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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: 3963
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
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:
 ALWAYS GOOD, BUT THIS PRODUCTION MISSES CORE April 11, 2008
12 out of 21 found this review helpful
COMPANY is a great show, and I've worn out several Original Cast recordings and somehow I have not burned out my well-used CD.
I saw this production, both on Broadway (on the night it was being filmed), and again when it appeared on PBS. It is worth seeing and hearing if you do not know the original, but for all its cleverness, it misses the core of the show, and also misses some of the most important parts of the original.
To save money, this production cuts out the orchestra, and the actors play the instruments. They aren't bad players, but not up to a Broadway standard. They do have a few good spots. But all the terrific original orchestrations are gone, gone gone, and they were particularly strong arrangements. The most dramatic example is the evisceration of the whole bedroom scene before the song "Barcelona." The big section removed was both a brilliant piece of orchestration, but an important set up to the song and, especially, insight into the character of Bobby.
Other songs that suffer are "Another 100 People Just Got Off of the Bus" and "You Could Drive a Person Crazy," songs that really kick into another level with a big, capable orchestra. In this show all you get is accompaniment. I'll never forget the great dance orchestrations the late, great Wally Harper did for the original show, and it makes me sad to see all this flash gone.
The other thing wrong with this show is how Bobby is played, or imagined. Raul Esparza does have a sort of flash himself, and the audience obviously likes him, and many may have come to see him, but he just doesn't get Bobby, or he just cannot do the ambiguous or warmer sides of Bobby's character.
Raul Esparza plays Bobby like a pure cynic, and Bobby is not a pure cynic. Yes, he may do things that are cynical, but in many ways he needs to be the least cynical of all the characters in this show. He weighs and grows and evolves and devolves before our eyes, but he just doesn't sit back and poke at all around him the way Bobby does here.
This show needs a fresher performance than the one Esparza gives.
Despite all these real problems, I was still happy to see the show, even to see the same production again on TV. Most of the cast is strong. The performance of "The Ladies Who Lunch" was so strong the audience could not even clap at the end, they were so into it, and she nailed it so.
But this show needs an orchestra, and needs a more thoughtful or imaginative performance by Bobby.
 Abominable production of a brilliant show April 10, 2008
13 out of 47 found this review helpful
John Doyle's gimmicky production of this Sondheim/Furth masterpiece is nothing short of an abomination. His conceit of having the cast play their own instruments (there is no orchestra) is cheesy and distracting. Instead of honest acting and straightforward storytelling, Doyle gives us pseudo-symbolism, actors talking into the air instead of to each other and staging that is so obtuse that anyone not already intimately familiar with COMPANY will be utterly baffled. Doyle's COMPANY is not the brilliant musical play the authors wrote; it is more like an acting class exercise. The poor cast (most of them very talented) ought to have mutinied; they probably could have directed themselves far better than this charlatan. Save your money and buy the original 1970 Broadway cast CD instead. And let us hope that one day there will be a commercial video release of a REAL production of COMPANY.
 AMAZING! March 31, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Unfortunately, I was not able to see the live production in New York, but I can only imagine how amazing it must have been just watching the recording. Raul Esparza (yes, the one deserving the Tony) has the amazing gift of being able to stand absolutely still, and still draw you in sheerly by the emotion and power in his voice. The entire cast performed extraordinarily; when you're not marveling at their singing performances, you're marveling at how in the world someone can walk around, play an instrument (or in some cases, several instruments) and still manage to sing at the same time. Although this format (having actors playing instruments with minimal staging/set) probably won't work for many musicals, I found it very well done/used in this production. Altogether, thoroughly awesome :)
Company worth keeping March 22, 2008
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
Aside from seeing the production live on stage (I agree with other reviewers, Raul should have won the Tony for this performance), I've seen this video production. Not only on PBS, where the quality was so-so, but a copy of this disc. It's not out yet officially, but it's out already. The quality of the picture is far superior to that shown on television, and the production itself is very exciting and innovative. This is definitely one show you'd want to add to your collection.
Captures the show Beautifully March 15, 2008
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
I saw the show twice on Broadway and watched it on PBS. The PBS production is wonderfully directed and captures the feel of the show beautifully. The close ups on Raul Esparza show off his wonderful performance and shows that he SHOULD have won the Tony award. The show is feels fresh and new and is still relevant today. The cast is strong, especially Barbara Walsh and Keith Buterbaugh.
It is an excellent show and this DVD will be an excellent memory for those who saw the production on stage and for those who missed out.
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