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Martha Plimpton, Stephen Colbert and Neil Patrick Harris sing away in a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s 1970 musical “Company,” in movie theaters on four nights only. |
What makes for good live theater doesn’t always make for a good movie, and the proof lies in the New York Philharmonic’s all-star revival of “Company,” Stephen Sondheim’s 1970 musical tribute to the ambivalence of the matrimonial state, opening at select movie theaters today.
“Company” was recorded in April at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall in New York.
Its cast features popular TV stars such as Jon Cryer (“Two and a Half Men”), Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men”) and Stephen Colbert (“The Colbert Report”) aligned with Broadway powerhouse diva Patti “Evita” LuPone.
Led by the talented and personable Tony Awards host (and Xfinity TV pitch man) Neil Patrick Harris, the TV transplants acquit themselves nicely in voice, movement and comic timing.
Their primary challenge isn’t the lyrics, music and stripped-down sets, but the orchestra.
Oh, the musicians are fine. But they’re on the stage. Right behind the actors.
If you’re in Row 2 at the theater — OK, Row 40 — this would not be a distraction. Your suspension of disbelief is extremely willing.
But in the more literal medium of movies, seeing a musician sitting right behind the performers and looking bored out of his mind is a monumental distraction. (Read more…)