Unique characters will come together on UW’s campus this week when this year’s musical “Company” opens.
“Company” is a musical comedy from 1970 and in the production on UW’s campus has a 14 person cast, which is accompanied by 28 instrumentalists and six singers.
“It’s really quite an incredible ensemble,” Riley Wisler, who plays the lead, Robert, said. “So I hope everyone wants a distraction from exams this week and upcoming projects!”
Wisler had his first role during his junior year of high school and has continued to act for seven years in total now. Originally, Wisler was not studying theatre, but realized it was his calling.
“I began my college career studying engineering, first mechanical then chemical,” Wisler said. “Through that year, it killed me to not be performing, so I stayed a year with my parents and studied theatre at the local college while performing in various Billings community theatre shows.”
Wisler’s character of Robert is a 35-year-old bachelor who has best friends that are all married couples. Wisler will be accompanied on stage with Justen Glover, Hannah Kipp, Dustin Petrillo and many more.
Petrillo plays the role of Harry, who he described as, “a karate-fighting, possibly alcoholic, competitive husband living in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn.”
Petrillo said he discovered his passion for performing at an early age when he would re-enact movies like “Star Wars” and “Jurassic Park” with his brothers in their backyard. It was this passion that played into his interest in being a part of “Company.”
“As a person with a passion for musical theatre, it would be blasphemous to turn down the opportunity to audition for a Sondheim show,” Petrillo said. “His compositions and lyrics are as difficult as it gets, and his shows present a fun and challenging endeavor for the actor.”
Kipp also talked about her love for musical theatre as being a driving force behind her audition for “Company.” Kipp also said the show is structured as a circular plot, which differs from what she has been involved with in the past.
“Usually shows I’ve been in have a linear plot line, so I know where my character has been, where they are, and where they’re going,” Kipp said. “With this show there is a lot of ambiguity, which makes it more challenging, but also a lot of fun to fill in the gaps Sondheim has left us.”
Glover, who plays the role of Peter, said if students enjoyed “Angry Psycho Princesses” last year, they should come out to see “Company.”
Wisler said “Company” has post-college themes, touches on homosexuality and comments on drug and alcohol use.
“I think the most important thing this show brings to UW and the community, is a reminder that the arts are relevant,” Glover said. “Shows like this allow the community to come together and laugh and cry with each other, and without that we would be in a much darker place.”
Glover, Petrillo and Kipp all said one of the biggest challenges they faced was learning the music because it was challenging.
“Sondheim, the composer, likes to write extremely difficult rhythms and harmonies,” Kipp said. “Luckily we have a director who is excellent at teaching us our parts, so music rehearsals went very smoothly for such a vocally difficult show.”
Although there was a common challenge for actors and actresses alike, Wisler sees the benefits to being part of this production.
“This production has changed me as a performer. I’ve been on top of my game throughout most of the process, and keeping all that stored in my head helped with the growth,” Wisler said. “‘Company’ is the first musical to heavily utilize subtext, and finding ways to effectively communicate what actually is being said scene to scene has been a really rewarding challenge.”
Glover said, “This show brings a great close to this year’s theatre season. The students of UW, and the community of Laramie at large should be prepared to have a night full of laughs, some tears, and maybe even a realization or two of their own when they walk away.”
“Company” will be playing April 25 – 29 in the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts main stage.
