Company - A Musical Comedy (1970 Original Broadway Cast)
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Free Music Notes for Company - A Musical Comedy (1970 Original Broadway Cast)
Free Music Review: "Company"-The zenith of Sondheim wit and knowing?
Hit: 5 Stars
Marked for over 40 years as the single most observant, wittiest, most revealing composer/lyricist of the Broadway stage, Stephen Sondheim distills every iota of his remarkable talent in this multi-faceted piece of commentary of the human condition and the human willingness to commit that pulls off the extraordinary trick of being refreshingly- and painfully- honest at the same time."Company," the 1970 Tony winner for Best Musical, still stands as a marvelous example of music, cast, and production blending together to create something modern and uncommonly great. The plotless story dealing with the concern of five Manhattan couples for their mutual friend Bobby (Dean Jones) and his romantic life (or lack thereof) is as relevant today as it was to 1970's audiences. As the friends discuss their concerns, we learn that not only has the domestic life they picture for their friend not worked out well for them, but what would they do without Bobby to support them? Bobby himself is ambivalent about committing to a serious relationship, while trying to supplant his friends' concerns for him and themselves.
Just about any married couple will recognize themselves in one of the show's intricately sketched couples, and the uncertain bachelors out there will certainly identify with the angst-driven Bobby. As Bobby, Dean Jones creates a wholly likable character, and a realistic one that can be sympathized with and understood. There are other standouts in the cast: Pamela Myers, Donna McKechnie, and Susan Browning as Bobby's frustrated girlfriends. There are also wonderful performances to be enjoyed from Elaine Stritch, Beth Howland, and Charles Kimbrough.
Each of Sondheim's songs gives us a wry, telling look into the lives and thoughts of the characters. From the bombastic opening of "Company" on, the score never fails to capture interest. The ambivalent "Sorry-Grateful" sung by Bobby's married male friends, is a perfectly integrated mix of the regrets and consolations of the married man. "You Could Drive a Person Crazy," an amusing triplet sung by Bobby's girlfriends, sprinkles laughs throughout its breathless pace. Bobby's plaintive "Someone Is Waiting," in which he dreams of his ideal woman (which can not be lived up to) is still a beautiful dream. Myers' commentary on the connectionless, empty existence of New Yorkers is straightforwardly expressed in "Another Hundred People." Bobby's friend Amy (Howland) suddenly finds herself in a hilarious (and understandable) panic at the prospect of "Getting Married Today." "Barcelona," Bobby's duet with one of his girlfriends, April (Browning) ranks among the most heartbreaking, poignant soliloquies ever composed for the Broadway stage. And as Bobby's elderly married friend Joanne, Elaine Stritch creates a show of her own with the arsenic-filled "The Ladies Who Lunch," a tour-de-force from simmering start to bombastic finish. And there is the wonderful, wonderful eleven o'clock number, "Being Alive" which Jones sings with every ounce he has to give, bringing the emotional heart of "Company" full circle.
These vivid characters and resonating attitudes make "Company" a stark, uncompromsing vehicle in the Broadway canon. But it is a brilliant show at the nth degree of brilliance. It is a show to think about, to be moved by, and to contemplate in everyday life. Because it still is life.
Free Music Review: Just Go Buy It Already
Hit: 5 Stars
Company from the very first chords of its opening, is very much a product of it's time, but that in no way condems it to being anything but brilliant. It's amazing how you can go to the happy, and comical Side By Side, and then go to the melancholy, and slightly haunting Another Hundred People, but this is Sondheim, so could you really expect anything less? Every song is worthwile, which is surprising, because on all of my cd's there's atleast one song that I don't like. My only problem with it, if I had to have one, is that Dean Jones's voice really bugs me, not much mind you, just enough to sometimes make me cringe a little bit, especially on Being Alive, his voice is wavy and seems to be all over the place. Also, the same song being sung by Larry Kurt, the original Tony from West Side Story and Jones's understudy, who actually took over the role on Broadway since Jones left after doing the premier and this cast recording. Kurt has a smooth voice and is a welcome change to Jones's, but you gotta give the guy credit, he was going through a mental breakdown. When I bought this cd, I wasn't quite sure what I had gotten myself into, I listened to the title song, thought it was ok, and just let it sit on my shelf for a few months. I decided to take it on trip to Europe, and on a train listenening to it, it finally clicked and I kept listenening it over and over again. If I haven't convinced you to buy it, then either you've already made up your mind, or dumb, BUY THIS NOW.Free Music Review: I Love a Stephen Sondheim
Hit: 4 Stars
I can see why everyone proclaims COMPANY the ignition of modern musical theatre. It's a great score that could stand on its own if (magically) it didn't need a cast of names. Sondheim and Jonathan Tunick, the orchestrator, are probably the only remaining artists who know how to use an orchestra the way it wants to be used (although, said skill is only demonstrated occasionally on this recording, such as the pulsating "Have I Got a Girl for You").I could ooze more and more compliments for Sondheim's score, but I'm going to focus on my critique of the performances. I saw PUTTING IT TOGETHER and was captured by Jim Barrowman's interpretation of some of Robert's songs (he later portrayed the entire role at the Kennedy Center): he's young and attractive with a pure, no-nonsense voice. Dean Jones and Larry Kurt do not have that intensity. Jones sounds too old, too cautious for the desperate Robert; Kurt, in his one song on the CD, sounds like he's not thinking too much, which goes against the character. To me, yes, Robert is careful, but he wants to and tries to be spontaneous and exciting, and on this CD, he just isn't given that specific flavor.
The colorful cast around him is also problematic in my view. Is it just me, or does everyone sound too old? They all have that geriatric quiver in their voices: they all sound like they know too much about marriage when they should just be spouting off what they think they know. Amy should be more of a belter and Beth Howland isn't. Teri Ralston's soprano (especially on "Poor Baby") is delightful--she's probably the best sung in the cast. Pity the important songs go to Elaine Stritch.
What did I just say? Am I criticizing Elaine Stritch? Sadly, Elaine Stritch is probably the least appealing to me on the recording. Yes, I know, everyone knows she can't sing, but why give her such pivotal songs as "Little Things..." and "Ladies Who Lunch" if she can't bring out the music that completes them? I much prefer Carol Burnett's "Ladies...": even when she can't hit the high notes, she carries and uses the melody to the devastating suicidal effect that Stritch doesn't find beneath the music.
Nonetheless, COMPANY is a five star score that would be a five star CD with a younger, more vocally powerful cast. Maybe the 1995 revival is worth investigating. This CD is still worth having: the original has the power of the full orchestra and Sondheim's direct influence on the production, and therefore is priceless to musical theatre.
Free Music Review: COMPANY anew
Hit: 5 Stars
Sony's exceptional new digital transfer of this classic original cast recording re-establishes it as the best of all COMPANY recordings.All the freshness and innovation heard here impressed far too small a group of fans and only a very few critics in 1970. But after the show closed the Lp continued to sell and gradually most of the nay-sayers came around. And, because the songs in COMPANY comment on the action rather than tell a story, the album can be enjoyed even if you do not know the plot. If, however, you are curious Sony has included a detailed synopsis in the accompanying booklet.
Remastered by the original producer, Thomas Shephard, and offering richer, more detailed sound that before, there is nothing more one could wish for. All the performances are as steller as ever and as a bonus, an alternate take of "Being Alive" with Larry Kert who replaced Dean Jones a few weeks after the opening and later played the show in London. CBS in the UK released an Lp (and later, briefly, a CD) with Larry Kert overdubbing Dean Jones' lines. (It's not a good recording: You can still hear Dean Jones faintly in the background, and because Larry Kert was adding his voice to already completed tracks he sounds disconnected from the rest of the cast. Collectors take note: DO NOT pay top dollar for the Larry Kert COMPANY but should one surface at a reasonable price it will make an interesting alternative to this recording.)
One of our younger members here questioned what all the fuss was about. I suppose in view of the later innovations of Sondheim, Prince and a handful of other Broadway writers, the essentially plotless character study that COMPANY offers can seem less a watershed than it was in 1970. Still the songs dazzle. Give it a few more listens... it will grow on you. Had it not been for COMPANY, later shows like CHORUS LINE, GRAND HOTEL and RENT would never have happened.
Free Music Review: Sondheim's Most Syncopated Score
Hit: 5 Stars
Despite my clumsy attempt at alliteration in my title, Sondheim's breakthrough score set the tone for his musicals in the 70's; they were all clever, witty, and sometimes heartbreaking. Though 'Cabaret' was the first concept musical, this brought the musical a whole step forward. The book didn't have a standard plot, but rather was an emotional inventory of the leading characters' and their feelings. The musical numbers (as it says in the liner notes) are the musical. Unlike his later scores (particularly Follies), you can gain practically everything you need to know about the characters through the cast recording. As you probably know by now, this musical is about marriage, and how we're "Sorry-Grateful" about it.Sondheim's lyrics display such incredible dynamism that it seems bizarre that people dislike Sondheim (several reviewers criticized Passion, calling the lyrics banal). Listen to "You Could Drive a Person Crazy", and one can't help respect his brilliance. For example, her rhymes "personable" with "coercin' a bull".
I have to mention four other songs as the show's highpoints. "Another Hundred People" is one of the most perceptive songs about urban alienation ever written. "Getting Married Today" is Sondheim's neurotic tour-de-force, brilliantly performaned by Beth Howland. Despite wonderful renditions by Madeline Kahn and Veanne Cox (amongst others), her's remains the definitive. People who are inclined to short-thrift Sondheim ignore these two songs, both which are difficult to do well, and Pamela Myers and Howland knock them out the ballpark. Elaine Stritch's gin soaked rendition of "The Ladies Who Lunch" is a marvel. Piquant, sharp and brutally vicious, this is probably the most well known song on the album.
"Being Alive" has always been a bit of a sore spot for some Sondheim fans. Many felt that it betrays Robert, and that he wouldn't be in that mood by the end (he commits to commit, whereas originally he decides that he's better off alone. After all, his friends aren't the best examples of happily married couples). Nevertheless, the anguish that Dean Jones movingly conveys on this recording is palpable, and as a result, it's completely heartwrenching.
This is a must-have recording. Brilliant, clever, moving, it's one of Sondheim's finest scores (though, none of his scores are bad).