Question about the OBC recording of 'Company"
Question about the OBC recording of 'Company"
#1Question about the OBC recording of 'Company"
Posted: 3/25/07 at 2:32am
In the opening number, right after some "Bobby's" there is a buzzer type sound.
What is it and how did it relate to the original?
In the revivals, there was an answering machine, which I assume were not around in 1970.
I've thought it might be an alarm clock, if so, how did it relate to the show? Did Bobby wake up?
Also, if answering machines were not around back then, what was the opening like? Because I've always picture Elaine Stritch saying "This is a dirty phone call......" Was that not to be?
#2re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 2:36am
...It's an answering machine.
That's the whole point.
#2re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 2:38amThank you, I did not know that they were around in 1970......or at least mainstream (think the internet in 1994).
#3re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 2:45amI'm obsessed with that buzzing thing. I think it sounds really cool.
gumbo2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/21/05
#4re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 2:46amTo me it always sounded like an alarm clock, and the "Bobby"s before the sound were like...haunting him in his dream. Perhaps completely wrong, but I thought it was cool.
#5re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 2:50am
It does kinda sound like an alarm clock... 
C is for Company
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/16/05
#6re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 2:51amI usually mentally interpret it as an alarm clock and have to actually remind myself what it really is.
#7re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 3:07am
Actually, it can't be an answering machine beep. The first scene in the OBC production of Company involved the characters saying, "Surprise!" and the party commencing, not answering machine messages. The answering machine messages were written into the script later (and I think that they're a brilliant update). I'm not sure what it is, though.
For reference:
The first bit of stage directions in the new version read "Robert's empty apartment. Robert enters, crosses to the answering machine, and hits the "play" button." This results in a series of five answering machine messages from (in order) Joanne, Peter, April, Amy, and Marta, that clue us in on the following facts: it's Robert's birthday, he's getting stuck with a surprise birthday party, and he's sexually active. (This last is made clear because Marta isn't pregnant and Peter is envious. "Get those girls out of your bed and pick up the phone, will ya? Oh, God, I am so envious I can't even talk." See, he said envious.)
All and all, this is a great new introduction to the show, feeding us bits and pieces without making us feel like we're being fed bit and pieces. It couldn't have happened in 1970, however, because cassette tapes, which are a vital component of answering machines, hadn't yet caught on with the general public.
Company rewritten
Updated On: 3/25/07 at 03:07 AM
#9re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 3:26amIt seems historically impossible that it was an answering machine sound, so I guess so. Now I'm totally perplexed as to what the beeping is, though. Hopefully someone who saw the OBC production can comment.
Julian2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/10/06
#10re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 3:53amIts a busy signal. I have a recording of Sondheim singing the song for a backer's audition, and he says "it starts out with the sound of a busy signal in the orchestra".
#11re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 4:05amOh! That makes sense! Thanks!
#12re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 8:04amOne of the reviewers of the revival commented how a lot of the early 70s references might not work today, and he specifically mentioned the busy signal, that since most people have call waiting, the idea of a busy signal would be about as foreign as seeing the show in Icelandic.
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#13re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 8:41am
Oh, you know you're getting old when an electronic reference isn't known by the young ones.
That buzzer sound, as mentioned earlier, is an old telephone busy signal. Answering machines didn't come into play until the late 70's and not everyone had them.
Here's a late 1970's telephone answering machine ad: 
#14re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 10:18am
I'm not old and I know what a busy signal sounds like.
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#15re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 1:50pm
The very fact that Marta sings "Look I'll call you in the morning, or my service will explain" should clue you in to the fact that there were no answering machines. Many people - actors especially - had answering services.
In Chicago during the early 1970's it seemede that virtually every actor in town had the same phone number: 312-787-8220. That was the number of Marietta's Answering Service.
keen on kean
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/1/06
#16re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 2:04pmIf the circuits are busy locally, you will still get a busy signal. As in last weekend during the snow storm.
#17re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 2:31pmRight. It isn't as though I've never heard a busy signal before, just not one that sounded like the one in the song.
mateo
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/8/06
#18re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 2:40pmCompany is one of the best OBC recordings ever.
-Adam Shankman.
"I haven't left this building since Windows 3.1!"
"Celebrating a birthday this week: Rene Descartes is 412! Do you know who he is? Then why are you watching this show? You could probably get into college and even get one of those job things. As for the rest of us; Amanda Bynes is 22! Yay!"
-E!'s "The Soup"
Cape Twirl of Doom
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/05
#19re: Question about the OBC recording of 'Company'
Posted: 3/25/07 at 5:27pm
Company is one of the best OBC recordings ever.
Definitely agreed. I love that busy signal noise. I don't know why but I always find it a little disappointing when I am listening to a different recording that doesn't have it.
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