Stephen Sondheim's iconic Broadway musical Company was beautifully revived in 2011 with a star-studded cast, some updating of material, and accompanied by the New York Philharmonic with longtime Sondheim musical director Paul Gemignani at the baton.
This musical originally premiered on Broadway in 1970 and won the Tony for Best Musical, as did Sondheim for Best Score. Company is the story of Robert, a 35 year old bachelor whose best friends are five married couples who constantly worry about him and are in constant pursuit of the perfect woman for him.
Harry and Sarah are approaching middle age and bring Robert in the middle of their battles with sobriety and dieting. Robert thinks Susan and Peter are the perfect couple until they announce their plan to divorce. Jenny and David smoke pot with Robert and Jenny pretends to enjoy it more than she really did. Paul and Amy have been living together for years and have finally decided to marry, which has Amy freaking out. Larry and Joanne are an older couple so comfortable in their lives they really don't see how unhappy they are with each other.
Dean Jones originated the role of Robert in 1970 and Elaine Stritch became an instant Broadway legend with her performance as Joanne. The musical was revived in 2007 with Raul Esparza playing Robert and had the "novelty" of having all the actors playing musical instruments throughout the show, which I personally found very distracting.
That's why I prefer this version...back to the source material, keeping the 70's sensibility alive but making the show still New Millennium- friendly. A song that was cut from the original production called "Marry Me a Little" has been restored, as well as a VERY funny scene where Peter (Craig Bierko) comes on to Robert after he informs him of the divorce. Needless to say, with Nail Patrick Harris playing Robert, this scene produces huge laughs.
The role of Robert and Neil Patrick Harris seems to be the perfect marriage of character and actor. Harris proved to be more than up to the vocally demanding role, with "Marry Me a Little" being a standout performance. After watching Harris playing womanizer Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother all those years, it was great to see him play a flawed, but genuinely nice guy.
Broadway legend Patti LuPone, as always, puts her personal stamp on the role of Joanne and literally stops the show with her rendition of "The Ladies Who Lunch". It's clearly a matter of personal taste, but I have always felt that Elaine Stritch owns that song and LuPone's performance did nothing to change my mind, but the audience on this DVD loved it.
Mention should also be made of Stephen Colbert, who was surprisingly effective as Harry, perfectly complimented by Martha Plimpton as Sarah. Colbert and Plimpton were a well-oiled machine and I have never enjoyed Harry and Sarah's scene so much. Loved Julie Finerman as Amy as well. She also stopped the show with "Getting Marred Today" and Christina Hendricks brings a depth to the role of April, a dim-witted stewardess Robert is dating, that I have never seen in previous Aprils.
Sondheim's flawless score includes "Little Things", "Sorry-Grateful", "You Could Drive a Person Crazy", "Another Hundred People', and the classic "Being Alive." As I've mentioned before here Sondheim is probably Broadway's best composer and is definitely Broadway's best lyricist because Sondheim doesn't write music the way people sing, he writes it the way they talk.
For Sondheim and musical theater purists, this is a must-see.
This musical originally premiered on Broadway in 1970 and won the Tony for Best Musical, as did Sondheim for Best Score. Company is the story of Robert, a 35 year old bachelor whose best friends are five married couples who constantly worry about him and are in constant pursuit of the perfect woman for him.
Harry and Sarah are approaching middle age and bring Robert in the middle of their battles with sobriety and dieting. Robert thinks Susan and Peter are the perfect couple until they announce their plan to divorce. Jenny and David smoke pot with Robert and Jenny pretends to enjoy it more than she really did. Paul and Amy have been living together for years and have finally decided to marry, which has Amy freaking out. Larry and Joanne are an older couple so comfortable in their lives they really don't see how unhappy they are with each other.
Dean Jones originated the role of Robert in 1970 and Elaine Stritch became an instant Broadway legend with her performance as Joanne. The musical was revived in 2007 with Raul Esparza playing Robert and had the "novelty" of having all the actors playing musical instruments throughout the show, which I personally found very distracting.
That's why I prefer this version...back to the source material, keeping the 70's sensibility alive but making the show still New Millennium- friendly. A song that was cut from the original production called "Marry Me a Little" has been restored, as well as a VERY funny scene where Peter (Craig Bierko) comes on to Robert after he informs him of the divorce. Needless to say, with Nail Patrick Harris playing Robert, this scene produces huge laughs.
The role of Robert and Neil Patrick Harris seems to be the perfect marriage of character and actor. Harris proved to be more than up to the vocally demanding role, with "Marry Me a Little" being a standout performance. After watching Harris playing womanizer Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother all those years, it was great to see him play a flawed, but genuinely nice guy.
Broadway legend Patti LuPone, as always, puts her personal stamp on the role of Joanne and literally stops the show with her rendition of "The Ladies Who Lunch". It's clearly a matter of personal taste, but I have always felt that Elaine Stritch owns that song and LuPone's performance did nothing to change my mind, but the audience on this DVD loved it.
Mention should also be made of Stephen Colbert, who was surprisingly effective as Harry, perfectly complimented by Martha Plimpton as Sarah. Colbert and Plimpton were a well-oiled machine and I have never enjoyed Harry and Sarah's scene so much. Loved Julie Finerman as Amy as well. She also stopped the show with "Getting Marred Today" and Christina Hendricks brings a depth to the role of April, a dim-witted stewardess Robert is dating, that I have never seen in previous Aprils.
Sondheim's flawless score includes "Little Things", "Sorry-Grateful", "You Could Drive a Person Crazy", "Another Hundred People', and the classic "Being Alive." As I've mentioned before here Sondheim is probably Broadway's best composer and is definitely Broadway's best lyricist because Sondheim doesn't write music the way people sing, he writes it the way they talk.
For Sondheim and musical theater purists, this is a must-see.