Blu-ray Review Original Cast Album: Company Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

There has never been a documentary about artists at work slaving for perfection quite as memorable as D.A. Pennebaker’s Original Cast Album: Company.



Original Cast Album: Company (1970)



Released: 28 Oct 1970
Rated: N/A
Runtime: 50 min




Director: D.A. Pennebaker
Genre: Documentary



Cast: Barbara Barrie, Charles Braswell, Susan Browning
Writer(s): N/A



Plot: Stephen Sondheim's musical "Company" opened on Broadway in the Spring of 1970, and tradition dictates that the cast recording is done on the first Sunday after opening night. D.A. Pennebaker, the now-legendary documentarian, filmed t



IMDB rating: 8.1
MetaScore: N/A





Disc Information



Studio: Criterion
Distributed By: N/A
Video Resolution:...

Continue reading...

 

[DigniT@DigniT!]

I. CAN'T. WAIT. I remember the first time this was on broadcast television. Even as a child, I was mesmerized. I remain a die-hard Sondheim acolyte, having seen all of the original productions of his work, starting with the National tour and West End original productions of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (with Jean Simmons and Hermione Gingold (or Margaret Hamilton, in the National tour) up to and include the National Theatre production of FOLLIES (Three times... including the closing night). I can't fully explain the impact of his music and lyrics on me but I am always moved, delighted, surprised, and engaged. I direct in the theatre for a living, as well as teach, and I have enjoyed directing musicals in the Sondheim canon as well, although I've not done COMPANY... yet. THANKS CRITERION!

 

[roxy1927]

There have to be hours of tape that were excluded from this documentary. Were they destroyed? Why couldn't a fair amount have been included as bonus extras?

 

[Noel Aguirre]

Sorry but I have this on DVD and it’s a sad state of affairs and painful to see an obviously tanked Elaine Stritch struggling to get through these recording sessions. Thankfully she later found sobriety and gave us some brilliant concerts and performances, 2 of which I saw in A Little Night Music when she replaced Angela Lansbury and the other being At Liberty her one woman show. A true Bway legend.

In addition there’s no mention of Larry Kert who took over the role immediately after Dean Jones was let go and was nominated for the Tony but cast after this doc and recording were made. I would love to have heard his rendition of the material but it’s not available not that I know of?

 

[roxy1927]

I believe there was a release(I'm hoping somebody else can confirm this for me) of the cast album in London for the run there with Kert's vocals added. Strangely it has never turned up on any cd reissue. Rights problems? Or am I imagining this?
I saw Kert do the role that fall at the Alvin with the rest of the original cast and he was vocally wonderful. But I am glad I got to see Jones years later in the same theater in Into the Light. He was a childhood hero of mine from his Disney films.

 

[haineshisway]

I believe there was a release(I'm hoping somebody else can confirm this for me) of the cast album in London for the run there with Kert's vocals added. Strangely it has never turned up on any cd reissue. Rights problems? Or am I imagining this?
I saw Kert do the role that fall at the Alvin with the rest of the original cast and he was vocally wonderful. But I am glad I got to see Jones years later in the same theater in Into the Light. He was a childhood hero of mine from his Disney films.

Wow. Yes, there was a CD release of the London cast album on Sony London but it's just the US cast album with Kert's vocals added (you can still hear the ghost of Dean Jones's vocals, BTW).

 

[roxy1927]

Well I missed that cd. I see it is available on amazonuk used pretty cheap.

 

[Darby67]

Continue reading...

Matt:

Thank you for the insightful review. I look forward to picking this up at the next B&N 50% Off Criterion or Criterion Flash Sale.

Sean

 

[Matt Hough]

Matt:

Thank you for the insightful review. I look forward to picking this up at the next B&N 50% Off Criterion or Criterion Flash Sale.

Sean

Thank you, Sean. I do have to admit to a special fondness for the show. I was lucky enough to be cast as Harry (the karate-suffering husband) in a local production of the show some years ago, and while the score was very difficult (spent the first two rehearsals just learning the intricacies of the opening number), it was such a blast to perform. How I ever had the stamina to sing "Sorry/Grateful" after my "show wife" tossed me around the stage a couple of times before the number, I'll never know!

 

[Matt Hough]

Sorry but I have this on DVD and it’s a sad state of affairs and painful to see an obviously tanked Elaine Stritch struggling to get through these recording sessions. Thankfully she later found sobriety and gave us some brilliant concerts and performances, 2 of which I saw in A Little Night Music when she replaced Angela Lansbury and the other being At Liberty her one woman show. A true Bway legend.

In addition there’s no mention of Larry Kert who took over the role immediately after Dean Jones was let go and was nominated for the Tony but cast after this doc and recording were made. I would love to have heard his rendition of the material but it’s not available not that I know of?

The saga of Larry Kert serving as Dean Jones' standby and replacing him a month after the show opened is reiterated in several of the bonus features. Naturally none of that would be in the documentary itself since Kert wasn't on the cast recording (if he was at the recording session, I never saw him) and Jones hadn't left the production yet.

Stritch says in the commentary she had a few glasses of champagne; Sondheim and others say she was belting back brandy. I tend to believe them.

 

[roxy1927]

Is that why she lets out the most painful flat note in recording history in the opening number?

 

[Jake Lipson]

Thank you @Matt Hough for the review. The original DVD of this was out of print before I knew enough to get one, so I would have bought a barebones version of it. The extras are just wonderful gravy. It is my most anticipated Criterion release in quite some time and the rare one I won't wait for a 50% off sale to pick up.

 

[Will Krupp]

Stritch says in the commentary she had a few glasses of champagne; Sondheim and others say she was belting back brandy. I tend to believe them.

Pardon my cynicism, but I have always gravitated towards the (completley unfounded) theory that Stritch saw an opportunity to get a "good cut" out of the documentary by giving the story some dramatic impetus (will she or won't she?) and played it for all it's worth, including the triumph of returning (alone it's important to note) to kill it at the end. She's well aware that the finale of the documentary will be about Stritch and no one else.

I love Elaine Stritch and find her completely compelling to watch but, drinking or not, she was a terribly insecure talent and never very generous to her fellow performers.

 

[roxy1927]

I believe once I saw her interviewed about her role in the original Broadway production of Bus Stop and she talked about how brilliant Kim Stanley was but you're right she wasn't very generous about others except for Noel.

 

[Jake Lipson]

PBS will air a new documentary regarding the current Broadway revival of Company in May.

Keeping Company With Sondheim, Exploring Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Company, Will Debut on PBS in May

The Great Performances broadcast features interviews with Tony winners Patti LuPone, Katrina Lenk, Marianne Elliott, and the late Sondheim.

playbill.com

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, I saw that announcement. I'll be looking forward to seeing it.