@cstpimentel

Bobby, Robert, Bobby & COMPANY

Marry me a little, love me just enough

This play rings at you just when you think you have escaped the melancholia of living in a metropolitan city like New York, or Manila or Kuala Lumpur.

I first got wind about this play when I checked out this very video of Adam Driver singing one the play’s most important parts: Being Alive. I was taken aback with the emotion (but also because I followed the story in the movie), and the way he sang it–I just understood what he meant.

Although of course nothing beats this version of Adrian Lester in London 1996. He is the best!! But let’s watch Adam’s in Marriage Story first:

Marriage Story as a film made me weep, but COMPANY in Broadway is a play that cuts deep in truth to many of us. The opposite of marriage actually, or perhaps it is the story of what happens after marriage too! When all is lost, and you try to pick up the pieces of what you’ve lost. When the chains of the promise of forever snapped in your arm. Little pearls you used to hold so dear. People around you.

Never alone but always lonely.

If you listen closely to the songs, Robert is all of us.

  • Robert who gets birthday gifts
  • Robert who gets voicemails and phonecalls
  • Bobby who likes to fuck around
  • But bends alone in bed in frustration
  • For being alone is not being alive

There is sadness in the play, one that tells you the writers probably walked this road themselves.

The whole recording is also phenomenal, clean and angelic especially when they do the Ba-ba-ba-bobby. I love it! :)

BEING ALIVE 🎙️

FRIENDS [frantically]: Bobby…Bobby…Bobby baby… Bobby bubbi…Robby…Robert darling… Bobby, we’ve been trying to call you. Bobby…Bobby…Bobby baby…Bobby bubbi… Angel, I’ve got something to tell you. Bob…Robbo…Bobby love…Bobby honey… Bobby, we’ve been trying to reach you all day. Bobby…Bobby…Bobby Baby…Angel…Darling… The kids were asking– Bobby…Bobby…Robert…Robby…Bob-o… Bobby, there was something we wanted to say. The line was busy… Bobby…Bobby bubbi… Bobby fella…Bobby sweetie–

ROBERT [speaking]: Stop!… What do you get? [Sings] Someone to hold you too close, Someone to hurt you too deeply, Someone to sit in your chair, To ruin your sleep.

PAUL: That’s true, but there’s more to it than that. SARAH: Is that all you think there is to it? HARRY: You’ve got so many reasons for not being with someone, but Robert, you haven’t got one good reason for being alone. LARRY: Come on, you’re on to something, Bobby. You’re on to something.

ROBERT: Someone to need you too much, Someone to know you too well, Someone to pull you up short And put you through hell.

DAVID: You see what you look for, you know. JOANNE: You’re not a kid anymore, Robby. I don’t think you’ll ever be a kid again, kiddo. PETER: Hey, buddy, don’t be afraid it won’t be perfect. The only thing to be afraid of really is that it won’t be. JENNY: Don’t stop now. Keep going.

ROBERT: 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.

SUSAN: And what does all that mean? LARRY: Robert, how do you know so much about it when you’ve never been there? HARRY: It’s much better living it than looking at it, Robert. PETER: Add ’em up, Bobby. Add ’em up.

ROBERT: 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.

AMY: Blow out the candles, Robert, and make a wish. Want something! Want something!

ROBERT: 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 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, make me come through, I’ll always be there, As frightened as you, To help us survive Being alive, Being alive, Being alive!

And then check this out: a recording of the day they recorded the music that we now enjoy in our homes. The discipline and determination to provide quality material is inspirational. I mean wow SONDHEIM was a genius.