Matt Rodin, left, plays Jamie, the groom with a showstopper in the national tour of ‘Company.’ (Photos by Murphy Made)
Playing a panicky gay groom was in the cards for Matt Rodin’s part in ‘Company’
RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
The musical Company garnered raves in its revival that switched up its characters’ genders in the 2021 revival which began at London’s West End in 2018. Instead of the bride-to-be Amy, Matt Rodin (he/she/they) plays Jamie, a groom-to-be with a big show-stopping number. After the tour stops in Texas, Rodin gets to head back home.
“I’ve been with the show since October and that’s a long time to be away from home,” he said. “I have a husband and a dog and it’s been so long since I’ve been with them.”
Company will hit its first North Texas stop on Thursday, Sept. 26, as part of ATTPAC’s Broadway at the Center series. The show will run through Sunday, Sept. 29 at the Winspear Opera House.
For the year that Rodin’s been with the company of…um…Company, the experience has been nothing but a good time for the actor.
“This really has been the full spectrum of an experience. Sure it’s a long time working and on the road and sitting with Sondheim, but I’ve gotten to tour all over the country and visit cities I’d never have gone to, I got to meet so many people and see family and friends I don’t often get to see. This has been all the things.”
In the show, as Jamie, Rodin is getting married that day and his big number is one of Company’s signature songs. Toward the end of Act I as the panicked groom, Rodin gets to belt out “Getting Married Today.” And although he’s been singing that for about a year now, the song does have a special place. And not even because he gets a big audience reaction to the number every time.
Rodin probably has one of the best audition stories to tell.
“My final callback for this show was on my wedding day,” he said. “In the morning, I was getting married at 11 a.m. in Central Park. At 2 p.m., I had to sing ‘Getting Married Today.’ I didn’t even have to change. I went straight there wearing my groom’s clothes. So now, when I sing that, I wear my own wedding band and I can relive part of my wedding day at every show.”
Clearly, Rodin got the part.
The actor said he was thinking not that long ago about the significance of playing this part. For him, playing a queer character is a privilege.
“I’ve been gay for a long time, but this has allowed me to sink into my queerness in a new way,” he said. “Jamie is unique and anxious and fun-loving. He’s more femme than I may present but that’s been fun for me too. Seriously, I get to show up to work every night and not necessarily have to put anything on. That’s been a little lost on me at how lucky I am that I get to be queer every night and share this gay story with people.”
The cast of the North American tour of ‘Company.
He said he’s received mostly positive feedback in this new version, but has heard some of the less kind words about the show’s “agenda.”
“It’s been really interesting and overwhelmingly wonderful. There have been a handful of cities where people were offended. I brushed it off but then I didn’t feel so good about it. That hit me in a way it didn’t expect it to,” Rodin said.
Then he remembered…
“The show is so gay. I mean, come on. You’re at a musical first. Then you’re at a Stephen Sondheim musical. Do you research,” he quipped.
The tour itself will end in Fort Worth at its run at Bass Performance Hall Oct. 1-6. Rodin encourages people to catch the show and not wait for the next time around.
“In the bigger picture, Company is more of an obscure musical and doesn’t tour often. So to see it now would be a special opportunity,” he said.
For tickets, visit ATTPAC.org or BassHall.com.