Remember those ABC TV Musicals?- Page 2

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 12:49pm

Is that a rhetorical question?

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 12:50pm

Normally, yes...but it happens that I cant access any of the threads.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 12:52pm

I can't believe you're asking if we remember something from barely 10 years ago.

I loved Cinderella and Annie. I hate every incarnation of Bye Bye Birdie, so this version was no different. I slept through Once Upon A Mattress. That one was only about 3-4 years ago.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 12:53pm

I think Once Upon a Mattress sat on a shelf for like three years.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 12:54pm

Doodle, it's been doing that all morning. You have to click through the title instead of the clicking the last post.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 1:15pm

For the life of me, I can't remember who said it, but someone said that the production of Annie, was all about the music. And Grace wouldn't "historically" be played by an African American. But whole point of the show was to bring it to a generation that really didn't have access to musicals (other than Disney shows, although the movie aired on ABC.)

The Music Man, I think is my favourite, although its tied with Cinderella. There is just something about Cinderella that strongly echoed back to the TV musicals I only heard about. I liked Matthew Broderick. I think he was a good match for Cheno. (I mean, in their characters).

I know that there were 3 additional projects in the works, but they never happened:
Hugh Jackman in Carousel
Cher in Mame
Pippin
They were all from a site about TV movies. And I recall Jerry Herman talking about how he though Cher would be a frontrunner for Mame, when talking about if the film should be remade.

[Gobstopper]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 1:41pm

I remember *loving* the Cinderella movie with Brandy in it when I was little!

[jasonf]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 2:02pm

They were talking about doing Fiddler with Jason Alexander for a while too, I remember...

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 2:06pm

I LOVED their Annie. Cinderella was also good, though I didn't really like Brandy's (sp?) voice for Cinderella.

I like Once Upon A Matress, but I didn't think Zooey Deschanel had the right voice for Lady Larkin. Why, yes, I am picky.

Not so big on The Music Man--it really bugged me how they lowered Marian's part.

[Broadwayboy2631]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 2:11pm

I just re watched Cinderella a few weeks ago, and Bernadette was genius as the evil stepmother. I'm really glad that they gave her "Falling in Love with Love". The song was perfect for her character. Wow, I was so obsessed with her from a very early age. My parents should have known...

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 2:17pm

There was also talk of Bette in either Annie Get Your Gun or Mame after Gypsy. I don't know what happened with those.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 2:37pm

Mister Matt, you reminded me, there was talks about filming Reba for PBS, (which would have been live from the Marquis), or doing a full blown TV production

[americanboy99]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 2:43pm

Brandy's "Cinderella" was brilliant. Absolutely spectacular.

I remember loving that film when I was younger. I will occasionally revisit it and be blown away yet again. How was Peters not nominated for an Emmy? What a brilliant performance!

"Annie" was great too. I just remember not liking their Annie- who was it?- very much.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 2:48pm

I think Cinderella was my favorite just because I love the inclusion of "The Sweetest Sounds" and "There's Music in You". Brandy didn't have the best voice for those songs, but she wasn't too bad. I hate that they were never able to release a soundtrack with whatever label issues there were. I still think they should release it someday if a solution can ever be found.

[noradesmond]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 3:00pm

Dang, I got all excited for a minute and thought somedbody else remembered the musicals ABC televised in the 60s under the Armstrong Circle Theater banner. BRIGADOON and CAROUSEL are the only two I remember but they were great primers for a budding young theater queen.

[legally_popular]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 4:33pm

I love Gypsy so much that I'm partial to any version of it. This one was actually my first exposure to Gypsy so I thank it for that. The only person I think is weak is Herbie. Also, I recently watched it and saw that Spencer Liff is one of the kids in the beginning (as is Lacey Chabert and Elizabeth Moss as Baby June and Louise, but I already knew about them). Spencer is the kid that plays the clarinet, haha.

I loved their Cinderella as a kid and I actually recently rented it and discovered that I still really enjoy it. It's a guilty pleasure. I too constantly wonder how the queen is played by Whoopi, Victor Garbor is the king, and their son the prince is Phillipino, LOL.

I'm not a big fan of Annie in general, but I love this one for the cast... Victor Garbor, Cheno, and Audra McDonald all in the same movie? Yes, please. I only wish that instead of Bernadette playing Lily in the original film, she had played Hannigan in this film. That would be awesome! (not that Kathy Bates is bad or anything, but still).

I didn't really like The Music Man all that much, save for Cheno's singing.

[jagfkb]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 4:55pm

As a kid growing up without that much exposure to musical theatre, these movies really were a treat to watch. Cinderella, like many others have said, was extremely well done, from the casting to the beautiful art direction (Sets, anyone?) I also love the fact that "The Prince is Giving A Ball" was made into a much better production number than any previous prodcution (Including the television ones). Having random girls stating why they should be chosen and people randomly waltzing in the streets is now match to the idea of making the number about the preparation for the ball. This particular number in the show is always weak unless done like the version ABC did. Otherwise, Cinderella never has a big production number aside from the ball.

[heil myself!]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 6:16pm

Haha, can't believe no one else has asked this, but jagfkb where did you hear about Disney considering doin Beauty and the Beast? That caught my eye.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 6:50pm

I hate that they were never able to release a soundtrack with whatever label issues there were.

Whitney Houston had an exclusive recording contract with her label. I used to have the ripped audio, but it's not the same.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 6:58pm

Haha, can't believe no one else has asked this, but jagfkb where did you hear about Disney considering doin Beauty and the Beast? That caught my eye.

No one asked because they all saw the thread from a few weeks ago...

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=999972

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 7:02pm

Their taped version of Superman for late night TV was a disaster akin to The Hindenberg.

[kchenofan]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 7:08pm

I love Cinderella! I haven't seen it in so long; now I'll have to go dig it up and watch it again. I agree that other than Broderick, The Music Man was excellent- one of my all-time favorite movies, actually. I loved Annie as a kid and still love it as I'm maturing. Fun Fact: Cheno auditioned to play Annie in the original movie and made it to the screen test.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 7:20pm

They were talking about doing Fiddler with Jason Alexander for a while too, I remember...

I specifically remember hearing a radio interview with Victor Garber where he said he was going Fiddler for ABC. Never happened though.

I still think they should release it someday if a solution can ever be found.

The Eartha Kitt tour used some of the songs from the film. I wish they had recorded that. Eartha > Whitney.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 7:29pm

You folks had to be around to see the Armstrong Circle Theater productions in the 70's. (They may also have been on ABC; I don't remember).

These were excellent adaptations of BRIGADOON (Robert Goulet, Peter Falk, Sally Ann Howes), CAROUSEL (Goulet), KISS ME KATE (Goulet and Carol Larence) and KISMET (Jose Ferrer, Barbara Eden and Anna Maria Alberghetti). They may have had flaws but they were astonishingly good.

How I wish they were available on DVD.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 8:31pm

The only Michael Eisner-inspired project I would've liked to have seen come into fruition...he wanted to do a live-action Hunchback of Notre Dame TV movie with the complete score from the German production.