curtain on another fine musical production at City Hall, and this year promises to be no exception.

Rehearsals are already well under way for their newest offering -- Stephen Sondheim's musical Company, which enjoyed great success on Broadway.

"Company is not necessarily as well known as other Broadway musicals, but when it was running there, it won all the Tony Awards that year,'' director Keith Madeiros explains.

The 14-strong cast will have Paul Woolgar in the lead role of Robert, and five couples will provide the love interest.

George Furth's candid, knowing script is described as "enormously funny -- and sometimes touching, moving, exciting, perplexing and more'', and focuses on the aloneness of each person, and what happens to people when they lose their independence through mutual consent, love, sex, vows and a contract. In other words, marriage. Some make it work, some don't, while many lose themselves in the emotional mix.

As an attractive, intelligent, charming bachelor, Robert sees this all too clearly. His best friends are ardently devoted to him, but it is almost like an overdose of normality -- he is very bad at fooling himself, which leaves him out of most of the action in the mating game. While the men want to give him the benefit of their sage advice, the women want to mother, criticise and inspire him to find a nice girl, whom they will later reject as not being good enough.

"The couples are all different in their own ways, and each one provides a vignette of their own lives. It is about how Robert views them and how they view him,'' Mr. Madeiros adds.

He says Company will definitely tickle the funny bone, and describes the music and lyrics "different and interesting''.

The couples will be played by Deborah Ratt and Dr. Phillip Jones; Janice Moran and Marshall DeCouto; Nancy Thompson and Robert Godfrey; Barbara Frith and Gordon Campbell; Kerry Todd and Tom Crickett.

Three "girlfriends'' who figure in Robert's life will be played by Rebecca Faulkenberry, Fiona Lee (both of whom are 16), and Carolyn Finch Corlett.

Newcomer Kevin Luckham is in charge of constructing Michael Mello's set design, and according to the director "it is going to be large, with a lot of components. It should be interesting.'' Colin Pink, who is associated with the National Theatre in Britain, is in charge of sound design, as is Annette Hallett of lighting.

"Mr. Pink did the sound for Les Miserables and Anything Goes, and has quite a reputation,'' Mr. Madeiros notes.

The show's orchestra will be led by the equally distinguished Mark Durrell, whose reputation both here and in his native Britain is well established. Also associated with the National Theatre, his credits include musical director of its award-winning production of Oklahoma, and more recently the musical stage version of Singing in the Rain, also at the National.

Debbie Mello is the choreographer, and Mr. Madeiros says she has come up with exciting new concepts which will stretch the talents of the dancers.

"We are pushing the performance level up a notch, and it will be different,'' he says.

Company will be the third production Mr. Madeiros has directed for G & S, and he is very excited about the project.

"The whole show is very clever,'' he says. "The title song, Company, is a big number which is really rousing. It's ka-boom.'' In fact, it was a chance hearing the title song which led to the local production.

"I actually heard Company at the end of Isaac Mizrahi's fashion show in New York, and I asked what it was. I learned it was from Stephen Sondheim's musical of the same name, so I bought the cast recording and immediately fell in love with it,'' the director relates.

Fortunately, the G & S committee, of which he is a member, agreed, and the rest, no doubt, will be history.

"Company is not necessarily as well-known as other Broadway musicals, but while it was playing there it swept the board with Tony Awards, it's that good,'' Mr. Madeiros says. "The reputation of G & S for producing great musical theatre in Bermuda is well established and not to be missed, so I hope that people will not be deterred by a show they're not familiar with.'' A talented performer in his own right -- his interpretation of the song, The Gypsy in Me, in Anything Goes last year was a show stopper -- Mr. Madeiros' interest in theatre began in his schooldays at Mount St. Agnes Academy. Since then he has appeared in numerous local productions.

His directing experience includes Little Shop of Horrors for G & S, and A Month of Sundays for Triangle Theatre.

COMPANY FACTS Company opens at City Hall theatre on October 5 and continues through October 14.

Tickets cost $30 and will be on sale at the Visitors' Service Bureau box office next to the ferry terminal from September 21. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to Friday.

The opening night audience will have the added bonus of a post-performance reception at no extra charge.