VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[Mike Harrison]

As some of us are also stage/screen actors and/or singers, you might be interested in a short documentary film. Fans of the late, great Stephen Sondheim, particularly.

On May 2, 1970, the original Broadway cast of "Company" - along with the entire orchestra - spent some 14+ hours recording the soundtrack album. Columbia Records' 30th Street studio in New York City had previously been a church. Roughly 97 feet by 55 feet with a 50-foot ceiling, this room had an amazing sound. Upon first visiting the building in 1950, Columbia's A&R (artist & repertoire) man, Mitch Miller (yes, THAT Mitch Miller, for the baby boomers among us), demanded that the room be left as it was so that its acoustic properties were not lost. The floors were left unfinished, and unpainted walls still showed patches of spackle into the 1970s.

Besides "Company," a number of other Broadway cast albums were recorded in this legendary studio, including "My Fair Lady," "West Side Story," "Camelot," and more. And you can hear the room on all of them and they all sound wonderful. You can hear perhaps all of these soundtrack albums on YouTube. Listen in headphones to take it all in. This studio recorded more than just soundtrack albums, though. Here is a list, although somewhat incomplete. Tony Bennett's classic, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" and several Johnny Mathis recordings are among them.

With hand-held cameras that roamed the studio during and between takes, and captured conferences in the control room, this documentary film is 53 minutes of electricity. Many of you will see some familiar faces.

The film (with wonderful audio commentary) is now available on DVD, and is also being streamed at https://www.criterionchannel.com/original-cast-album-company/ I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.