Broadway Bootlegs
Broadway Bootlegs
#1Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 12:55pm
Here is some rare footage of musicals from the past. The best way for them to be preserved through the ages is to share them amongst people wo appreciate musical theatre, so here they are. Most are silent home movies shot by people in the cast or by audience members. If you go on my youtube channell, there are many more, but here are some of the most interesting ones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2-bYIoHu4U - Follies Movie, 1971 (Over an hour of all the footage put together!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N287H0rU9E - Breakfast At Tiffany's, 1966
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0FGdLYIUG0 - Angela Lansbury in Mame (synchronised!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6jCcJyB0i8 - Ethel Merman in Gypsy, 1959
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ccIJx1MPGc - Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl, 1965
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMfZNFqMfc4 - A Little Night Music, 1973
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKQgypjFjBg - Ethel Merman in Hello Dolly, 1970 (only known footage of her in this role!)
Updated On: 7/22/15 at 12:55 PM
Fantod
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/3/14
#2Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 1:16pmLove the footage, but Merman made her debut in Girl Crazy in 1930, not in the Scandals of 1931
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#2Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 1:18pmImagine trying to hide the camera back then. Another problem is how would you try and sell it?
#3Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 2:43pm
Ops! I am terribly sorry! Of course, her big number was "I Got Rhythm", how could I forget?
Updated On: 7/22/15 at 02:43 PM#4Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 2:47pm
In response to Mr. Roxy, I believe that they didn't actually sell them, but just kept them to watch at home (possibly shared them with others if they were collectors). However, most of these home movies were shot by a journalist, Ray Knight, who would come once or twice a year to Broadway and filmed every major (and not so major) musical. He filmed over 175 Broadway musicals, starting in 1931. He caught on tape shows such as Anything Goes (with Merman), Damn Yankees (Gwen Verdon) and Camelot. After he passed away in 1973, his collection was bought by collector Miles Kreuger. Sadly, he won't share this precious footage, and it is slowly decaying in a cupboard in his home.
Updated On: 2/22/15 at 02:47 PM
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#6Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 2:50pmRemember when you'd get a whole thread deleted by even saying the B word? Things sure have changed!
#7Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 2:51pm
I thought so Mr. Roxy :)
Updated On: 7/22/15 at 02:51 PM
#8Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 3:03pm
My God, those very short glimpses of Ethel Merman doing Rose's Turn are absolutely thrilling. Positively tantalizing.
Why no one ever captured that number in it's entirety on film is beyond me. It was the crowning moment of her career.
#9Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 3:41pm
It's because there was a different 'mentality set', a different way of thinking. There was also the problem that home movie cameras were rather big and noisy, so not exactly easy to hide in a theatre. Ray Knight usually filmed during tap dances or chorus numbers for fear of being discovered.
However, a lot of the films that are available were filmed by cast or staff members of the musical: Don Pippin (famed Broadway conductor) filmed Mame, Dear World, Mack and Mabel, The Grand Tour and La Cage Aux Folles, while Candy Brown (chorus girl) filmed Chicago and Pippin.
Updated On: 7/22/15 at 03:41 PM
#10Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 4:13pmWhat is the oldest full-show audio and video bootleg extant?
#11Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 4:18pmI assume you meant audio/video together, but I believe the oldest audio bootleg is of THE ZIEGFELD FOLLIES OF 1934, on tour in 1935 with the original stars. It was actually released (though in truncated form) on CD some years ago by AEI. Impossible to find now though.
#12Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 4:28pmYeah, I hd meant together since most of the oldest ones are either just audio, or video without audio or synced to other recordings.
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#13Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 5:19pmOne of the oldest if not the oldest was Roza
DAME
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/15/04
#14Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 5:24pmI have stuff older than Roza.
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#16Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 6:10pm
The MERRILY video posted on this thread alone is a good 5 years older than ROZA.
I'd be curious to hear what the oldest was as well.
#17Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 6:14pm
These are incredible. THANK YOU!
But what the hell did you do to Miles Kreuger to get them?
Roofies?
#18Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 6:26pmLol. These have all been "available" for a long time.
#19Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 6:33pmWhat I'd really love to see is the video that's apparently out there of the Merrily preview.
ggersten
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/06
#21Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 6:35pm
>Lol. These have all been "available" for a long time.<
One I looked at has the bluegobo logo prominently displayed!
#22Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 6:53pmThere are more than one video bootleg of the Merrily previews? Or do you mean which production? Because if so, the original.
Cesare2
Stand-by Joined: 2/13/15
#23Rare Broadway Bootlegs
Posted: 2/22/15 at 6:54pm
R&H filmed the original 1951 West End cast of "South Pacific" starring Mary Martin and Wilbur Evans. Not strictly speaking a bootleg, but hey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGdp4nVItqM
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