Stephen Sondheim and orchestrator Jonathan Tunick revisit the making of the iconic cast album.
Original Cast Album: Companyis available August 17 on the Criterion Collection.
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Hollywood has a long history of making beloved movies about the backstage machinations of Broadway.
)CompanyandAssassinsare now on the verge of reopening, the virus willing.
My own personal history with Sondheim began roughly whenCompanydid.
Despite being confined to a windowless recording studio, Pennebakers film is remarkably evocative of the whole enterprise.
It was a duplicate of the Broadway original with a mixture of imported New York cast members and Brits.
But thats another story.
When I left the Criterion office, it was chilly and starting to get dark.
I decided to walk uptown toward home.
Jonathan, Steve has called you the greatest orchestrator for the theater.
Youve worked with so many people.
Whats distinctive about working with Steve?Jonathan Tunick:The easy answer is his intentions are clear.
When he presents a new number to me, Ill ask a few questions, often perfunctory.
I tend to get it.
He isnt just interested in the sounds.
:There are some entities that describe my job as music orchestrated by, and that always annoys me.
I feel I orchestrate more than the music certainly the lyrics, and maybe other things as well.
Ive been known to consult with the lighting designer.
And whatever his answer was, it helped me decide what I was going to do with that ending.
Ive described orchestration as lighting for the ears.
Its more than just music.
Many people dont know how the collaboration between the composer and the orchestrator works.
Could you talk about that a bit?S.S.
:I suspect every combination is different, but with Jonathan and me, I write for the piano.
Its my only instrument.
I know nothing about orchestrations.
I dont choose any instruments.
He does all of that.
I suspect its very hard to orchestrate because the figures and textures are so pianistic.
My favorite example is Another Hundred People, which is written as a toccata.
Its a strict approach to piano writing.
:Alternation of notes is very easy to do on the piano.
The hand can rock back and forth.
This can be done on orchestra instruments, but it isnt comfortable, especially when its very fast.
:Jonathan made a decision on what he wanted to do in terms of enlarging the orchestra.
And we did it onCompanyas well.
So you have to say, Sorry, take a minute out.
If possible, you dont want to throw out an entire song.
Although that happens, as it did on theFolliesrecord.
It has to be like surgery, so you dont see the scar.
S.S.:[Record producer] Tom Shepard is a composer and musician.
I love to work on the end of a song.
I always like to know what the end is going to be, lyrically, musically, whatever.
:Its fascinating you say that, Steve.
Weve never talked about this.
I like to work backwards from an ending, too, in an orchestration.
I was taught at Tamiment by the great Milton Greene, and he gave me sage advice.
Also youve got to learn to back up your resources.
Take Dean Jones, who played the lead, but left the show fairly early on in New York.
So few people saw him do it.S.S.
:The best Being Alive he ever did is on this recording.
Thats the best because he was trying so hard, and he didnt have confidence in his voice.
And you’re free to watch it.
Theres a close-up of him, and hes practically sweating the notes out.
Stritch had been in unsuccessful musicals like Noel CowardsSail Away.This was a comeback for her.
That was important to George because he based the character on her.
I wrote a song.
We changed the title later.
Elaine liked to drink.
As a matter of fact, she was a bartender in between jobs.
George liked to drink too, and they would go out.
They were out one morning, and it was approximately 4 a.m., so the bars were closing.
He said, Im sorry, were closed.
And she said, Just give me a bottle of vodka and a floor plan.
Why was The Ladies Who Lunch done so late in the session?S.S.
Dean Jones was something of a diva, as it turned out.
He said, Im having trouble with my throat and I want to take a break.
Well do another take later.
That kind of behavior.
At the lunch break, we were in a diner nearby.
Dean was complaining that his voice wouldnt be usable at ten in the evening.
Elaine said, Ill tell you what.
Ill sing at the end of the day.
And you sing in the morning when your voice is fresh.
He said, Really?
She said, Yes.
He said, Okay.
She gave him her spot.
So she sang at ten in the evening.
And thats when the dam fell.
From there, we witness her breakdown onscreen.
:The major thing to look for is what happens to a singers voice if they drink.
And if she had too many entrances, too many nips, the voice started to go.
Which is what happened.
So by 10:30 in the evening, her voice was in rocky shape.
Shed lose the beat.
Shed forget the words.
S.S.:Confidence was not her middle name.
He turned right around and started to photograph.
We sent her home.
She always had her eye on it.S.S.
:Oh, thats her motive.
Ill add one anecdote about Elaine.
When we were in Boston, she couldnt get a handle on The Ladies Who Lunch.
That number is designed to really excite an audience, and she sang it okay.
I was in the hotel room writing Being Alive when Hal called me after a matinee.
He said, She got it.
I wish youd been there.
It was thrilling, and the audience was wild.
You got to see it.
I said, Ill come in tonight.
So I went in the evening, and sure enough, she did it great.
I went backstage afterwards and I said, Elaine, thats the way it should be done.
Thank you so much.
It was just wonderful.
He said, Ugh, she lost it.
It was so terrible tonight.
I said, God, I dont know.
I told her how wonderful it was.
He said, You what?
I said, I went backstage.
You told her she was wonderful?
Interview has been edited, condensed, and excerpted with permission from The Criterion Collection.
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