COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?
COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?
COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#0
Posted: 5/9/05 at 4:49pm
I'm looking to buy another cast recording and fell completely in love with "The Ladies Who Lunch" after seeing Elaine Stritch perform it on the AT LIBERTY video. I am a huge Sondheim fan but COMPANY was one of his shows I never became very familiar with.
I want to get a Cast Recording of it but I can't decide which to buy. With the original you get Stritch, whom I adore, but OBCRs tend to have not such great sound quality. Is COMPANY one of the Sondheim recordings being Remastered? What about the revival? I tend to like revival cast recordings but I don't know if Debra Monk does as good a job as Stritch does.
Any opinions would really help. Thanks.
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#1
Posted: 5/9/05 at 4:51pmNo question, it has to be the OBCR.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/14/04
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#2
Posted: 5/9/05 at 4:52pmCompany isn't getting remastered in September, but I think it was reissued once with a bonus track (Larry Kert's "Being Alive"). That being said, get the original, and then, if you like that, get the revival.
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#3
Posted: 5/9/05 at 4:52pmThe original cast recording of Company was remastered quite a while ago. How dare you think of purchasing any other version.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#4
Posted: 5/9/05 at 4:55pmAnd after listening to the OBC recording, you MUST view the documentary by D.H. Pennebaker on the recording of that album. It's available on DVD.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/13/03
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#5
Posted: 5/9/05 at 4:57pmYes, go with the original cast recording.
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#6
Posted: 5/9/05 at 4:59pm
I like the revival recording because it's more complete. they recorded the bow music and all the little bobby baby reprise things. just makes it a more enjoyable listen for me... but I still wish one of them had recorded the entr'acte...
my revival CD that I have and actually bought at the store is missing track 11 and no one is ever able to tell me why or how something like that happend...
Updated On: 5/9/05 at 04:59 PM
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#7
Posted: 5/9/05 at 5:35pm
FOANATIC - The OBC of COMPANY was recorded in 1970 so it's not exactly antique 78 RPMs (like the OBC of OKLAHOMA!) - I think you will find the sound - esp on Sony's remastered CD edition from 1998 - to be more than fine.
Whenever the question of which version to get arises...always start with the original (premiere) cast. Only on these discs will you get the sense of style that the original performers - coached by the authors - brought to the show. Later recordings (studio casts, revival casts) may be more complete or even offer revised texts and can be explored after you get the show proper from the Original OCR.
With COMPANY the revivals (both Broadway and London) offer additional material (in this case, a few of the "Bobby Baby" transitions, but no complete songs wre left off the original album); the interpolated "Marry Me a Little"; and a few lyric re-writes. However, none of the subsequent casts can hold a candle to the originals.
And, CATS - As to the question of the missing track on the Angel revival cast, I checked and my copy too lists it but the track is not there (and this screws up the remaining track numbers too.) I guess they either didn't record it or chose at the last minute to cut it from the release, maybe after the J-card for the CD box had been printed.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
Stand-by Joined: 2/11/05
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#9
Posted: 5/9/05 at 6:28pm
I had the same problem last week...and eBay solved my problem. I picked up the OBCR for under $10. I love hearing Elaine Stritch (I saw her show at Liberty and had to buy the Company soundtrack too) Dean Jones and the cast.
Go for the Original Cast.
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#10
Posted: 5/9/05 at 6:31pm
I love both actually....
"Not Getting Married Today" sounds a bit fuller on the Revival recording...but I would never own it without the original first...
And..um...Windy City Actor.......your icon? Oh man! *pant*pant*pant*
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#11
Posted: 5/9/05 at 6:54pm
No contest: THE ORIGINAL!!!
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#12
Posted: 5/9/05 at 6:59pmI had a similar dilemma and ended up getting both on Amazon...I like the OBC because well it's OBC, but the Revival has "Marry Me A Little" which is a song I adore...both CDs have their appeal...I say get OBC first and then when you get the money pick up the Revival, They are both amazing!
-"Sorry-Grateful" Company
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#13
Posted: 5/9/05 at 8:55pm
The original.
I did like that they added "Marry Me A Little", but Boyd Gaines didn't sing it very well at all. The best version, IMO, is Michael Rupert's on "Putting it Together".
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/14/04
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#14
Posted: 5/9/05 at 9:00pmThank you! You're the only other person I know who prefers Rupert's "Marry Me A Little". Everyone else loves John Barrowman's version. Pfft.
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#15
Posted: 5/9/05 at 9:02pmRupert's version gives me chills. Barrowman's is good, but it can't hold a candle. They should have just given Rupert the role of Bobby right away. He was so damn perfect for it.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#17
Posted: 5/9/05 at 10:09pm
The OBC.
And there is indeed a version with Larry Kert's "Being Alive." That's the one I own. :)
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#18
Posted: 5/10/05 at 12:15am
I saw the original 5 times, so you know what I think. It's a perfect thing, made even more perfect by the addition of Larry Kert's "Being Alive."
But, strictly as a novelty, I also recommend the Brazilian original cast recording. You cannot imagine what it's like to hear "Another Hundred People" in Portuguese! Not to mention "The Ladies Who Lunch"...
Swing Joined: 4/28/05
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#19
Posted: 5/10/05 at 12:22amObviously Original. The only thing the Revival is good for is LaChanze doing Another HUndred People. But you can just download that
re: COMPANY: Original or Revival Cast Recording?#20
Posted: 5/10/05 at 12:42am
Sony issued the complete Larry Kert/OC on Cd on their West End Label back in 1994. It didn't have a long catalogue life.
The story behind this: A few months after Larry Kert took over the lead, Columbia Records had him come into their studio and attempted to overdub his vocals onto the already completed masters. You can still hear Dean Jones' voice faintly in the background. The Lp was never released in North America but when the show went to London it was released there. It quickly went out-of-print and for many years was the Holy Grail for all Sondheim fans. The CD was issued in London (and Canada) but never in the USA. Now, the remastered Broadway cast features one track (Beling Alive) from the Kert album. At one time they were going to include all of Kert's tracks as bonuses but opted just to include the one.
Larry Kert appears on: Company, Sorry-Grateful (dialogue lead in only), Someone is Waiting, Side by Side by Side, Tick Tock (dialogue only), and Being Alive. Also the song Barcelona was completely redone for this album.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
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