At the Ballet...- Page 2

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 9:51pm

Jv92 -- I have the entire Phil Donahue Show; just don't have the time to digitize the clips and then post on YouTube.com.

Sorry.

[jv92]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 9:51pm

That performance from the Tonys is fabulous.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 9:54pm

morosco-
I'm friends with the guy who runs BlueGobo, and he had to buy a special encoding program so that the videos could not be downloaded, or else the Ed Sullivan people were going to sue. So basically, if you want a free, legal way to view these great performances, you can't download them.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 9:55pm

I just hope when people say, "I don't get all the fuss about A Chorus Line! What made it so special? Why did everybody freak out so much with all that high praise when it opened?"...

...they look at this clip, among others that surface from time to time, and they find their answer.

I think we've lost a lot of the humanity that used to be the real "magic" of Broadway musicals. It wasn't just special effects and $20 million budgets and divas belting "flawlessly."

It was human beings, telling stories, and communicating emotions and thoughts to an audience.

I saw a glimpse of the old Broadway this season with Grey Gardens. I saw "people" on stage again (crazy as they were, they were PEOPLE).

I miss that in most Broadway performers of today. They're brilliant singers and dancers. They can do incredible things with their bodies and their voices... but somewhere up on that stage, they're getting lost. The humanity is getting lost. I don't know if it's the actors themselves, or the sets that are too big, or the over-amplification that makes them all sound pre-recorded or "dubbed," or the writing and direction of the shows... that doesn't slow down or pause long enough to allow a genuine emotion to be revealed.

I find it depressing. And more often than not I just chalk it up to ME being an old fart. One of those grandpas that sits on their porch, swearing about how "things ain't what they used to be."

Then I watch a clip like At the Ballet... and I realize, "wait just a damn minute... I'M RIGHT. They're NOT what they used to be."

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 9:56pm

husk_charmer -- that Michael Bennett Tribute was performed at the 42nd Annual Tony Awards which aired on Sunday June 5, 1988. It was on the stage at the Minskoff Theatre.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 10:08pm

Brody-
I meant the Donahue show. Which I am totally watching right now.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 10:17pm

morosco-
I'm friends with the guy who runs BlueGobo, and he had to buy a special encoding program so that the videos could not be downloaded, or else the Ed Sullivan people were going to sue. So basically, if you want a free, legal way to view these great performances, you can't download them.

Shucks. Well tell him that I love him no matter what. I know it takes a lot of work to accomplish all he's done.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 10:18pm

The Phil Donahue Show episode aired in 1990, shortly before the show permanently closed on Broadway. He mentions it's extension towards the end of the show.

[Glebb]

Posted: 7/5/07 at 11:15pm

God that's good!
Thank you Best12.