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SCREENING

Original Cast Album: Company

Saturday, Apr 9 at 4:00 pm

April 9 screening in the Redstone Theater

April 17 & 23 screenings in the Bartos Screening Room

Dir. D. A. Pennebaker. 1970, 53 mins. DCP. With Elaine Stritch, Dean Jones, Donna McKechnie, Beth Howland, Stephen Sondheim. One of the greatest screen adaptations of Sondheim’s stage work is this revelatory and wildly entertaining documentary by vérité trailblazer Pennebaker. Allowing viewers a rare glimpse into the studio recording sessions for the cast album of Sondheim’s masterpiece Company, which was just about to revolutionize Broadway with its sophisticated adult themes and complex, almost acrobatic melodies, lyrics, and arrangements, Pennebaker captures the skill and strain involved in making an album—which, unlike a live performance, is intended to stand the test of time. Dazzling moments abound, including Dean Jones’s titanic rendition of “Being Alive,” Beth Howland’s breathless tongue-twister “Getting Married Today,” and, especially, Elaine Stritch’s “The Ladies Who Lunch,” which becomes a climactic gauntlet.

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission. Review safety protocols before your visit.