The musical premiered mere days after the death of Stephen Sondheim (who wrote the lyrics for the original production, with a book by Arthur Laurents and score by Leonard Bernstein) at the age of 91. Highest praise for the new film version came from the composer himself, who back in September dropped by “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” to talk about the most recent stage production of “Company” and, of course, Spielberg’s movie.
“It’s really terrific,” Sondheim said of the film. “Everybody go. You’ll really have a good time. And for those of you who know the show, there’s going to be some real surprises.”
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Sondheim said that’s because of Pulitzer Prize-winner Tony Kushner, who has received two screenplay Oscar nominations for adapting the Spielberg films “Munich” and “Lincoln.”
Sondheim said Kushner “has done some really imaginative and surprising things with the way the songs are used in the story, and the whole thing has real sparkle to it and real energy, and it feels fresh. It’s really first-grade, and movie musicals are hard to do and this one, Spielberg and Kushner really, really nailed it.”
In addition to Zegler, this new version stars Ansel Elgort as Tony, Ariana DeBose as Anita, and David Alvarez as Bernardo. Rita Moreno, Best Supporting Actess Oscar winner for the original Best Picture-winning film, also makes a cameo appearance as Valentina.
— Anne Thompson (@akstanwyck) November 30, 2021
— Chris Evangelista (@cevangelista413) November 30, 2021
— Peter Bradshaw (@PeterBradshaw1) November 30, 2021
— Barry Hertz (@HertzBarry) November 30, 2021
— Ayanna P. (@AyannaPrescod) November 30, 2021
— Marshall Shaffer (@media_marshall) November 30, 2021
— Mike Ryan (@mikeryan) November 30, 2021
Steven Spielberg directs the hell out of a mediocre script. What an eye-roll inducing story. Anything related to The Jets is insufferable, hell most of The Sharks are as well. The ladies do the heavy-lifting. This is Zegler, DeBose, and Moreno’s movie — EJ Moreno (@EJKhryst) November 30, 2021
— Jackson McHenry (@McHenryJD) November 30, 2021
Everyone is at the top of their game. Spielberg is a master. Under his direction, Kamiński is a camera wizard, aiming a show-stopping light on the shining star that is @rachelzegler. So many things to rave over here. Too many to mention. pic.twitter.com/7oYeHM2dJa — ᶜᴴᴿᴵˢ ˢᵀ ᴸᴬᵂᴿᴱᴺᶜᴱ (@ey2studios) November 30, 2021
— Jesse Hassenger (@rockmarooned) November 30, 2021 Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
