobby's life. It is the exploration of love, sex, and commitment from Bobby's perspective. All the actors are also the orchestra in this production which adds an interesting element. The song "Being Alive" is the final song culminating all that Bobby has learned and yearned for in love. I think the brilliant lyrics speak for themselves (and I encourage you to buy the album, because the lyrics are really only half of the inspiration. The music adds another dimension.
"Being Alive" music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Someone to hold you too close
Someone to hurt you too deep
Someone to sit in your chair
To ruin your sleep…
Someone to need you too much
Someone to know you too well
Someone to pull you up short
To put you through hell…
Someone you have to let in
Someone whose feelings you spare
Someone who, like it or not
Will want you to share a little, a lot…
Someone to crowd you with love
Someone to force you to care
Someone to make you come through
Who’ll always be there
As frightened as you of being alive.
Being alive, being alive,
Being alive.
Somebody hold me too close,
Somebody hurt me too deep,
Somebody sit in my chair
And ruin my sleep
And make me aware of being alive,
Being alive.
Somebody need me too much,
Somebody know me too well,
Somebody pull me up short
And put me through hell
And give me support for being alive,
Make me alive, make me alive.
Make me confused, mock me with praise,
Let me be used, vary my days.
But alone is alone not alive!
Somebody crowd me with love,
Somebody force me to care,
Somebody let me come through,
I'll always be there as frightened as you,
To help us survive being alive,
Being alive,
Being alive!
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