Interview: A conversation about “COMPANY” with James Earl Jones II
The Collin-Denton Spotlighter talks with James Earl Jones II about his role as Harry in “COMPANY” and his experiences performing in North Texas after pandemic restrictions lifted.
Back in 2021, James Earl Jones II took the Bass Performance Hall stage as Bob in the national tour of the musical, “Come From Away.” The show was the first Broadway series tour at the Bass Performance Hall since the pandemic began.
Based on a true story of how the residents of Gander in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador came together to take in diverted air travelers during 9/11, Jones says the musical “was about community and helping people, like it was a love letter to humanity.” Those sentiments felt particularly impactful in the post-pandemic times, and the performances brought “such a sense of relief” to Jones.
He recalls how it felt to act again alongside “people that I had grown to love because we were a theatre family” and see that “people still needed theater.” “They still felt a sense of joy coming to theater and escaping their lives and what was going on for two hours,” Jones says of the post-pandemic audiences.
Now, Jones is looking to spread some more good feelings onstage when he returns to the DFW area as Harry in the national tour of “COMPANY.” The show opens at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas from September 26-29 before heading to Bass Performance Hall from October 1-6.
This tour of “COMPANY” is a production of the 2022 Tony Award-winning revival of the classic Stephen Sondheim musical. The revival most notably changes the gender of the show’s lead from male to female as it follows Bobbie, a single New Yorker who’s turning 35 and has become the subject of many relationship-driven conversations among her friends. Bobbie, played by Britney Coleman, gets a firsthand glimpse of the different trappings of her friends’ relationships throughout the show via a string of vignettes spotlighting each of them.
Jones, a distant cousin of the recently deceased James Earl Jones, first starred as Harry in a production of “COMPANY” back in 2016 at Chicago’s Writers Theatre prior to the show’s revival. He says it’s been interesting to see how changing Bobbie’s gender resonates with audiences throughout the ongoing tour compared to his past experience performing the material. “I think that it is a very interesting aspect that is necessary, especially during these times where you find that the conversations around women’s rights and bodily autonomy are more prevalent than ever,” Jones says, describing how changing the character’s gender allows the show to speak to the societal pressures women often face to marry and have kids.
Jones says that Bobbie’s journey through the show takes her on “this ‘Alice in Wonderland’ kind of fever dream” as she sees the successes and failings in her friend’s relationships, often in insightful and hilarious ways. That’s where Jones’ character, Harry, comes in.
Unlike some of the other characters in the revival who also saw their relationships or dynamics change, Jones feels Harry’s relationship with his wife, Sarah, and how they interact with Bobbie remains the most similar to the original production. “The thing is that Harry and Bobbie were bosom buddies when he was a guy, and Harry and Bobbie are bosom buddies now that she’s a woman,” Jones says.
He explains that Harry and Sarah’s arc sees the characters “trying to find healthy ways to deal with our own vices.” “They don’t have an effect on our scene with Bobbie because Sarah is trying different things to make herself feel younger, vibrant and eat more healthily,” Jones says. “I’m someone who is dealing with my vice of maybe having a little too much bourbon from time to time.”
Jones calls his scene with Bobbie and Sarah a “hilarious journey” for the characters to navigate. He credits the hard work of Jessie Hooker-Bailey in preparing to play Sarah and bringing “a light to the scene and to her character.”
According to Jones, Hooker-Bailey had a “crash course” on “COMPANY” after the show’s previous Sarah, Kathryn Allison, finished on the tour roughly seven weeks ago. “When she left, we had a two-week break and then picked up the show in Portland, and it was so wild,” Jones says, explaining the quick turnaround to prepare Hooker-Bailey to join the production.
Jones and Hooker-Bailey decided to have a meal together to get to know each other and have the perspective on one another’s personalities necessary to build chemistry onstage. Jones says the end result of their efforts has been great. “I think that people would never know that she didn’t start the show at the very beginning,” Jones says.
Jones says he loves his scene with Hooker-Bailey’s Sarah and Britney Coleman’s Bobbie. “It’s an opportunity for people to see three successful, well-to-do young Black people on the stage,” Jones says. “Secondly, I think our scene, without giving it away, is hands down probably the most physical scene in such a short period of time.” He also singles out his opportunity to sing the number “Sorry-Grateful” with co-stars Derrick Davis (Larry) and Matt Bittner (David) as another highlight of his time on the show.
Jones says he hopes audiences “find uproarious laughter” during the show, along with an opportunity to “reflect on what your relationships mean to you.” “Ultimately, the show is about connection and how that makes us feel, how that brings us true joy,” Jones says, adding that audiences can interpret those connections as ones you make with friends just as much as romantic connections. He feels that each audience member will have an opportunity to find a character or couple whose story resonates with them. “Ultimately, this show is about company.”
“COMPANY” runs from September 26-29 at the AT&T Performing Arts Center before moving to Bass Performance Hall from October 1-6. For more information, go to https://companymusical.com/.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
