Favorite Pro Shot Versions of Stage Musicals?- Page 2

[Wickedlover56]

Posted: 5/8/15 at 9:43pm

Into the Woods

Company (NY Philharmonic)

Sunday in the Park with George

legally Blonde

The Light in the Piazza

Shrek

Sweeney Todd

[BrerBear]

Posted: 5/8/15 at 9:50pm

Oklahoma with Hugh Jackson and Shuler Hensley.

Probably still streaming online from PBS.

[rcwr]

Posted: 5/8/15 at 11:42pm

I love the Hugh Jackman Oklahoma! too, but I'm bummed that it was filmed in a movie studio. Also, I hate the audible sound-shift when they start singing, that change that occurs because they dubbed the singing.

The guy who plays Will Parker though -- Jimmy Johnston -- WOW. The whole thing is worth watching just for his dancing. He is overflowing with "it."

[BrerBear]

Posted: 5/9/15 at 2:04am

I had no idea about that. They show the theater and the audience at the beginning, and I assumed it was just takes spliced in later without the audience because there was no applause. And I did notice the audio problems, too. Thanks for sharing!

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 5/9/15 at 8:00am

All of the Sondheim pro shots are wonderfully done (Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Passion, Merrily We Roll Along, A Little Night Music).

I also love the fuzzy - looking Hedwig pro shot of the original production that's on youtube.  I'm so happy that was preserved.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 5/9/15 at 8:40am

I'm amused that nobody rates the hacked up 'Pippin' with Ben Vereen & co

[Bilbo3]

Posted: 5/9/15 at 8:45am

There's a beautiful Proshot of Beauty and The Beast  done by the  Madrid Spain cast. It's wonderful to see that great set on video. 

[Jay94]

Posted: 5/9/15 at 9:02am

I've never liked how quiet the audience volume is in the Sweeney Todd recording. You can tell that people are laughing and clapping but it's so low that it's almost as if they're performing in front of no one.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/9/15 at 9:37am

Does this count?

 

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 5/9/15 at 9:44am

"I'm amused that nobody rates the hacked up 'Pippin' with Ben Vereen & co"

Partly because it's easier to rate the non-hacked-up bootleg copy of Bob Fosse's edit, which is a decent representation of the original production (with some added bits of shtick), if the cast isn't all that great. (Personally, I love Ben, Chita, and Martha Raye... the rest are a great company that I could give or take... and as for William Katt, Greatest American Hero you may have been, but musical theater performer you are not.)

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 5/9/15 at 10:43am

hi Bilbo

is the spain proshot BATB in english or spanish?

[bdn223]

Posted: 5/9/15 at 12:40pm

I find it interesting no one has brought up Rent's final performance, which was magical compared to the film adaptation. 

[anmiller07]

Posted: 5/9/15 at 12:53pm

Definitely RENT and Passing Strange for me. Although I have to admit I haven't seen any of the others that have been mentioned. 

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/9/15 at 4:56pm

I really enjoyed the pro-shot recording of the West End's Billy Elliot.  RENT was pretty good, but I hated the shots from the wings. Not a musical, but I thought that War Horse and The Audience were well filmed. I've only seen a low-resolutn of the Curious Incident, but that also looked to be filmed well.

The problem with the live recordings is that they over-rely on wide shots.  For the videos with subsequent DVD releases, they     are at least able to rectify that with close-ups when appropriate.  

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 5/9/15 at 6:11pm

Fosse76

very astute

when I was watching south pacific

lincoln center I was thinking like an editor

And how many times a closeup shot would

have been preferred over a wide

what year was the billy Elliott proshot?

 

[ggersten]

Posted: 5/9/15 at 7:14pm

Fosse76, I've heard that the Billy Elliott live stream was vastly different than the dvd precisely because of the post show editing and ability to better select shots.j

[Lovinbroadway2]

Posted: 5/9/15 at 7:32pm

broadwaysfguy, 

I don't remember exactly, but I saw the streaming (I think... Maybe edited) proshot version of Billy Elliot in the cinemas either late last year or early this year. 

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 5/10/15 at 11:46am

Crazy For You, I believe, was done for PBS, and I wish I had a copy of that one.  One of my favorite musicals of all time.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 5/10/15 at 11:48am

There's a pro shot of Crazy For You for PBS. Hmm. If only PBS shot more musicals. In an ideal world where being commercial wasn't the priority, I would love to see PBS do a series where they shoot 2-3 musicals per year. (Or just air them under "Great Performances!")

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 5/10/15 at 12:02pm

That's what it was….part of their "Great Performances" collection.   Couldn't come up with the name.  CFY was aired on PBS as part of GP.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 5/10/15 at 1:00pm

Crazy for You was shot at Papermill, though I assume it was mostly a full recreation of the Broadway production.  There was also a production of Show Boat at Papermill that was shot in the late 80s/early 90s (before the Hal Prince revival/revival) as part of Great Performances as well.

[#1CarrieFan]

Posted: 5/10/15 at 3:47pm

I'm curious to know how you guys are able to obtain some of these shows. Are we talking about productions that have been "pro shot" by PBS? Or is there somewhere else one in the hinterlands can obtain the productions you're talking about, like Passing Strange and are we talking about the original Sunday or the revival?

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/12/15 at 11:09am

Fosse76, I've heard that the Billy Elliott live stream was vastly different than the dvd precisely because of the post show editing and ability to better select shots.

Yes. I received a copy of the actual live stream and watched it a few times, and thought how great it was, but there were a significant number of wide shots, and once or twice I felt the camera was focused on the wrong person. When the show was finally broadcast in the U.S., it was a completely different product. Different camera angles, not as many wide shots, and better focus on what is occuring on stage (though I admit I felt they did too many individual close-ups of older Billy in the Swan Lake ballet). The dvd/Blu-Ray version I believe is this cut, and is definitely superior to the live stream. But that said, the live stream was still pretty fantastic (better than the Phantom 25 live stream, which didn't seem to know where to focus).

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/12/15 at 11:20am

is the spain proshot BATB in english or spanish?

I would assume it is Spanish. The Pro shot Brazilian production was available on YouTube for a while (and was in Portugese, of course).

what year was the billy Elliott proshot?

I forgot I was going to answer this. It was recorded in September last year (2014).

I'm curious to know how you guys are able to obtain some of these shows. Are we talking about productions that have been "pro shot" by PBS? Or is there somewhere else one in the hinterlands can obtain the productions you're talking about, like Passing Strange and are we talking about the original Sunday or the revival?

Most of the shows mentioned in this thread were comercially recorded and released on video (dvd vhs, etc.) or aired on PBS (but not released on video). Many of the PBS broadcasts were recorded by other fans, and naturally are available through various "bootleg" sources. I think the Lincoln Center archives may also have a few of these in their collection (and without the restrictions that accompany the Broadway recordings; I know they have the Papermill Crazy for You). Sometimes these pop-up on YouTube too.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 5/12/15 at 11:35am

LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA and RENT are really good but the one that captures the magic on stage the best was SOUTH PACIFIC, that pro-shot version was truly a piece of Broadway magic that I was enraptured from start to finish. I think I might get that same effect, if not more, when I go see THE KING AND I this June.