Company

This 2011 recording directed by Lonny Price documents the concert staging of Stephen Sondheim's Company with the New York Philharmonic. The orchestra is on stage with the performers in front of it; there is almost no set, and attention rests entirely on the songs and the text. Sondheim's 1970 work is built on Bobby, thirty-five and unmarried, observing his married friends, and it was unusual for its time in refusing to offer commitment as a solution. Neil Patrick Harris's Bobby keeps his distance; Patti LuPone's account of The Ladies Who Lunch is the recording's strongest moment. The concert format interrupts the flow of the stage work and some transitions are left incomplete. Who it's for: viewers who love Sondheim and recordings of musical theatre. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a fully staged film adaptation, or who will find the concert format dry.