PBS's 'Broadway - The American Musical' & Other Broadway DVDs

[CJWesselman]

Posted: 9/16/05 at 2:28pm

Is it worth $50 to buy the DVD for the PBS Documentary? I remember being in rehearsals for a show and not being able to catch this when it aired. I heard good things and I enjoyed reading a couple sections of the companion book at Barnes and Noble, but is it worth the $50 for me to buy the DVD? And then what about the book?

Also, any other must-have Broadway DVDs?

Thanks!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 9/16/05 at 2:42pm

I read the book (yay public library) and thought it was good for the historical stuff, but I thought the best parts of the documentary were the video/audio clips and interviews from the different shows.

I can't make the decision for you because it's about personal taste, but if you think about it, it's really no more expensive than a season of a TV show on DVD.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/16/05 at 2:43pm

Yes, it's worth it, but don't spend 50 smackers on it. Try DeepDiscountDVD.com, or Overstock.com. You'll find it cheaper there!

The book is basically a "coffee table" book, but a terrific one. It has some amazing photos in it, and covers more ground than the PBS series. (I REALLY wish they had added another segment and put more material in.) There are other books on musical theatre that you might do better to own as far as information, but if you want "eye candy" this book is tops.

[WickedOne2]

Posted: 9/16/05 at 2:43pm

My mom bought the set (its 3 DVDs) and I have only watched the last DVD which is two parts: 1959-1979 and 1980-2004. I especially liked the 1980-2004 section. There is also an interesting bonus feature on Wicked's road to Broadway. If you only like more recent Broadway shows, its probably not worth it. Or you can share it with a family member, like I did. However, you can get it for $35 on Overstock.com

[wickedwitchofthechest]

Posted: 9/16/05 at 2:51pm

"There's nothing like a PBS special to proclaim the death of an art form." - Forbidden Broadway

I haven't actually seen it, but my sister said it was well worth watching, although I don't know if it's worth $50. Check out your library's video section. They might have it.

[hannahshule]

Posted: 9/16/05 at 2:52pm

Definately worth it. I liked the first DVD the best, and the 3rd one the least. But I'm old fashioned that way.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/16/05 at 2:54pm

I own it. It is excellent. Well worth buying.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/16/05 at 2:56pm

I agree that the first DVD has the best material in the box set. The third (final) DVD felt so rushed and skimmed-over. They skipped some major material to concentrate on the Golden Era. I don't blame them for doing that, but when you skip over shows like Dreamgirls and Evita with barely a mention (if any)... you're going to fast! It's still worth it, without question.

[RockabyeHamlet]

Posted: 9/16/05 at 4:26pm

I own it, and find it a fantastic resource. Even though I agree some parts are rushed, it is still very valuable and worthwhile. Get it if you can.

[Penny4Eyes]

Posted: 9/16/05 at 4:27pm

its GREAT! and the book is pretty out-of-this-world too! the cds, eh...i got the set from my grandma for my 11th birthday and ive actually started trying to actually READ the book and not just glance through it

[jacco]

Posted: 9/16/05 at 5:11pm

OKAY you made me spend MONEY tonight. Just bought it at overstock. SH*T!

[CapnHook]

Posted: 9/16/05 at 8:30pm

DEFINITELY be sure to buy Broadway - The Golden Age which I actually enjoyed more than The American Musical.

[CJWesselman]

Posted: 9/17/05 at 6:30am

Just finished a 6-hour marathon of the DVD set, and yes, I'm clincally insane. Very impressed! Very entertaining, although I do agree that the 1980-Present period is very rushed and so much is left out. You could do a whole series on that period alone. Wow, I've got so much running through my head right now. lol. I've gained a bit of respect for Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, although it's not much. Granted Disney's help in inticing the city to clean up Times Square is priceless, but I still fear an inevitable complete Disneyfication of Broadway. If Lion King, Tarzan, Little Mermaid, and Mary Poppins are all ever running at the same time, I may have to drown myself. Cameron Machintosh, although a brilliant businessman, I still blame for the creation of people wanting to see shows for the spectacle ("oooh, I can't wait to see the chandelier fall!" "oooh, I can't wait to see the baracade!") instead of the people ("oooh, I can't wait to see Christina Applegate!" wait....bad example? lol.) Granted if it weren't for shows like Cats and Les Mis, who knows where Broadway would be right now. I guess it's all about a healthy balance....but Disney's looking to topple that balance, especially with this talk about tearing down businesses and building their own theatre. They're too powerful for their own good....too hot. Douse the Mouse!

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 9/17/05 at 9:00am

I watched it when it was on tv last october i think. i taped the last part and i love it. it starts with fiddler and ends with al hirchfeld theatre renaming.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/17/05 at 11:11am

I agree about buying "Broadway: The Golden Age." Although it's mostly "talking heads" reminiscing about their experiences, the stories and the people interviewed are incredible. It's a great companion piece to the PBS DVD set. Highly recommended!

[riv]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 1:57pm

CJWesselman states:

"Just finished a 6-hour marathon of the DVD set, and yes, I'm clincally insane. Very impressed! Very entertaining, although I do agree that the 1980-Present period is very rushed and so much is left out. You could do a whole series on that period alone. Wow, I've got so much running through my head right now. lol. I've gained a bit of respect for Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, although it's not much. Granted Disney's help in inticing the city to clean up Times Square is priceless, but I still fear an inevitable complete Disneyfication of Broadway. If Lion King, Tarzan, Little Mermaid, and Mary Poppins are all ever running at the same time, I may have to drown myself. Cameron Machintosh, although a brilliant businessman, I still blame for the creation of people wanting to see shows for the spectacle ("oooh, I can't wait to see the chandelier fall!" "oooh, I can't wait to see the baracade!") instead of the people ("oooh, I can't wait to see Christina Applegate!" wait....bad example? lol.) Granted if it weren't for shows like Cats and Les Mis, who knows where Broadway would be right now. I guess it's all about a healthy balance....but Disney's looking to topple that balance, especially with this talk about tearing down businesses and building their own theatre. They're too powerful for their own good....too hot. Douse the Mouse!"

******

There's so much here, I don't know where to start. So let me just make a few points:

----The period of 1980 to the present is "rushed" in the PBS documentary because it is the least interesting period which is dealt with. How you can say an entire series could have been devoted to what's gone on over the last 25 generally dismal years is beyond me. It's been pathetic compared to what went on before. Just look at the last crop of all-time greats who have been passing on in the obituary pages and tell me who is going to fill their shoes? It's almost frightening to observe talent lost which is not going to be replaced.

At the risk of getting a bit off topic, I know some of you will argue by throwing out a few names currently working which you, with hope in your hearts, consider "the future greats." Excuse me that I don't wear rose-colored glasses or blinders. Let me know when they've had their first true smash running years, and I don't mean being subsidized at some Lincoln Center band box. (My advice to these giants out there: Write for Broadway only--not off-Broadway--and write big and lucious. You know, the way the true giants did back in the day without apologies.)

----The entire scare-talk of Disney taking over Broadway lost its relevancy years ago. They are taking over nothing, merely producing a show every couple of years. They are providing the family-oriented musicals which some wish to see, but this does not push out any other product. In case you don't realize it, a rising tide lifts all boats in regards to Broadway. A successful Disney theatrical operation helps all Broadway. It is not a zero-sum situation.

Furthermore, I take issue with your grouping "Mary Poppins" in with the stage versions of the cartoons. It dates from a different era and is not loaded with the bland comtemporary sounds which mar some of the recent Disney musical pictures. A listen to the London cast recording indicates it to be quite superior to them. The added songs to the score happen to be terrific and in no way soil our ears with today's atrocious pop inflections. Let's thank God for that.

----Your comment concerning Cameron Macintosh being responsible for "the creation of people" only interested in barricades and chandeliers is beneath contempt. Most producers today aren't fit to shine his shoes. He's one of the few creative producers we still have. One of the few attempting serious revivals of all-time great American shows without throwing Christina Applegate or Bernadette Peters at us in inappropriate roles in an attempt to sell tickets.

Furthermore, do you seriously think thousands of people over the years have spent $100 to see Mackintosh shows just for what you may deride as gimmicks? Is that all his shows have meant to you? That's a lot of nerve coming from someone under the impression the last two-and-a-half decades have somehow been wonderful despite that.

Without Mackintosh, the landscape would have been astonishingly more barren than it was. And, no, his success didn't stop any other producer of any other kind of show from being successful. The difference was that a Mackintosh show actually entertained vast numbers of people. You probably think that is an abhorrent idea--to actually entertain people shelling out big bucks--but we are talking about the commercial theater and don't you forget that.

Speaking of barricades and chandeliers, you are, of course, aware that people not only went to the Ziegfeld Follies 80 years ago for the songs and dances, but for the spectacle as well. Shows such as "Hello, Dolly!" and "Mame" were ridiculed four decades ago in much the same supercilious fashion as you have just put down "Phantom" and "Les Mis." Come down off your high horse long enough to enjoy something for what it is, and don't knock it simply because it's not some pseudo-intellectual, non-melodic bore trying to pass itself off as high art.

I'll leave it at that for now and let others have their say.







Updated On: 9/18/05 at 01:57 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 2:24pm

I was a bit disappointed that shows such as Purlie, Sophisticated Ladies, The Wiz, Dreamgirls, Jelly's Last Jam, Ain't Misbehavin and other predominently African American shows were not featured. Since I miised it on PBS I just purchased it and watched it all the way through. My firtst thought is that it would be a good educational series for students. But I then thought that for some young African American students, there is a very poor representation in this documentry for aspiring Black actors who want to do Broadway. How can you overlook shows like The Wiz and Dreamgirls?!! I found it interesting that during the West Side Story segment, when they talked about the gang rivalries, they switched to a black and white reel of black people fighting. However, the 2 gangs in the show did not include black people! I love what Julie Taymore says in the Lion King segment about the difference between what white audiences and black audiences see when they go to the show. Please know I have no chip on my shoulder or am not stark raving mad here, but Purlie, The Wiz and Dreamgirls figure prominently in the reason I love the theatre. And I think that rings true for a lot of people my age no matter what race they are. JMO

Updated On: 9/18/05 at 02:24 PM