Original Cast Album: Company (1970)

Original Cast Album: Company
Directed by D. A. Pennebacker
1970/USA
IMDb page
Repeat viewing; Criterion Channel

Another chance to disapprove
Another brilliant zinger
Another reason not to move
Another vodka stinger
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!
I’ll drink to that — “The Ladies Who Lunch”, words and music by Stephen Sondheim

Geniuses attempt to capture the absolute best version of their just-opened Broadway hit. D. A. Pennebacker films the process.  The result is completely fantastic.

Broadway tradition has it that the original cast recording of a show is recorded on the Sunday following its opening.  This will be the definitive version of the musical for years to come.  Composer Stephen Sondheim, director Harold Prince, and record producer Thomas Z. Shepard meticulously coach the performers to bring the best out of them.

And then we are treated to excerpts from all the songs in the show sometimes with multiple tweaks.  The film concludes with the incomparable Elaine Stritch belting out take after take of “The Ladies Who Lunch” in the wee hours of the morning.

There was a period in my youth I could call the “Sondheim years” when my theater friends and I would listen to Broadway soundtracks over and over.  This one and Sondheim’s “Follies” soundtrack were my favorites.  This documentary lets you intimately into the production of those albums.  Fantastic to find a 1970 film that doubles as Lockdown viewing!  If you are interested in the topic, you are sure to love the film.