Broadway Shows - Why not archive on DVD? (MERGED THREAD) (1 Viewer)

[Eric Paddon]

As I recall there is also a DVD of the London production of the 1980 (the year it debuted on Broadway) musical "Barnum" with Michael Crawford, which aired on PBS in the mid-80s.

What I wouldn't give for a complete professionally done video of my favorite original Broadway musical of the last 20 years, "Titanic" which I saw four times and have two complete audios of. The musical was by far the superior Titanic production to be made in the year 1997.

BTW, the previous post mentioning Julie Andrews performing "Wouldn't It Be Loverly". That is from the Ed Sullivan "Best Of Broadway" video which had VHS and LD releases. I've been fortunate to obtain several volumes of complete Broadway numbers from the Sullivan show though, and it would be so great to see all of them in full on DVD in a professional release. Thanks to Sullivan we do have some visual record of Richard Burton and Julie Andrews in "Camelot" and Richard Kiley in "Man Of La Mancha" (which win the awards for the two greatest musicals desecrated by Hollywood in bad film productions with inferior casts)

 

[Doug Bull]

Thanks Michael, Of course George was in the park on Sunday.

The top of my head is not working too well.

I have "Fosse" in transit, so I am eagerly waiting it's arrival.

The DVD of the movie version of "The Fantasticks" while missing several songs is still fabulous.

There was a LD that featured songs and artists from broadway shows called "That's Singing"( I think)

I know it had Jerry Orbach singing "Try to Remember"

 

[Brian Kidd]

SWEENEY TODD was (barely) released on LD. That's the disc that is being talked about. It was never released on DVD, which is a damn shame. I'll treasure my VHS copy until it wears out. Then I'll cry.

 

[Page]

Patrick,

I have "The Seagull, Royal Family, Fifth of July, Iceman Cometh, Time Of Your Life, Ah, Wilderness" but I've only watched "The Seagull and Royal Family" so far. The transfers are watchable, but are nothing special.

I'm a big fan of Chekhov and this version of "The Seagull" is my favorite so I'm willing to overlook any problems the video may exhibit. (I remember watching this title when it was first broadcast in the 70's.)

"The Royal Family" was interesting to watch, but is not a favorite play of mine. It's transfer was a little better than "The Seagull's"--maybe because parts of "The Seagull" was shot outdoors at twilight.

 

[Craig S]

I believe that would be Sunday in the Park with George. Bernadette Peters was magical as always.

Amen, and Mandy Patinkin was equally wonderful. SITPWG is very rarely produced - I am so thankful to have this great show and these two spectacular performances preserved on disc.

 

[John Berggren]

I have the Image DVD for Victor/Victoria. Aside from some lighting concerns (I think the stage lighting was not compatible with whatever photography process they used) it is a really nice DVD, and I'm thrilled to have a DVD of Julie Andrews on Broadway.
I also have the My Favorite Broadway : Love Songs, I've not been able to find Leading Ladies at B&M.
Seeing Hedwig in the cinema made me wish I had been aware of it when it was in NYC. I would certainly have gone. The Raleigh Playhouse is going to produce Hedwig this summer, and I'll definitely go, but I'd still love to have a DVD of JCM at the original theater. The making of doc included on the New Line DVD is a nice substitute for now though.

 

[Greg_M]

The Ed Sullivan Discs were too costly to produce (rights) and never sold enough copies to make them worth while.

 

[Cynthia]

Count me in as someone who'd love to see stage shows with original casts on DVD. Especially Hedwig. It's too bad JCM isn't planning on performing Hedwig live anymore. If only I'd discovered the show before the movie. :frowning:
I'd also like to see the version of The Producers with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

No where is WS 16x9 more important than with filming a live stage performance.

It's a shame that so few of these live performances/concerts get the treatment. My partner is a Joan Sutherland fanatic so we're in the process of collecting DVD and Laserdisc versions of the former VHS collection. It's a shame how poor so many of the recordings are...even the ones done in the 80's when stereo sound should have been a given. Of course, 16x9 HD and 5.1 weren't even on the map when these recordings were made, but it still demonstrates just how important hi-res widescreen framing and good auido is for capturing the most of these live performances.

I'd love to see all performances archived in 16x9 HD, and then downconverted to DVD res. Maybe someday we'll just say "HAL, please burn me a DVD copy of that performance" and we'll get a custom disc. Don't see why we continue to be stuck in marketing rut which either stamps a million discs or doesn't bother at all...just let me burn my one DVD!

But I digress.

I'd love to see more performances brought to DVD as well. The Les-Mis out there right now is horrible. Tinny-thin sounding audio and just a bunch of people standing in front of microphones. No thank-you! Give me on DVD the performance I saw with acting, sets, and good costumes and I'd buy it instantly.

-dave

 

[Michael Reuben]

No where is WS 16x9 more important than with filming a live stage performance.

That's right! Here at the Home Theater Forum, we insist that all Broadway shows be presented in their Original Aspect Ratio.
M.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

cute
But I'm serious. If you sit in the middle of a theater and look at the stage...the opening is not a 4x3 shaped space. It's wide...actually often roughly 16x9 in shape (from L/R edge to edge and Top-bottom curtain-floor). A 16x9 video recording better captures all the action on the stage from these "distance" shots without actors or scenery getting cut of the side.

 

[Michael Reuben]

I hear what you're saying, David, but it really depends on the set design, which, in turn, has to be adapted to the shape of a particular theater. It also depends on how the director and choregrapher have chosen to situate the actors in the space.

For example, last night I saw the new musical version of Sweet Smell of Success, which was better than I expected. It's at the Richard Rodgers, which is a very tall theater, and the set design extends almost to the ceiling. There's an elaborate background that mimics the New York skyline and goes through almost constant change with lighting and other effects. Neon signs and other props descend from above, and there's a lot of action vertically as well as on stage. A 4:3 shape would be almost perfect for recording all the action, whereas a wider frame would tend to focus attention on the actors at the bottom of the "frame".

M.

 

[John Berggren]

I'll have to agree with Michael, the AR really has to be particular to the production and the theater. As I would prefer first-cast, first-production, then the sets will not have been modified for a second-theater. I think an AR of 1.33 all the way through 1.85 would work. 2.35 may even come into play, though I've never seen a peice performed that felt at that ratio.

However, ratio can't come into play until they actually record and release the shows in the first place.

 

[David Williams]

This is a question that has troubled me for some time. Why don't successful Broadway shows make the leap to DVD after they finish their runs? Jekyll & Hyde is the only show that I know of that has, in a strict filmed-on-Broadway sense.
IIRC, all Broadway shows have been filmed for posterity for some time now. I'm really surprised this kind of thing hasn't evolved at Broadway shows."See the show, take home an exclusive DVD of it as a souvenir!" Disney, in particular, could make a crapload of money on this.
The performances, culled from the Tonys etc., on the Broadway's Lost Treasures discs are nice, but are kind of dated. Several shows, mostly Andrew Lloyd Webber, have been filmed especially for DVD and sold quite well (in fact, Cats has had something like 3 different DVD releases).
What wouldn't I give for a fully-loaded special edition of Disney's Aida, Thoroughly Modern Millie or Wildhorn's Scarlet Pimpernel with their original casts. Surely I'm not the only person to ever have this idea, right?

 

[Sammy-G]

Just wanted to add to the list of what's out there - Sondheim's Passion. It's a complete performance of the original Broadway company starring Donna Murphy. Fantastic stuff, though surely not everyone's cup of tea.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Surely I'm not the only person to ever have this idea, right?

No, you're not! I've merged your thread into the prior discussion of Broadway-on-DVD. Even though it's pretty old, it still has great information, and the subject is certainly worth revisiting.
M.

 

[Jon Martin]

I was thinking this very thing recently, after seeing RENT.

I wanted to hear what else Idina Menzel has done, so I listened to the cast recording of WICKED and was blown away. But in listening to it, I realized that there was no way to see it, as both Idina and Kristen Chenoweth (as well as Joel Gray) are no longer with the play. There is no way to see what they did live, other than to just listen to it.

Someone brought this up on the composer Stephen Schwartz's message board. He said financially, it is fairly impossible. In the case of WICKED, even though the original cast is gone, the play is still at 100% capacity. And it has been several years since it opened. Plus, all the actors and musicians would have to get a cut of the profit from the taped version, making it not all that profitable for whoever puts it out.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Interesting thread and certainly answers

a question I have always wondered about.

It's a shame that Broadway shows don't

regularly make their way to DVD. However,

it's very interesting to learn that every

show is being taped and archived somewhere.

 

[Sean Laughter]

All of my Broadway DVDs are Sondheim shows, "Into the Woods", "Sunday in the Park With George," and "Passion." I love the DVDs of the first two, but I have yet to even make it through "Passion," the show just isn't my cup of tea, but it was also recorded without an audience present so the air just feels dead. The other two had live audiences and you can hear audience noise and everything else, which I feel is very important to capturing the theatrical aspect of it.

 

[Mike Frezon]

An interesting version of the Hugh Jackman turn as Curly in Oklahoma was released since this original thread began. Very nicely done. Rather stylized, but it retains the before-a-live-audience/theater feel. IIRC, it was recorded in London at the Royal National Theatre. Excellent performances, video and audio!

Original cast docos featuring songs inc,
"Company"
"Guys and Dolls-off the record" ( Laserdisc- Nathan Lane, Peter Gallagher and Faith Prince in a fabulous disc)
"Recording the Producers with Mel Brooks" (Another fabulous disc with Mathew Broderick and Nathan Lane)
"Follies in Concert" ( more behind the scenes than concert)

I own the first three of these (I wish, I wish that Guys and Dolls: Off The Record was released onto DVD!!!) and think they are a great way to get the flavor of the performances from the original cast. Are they records of the shows themselves? No. But they do serve as a "middle ground" much like the original cast recordings do. (My VHS copy--from a PBS broadcast--of G&D: OTR is wearing thin it has been played so many times).