Company, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, is a groundbreaking "concept musical" centered on Robert, a perpetually single 35-year-old bachelor in New York City. The show is less a linear story and more a series of vignettes exploring Robert's relationships and fears of commitment. On the night of his surprise 35th birthday, his well-meaning, married friends relentlessly question his unmarried status while showcasing the often-hilarious and sometimes-painful realities of their own relationships.
Through a series of dinners, drinks, and dates, Robert observes his married friends' lives and navigates his own dating misadventures with three different women: April, Kathy, and Marta. Each encounter pushes him to confront his ambivalence about marriage and his fear of "being alive". The musical uses its non-linear structure to show Robert's reflections, leading him through the comedic anxiety of a friend's wedding ("Getting Married Today") and the cynical observations of the seasoned, jaded Joanne ("The Ladies Who Lunch"). By the finale, Robert moves from a place of emotional paralysis to embracing the vulnerability and challenge of truly loving another person.