John Mulaney, cast of Documentary Now! Sondheim spoof talk cast albums in new roundtable clip

Were we not living in our darkest-timeline of 2020, a new revival of Company would be playing on Broadway right now. But while we wait for the Great White Way to reopen, the good folks at the Criterion Collection have a special treat for Stephen Sondheim fans.

On June 15, the long-unavailable documentary Original Cast Album: Company will be streaming on the Criterion Channel, showcasing the contentious production of the beloved musical's original Broadway cast recording. The doc, which was memorably spoofed last year on IFC's Documentary Now!, will be accompanied by a new roundtable conversation with the cast and creators of that spoof, including John Mulaney, Paula Pell, and Renee Elise Goldsberry, covering everything from Mulaney's thoughts on the original documentary to the production of the Hamilton cast album.

In an exclusive clip from the roundtable, which you can watch above, the group discusses the history and production process of Broadway cast recordings, something participants Alex Brightman, Richard Kind, and Goldsberry have some experience with.

"It is interesting how it hasn't changed," Brightman says. "You'd think you'd have all the time in the world to record something. But when you watch [the Company documentary] as somebody who's done a couple...it hasn't changed. It makes you understand the smoking."

"Have you heard yourself on an album and said, 'I could've done better?'" Kind asks Goldsberry and Brightman. "Every one," Goldsberry replies, though she notes she was happy with how she sounded on the Hamilton recording.

"We have so much more technology to make sure that everything sounds amazing," she continues. "That's what I love about the Company documentary, is that relationship that you see. It's this paternalistic, kind of abusive relationship between the composer, and the director, and the sound engineer, and these actors who are so seethingly furious, and also so utterly dependent on them to make sure it sounds good."

You can catch the full discussion on the Criterion Channel, along with the original documentary, on Monday, June 15.

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