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: Bobby Baby
Hit: 5 Stars
Company, in my opinion, is the greatest musical ever written. The music is incredible, and the book is perfect(something that made me detract a star from Follies). Dean Jones is superb, but ELAINE STRITCH RULES!!! She is AMAZING in Ladies Who Lunch. I have memorized most of the songs, including Being Alive and Another Hundred People. Another Hundred People is probably my favorite song, but Side by Side by Side is 2nd. BUY THIS CD! If not for the songs, just get it to hear Elaine Stritch. BUY IT!Free Music Review: A Company in good Company
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm mainly interested in two items: 1) the quality of the performance and 2) the quality of the remastered CD: I'd grade both qualities as "excellent." This disk has so much energy, vitality, realism...it's a marvelous listen (in spite of , as other reviewers have mentioned, having some non-first rate voices in the cast(though generally second-rate plus at worst)). Sony's reissue/remaster is also well done. The disk is bass-shy, but otherwise sounds very true. The super bit mapping helps things immensely. I just heard Company at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and although the sound quality was measureably better than this CD, the comparison is perhaps a bit unfair - I don't know the condition of the original master tape.
In any case, this CD is worth owning if you're the least bit interested in this genre. Only negative: The lack of lyrics is annoying.
Free Music Review: One Of The Best
Hit: 5 Stars
I loved Stephen Sondheim's works and have listened to many of his recordings, until one day I decided to by a CD called "Company." I figured, how bad could it be? Well, it was far from bad, in fact, it was one of the best peace of musical theatre there is. First of all the cast if fantastic. The song, "The Ladies who Lunch" witch is sung by Elaine Stritch, is truly brilliant written and even more brilliantly sung. Elaine Stritch is really a gift from the Broadway gods! Then there is a song that has memorized me, "Getting Married Today," which is sung by Beth Howland. This song just blows you away. "The Ladies who Lunch" and "Getting Married Today" is worth getting this CD alone. Yet that is not it, "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" sung by Donna McKechnie and "Another Hundred People" sung by Pamela Myers is also great. And then there is the song, "Company" and "Being Alive" which is sung by Dean Jones, and for an extra bonus track is sung by Larry Kert. If there is one CD that will sell you to Songheim it is COMPANY!Free Music Review: Great songs about an unusual subject
Hit: 5 Stars
THE SHOW:Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince, and George Furth all achieved considerable fame in 1970 for COMPANY, the musical about being single in a world of married people. As one of the earliest "concept" musicals, the plot is subject to some interpretation. While the main character, Robert, is confused and wishy-washy, his world is filled with thirteen of the greatest comedic characters ever created for the Broadway stage. Robert's best friends are five Manhattanite couples: Sarah, the unsuccessful dieter studying martial arts, married to Harry, the refusing-to-reform alcoholic; Jenny, the prim and proper housewife, married to David, more willing to rebel; Susan, the displaced Texan, divorced from but still living with Peter, who apparently has other fish to fry; Amy, comfortable living with Paul for years, but scared about getting married to him; Joanne, bitter, cosmopolitan, and welcome to a relationship on the side while her latest husband, Larry, is away on business. Then there are Robert's three girlfriends: April, the ditzy airline attendant; Kathy, who looks alluring with an engagement ring; and Marta, the ultimate atypical New Yorker. What bothers me about the show are details borne of the gritty "tell-it-like-it-is" era of the early 1970's, which condone unsavory behaviors (smoking marijuana, multiple sexual partners, etc.) which perhaps could have been left out without damaging the show's integrity.
This is probably Sondheim's most melodic score; every song is hummable after a few listens. Most of the songs are very upbeat, including "The Little Things You Do Together," "You Can Drive a Person Crazy," "Side By Side (By Side)," and the title number. Most of the ballads in the score are set in funny contexts. The lyrics are clever, but they haven't been worked over to the point that they sound contrived.
THE RECORDING:
In 1995, a contributor to rec.arts.theatre.musicals declared that this recording of COMPANY was the best all-around cast recording of a Broadway musical, and no one posted a disagreement. It's not that the voices are the greatest - the best two tracks, "The Ladies Who Lunch" and "The Little Things You Do Together," feature Elaine Stritch, one of Broadway's worst singers. It's just that you can sense the energy that this cast of singing actors brought to the studio, most notably in Beth Howland's juggernaut rapid-fire recitation, "Getting Married Today."
Free Music Review: A great recording
Hit: 4 Stars
I initially got this CD because I had heard some of the songs on various compilation albums (Cameron Mackintosh's "Hey Mr. Producer," especially). I was surprised by how much I like this show. Elaine Stritch is, of course, delightful in her role. I like the original "Being Alive" better than the Larry Kent version at the end of the CD. This CD is filled with many songs that take you through the life of Robert, and how he interacts with his married friends. It illustrates a life at a precise moment. I think that Sondheim & Prince did a wonderful job of bringing it to life.
Pick up your own copy and listen to it in one sitting the first time--it is definitely an experience.