This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
puritybrown: I removed the comment on Executive Meddling because, firstly, I'm not sure it's accurate to say that Company has a happy ending — ambiguously optimistic, maybe, but happy? — and secondly, the fact that the ending got fiddled around with in the previews and different songs were tried out doesn't in itself indicate Executive Meddling. That's how theatre works. It's certainly how Sondheim works. There's not a single Sondheim show that hasn't been tinkered with in front of an audience; he and his collaborators use the preview audiences as beta readers.
In the specific case of Company, it's true that the optimistic "Being Alive" replaced the darker "Happily Ever After", but "Happily Ever After" replaced "Marry Me A Little", which was more ambiguous, and "Marry Me A Little" replaced "Multitudes of Amys", which was even more optimistic than "Being Alive". So, the situation is not that clear-cut.
