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Composer Steven Sondheim and director Harold Prince’s Tony Award-winning Broadway musical comedy “The Company,” about a serial single, gained an award-winning, behind-the-scenes look in 1970 thanks to documentary filmmaker DA Pennebaker.
Now remastered in 4K and available in Blu-ray format, Original Player Album: Company (Criteria, G-rated, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, 92 minutes, $29.96) does not cover the original production of the original show or reflect a theatrical performance.
Instead, this potential television show pilot took viewers to a Manhattan recording studio for a 14-hour marathon session to present a recording of the songs completed with a full orchestra for the final album release.
Alongside interviews and interviews with Mr. Sondheim, Mr. Prince and playwright George Furth, famous actors such as Dean Jones, Barbara Berrie, Beth Howland and Elaine Stritch are on hand to reveal memorable songs including “Company”. “You Can Drive A Person Crazy” (10, not least), “Barcelona”, “Not Getting Married Today”, “One Hundred More”, “Little Things You Do Together” and “Side by Side. ”
Viewers will definitely enjoy watching the candid creative process, especially as “too cool for the room” record producer Thomas Z. Shepard tries to persuade Mr. Sondheim to change his proven score, or watch an exhausted and raw Stritch fight as Mr. Shepard and Mr. Sondheim is pushing her to get the best version of “The Ladies Who Lunch.”
However, listening to Mr. Jones’ song (“Being Alive” (“Being Alive”) is an almost religious experience, as it goes beyond the song itself, but also by throwing an emotional punch to the gut, as it goes beyond spontaneous applause.
Criterion has released its Blu-ray documentary for the first time with the help of a new 4K restoration presented in the original TV aspect ratio (4:3), mainly taken from the 16mm original source material that despite extensive cleaning still struggles with grain, dirt and focus. problems.
The visuals still look pretty clean throughout, and viewers can at least be thankful that the show is now preserved in digital format forever.
The best extras: Here’s a case where the sum of all the bonus pieces outshines the feature rollout.
Criterion begins with a pair of mandatory commentary pieces – one from 2001, with insightful Pennebaker, Stritch and Prince, and a brand new solo piece by Mr. Sondheim that offers great introspection on his career and appreciation for “The Company” and its cast.
Audiences then receive a 30-minute, social-distancing conversation between Mr Sondheim and conductor Jonathan Tunick, moderated by theater critic Frank Rich.
The venerable couple offers background on meeting each other, the collaboration between composer and orchestrator, the actual shooting of “Company” and memories of Jones and Stritch.
Finally, Criterion goes beyond the task by adding a mock-up to the featured presentation from Bill Hader and Fred Armisen’s television series “Documentary Now.”
The painfully hilarious “Original Cast Album: Co-Op” is an amazing cast with a cast including star record producer Benedict Juniper (Taran Killam), moody songwriter Simon Sawyer (John Mulaney) and crazy doppelganger Patty (Paula Pell). he’s doing satire. Elaine Stritch’s version of the fake song “I Gotta Go” (she had to go to the eye doctor).
The biggest laugh ever was a parody of “I Won’t Get Married Today” in which Kenny (Alex Brightman) sings “Holiday Party: I Did a Little Cocaine Tonight”.
The only problem is, I wished it was longer than 23 minutes.
Criterion, “Documentary Now” episode with cast and crew, and director Alex Buono, composer Eli Bolin, Mr. Mulaney even captured a 33-minute Zoom-style discussion about the source of sarcasm, which included words like Richard Kind (Larry) and Miss. pell.
The extras conclude with commentary with Stritch, Prince and Pennebaker, and an 18-minute conversation between Mr. Tunick and writer Ted Chapin.
Criterion also adds a folding, full-colour, brochure-style insert to the packaging that includes the credits and an article on the production by critic Mark Harris.
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