Thursday, June 23, 2011

One's impossible, two is dreary

I got to see the special showing of Stephen Sondheim's Company, as staged by the New York Philharmonic recently. It's the first time I've been to one of these events at a movie theater where you pay a special price and get to see an opera or concert or (apparently, judging from the advertisements before the show) drum corps rehearsals.

Noel and I are huge Sondheim geeks, and Company was one of the first shows we obsessed over, thanks to D.A. Pennebaker's marvelous documentary Original Cast Album: Company. I was pleased to see one of my students at the show; she became a fan through a course on Sondheim taught by one of my colleagues.

I'm also a huge Neil Patrick Harris fan, thanks to his work on one of my favorite sitcoms and his versatility as a performer. Singing, dancing, acting -- a triple threat, and a throwback to the way stars used to be. It's a thrill to see him work on stage, and he makes an interesting and enormously appealing Bobby in the Philharmonic's show.

Noel wasn't able to come with me to the screening, since it was two days only and fell during his trip to Nashville. I hope it comes out on DVD so I can relive its best moments with him. Meanwhile I'm rummaging through the lengthy Sondheim playlist on my iPhone, and coincidentally I'm in the middle of the Company section right now. Since my workout this afternoon I haven't been able to stop singing along with Raul Esperza's version of "Marry Me A Little," a song that wasn't in the original show but is routinely added in revivals. Luckily you can buy a DVD of that version, a Lincoln Center production from 2006 in which the cast forms the basis of the orchestra as well. Enjoy!

No comments: