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original cast album company | Year: 1971 Classification: Documentary Directed: - D.A. Pennebaker A Fascinating documentary! If you care about musical theatre, then you will want to see this 1-hour condesation of the 18 1/2 hour recording session that yielded the original cast album of COMPANY. This documentary will give you an idea of how much sweat goes into making these albums... usually done in one long day in a cramped recording studio. Once you see this documentary, you'll listen to the album in a totally different way. Watch Sondheim coach the singers: correct their pronunciations, or even correct notes they have changed over the weeks of performances. Best of all watch Elaine Stritch struggle to record "The Ladies Who Lunch" until exhaustion gets the better of her and she starts screaming back at her own playback. And yet ... and yet the final result is worth it! No other cast album documentary captures as much as this one. A must for those who know that cast albums are NOT "soundtracks!" The joys and sorrows of making a Broadway Cast Album You do not get to see too many documentaries about the making of a Broadway Cast album, but after watching the marathon recording sessions for the original cast album of Stephen Sondheim's "Company," you are going to want to track down some more glimpses behind the curtain. Director D. A. Pennebaker used three hand-held cameras to simply observe the action as the cast tries to translate the excitement of a live performance into a studio recording. A lot is crammed into the 60 minutes of this documentary, but the highlight is clearly when an exhausted Elaine Stritch struggles through take after take of "Here's to the Lady's Who Lunch," before she finally nails that song big time. The sequence is actually more dramatic than anything in the actual musical. The DVD extras are a slide show of stills from the original Broadway production of "Company," set to the show's "Have I Got a Girl for You," and commentary by not only the film's director Pennebaker but the show's director Harold Prince and Elaine Stritch, both of whom have many fascinating anecdotes to tell. If you are not familiar with "Company" as a musical, then you will not really enjoy what this DVD has to offer. A must for Sondheim fans I'd heard of this documentary and was thrilled to be able to finally see it. A real "behind the scenes" documentary. While there's no continuous narrative, it's interesting to see the process and to later hear the commentary of Pennebaker, Prince and Stritch. You can see the joy the performers had singing these songs and you cheer when you hear Elaine Stritch sing a successful take of "Ladies Who Lunch." Recommended for those who loved Company, Sondheim completists and those who care about musical theatre. Buy Original Cast Album Company at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Original Cast Album Company Search with the Priority Search Engine on Original Cast Album Company This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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