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THEATER | ALBUQUERQUE

Albuquerque Little Theatre brings Stephen Sondheim’s musical on love, commitment and loneliness to stage

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“Company,” the Tony Award-winning musical by Stephen Sondheim, is taking the stage at the Albuquerque Little Theatre on Friday, June 12, through Sunday, June 28.
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WHEN: 7:30 Friday, June 12, and Saturday, June 13; 2 p.m. Sunday, June 14; 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 19; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 20; 2 p.m. Sunday, June 21; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 25, Friday, June 26, and Saturday, June 27; 2 p.m. Sunday, June 28

WHERE: Albuquerque Little Theatre, 224 San Pasquale Ave. SW

HOW MUCH: Tickets start at $25.40 at 

“Company,” the Tony Award-winning musical by Stephen Sondheim, is taking the stage at the Albuquerque Little Theatre from Friday, June 12, through Sunday, June 28.

Stafford Douglas, who plays the main character Bobby, is returning to the stage after a decade. He said Bobby is a role he has always wanted, and it felt like the right time.

“It felt like the universe was kind of calling me to it,” Douglas said.

The show tackles the question of “why relationships,” he said. Through a series of interactions with married couples and three different girlfriends, Bobby figures out the purpose of relationships and marriage.

“These scenes sort of come together to try to tackle essentially that idea,” Douglas said.

Director Theresa Carson said “Company” follows a young man struggling to find connection and overcome his fear of emotional commitment.

She said Bobby, despite spending a lot of time in the company of others, is feeling very lonely.

While the music is older, originally produced in 1970, “Company” is important and relevant to audiences today with its timeless and universal messages, she said.

“It’s also that fear when you do commit to someone and you commit into a relationship that you will lose your freedoms, you’ll lose your independence,” Carson said. “Where really, sometimes those are the things that you find.”

While the show explores the emotional journey of connection, Douglas said it is not a linear narrative.

“I’m not tracking my emotional arc from A to Z,” Douglas said.

He said it goes all over the place and through rehearsals, Douglas tackled each scene individually to see how Bobby was growing. Douglas grew up with musical theater and said it was his first love. Returning to the stage as Bobby has been a wonderful experience, he said.

Douglas said while Bobby struggles with the idea of marriage, Douglas has been happily married for several years and was still able to bring personal experience to the role.

“I think everything is naturally a little bit autobiographical, you’re always pulling from experience,” Douglas said.

The show, he said, does not tackle the idea of marriage in a Shakespearean way, but it is more nuanced and relatable.

“I think every human being alive, myself included, has gone through moments of wondering, you know, is this pain or this hurt worth it?” Douglas said.

Elizabeth Secor is an arts fellow for the ϼ. You can reach her at esecor@abqjournal.com.