Broadway: The Golden Age on PBS

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 1:07pm

It's PBS pledge season, and last night WLIW (Long Island) showed parts of the above mentioned documentary. It's showing up as 'Pledge Favorites' on my TV listings rather than the actual program name.

If you haven't already seen or bought this, it really should be part of everyone's DVD library. Fascinating interviews and rare clips. Just some people shown (many, sadly, in their last interviews): Stricth, June Havoc, Gretchen Wyler, Janis Paige, Kaye Ballard, Jerry Orbach, Robert Goulet, Ben Gazarra.

[jeffrey1dog]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 1:18pm

It truely is a wonderful special.
Here's the current schedule of airdates on PBS:
http://www.broadwaythemovie.com/pbs.htm

There are two sequals in the works and I can't wait until "Broadway, Beyond the Golden Age" is released.

Updated On: 8/9/07 at 01:18 PM

[jv92]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 1:40pm

When are those sequels coming out? I don't think I can wait any longer!

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 1:44pm

IMDB only says '2008' for Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age. It does have a long list of those included in the doc, although since it is still in production, I'd say that the list is probably tentative.

[ahmelie]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 1:49pm

Oh yeah, it's showing in Pittsburgh!

The interview in the extras with Patti LuPone was my mom's first introduction to Patti, and now whenever I drag her to a show of hers, she won't stop making fun of her.

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 1:51pm

What? What? What?

WHEN is Beyond the Golden Age showing in Pittsburgh? I LOVED the first documentary and I'm dying for the next one!!

[Jilani]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 1:52pm

For those who have seen both, how does this compare with Broadway: The American Musical? I own the latter, but haven't seen Broadway: The Golden Age.

[ahmelie]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 1:55pm

Theatrekid- No, it's just a re-run in Pittsburgh. I've seen it before but it'll be nice to have it saved to my tivo.

I enjoyed it more than Broadway: The American Musical. But I would say B:TAM is more about how Broadway has changed over the course of a century or so, while B:TGA is mainly interviews with the greatest stars of a specific time in Broadway.
Both are fantastic though.

[jv92]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 1:56pm

Never mind. Updated On: 8/9/07 at 01:56 PM

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 1:57pm

They're totally different. Broadway; the American Musical covers the entire span of Broadway history (from the Follies right on down to Wicked) and focuses on popular shows, popular actors, and little stuff.

The full title of the film is Broadway; the Golden Age from the Legends Who Were There or something to that extent and it focuses entirely on the period of the 40s and 50s and uses only personal interviews and essentially stories about life on Broadway during that time.

Emily, oh. I thought you meant the next installment would premiere in Pittsburgh and I was just like, "What the ****?"

Updated On: 8/9/07 at 01:57 PM

[jv92]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 1:58pm

The PBS series is sort of commerical and often bland. Rick McKay's film is absolutely stunning and digs deeper than the PBS series.

[Jilani]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 2:02pm

Thanks for the responses - I've added this to my movie rental queue and am looking forward to it.

[uncageg]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 2:16pm

I hope Beyond the Golden Age goes back and talks about all of the shows they missed and includes the predominently black shows that were on Broadway for that period when The Wiz, Dreamgirls, Timbuktu, etc. were running. That, for me, was a glaring omission from the first "The Golden Age". JMO

[crushgroove]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 4:17pm

I wrote to Rick McKay, the director, about how much I loved this documentary. He actually wrote me back a very nice quick e-mail. I told him that when I saw Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, I wished that more stars from that era would do such a show...but instead he did it with his documentary with all their anecdotes and stories...it was what I wished for.