With the release of Tim Burton's version of Sweeney Todd this weekend, there’s sure to be a renewed interest among non-theatre buffs in the other works of Stephen Sondheim. To commemorate the occasion, I’m posting videos of two of Sondheim’s most iconic songs, as presented on film. First, here’s his old favorite “Send In the Clowns,” from A Little Night Music. It’s performed in the film version by Liz Taylor, whose voice isn’t exactly ideal for the song, but whose performance is a spectacle all the same. Check it out:
Another of Sondheim’s most enduring musicals is Company, which has yet to be adapted for the big screen. Company’s showstopping number “The Ladies Who Lunch” has been sung on various occasions by Carol Burnett (in the Sondheim revue Putting It Together), Barbara Walsh (in the 2006 Broadway revival), and then-17-year-old Anna Kendrick in the 2003 film Camp. But for sheer powerhouse charge, none can match Elaine Stritch’s take on the song on the original cast album. Here, in two segments, is Stritch performing take after take of the tune in D.A. Pennebaker’s 1970 documentary Original Cast Album: Company, a performance that’s even more impressive considering she’s singing it at 4:00 AM at the tail end of a nearly 18-hour cast recording session. Enjoy!
SWEENEY TODD opens nationwide this Friday. A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY are available on DVD.