COMPANY - 1996 London Cast Recording. Why is it hated?

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 2:33pm

Well. I've finally got my hands on it. After months and months of trying to track this down for an affordable price, I finally got it. I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier. The CD is still in print in the UK under First Night. So Amazon.co.uk had it in stock, and I ordered it from them, and received it less than 5 days. It came to only 16 dollars and some change. Opposed to the 20+ dollars they are charging used online.

I don't really get why people hate it? It's not THAT bad. I was expecting some totally awful. Yes, Adrian Lester sounds like Kermit the frog at times, but during other songs his voice is smooth and touching. Yes, Sheila Gish goes overboard. But I'd imagine her performance was better in the theatre, considering she did win the Oliver for her Joanne. She tries to channel Stritch way too much, and it's unsuccessful on recording.

Otherwise, I really enjoy the orchestrations. They don't sound as wimpy as they do on the 95 Bway revival recording. There's really no dialogue, and sometimes their accents are too heavy when they're singing. The Marta has problems with her accent, but she is probally the only Marta to come close to Pam Meyer's squeaky, shrill, yet intriguing voice.

The pictures of the revival look really interesting. It looks like it was set present day, like the Doyle revival. There is a pic of a large black man with his belly hanging it, which character is that?

I hope I can see the BBC Broadcast of this production. It seems very interesting. While it's not the best recording COMPANY, I think it has some great moments. So I'm really just curious why so many of you scorn this recording? It's really not as I was expecting. Anybody want to share some thoughts on this recording?

Updated On: 2/9/07 at 02:33 PM

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 3:35pm

While I did like watching the Donmar production of Company, I can't say that I'm too crazy about the recording. What worked in the production was the acting, and the singing was rarely on the mark. I think that Gish was a much better Joanne than you can tell from the recording. And while I love Lester's acting and thought that he was an incredibly human and touching Bobby, it's really unpleasant listening to him sing the solos. I don't hate the recording, but it isn't one of my favorites.

The black man you were asking about played Harry (and I thought that it was pretty refreshing that they had a more diverse cast). I'm really not sure about the time frame that Mendes was going for -- it looks very '70s to me, but then there are added details like Bobby doing coke that seem more modern. I really think that Doyle's production has more in common with Mendes' than any other, and maybe Doyle was influenced by the surrealism and the fact that the story was framed much more obviously around Bobby's issues rather than around the couples with Bobby being the connecting thread.

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 3:37pm

Loved that recording, unfortunately, I lost it in my divorce, before itunes made it easy to keep it. I've been longing to hear it forever.

I especially liked You could drive a Person Crazy

[fairygodmother]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 5:16pm

when i saw this version on TV it was my first true epiphany - i was 14 or something, and i saw the light that was sondheim! so i love this recording as much for taht as anything else. i love thae fact that you hear an actor's interpretation of bobby, becuase you hear a lot of singers belting their t*ts off in being alive, but i think he's so not worried about his voice, just the raw emotion - which was better on film. admittedly his vocal tone isn't the most beautiful. this revival had a very good, diverse, and interesting cast - there isn't one performance i disliked.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 5:30pm

"I'm really not sure about the time frame that Mendes was going for -- it looks very '70s to me, but then there are added details like Bobby doing coke that seem more modern."

Because nobody did coke in the 70s, right?

I can't comment on the cast recording, but I did see the production in London. What made it a great production is that they concentrated more on the acting of the characters than singing. Each character was fleshed out and you could see that they had a thought life going on--more than just "Can I hit the money note tonight?"

There were nuances in that show that I've never seen in any other "Company" and rarely in a musical. For example, the married couple/smoking grass scene. There was a moment when the husband jerked his hand and the wife flinched. One dimension that it opened up was "Is this woman a victim of domestic violence?" That adds an interesting layer to a musical about marriage/commitment.

As I've stated on this board before, my one major gripe about this production was that they cut Tick/Tock which throws off the balance of the show and gives one actress too much "sitting in the green room" time.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 6:33pm

I had a feeling someone was going to point that out! Fair point, of course.

[madlibrarian]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 6:37pm

I, for one, think Adrian Lester's perf is deeply felt and sung warmly. Yay Adrian!
Updated On: 2/9/07 at 06:37 PM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 6:45pm

Who does Coke anymore? Geez!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 7:58pm

Pepsi is way better...

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 8:37pm

I actually think, warts and all, its a better recording than the 1996 Roundabout Revival recording. Like all British cast recordings, there is some iffy singing on it - but some interesting performances.

I actually think Shelia Gish's performance as Joanne is much better on the recording than in the television broadcast. I was disappointed watching her, because I thought she would be really fabulous from listening to her versions of the songs. Either way - she's still light years better than Debra Monk.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 8:38pm

MB-
I think Harvey Fierstien is light years ahead of Debra Monk.

[sondhead]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 8:40pm

I think the Roundabout recording is terrible. The orchestration is so bad it should be burned and the performances are pretty boring.

The only exception is Veanne Cox's Getting Married Today.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 9:08pm

(ala Elaine Stritch) "Does anyone...still use...a spoon? Only the Studio 54 moon".

Updated On: 2/9/07 at 09:08 PM

[jewishboy]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 10:53pm

I thought that (from the video) one of the best performances was the woman who played Amy. Her nuance was amazing and I could never really tell if she was actually mentally troubled or not. It was truly an amazingly believable interpretation of a hard role. A great Amy was what was missing from Doyle's revival.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 11:00pm

Heather Laws is a great Amy.

I would have loved to see Veanne Cox (and, of course, Charlotte d'Amboise, but that's another story!).

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 11:16pm

"I thought that (from the video) one of the best performances was the woman who played Amy. Her nuance was amazing and I could never really tell if she was actually mentally troubled or not. It was truly an amazingly believable interpretation of a hard role."

That was Sophie Thompson, sister to Emma Thompson. Acting nuance is an inherited gene in their family.

[bigbigbill]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 11:24pm

I like the London recording more than the OBC.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 11:33pm

Heather Laws' performance was completely forced and unnatural, granted I seemed to be the only one in the theater who felt that way, including my parents, but I think it was because I saw Sophie Thompson (thank you Gothampc!) in the video. Seriously go down tomorrow to the Museum of Television and Radio and watch the London production and you will know what I mean.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 11:41pm

My opinion is that it was Sophie's performance in Company that got her the role in the movie version of Dancing at Lughnasa.

Updated On: 2/9/07 at 11:41 PM

[C is for Company]

Posted: 2/9/07 at 11:53pm

I agree jewishboy, I found Heather Laws the weak link as well.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/10/07 at 11:03am

Sophie Thompson was also a really interesting Bakers Wife in the Donmar revival of INTO THE WOODS a few years ago.

[WalkOn]

Posted: 2/10/07 at 2:44pm

If I don't think much of the recording it is because the OBC recording is just an arms reach away. I haven't found ANY COMPANY recording that gives me something the OBC doesn't have or does better.

I did see the production in London and for me it was the antithesis of the the tepid Roundabout revival.

The Mendes production was edgy and fueled with nervous engery. I remember almost feeling assualted at the end of the first act.

Not the most pleasurable approach, but a legitimate one.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 2/12/07 at 6:35am

I love the Donmar CD - not quite over the OBC, but it certainly gets a fair amount of play. I do find it hard to separate the recording from seeing the show live, so I may be a little biased, but the orchestrations are great and I value the 'acting' performaces over a 'singing' performance (there must be a better way to put that).

I never saw the Roundabout version, but if I didn't collect cast recordings the CD would have been on Ebay pretty quickly...

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 2/24/08 at 11:23pm

I've been trying to find a thread on the Donmar production...this was the best I can do.

I recently watched the BBC broadcast of it (well through Side By Side/What Would We Do Without You), and I must say for the most part, I was very impressed with it.

There were a lot of moments that just had me saying how much I loved them. The way the balcony completely encircled the stage, so for "Company," it was so visually clear how much all of the couples were sufocating Bobby, and how he ran from one side to the next to the next saying "yes" to everyone.

I looved the guy who played Harry. He had so much personality, was really funny, and I loved the karate match between him and Sarah, especially when he was rolling around on the ground, and the not one, but several secret drinks he took.

And in general, I enjoy having the balcony or the commentary songs to be sung there for the most part--Joanne to appear there during "The Little Things You Do Together" and Marta there for "Another Hundred People."

I like the connecting of the "Bobby" theme between scenes, and some of the humor (which is interesting because on another thread, someone mentioned they thought this production was humorless, I highly disagree).

I really liked Drive A Person Crazy, and Another Hundred People except for the horrible accent Marta used. she was a talented singer though, and that's quite important, as Another Hundred People is easily my favorite number in Company.

The actress who played Amy was hugely crazy, perhaps moreso than any other Amy I've seen. The one unfortunate aspect was that the pace of the song was slower than usual.

It was nice to see more of the movement and dancing, and I liked the direction of Bobby facing them at several key points, as well as the fact that they all talked in rhythm in the beginning. It was obvious that in Sam Mendes' vision, this was all taking place in bobby's head (and I loved the bonus Sondheim conversation with Mendes at the end of the first act!)

I didn't think the vocal performance of bobby was poor, the high note he reached in "Someone is Waiting" was just so sweet and pure. But I never heard the recording.

But yeah, I was very pleased with this production, and look forward to eventually seeing the rest of it. Really, my only complaint was the accents. Bleh.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/25/08 at 12:00am

The Joanne does an impression of Stritch.