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 enlarge | Director: John Doyle
Actor: Raul Esparza
Studio: IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $15.50
You Save: $9.49 (38%)
New (36) Used (8) from $14.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  46 reviews
Sales Rank: 3885
Format: Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Enhanced, Ntsc, Widescreen
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 132
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: IMED4480D
UPC: 014381448023
EAN: 0014381448023
ASIN: B0014IC31G
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: May 20, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Five Star Seller!!! New, factory sealed US Region 1 DVD. Item is 100% guaranteed not to be a bootleg or import. Item is shipped directly from our warehouse. Easy exchange if item defective or damaged in shipped.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A MUST HAVE FOR ALL SONDHEIM FANS! May 27, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
This production was A-Plus especially when shown on a Hi-Def 42" TV.
I am a huge Larry Kert fan, and always regretted not seeing the original back then, but Raul Esparza is exceptional. I can't imagine anyone else in this role. I love the intelligence of Sondheim's scores, and the staging very clever. I was totally entertained and I'm ready to see it again. The only drawback for me was the song "Getting Married Today", Ive seen Beth Howland and Madeline Kahn do it and it was difficult to understand, and it is a witty and humorous song. I could not get half of what was being sung by the actress that played Amy. Besides that It was perfect!
In good "Company." May 25, 2008
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I saw the original on Broadway way back in 1970, and the memory of that wonderful production was still on my mind as I saw this latest version on PBS earier this year. I was astounded. It was as fresh and wonderful as the original, but in a totally original way. Mr. Esparza is the best Bobby of the bunch and the rest of the cast is simply wonderful. Nobody does it better than Sondheim, that's for sure; this score sounds as original today as it did in 1970. The only drawback, and this is just for those of us who remember the original Joanne (that perfect freak of talent, Elaine Stritch) will never be equaled. That aside, this DVD is a must for those who love theatre, musicals and Sondheim. They've finally figured out how to film a live show without ruining the theatrical experience.
 Non-captioned May 25, 2008
6 out of 12 found this review helpful
As a deaf person, I will not be able to hear this film, but will give it to my son. I'm very sad because I missed the original and the revival on Broadway. Forgive me for giving what may be a wonderful film (how can I know) one star, because it is inaccessible to all deaf and hard of hearing people. We will gladly pay a few bucks more to support Closed Captioning.
Wonderful DVD Extras Complement a Sparkling Update of Sondheim's Most Accessible Musical May 23, 2008
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Marry me a little,
Love me just enough.
Cry but not too often,
Play but not too rough.
Keep a tender distance
So we'll both be free.
That's the way it ought to be....
Only Stephen Sondheim could come up with such sophisticated couplets to a love song as disquieting as the beautiful "Marry Me a Little". I was very fortunate to have seen the enthralling 2006 production at the Ethel Barrymore Theater last season, and I'm thrilled it has been captured for posterity on DVD as part of PBS's "Great Performances" series. There is something supremely ironic about how a 37-year old show, already revived twice, can feel fresher than most Broadway musicals written today. However, when the music reflects Sondheim at his most accomplished with performers so adept, it becomes a moot point, even though several of the songs here have been inescapable at karaoke bars for years from the lips of overly zealous musical theater aficionados.
Staged like a minimalist cabaret act, John Doyle's joyous revival uses the same technique he used in his 2005 production of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, specifically he has the actors play their own musical instruments, a daring move which actually helps underline the characters' feelings. The story is blessedly simple as it revolves around perennial bachelor Bobby, as he turns 35 and observes his circle of upscale Manhattanite friends, five married couples at different stages in various vignettes that make him reconsider what he wants out of life. Juggling three girlfriends, Bobby is a likeable but elliptical figure with commitment issues, and the story really follows his journey toward self-acceptance. There is an element of contrivance to the structure, but what I thought would be a severely dated libretto by George Furth continues to resonate with wit and insight.
For a canon as legendary and often erratic as his, Sondheim's sophisticated music and lyrics never seemed as accessible and hummable as they do here. So much of the show rides on the crucial casting of Bobby, and Raul Esparza is terrifically bold and poignant in managing the precarious balance between yearning romantic and cynical hedonist. With a beautifully expressive singing voice coupled with a common-guy demeanor, he captures the character's arc with an escalating emotional intensity from the measured romanticism of "Someone Is Waiting" to the tender tentativeness of "Marry Me a Little" (with the beautiful, Sondheim-trademarked rolling piano) to the bursting climactic catharsis of "Being Alive".
The rest of the cast accomplish wonderful moments that already come with high expectations - Heather Laws' dexterously motors her way through "Getting Married Today" with her character's nerve-wracking intensity intact; Elizabeth Stanley brings a likable warmth to the dim-bulb flight attendant April as she duets sweetly with Esparza on the comically post-coital "Barcelona"; Angel Desai's saucy turn as hip Marta on "Another Hundred People"; the poignant "Sorry-Grateful" performed by the comparatively less spotlighted male ensemble; and of course, there are the lacerating observations in "The Ladies Who Lunch", handled with fierce worldliness by Barbara Walsh as Joanne. In the intimidating shadow of Elaine Stritch, Walsh lets out repeated primal screams at the end that pierce with wounding acuity.
TV director Lonny Price does a fluent job transferring the production to the small screen with minimum fuss. The 2008 DVD contains three terrific extras. First, there is a fifteen-minute interview with an articulate and thoughtful Esparza who discusses his connection with Bobby, the challenge of learning piano, and the alternating joy and pressure of working with Sondheim (for the third time). There is also a nine-minute interview with the erudite Doyle who explains how his unique use of actors as musicians went over with Sondheim. The centerpiece has to be a fascinating, 38-minute interview that Australian TV personality Jonathan Biggins conducted with Sondheim last year in Sydney's Theatre Royal. Sondheim is particularly forthcoming with humorous anecdotes about working with the likes of Leonard Bernstein, Ethel Merman, Barbra Streisand, and his mentor Oscar Hammerstein II during his long, illustrious career. This is a wonderful DVD for any Broadway aficionado and particularly for fans of Sondheim, Esparza and Doyle. I happen to be all three.
Keeping Good Company May 22, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
"Company"
Keeping Good Company
Amos Lassen
There is a certain something about a Stephen Sondheim show. The staging is always clever and the music is sublime. "Company" is a small show with a big heart as it tells the story of Bobby (wonderfully portrayed by Raul Esparza), the single man who is trying to figure out his own life by observing his married friends.
This "Company" like the recent Broadway revival of "Sweeney Todd" is done in chamber music form--there is no orchestra and the actors play the musical instruments and what was a fairly large show originally is scaled down. Some of the original orchestra arrangements were incredible and I missed them. The cast is a group of great singers and I found it a bit distracting when they walked around playing their instruments but even with that, this is a great show. Esparza is absolutely amazing and his powerful voice and emotion draws the viewer in.
What really shines are the ensemble numbers and the show is very witty and carries a strong message that any kind of commitment is compromise. Sometimes in choosing one way to go, we close alternatives and life is about making choices. Bobby's problem is that he has never made a choice; instead he waits to see what others will do. It is not possible to live life by pretending to do so. The show looks at the topics of relationships and marriage and does so with class and style.
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