Original Cast Album: Company

This was apparently the pilot for a documentary series on cast recordings, and it's a shame it didn't come to fruition, because it's really quite good.

I was not familiar with Sondheim beyond a handful of songs that you just hear everywhere (like Send in the Clowns) and even though this is just a few songs from the musical, it was a revelation, particularly Barcelona and Ladies Who Lunch. I'm sure the full production was excellent, but these talented people singing these brilliant songs into their microphones was wonderful as well.

The most fascinating part is the final section, in which Elaine Stritch gives a powerful performance of Lunch that was not, apparently, good enough for the album. It's a great example of the difference between a live performance and a recorded one; as a live performance it was incredible, but it drove her mad.

Well worth watching.

D.A. Pennebaker got roped into this as the first of a projected series of TV shows showing the recording process. After they wrapped and sold it to Chrysler, Pennebaker called up the guy's office to ask what the next one would be. He was now running MGM.

That's show biz for you. What we have left of the projected series is this one 58-minute piece, in which we get to witness Sondheim and his collaborators gathered in a recording studio to make one for the permanent record. It's from the period when Sondheim was erasing the line between recitiative and and lyrical songs, with Beth Howland singing the impossible patter song "I'm Not Getting Married Today", and that magnificent broad Elaine Stritch leading in "The Little Things"..... and blowing take after take, according to the professionals, of "The Ladies Who Lunch"..... despite the fact that I think the first take on film is the best emotionally.

What I don't understand is how bad the songs sound on on the movie. Certainly my cd of the show seem much better.

It's impressive to watch a gaggle of Broadway's best, at almost the exact moment the clock moved from the 1960s into the '70s, take their places in a featureless recording studio to make history. The original cast, the orchestra players, the sound engineers, composer Stephen Sondheim, and session producer Thomas Shepard demonstrate more than great talent and love for what they're doing. They give a master class in how to listen, how to give and take direction, how to hit the creators' target. Near the end, when Ms. Stritch belts out a solo for the ages at 3 a.m., the producer criticizes her delivery, and I wanted to smack him! But I'm not a theater person, unlike the phenomenal troupers who kept soaking up instructions and doing more, more, more takes till everyone was happy. They did it right.

If you own any original cast recording of a Broadway musical, I recommend this behind-the-scenes look at how one OCR was made.

I memorized this soundtrack and could sing along with every song before I ever saw the play. In the many years since, I try to see this production whenever it appears...such a fun Sondheim musical. Nobobdy will ever compare to Elaine Strich's vocals on the album as a jaded, oft married, oft divorced friend of Bobby's. She is wonderful. Another great number is "Barcelona", when Bobby beds numerous airline stewardesses... very clever. Listen and enjoy!

This one is for musical comedy fans only, but if you are, this somewhat mythic documentary will remind you why you love them so much.

Watching Sondheim at work, correcting the pronunciation of Bobby, Bubby (booby) Bobby Bob is worth the price of admission.

I've waited years to watch this and finally Netflix made it possible.

A month later, I watched the PBS screening of the John Doyle revival of Company. Since it won a Tony, I expected a decent show though I knew Doyle had staged it with his three-time gimmick, the performers playing their own instruments. (When I heard he was directing "Peter Grimes" at the Met, my first thought was how on earth the opera singers were going to manage to play their own instruments.

Not that I didn't care for the new Company, but I couldn't believe anyone on the planet earth would want to be friends with anyone of those people. They were unlikable, unsympathetic and wore incredibly ugly costumes. No dancing, of course, since you can't play an instrument and dance but there was the marching band doing What Would We Do Without You, which sort of worked. You Could Drive a Person Crazy was sort of cute, with them stopping to blow saxophones rather than do the Do-do-dododo part.

Amy had none of the whimsy that makes "I'm Not Getting Married Today" work. In fact, this Amy looked old and hard.

Joanne, however, had not a whit of the charm Elaine Stritch brought to the part. She seemed to mistake off key for acerbic and walking around playing the triangle just didn't work for me.

Maybe it's hard to be picky about a cast when they all have to play an instrument. What a stupid way to cast a musical comedy. Doyle seems to forget it's a musical.

So rent the Making Of because it truly captures the musical. And listen to the commentary. It's priceless. Once you know what Dean Jones was going through, his "Being Alive" is heart wrenching.