Raúl Esparza and Barbara Walsh to Star in Company in Cincinnati

Raúl Esparza and Barbara Walsh head the cast of the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s upcoming production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, in which the actors will also play instruments. The show will be directed by John Doyle, who used a similar tactic in the current Broadway staging of Sweeney Todd (based on his previous production of that show in London). Company will run March 14-April 14.

In addition to Esparza and Walsh, who will respectively play Bobby and Joanne, the cast includes Keith Buterbaugh as Harry, Matt Castle as Peter, Robert Cunningham as Paul, Angel Desai as Marta, Kelly Jeanne Grant as Kathy, Kristin Huffman as Sarah, Amy Justman as Susan, Heather Laws as Amy, Leenya Rideout as Jenny, Fred Rose as David, Bruce Sabath as Larry, and Elizabeth Stanley as April. The production’s creative team includes David Gallo (set design), Ann Hould-Ward (costume design). Thomas C. Hase (lighting design), and Mary-Mitchell Campbell (musical direction).

With a book by George Furth, Company revolves around a perpetual bachelor named Bobby, his many married friends, and the three women who compete for his affections. The original 1970 Broadway production won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The show’s Tony-winning score includes “Being Alive,” “Another Hundred People,” and “The Ladies Who Lunch.”

Esparza has appeared on Broadway in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Taboo (for which he received a Tony nomination and a Drama Desk Award), The Rocky Horror Show, and Cabaret. He starred Off-Broadway in tick, tick…BOOM! and Comedians, and he had leading roles in the Kennedy Center’s Sondheim Festival productions of Sunday in the Park with George and Merrily We Roll Along.

Walsh received a Tony nomination for her work in Falsettos. Her other Broadway credits include Hairspray, Blood Brothers, and Big, and she was seen earlier this fall in the Transport Group’s Off-Broadway production of Normal.