Company (2006 Broadway Revival Cast)
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Free Music Notes for Company (2006 Broadway Revival Cast)
Free Music Review: It's All About the Acting
Hit: 4 Stars
Ever since I got this CD, I actually think about it when I'm not near a CD player. The acting is fantastic, every note is explored, and every moment calculated. Mr. Esparza is especially fine. He has this way of being completely vulnerable with his voice but then he reaches the money notes and just nails them (vocally as well as emotionally). I haven't gotten to see the live performance yet, but now I feel like I have to. I love the cast and the orchestrations are much more contemporary. Yes, the instrumentation is light, but this lends itself to a piece as intimate as Company.
And YES, Barbara Walsh is fantastic. Of course she's not Eliane Stritch, but her sarcasm, edge, and voice are right on the money. I fear we run the risk of stifling creative interpretations like this when we endlessly compare the new with the old. Yes, please, respect the classic moments of theatre---but remember that creativity involves risk---and what's riskier than trying to recreate a character after a classic performance like that of Stritch's. Ms. Walsh is to be commended for her bravery as well as her talent!
Free Music Review: Almost perfect
Hit: 5 Stars
Having been a huge "Company" fan for years, I was excited to see it being revived once again in New York. I had seen the first revival in the '90s, and wasn't impressed. This time around however, I was completely thrilled. Raul Esparza is the definitive Bobby, both as an actor and a singer. But what really sets this recording apart from the others is the casting of musicians in all the roles; since the cast does double-duty as the orchestra, they all have the musical "chops" to nail all the vocals as they've never been nailed before in previous recordings. Every background vocal, every harmony layer is sung with the accuracy and ease that Sondheim must have originally intended. My only qualm with this recording is Barbara Walsh; it's not her fault, but no one is ever going to equal (or top) Elaine Stritch as Joanne. But other than that small quibble, this is the recording to own.Free Music Review: New Company Good -- Old Company Better
Hit: 4 Stars
I DO like the new version of this marvelous Sondheim classic, but I must confess to truly and deeply preferring the original production and the original company. Nothing wrong with the voices, certainly, but the depth that the original company seemed to bring to the music and those amazing lyrics (e.g. Stritch and LADIES WHO LUNCH) can't be recreated and recaptured.Free Music Review: Another interesting take on a classic Sondheim show
Hit: 4 Stars
In just the last few years, there have been a bunch of interesting re-workings of Sondheim shows: "The Frogs," "Assassins," "Pacific Overtures," "Sweeney Todd," "Sunday in the Park with George," and now this new recording of "Company."
Starring Raul Esparza and directed by John Doyle, the Tony-winning director of 2005's acclaimed "Sweeney Todd," this version of "Company' uses the same conceit as his "Sweeney"-- the performers double as the orchestra. Some will undoubtedly complain, like they did for "Pacific Overtures" and "Sweeney Todd," that a smaller orchestra does not do the score justice (why that complaint seems to have escaped last year's shockingly bland "Sunday in the Park with George" recording, I have no idea). But mainly, the intimacy of the small orchestra works here.
Overall, this "Company" is about as good as previous Broadway "Company" recordings (yes, including the underrated 1996 recording-- listen again to Veanne Cox's "Getting Married Today," LaChanze's "Another Hundred People," and Debra Monk's "The Ladies Who Lunch" for proof.)
Comparing some of the recent Sondheim recordings, this one contains a lot of the same extra transitional/dialogue material that I enjoyed on the new "Pacific Overtures" and "Assassins" recordings (I still think the new recordings of those two shows outshine their originals). This "Company" also contains a lot of the stream-of-consciousness, dreamlike quality of Doyle's version of "Sweeney Todd."
But if the new recordings of "Sweeney," "Pacific," and "Assassins" come across as modern and fresh, as if they could be brand new shows, this "Company" can't escape feeling sort of stuck in the 70's. I don't mean that as a slight, but it feels very much a period piece. The presence of Esparza as the lonely bachelor Bobby is a definite plus-- his renditions of "Someone is Waiting," "Marry Me a Little," and especially the finale, "Being Alive," have some definite contemporary bite like I've not heard before. The singers playing Bobby's meddling married friends are good, if not quite as memorable as some of the performers on other "Company" recordings. I do like how there's more an emphasis on the melancholy aspects of the show -- though it almost makes you think they should probably retire the "A Musical Comedy" subtitle!
Free Music Review: Just Great!!
Hit: 5 Stars
This produccion and the cast is just fantastic. The arragements are exelent. This is good Theater..Contratulation to everyone in this production!!