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With the recent revivals of Company many old debates and a few new ones have surfaced regarding Bobby. Hall Prince has said that Bobby was, at least originally, a device used to link a series of vignettes about marriage. As originally directed, the whole evening is a 'flashback' on the occasion of Bobby's 35th birthday and, as such, happens in his head. Although we see everything through Bobby's point of view or, perhaps because we do, we don't get much opportunity to examine his feelings and motivation in detail. One reviewer (Mel Gussow of The New York Times) felt that Bobby's part was 'intentionally underwritten' and, therefore, 'especially difficult to play'.
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The style used for Company can make the show (and Bobby) seem very cold and remote. Exactly what to do with Bobby was evidently as much a question with the creators as it has remained for fans. Perhaps the most telling evidence of this is the three separate numbers written for Bobby's final 'anthem' - Marry Me a Little, Happily Ever After and finally Being Alive. It is in that song, many contend, that Bobby finally becomes a character - finally establishes a point of view. Both Sondheim and Prince have said that Being Alive is not the end they wanted, but Prince knew that the show needed some kind of resolution at the end, and if the book wasn't going to provide it, then the score would have to.
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One of the central questions in an audience member's mind is 'Why won't or can't Bobby commit?' Perhaps now the answer seems obvious, and he doesn't seem so unusual, but in the 70s, to be anti-marriage and commitment implied that there was something 'wrong' with you. Audiences and critics began inventing reasons - that Bobby was a closet homosexual was the most obvious. This would not work, of course, since such a pat reason for Bobby's doubts and fears would negate much of the message of the play. Sondheim and all of the original creators have repeatedly said that this isn't the case, but the rumour continues. Apparently, early drafts of the show had a scene where Bobby mentions past liaisons with men to Peter, who promptly propositions him, and is turned down. One can imagine that the scene was originally there to give Bobby the opportunity to examine, and remain unfulfilled by, all forms of romantic commitment. One can also imagine several dozen reasons why the scenes may have been cut, but the least inflammatory and probably most true would be that to drop a bomb like that without examining it would be too distracting, and that examining it would pull the play off course.
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There has been a trend in the more recent revivals to humanise Bobby more, making the show more about him than about his friends. While this was not the original intention, it is certainly a valid choice, and one which provides a fresh perspective on an old show. Of course, in the recent revivals, Marry Me a Little has been re-inserted, but at the end of Act I - to sort of define a halfway point for Bobby. What this also does is to make Bobby more of a three dimensional and realised character much earlier in the play. It almost forces an actor and director to weight Bobby's character with more importance than in the original production.
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