Which recording?
Which recording?
#1Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 5:18pmI LOVED "Company" on PBS, and now I want to have a recording, but should I go with the revival or the original? What is the general preferance?
LePetiteFromage
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/19/08
#2re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 5:22pmthere are standout single performances on the original, but generally I find the overall singing (and definitely the choral singing, perhaps due to advances in technology) better in the revival. The musicality of the revival is really strong, but the interpretation (characterization) of the original is terrific. Buy one for yourself and put the other on your gift list for the holidays/birthday!
just keep swimming along, don't rise to the....
#3re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 5:24pm
Wow. This is becoming a harder and harder decision! I'm not liking the diolouge, but I like the orchestrations a bit more in the revival...
ARGH!!!!
Ed_Mottershead
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/20/05
#5re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 5:27pmDo yourself a favor and get both -- OBCR doesn't have Marry Me a Little and 2006 revival doesn't have Tick Tock. OBCR has Elaine Stritch (Barbara is fine, but not Elaine) and revival has Raul (Dean Jones not in the running, IMO). If you are a hard core Sondheimite, both are indispensable.
BroadwayEd
#6re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 5:29pmThing is, I'm not hard-core. I just want some "Company"! I'll most likely mix and match on iTunes...
#7re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 5:37pmI'd get the OBCR as I feel the majority of the performances and orchestrations are better.
"Light the candles! Get the ice out! Roll the rug up, it's today!"
#8re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 5:39pm
If you loved it, get both. 
They're completely different. Skip the '95, though.
#8re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 5:39pmis the 1995 the Roundabout revival? I barely remember that one, but now I'm curious to hear it! Good point about MARRY ME...and it's true about poor Dean Jones (I wonder if Perkins sang it any better?!?!)
just keep swimming along, don't rise to the....
#10re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 5:39pm
is the 1995 the Roundabout revival?
Yes, it is.
#11re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 5:42pmthe 1995 recording only has 2 songs i enjoy on it. the rest is utter crap
#12re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 5:53pm
Well, honestly I just really LOVE to listen to the title song from the 1995 Revival.
Debra Monk sings the Joanne part so pretty and I just like to hear that.
Ed_Mottershead
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/20/05
#13re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 5:54pmRe: the 1995 Roundabout revival. Boyd Gaines, fresh from his triumph in She Loves Me a season or so before, was cast as Bobby and seemed like a natural -- everyone was holding their breath that Bobby had found its ideal interpeter (neither Dean Jones nor Larry Kert had been entirely satisfactory); however, Gaines got sick and was out for at least half, if not more, performances and all thoughts of a transfer went out the window. A real shame, because Gaines was probably the best choice at the time. But, as they say, stuff happens.
BroadwayEd
#14re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 5:58pm
What do you mean "all thoughts of a transfer went out the window"?
Usually I hear that word meaning a transfer to Broadway......wasn't that production ON BROADWAY?
Cape Twirl of Doom
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/05
#15re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 6:00pm
and it's true about poor Dean Jones (I wonder if Perkins sang it any better?!?!)
Did Perkins ever actually sing something from COMPANY? I know he was Sondheim's first choice for Bobby, but how far along did that go? Was he actually ever part of any workshops, etc. or was it just an initial idea that he turned down. He actually had a nice voice, not the best with the high notes, but adequate, and he sounds comfortable with Sondheim's lyrics on the LP of EVENING PRIMROSE.
"It's Phantom meets Hamlet... Phamlet!"
Ed_Mottershead
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/20/05
#16re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 6:04pmOkay, what I meant was that there was no movement to transfer it to another house; Roundabout was still at the Criterion at the time, the other theatre (considered off-Broadway) was already taken; and the main stage had to make way for a another scheduled show. Had things worked out differently, I think Company would have been moved to another Broadway house to make way for whatever was scheduled to be at the Criterion. They had done that with She Loves Me earlier and I believe the hopes were that, should Company have panned out, they would have moved it similarly. Sorry.
BroadwayEd
#17re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 6:09pmOkay, thanks for clearing that up. It's just that it's always listed as being on Broadway and Veanne Cox was nominated for a Tony, so I just didn't understand how that could happen without being on Broadway.
#19re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 7:34pm
I always suggest starting with the original,then if you really like it check out the alternates. The original has been around so long it is now budget priced: $7.97 from Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Company-Musical-Comedy-Original-Broadway/dp/B00000DHSN/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1203899411&sr=8-2)
Columbia had Larry Kert overdub Dean Jones' vocals but that version was issued only in the UK when the show played there and briefy on CD in the Sony West End series. (It is not worth paying big bucks to get it, but keep an eye out for it in used CD stores.)
The 1995 Roundabout revival (Angel/EMI) and the 1996 London cast (RCA Victor/First Night) are two recordings you can easily ignore. Both are very poorly performed.
The 2006 revival with Esparaza is well worth having for the outstanding performances, but since it is out on DVD you might want to get that and have the 1970 OCR to liosten to. (The 1970 version also has a full orchestra...another plus.)
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
#20re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 8:24pmno one's mentioned the '96 Donmar London Recording directed by Sam Mendes. I don't find it so superior, but it's an interesting alternative, the performances are quite good, the Bobby doesn't do it for me (I agree with all the people who say Raul is the definative) but the Joanne is...nuts.
You're reminding me of people you hear at the movies asking questions every ten seconds, "Who is that? Why is that guy walking down the street? Who's that lady coming up to him? Uh-oh, why did that car go by? Why is it so dark in this theater?" - FindingNamo on strummergirl
"If artists were machines, then I'm just a different kind of machine...I'd probably be a toaster. Actually, I'd be a toaster oven because they're more versatile. And I like making grilled cheese" -Regina Spektor
"That's, like, twelve shows! ...Or seven." -Crazy SA Fangirl
"They say that just being relaxed is the most important thing [in acting]. I take that to another level, I think kinda like yawning and...like being partially asleep onstage is also good, but whatever." - Sherie Rene Scott
"If artists were machines, then I'm just a different kind of machine...I'd probably be a toaster. Actually, I'd be a toaster oven because they're more versatile. And I like making grilled cheese" -Regina Spektor
"That's, like, twelve shows! ...Or seven." -Crazy SA Fangirl
"They say that just being relaxed is the most important thing [in acting]. I take that to another level, I think kinda like yawning and...like being partially asleep onstage is also good, but whatever." - Sherie Rene Scott
#21re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 8:26pmI thought I read somewhere that Sondheim coached and recorded Perkins in the role some for Prince....I didn't mean to leave out Kert, I'd actually like to hear how he sounded on those songs too.
just keep swimming along, don't rise to the....
#22re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 8:42pm
MuppetMania-
I'm in the same boat - loved it on PBS and promptly ordered the OBCR from Amazon, but will probably download the revival off of iTunes. It feels like a travesty to not get the original, and I hate the idea of having a scaled down orchestra.
With Sweeney Tood, I love the vocal performances of the revival, but the orchestrations on the OBR are so lush and beautiful, so I have both.
Get both!
The Overture is part of the show, people. Please shut your pie hole.
#23re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 8:47pmI also love the SWEENEY orchestrations for the film, which I believe (when the scoring is otherwise identical, apart from when the score was adapted for the film) has been tweaked somewhat. It's incredibly lush and balanced....gorgeous. Tunick is a genius.
just keep swimming along, don't rise to the....
#24re: Which recording?
Posted: 2/24/08 at 10:16pm
CATSNY,
Criterion is indeed a Toys R Us. (And a really really big Toys R Us too.)
Videos