Customer Reviews

Company - A Musical Comedy (1970 Original Broadway Cast)

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"Company" -- along with "Follies", "A Little Night Music", and "Sweeney Todd", represents the pinnacle of Sondheim's achievement and a bastion of the greatest music Broadway has ever sponsored -- both from a musical and literary perspective. "Company" itself is by turns warm, acerbic, amusing, frantic, and is a magnificent expression of the convoluted emotional lives of modern urbanites. (Indeed, it has one of the most perceptive songs ever written about New York City--"Another Hundred People".) The ambiguity of the human spirit is a major theme running through Sondheim's ouvre of lyrics. (Which are, in my opinion, arguably the greatest body of lyrics composed for the stage, Gerschwin, Berlin, Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein & Hart AND the rest notwithstanding.) Such brilliant songs as "Sorry-Grateful", "Someone Is Waiting", and "Being Alive" attest to that. The words reach down into the gut, and even when cynical they ring true (as in the wonderful "The Ladies Who Lunch"). Although there have been alternative casts and revivals and numerous concert performances of the score, in whole or part, this original cast recording still towers above them all: Dean Jones' magnificent performance, fraught with all the pain and bemusement and alienation (the role nearly caused him to have a nervous breakdown, it affected him so much); that national treasure, Elaine Strich, in "The Little Things You Do Together" and the incomparable "The Ladies Who Lunch"; Beth Howland's tour-de-force panic attack while "Getting Married Today"; the wonderful cast (including Charles Kimbrough of "Murphy Brown" fame and Barbara Barrie, and alumnus of "Barney Miller"). Even the ostensibly "Big" crowd-pleaser numbers, like "Side by Side by Side", for all their conscious nods to popular tastes, have an edge-- how Bobby, at the end, finds himself alone when his married friends pair off with their spouses-- beside the wonderfully witty and insightful lyrics; in "Barcelona" -- one of the most realistic "post-coitus" numbers even written -- where Bobby, after insincere and fulsome praise of his recent bedmate, at a climax calls her "June" -- and she quietly corrects him-- "April" -- there's nothing quite like it, or many of the numbers, elsewhere in Musical Theater. ALL IN ALL -- this album is a classic, probably not for people with bubblegum tastes whose preferences run to the simpy or bathetic-- but for people of intelligence and introspection. It cannot be recommended too highly.

COMPANY is one of the greatest musicals to emerge from the 70's, which proved to be a rather thin decade for Broadway and the musicals.

COMPANY is a "concept musical" in the best sense of the word, where the songs act more as vignettes than form a scene-to-scene story. The cast, headed by Dean Jones and Elaine Stritch, has never been truly bettered.

Dean Jones, in his brief time as Bobby, displayed for the first time his rich and beautiful singer voice. After years playing the goofy leads of Disney comedies like "The Love Bug", "Monkeys Go Home" and "That Darn Cat", Jones was established as a Broadway star to be reckoned with. His renditions of "Someone is Waiting" as well as the life-affirming "Being Alive" are fantastic.

The supporting cast is headed by Elaine Stritch as Joanne, the sardonic older woman who sings the masterpiece "The Ladies who Lunch" (still yet to be equalled). Beth Howland, as kooky Amy, sings the difficult patter-sing "Getting Married Today" with gusto. Pamela Myers, in her Tony-nominated role as Marta, sings a mean rendition of "Another Hundred People". The rest of the cast; Barbara Barrie, Charles Kimbrough, Merle Louise, Charles Cunningham, Teri Ralston, George Coe, Steve Elmore, Charles Braswell, Donna McKechnie, Susan Browning, Cathy Corkill, Carol Gelfand, Marilyn Saunders and Dona D. Vaughn; all sing with gusto.

Stephen Sondheim certainly created what is considered one of his most polished and questioning scores; including "Barcelona", "Have I Got a Girl For You", "Sorry-Grateful", "Poor Baby" and the dance arrangement for "Tick-Tock", which provided a showcase for the galvanising dance talents of Donna McKechnie (who would go on to create the role of Cassie in the original cast of A CHORUS LINE).

"Company" was the first Sondheim-Prince collaboration, setting the pace for "Follies", "Pacific Overtures" and "Sweeney Todd", which were forthcoming. This is a brilliant score with melidious songs, urbane and witty lyrics and fascinating rhythms. Sondheim is at the top of his game, as is the cast. Dean Jones as Bobby is wonderful in all his numbers, mainly "Being Alive", Donna McKechnie, Pamela Myers and Susan Browning are great in the tounge twister of a song called "You Can Drive A Person Crazy", Myers also scores in the classic, "Another Hundred People." But the real star of the show is Elaine Stritch. She is in her ultimate role. "The Little Things You Do Together" is great, but her "Ladies Who Lunch" is incomperable.
This is a highly recomended recording of my second-favorite score by Sondheim ("Follies" being my favorite). Oh yeah, and did I mention the orchestrations? The brillaint harpsicord\electric piano called a roxicord, the strings, the percussion, the brass. This is brilliant!

"Company" stands the test of time as one of the greatest pieces of musical theatre ever produced, and the cast album preserves the most innovative element of the show, its glorious score by Stephen Sondheim. The music has not dated at all, and it still has a great deal of wise (if a bit cynical) things to say about negotiating the relationship minefield. The dazzling lyrics, the gorgeous music-- Sondheim's score has improved with age, and his melodic gift comes of age in this show.

The perfect cast was assembled for this great show. The great Dean Jones sings wonderfully, despite the pain of his ongoing divorce (perhaps because of it). His version of "Being Alive" is raw and fantastic. As a point of comparison, Larry Kert's cut of this song is included on the CD, and sounds great (rest in peace, Larry).

The phenomenal supporting cast includes the immortal Elaine Stritch, whose glorious foghorn of a voice fills "The Ladies Who Lunch" with whiskey-soaked rage and sarcasm. Beth Howland's dizzy "Getting Married Today" still dazzles (interesting bit of trivia-- this show introduced her to her long-time love, Charles Kimbrough). Pamela Myers' "Another Hundred People" is theatrical magic. The mixture of acting singers (like Sondheim stalwarts Teri Ralston and Merle Louise) and singing actors (Barbara Barrie, for example) gives the recording a witty, gritty edge. And the ensemble's performance of the wonderful title number and "Side by Side by Side" is peerless.

This is a great show-- and this is an important recording. The meticulous clean-up of the master for the CD is thorough and well done. For anyone who likes musical theatre and who wants to collect and listen to the seminal works, this must be on your list.

Sometimes it's great not to have heard something in your youth - it makes it that much more enjoyable when you finally encounter it further down the line. I had already enjoyed Sondheim's genius work in the musicals "Sweeney Todd" and "Into the Woods" but only just heard "Company" for the first time this year. All I can say is I'll never hear the word "Barcelona" without thinking of Sondheim's gorgeous song of that name from this musical about the ups and downs of marriage and loneliness and how these states of being both mirror-reflect and contradict each other (sometimes at the same time, as Sondheim observes in the song "Sorry-Grateful").

I can't stop thinking about the song "Barcelona" - it's so beautiful that I find myself listening to it over and over again. Existentially, I feel like the whole world is nothing more or less than one person asking another "Where you going?" and hearing back "Barcelona" - in this equation, "Barcelona" is quite simply and symbolically someplace else. The wiseness of Sondheim's lyric and somber timbres of the music convince you once and for all that each one of us is going to his/her own private Barcelona - and, ultimately, we're all going there alone (even if someone is along for the ride, as it were).

As a recording, the music as performed by the orchestra on this 1970 recording of COMPANY is fresh and vibrant and shot through with dynamics - why don't the Broadway orchestra pits sound like this anymore? You can't beat real musicians playing real instruments - synths just don't cut it.

All vocal performances are top-notch - Elaine Stritch brings a delicious madness to "The Ladies Who Lunch," and I can't believe that the same Dean Jones who starred in Disney's LOVE BUG movie is the incredibly emotional voice of Bobby singing "Being Alive" on this album. I don't see why so many seem to have knocked his voice or his performance over the years - I thought Dean Jones captures the sweet desperation of "Being Alive" much better than the Larry Kert version.

There's a line in "Being Alive" along the lines of "Blow out the candles, Robert, and make a wish . . . Want something . . . want SOME-thing." I get a lump in my throat every time. This music is incredible - Sondheim really got it all down here and it's a blessing to the human race to be able to hear our lives played back to us in this way.

Buy this CD performance of the musical - it should be in everyone's music library . . .

Have a good trip to Barcelona, everyone.

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.

I actually have two recordings of Company - I bought this one for the fabulous performances of Elaine Stritch and well, everyone except Dean Jones, and the 1995 Broadway Revival Cast for the superior vocal talents of that show's Bobby and the additional song "Marry Me a Little." If you're a true Sondheim devotee, I'd get both recordings. If you only buy one recording though, this should be it.

One of the previous reviewers said that they didn't think people who've never been married would appreciate this show. As a person who is not married and is now in the position of having many married friends, I've always overidentified a bit with Bobby. Bobby is on the outside looking in, and that's what makes this show so special. Without much (if any) plot, Sondheim manages to capture the basic contradictions of giving your heart to another and the fears that go along with that, and he manages to do so in alternately funny and heartbreaking music.

And the lyrics...
"You're sorry-grateful, regretful-happy,
why look for answers when none occur?
You always are what you always were
which has nothing to do with, all to do with her."

"Somebody hold me too close/ somebody hurt me too deep/ somebody sit in my chair/ and ruin my sleep/ and make me aware of being alive"

Company is to me one of Sondheim's most subtle, affecting works. It sneaks up on you - the melodies are accessible enough that you don't always realize the bittersweet complexity of the lyrics right away. This show ranks up there with A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, and Follies as one of his greatest works. I highly recommend it.

Company, a marvelous play which was the first in a series of ground-breaking plays by Sondheim and Prince, gives us a marvelous look at married life and single life through the eyes of Robert, a bachelor who is being thrown a surprise party by his married friends. Sometimes funny (Side By Side By Side, Getting Married Today), sometimes thought-provoking (Another Hundred People), tear-jerking (Someone is Waiting, Being Alive, Sorry-Grateful) and even scary (The Ladies Who Lunch), this album leaves you breathless. Although it doesn't contain the lyrics, it does have a special bonus track with Larry Kert as Robert, which, although easier to listen do because it has some of the briliant, but not completely neccesary dialogue on the Dean Jones version, sounds a bit like a very good karaoke overdub of Being Alive. With exceptional performances (specifically on Another Hundred People, The Ladies Who Lunch, and Being Alive) by the entire cast, a brilliant score by Stephen Sondheim, and wonderful orchestrations, Sondheim's genius comes through in this spectacular recording.

This album is a gem, and the new remastered sound is near sweet perfection. Charles Kimbrough, Babara Barrie, and Elaine Stritch are all hilarious on the "Little Things" track, and the Amy on this album (name escapes me, so sorry, but she was on the sit-com ALICE) does a very good, neurotic rendition of "Getting Married Today." The highlight of the album, IMHO, is "Another Hundred People," as sung by Pamela Myers. She gives the best rendition out of all three recorded versions of the show, and the remastered song now allows us to hear the "Bobby-Baby" quotes that the trumpets make during the last round of the song, which begins "and they meet at parties . . . " A close second to the best track is Elaine Stritch's "The Ladies Who Lunch." She is great, and her take on this song is a Broadway legend. And also, listen to Dean Jone's on "Being Alive." You can really hear (and feel) this man suffering! Bravo to him! And if you want to hear it sung well, you can always listen to Larry Kert sing it on the bonus track. A well put-together album and reissue. Enjoy the feast of Sondheim music and lyrics!

For those of you who have the old version of Company, buy this one to replace it. You won't regret it! All kinds of hitherto obscure musical phrases are brought forward, and the voices are noticeably clearer. The addition of the Larry Kert track is a negligible bonus--it's sort of the karaoke version of "Being Alive," with his stiff singing overdubbed over the much more passionate Dean Jones vocal track. (BTW, according to the liner notes, Jones was going through a painful divorce at the time, which is one real good reason for his career-topping performance here--the songs were very true to life for him.) Anyway, for you newbies, it's a glorious, exciting, adult musical with a terrific cast; get it!