#1090: PENNEBAKER, D.A.: Original Cast Album: "Company" (1970)
PENNEBAKER, D.A. (United States)
Original Cast Album: "Company" (1970)
Spine #1090
Blu-ray
Blu-ray
This holy grail for both documentary and theater aficionados offers a tantalizingly rare glimpse behind the Broadway curtain. In 1970, right after the triumphant premier of Stephen Sondheim's groundbreaking concept musical Company, the renowned composer and lyricist, his director Harold Prince, the show's stars, and a large pit orchestra all went into a Manhattan recording studio as part of a time-honored Broadway tradition: the recording of the original cast album. What ensued was a marathon session in which, with the pressures of posterity and the coolly exacting Sondheim's perfectionism hanging over them, all involved pushed themselves to the limit -- including theater legend Elaine Stritch, who fought anxiety and exhaustion to record her iconic rendition of "The Ladies Who Lunch." With thrilling immediacy, legendary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker offers an up-close view of the larger-than-life personalities, frayed-nerve energy, and explosive creative intensity that go into capturing the magic of live performance.
53 minutes
Color
Color
Monaural
1:33:1 aspect ratio
1:33:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2021
Director
Film Rating (0-60):
The Booklet
Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by author Mark Harris.
Commentary
Among Sondheim, orchestrator Jonathan Tunick, and critic and television producer Frank Rich.
Interview
With Tunick on the art of orchestrating, conducted by author Ted Chapin.
Never-before-heard
Audio excerpts from interviews with Stritch and Prince, conducted by Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus in 2001.
Original Cast Album: Co-Op
A 2019 episode of the TV series Documentary Now! that parodies the film.
Reunion
Of the cast and crew of Original Cast Album: Co-Op, recorded in 2020, featuring director Alexander Buono; writer-actor John Mulaney; actors Renée Elise Goldsberry, Richard Kind, Alex Brightman, and Paula Pell; and composer Eli Bolin.
Extras Rating (0-40):
60
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by author Mark Harris.
Commentary
- By composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim; and
- From 2001, featuring director Pennebaker, actor Stritch, and Broadway producer and director Harold Prince.
Among Sondheim, orchestrator Jonathan Tunick, and critic and television producer Frank Rich.
Interview
With Tunick on the art of orchestrating, conducted by author Ted Chapin.
Never-before-heard
Audio excerpts from interviews with Stritch and Prince, conducted by Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus in 2001.
Original Cast Album: Co-Op
A 2019 episode of the TV series Documentary Now! that parodies the film.
Reunion
Of the cast and crew of Original Cast Album: Co-Op, recorded in 2020, featuring director Alexander Buono; writer-actor John Mulaney; actors Renée Elise Goldsberry, Richard Kind, Alex Brightman, and Paula Pell; and composer Eli Bolin.
Extras Rating (0-40):
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