Garysb
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2003
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A London revival of Sondhein's Company was recorded and broadcast on TV in England . It is not available on DVD but it can be seen at the Museum of Radio and TV in New York and LA.
I don't believe any of the Sondheim shows available on DVD were filmed with a live audience. There are parts that show the audience entering and applauding at the end of acts and when the actors take bows but most of the show was filmed without an audience . I believe a lot of Bernadette Peters' performance in Sunday in the Park with George had to be dubbed post production as she was ill when filming was done a few days after the last performance on Broadway. The Hugh Jackman Oklahoma was filmed at a studio and not live. The audience shots were inserted to give the impression that it was filmed in a theater. There was a Live from Lincoln Center production of Sondheim's A Little Night Music . This was done live and with an audience. Sadly this is not available on DVD.
I had a tape and it was great.
The archive of shows at the library of Lincoln Center is the best place to see shows. these are taped at actual performances. The cameras are stationary . These are not meant for broadcast so they do not have many close ups or camera angles. The are literally a filmed stage performance. There are some shows they have that you can not see such as Fiddler on the Roof with Zero Mostel from a 1970's revival. Jerome Robbins and others so disliked
the performance that they restricted viewing to only a very select group of theater professionals. These are not just Broadway productions. regional theater is also included.
From the NYPL at Lincoln Center website:
The Billy Rose Theatre Collection of The New York Public Library is one of the largest and most comprehensive archives devoted to the theatrical arts. Encompassing dramatic performance in all its diversity, the Collection is an indispensable resource for artists, writers, researchers, scholars, students, and the general public. Through conservation and documentation efforts, it preserves and promotes the theatre, playing a dynamic role in the national and international theatrical communities.
The Collections holdings illuminate virtually every type of performance, from street corner to stage to studio, and include drama and musical theatre, film, television, radio, and popular entertainment (circus, magic, vaudeville, puppetry).
Working in the Collection, a user can examine a 1767 program for a performance of Romeo and Juliet in Philadelphia, study Edwin Booths letters to his daughter, review the working script for Orson Welles African-American Macbeth, study costume designs from the film Anna and the King of Siam, analyze a videotape of A Chorus Line, or read scripts from current television hits.
Chronicling performances around the globe and throughout the centuries, the Billy Rose Theatre Collection was formally established in 1931, following a gift to The New York Public Library of thousands of items from the estate of producer and playwright David Belasco. However, its roots date to two other important gifts -the George Becks Collection (1905) and the Robinson Locke Collection (1925). While it houses an extraordinary array of traditional reference materials, the Collections strength and uniqueness lie in its unparalleled collection of theatre ephemera as well as its pioneering efforts to document theatre on videotape and film. Approximately 5 million items illuminate the art of theatre worldwide.
I don't believe any of the Sondheim shows available on DVD were filmed with a live audience. There are parts that show the audience entering and applauding at the end of acts and when the actors take bows but most of the show was filmed without an audience . I believe a lot of Bernadette Peters' performance in Sunday in the Park with George had to be dubbed post production as she was ill when filming was done a few days after the last performance on Broadway. The Hugh Jackman Oklahoma was filmed at a studio and not live. The audience shots were inserted to give the impression that it was filmed in a theater. There was a Live from Lincoln Center production of Sondheim's A Little Night Music . This was done live and with an audience. Sadly this is not available on DVD.
I had a tape and it was great.
The archive of shows at the library of Lincoln Center is the best place to see shows. these are taped at actual performances. The cameras are stationary . These are not meant for broadcast so they do not have many close ups or camera angles. The are literally a filmed stage performance. There are some shows they have that you can not see such as Fiddler on the Roof with Zero Mostel from a 1970's revival. Jerome Robbins and others so disliked
the performance that they restricted viewing to only a very select group of theater professionals. These are not just Broadway productions. regional theater is also included.
From the NYPL at Lincoln Center website:
The Billy Rose Theatre Collection of The New York Public Library is one of the largest and most comprehensive archives devoted to the theatrical arts. Encompassing dramatic performance in all its diversity, the Collection is an indispensable resource for artists, writers, researchers, scholars, students, and the general public. Through conservation and documentation efforts, it preserves and promotes the theatre, playing a dynamic role in the national and international theatrical communities.
The Collections holdings illuminate virtually every type of performance, from street corner to stage to studio, and include drama and musical theatre, film, television, radio, and popular entertainment (circus, magic, vaudeville, puppetry).
Working in the Collection, a user can examine a 1767 program for a performance of Romeo and Juliet in Philadelphia, study Edwin Booths letters to his daughter, review the working script for Orson Welles African-American Macbeth, study costume designs from the film Anna and the King of Siam, analyze a videotape of A Chorus Line, or read scripts from current television hits.
Chronicling performances around the globe and throughout the centuries, the Billy Rose Theatre Collection was formally established in 1931, following a gift to The New York Public Library of thousands of items from the estate of producer and playwright David Belasco. However, its roots date to two other important gifts -the George Becks Collection (1905) and the Robinson Locke Collection (1925). While it houses an extraordinary array of traditional reference materials, the Collections strength and uniqueness lie in its unparalleled collection of theatre ephemera as well as its pioneering efforts to document theatre on videotape and film. Approximately 5 million items illuminate the art of theatre worldwide.
. I don't mind if it's a single-camera on a single night, or a closed-theater filming. Just lets not lose these bits of magic.
