Original Cast Album: Company

Name: Original Cast Album: Company
Genre: Documentary
Released: October 28, 1970
Duration: 53 min
Rating: 83
Cast: Barbara Barrie, Beth Howland, Charles Braswell, Dean Jones, George Coe

1970

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Universal acclaim based on 8 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

Docurama | Release Date: October 28, 1970

Starring: Barbara Barrie, Beth Howland, Charles Braswell, Dean Jones, George Coe, George Furth, Harold Hastings, John Cunningham, Steve Elmore, Susan Browning

Summary: Stephen Sondheim's musical "Company" opened on Broadway in the Spring of 1970, and tradition dictates that the cast recording is done on the first Sunday after opening night. D.A. Pennebaker, the now-legendary documentarian, filmed the production of the original cast recording, the back and forth between Sondheim and the performers, and theStephen Sondheim's musical "Company" opened on Broadway in the Spring of 1970, and tradition dictates that the cast recording is done on the first Sunday after opening night. D.A. Pennebaker, the now-legendary documentarian, filmed the production of the original cast recording, the back and forth between Sondheim and the performers, and the dynamic of trying to record live performance. The film climaxes with Elaine Stritch's performance of "The Ladies Who Lunch". The show won 6 Tony Awards including "Best Musical" and ran for two years on Broadway.… Expand

Director: D.A. Pennebaker

Genre(s): Documentary

Runtime: 53 min

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Critic Reviews

Nathan Rabin

Original Cast Album: Company would be worth viewing solely for Sondheim's witty lyrics and infectious music, but the human drama makes the session especially riveting. Read full review

IndieWire Jude Dry

Pennebaker captures Sondheim’s eccentric perfectionism with a lovingly amused gaze, offering a rare glimpse of the notoriously private musical theater legend. Read full review

Richard Brody

Pennebaker films Stritch’s first rendition, among the most celebrated outtakes in history, with a rapt devotion that’s as revealing of the limits of recording as it is of the thrills of live performance—and of the camera’s mediating creative power. Read full review

The Guardian Chris Wiegand

Pennebaker's film, running just under an hour, is revelatory in getting under the skin of the main players. And the director's opening revelation will exasperate musical-theatre nerds as we hear that this was the pilot for a whole series on original cast recordings that never got made. [15 Sep 2021]

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

Obviously filmed on a budget, production values leave much to be desired, but the power of the performances and the claustrophobic yet exciting atmosphere caught by the film more than make up for that. Read full review

Eric Henderson

Throughout, Pennebaker’s camera moves in as close as it can to capture every moment of doubt, disappointment and rage in Stritch’s face. That even still viewers debate whether Stritch was playing up the drama of the moment for the cameras only underlines how deftly Pennebaker’s brief and unassuming film resides at the heart of the interplay between work, art, and performance. Read full review

Josh Larsen

Keeping in mind that he was well aware of the presence of the camera—as was everyone during the cast recording session for the Broadway hit Company—lyricist-composer Stephen Sondheim comes off as the kindest, gentlest genius you can imagine in Original Cast Album: Company. Read full review

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