Original Cast Album: Company is a 1970 documentary film by D. A. Pennebaker, observing the marathon recording session to create the original cast album for the Stephen Sondheim musical Company.
| Original Cast Album: Company | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | D. A. Pennebaker |
| Starring | Elaine Stritch Dean Jones Stephen Sondheim Thomas Z. Shepard |
| Music by | Stephen Sondheim |
Release date | 1970 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Pennebaker initially intended the project as a pilot for a television series dedicated to the making-of different cast recordings. His small film crew joined the musical's cast at the Columbia Records 30th Street recording studio in early May 1970, shortly after Company opened on Broadway.
As Company continued its successful run on Broadway, the film was screened at the New York Film Festival in September 1970, unanimously praised by a crowd that filled the auditorium to capacity.[1] The documentary was scheduled to be broadcast in New York on October 25, 1970.[1] However, a week after the original screening, all the original producers for the proposed series were hired by Hollywood for a production at MGM. With nobody left in New York to spearhead the making-of series, the idea was scrapped, leaving only the pilot film behind.[2]
Filled with behind the scenes footage of the marathon recording process at the Columbia Records studio at East 30th Street and Third Avenue on the first Sunday in May, the film captures both the musical direction and insight of composer Sondheim. Several of Company songs appear in the film, including "Another Hundred People", "Getting Married Today", and "Being Alive"—all recorded with a live orchestra, done in multiple takes, over the course of a lengthy studio session.
Eventually, several hours past midnight, only "The Ladies Who Lunch" remains to be recorded. Elaine Stritch, Sondheim, and the orchestra are all clearly suffering the effects of the prolonged recording session. Stritch struggles repeatedly to record a satisfactory version of the song, even going so far as to slightly drop the key for a few takes. Her voice continues to degrade as her energy ebbs away. There is increasing tension between the struggling Stritch, producer Thomas Z. Shepard, and Sondheim.
Shortly before dawn, the decision is made to wrap. A final orchestral take is recorded, with a plan to have Stritch return to the studio to record her vocal separately.[3] The film cuts to a revitalized Stritch, in full hair and makeup (in preparation for a Wednesday matinee performance of the show), triumphantly singing "The Ladies Who Lunch".
The film earned a brief rave in The New York Times when slated for a theatrical screening at the IFC Center in October 2014.[4]
The documentary and musical served as the basis for the 2019 Documentary Now! parody Original Cast Album: Co-Op. The mockumentary follows the recording of the cast album of a fictional Company-style musical, about the residents and employees of an apartment cooperative. The musical is so poorly reviewed that it closes after its first day, with everyone learning the bad news during the recording session. The episode was written by John Mulaney and Seth Meyers, featuring Mulaney as a Stephen Sondheim analog, Paula Pell as a Stritch-styled character struggling through multiple takes of her number, in addition to Taran Killam, James Urbaniak, Alex Brightman, Richard Kind, and Renée Elise Goldsberry.[5][6][7]
In February 2019, The New York Times' television critic Mike Hale interviewed Meyers, Mulaney, Pennebaker and Sondheim for a piece headlined John Mulaney and Seth Meyers Fondly Send Up Sondheim. He’s Amused.[8] A conversation about the parody episode, recorded in 2020, was included in the Criterion release the following year.
On June 15, 2020, to wide acclaim,[9][10][11] The Criterion Collection began streaming the documentary, along with a commentary recorded in 2001 by Pennebaker, Harold Prince, and Elaine Stritch, offering their insights on the creation of the original Broadway production, as well as the documentary itself. Prince shares his account of Dean Jones' experience and the challenges of playing the lead. Prince observes that no one was better in the very difficult part than Jones.[12]
The streaming video premiere earned a lengthy review in the July 10, 2020, issue of The New Yorker by Richard Brody.[13]
The Criterion Collection released a special DVD and Blu-ray edition of the documentary on August 17, 2021.[14] A restored 4K transfer of the film, the release features newly-produced and archival special features including a new commentary with Sondheim[15] and the aforementioned Documentary Now! parody.
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