Rating: 
Summary: The ALW RAH Celebration
Review: This wonderful recording reflects the tremendous athmosphere of an amazing evening. All the songs by most of the stars! END
Rating:
Summary: A Must-Buy For All Andrew Lloyd Webber Fans
Review: This is such a good video! It has songs from almost all of his musicals, and they're sung by very good people. There is also one song from his musical in work-the sequel to the Phantom Of The Opera! This is a must buy for all ALW fans! END
Rating:
Summary: 5 Awesome's: My family's Favorite
Review: One late night my brother called me and said, "You should watch TV right now!". When I turned TV on quickly, Sarah Brightman was singing with her beautiful voice in this wonderful concert. As I really liked the concert, I started to record it on VCR. However, I could not but buy this video for my own since I didn't want to miss previous parts. Actually I bought 3 copies, two of which were for my brother and sister who also love this concert.How I love this video! It shouldn't be better. I've already enjoyed another Andrew's video "Premere Collection", but this one is a lot better; exciting, absorbing and mersmerising. I do like all the 24 songs and tunes performed mostly with beautiful chorus, exciting dances and harmonic accompaniment by the great orchestra. In particular, "The heart is slow to learn" by Kiri Te Kanawa is too beautiful to express with words. And it's good to see Donny Osmond and Bonnie Tyler again. I never knew before Glenn Close and Antonio Banderas were such good singers. And Michael Ball, Elain Paige..... Yes, it's a night of a thousand stars. Only one thing this concert misses I think is the original Phantom: Michael Crawford. How funny it is that my nephew and nieces aged 8 to 10 got crazy for Boyzone with the song "No matter what". They are even eager to learn English and play the song with their instruments: piano and violin. (Is there anyone who can advise me how to get the score?) This video really is my family's favorite. I'd like to urge "PolyGram" to release this video to DVD very soon. And thank you Andrew for your marvelous works!!
Rating:
Summary: A Night Of A Thousand Stars!
Review: Just as the box (and the song) says, this is truly a night of a thousand stars. The video contains... Whistle Down The Wind ~ Tina Arena; Joseph Fanfare ~ the Orchestra; Any Dream Will Do & Close Every Door ~ Donny Osmond; Variations On A Theme By Paganini ~ Julian Lloyd Webber; Requiem For Evita ~ National Youth Choir; Oh What A Circus & High Flying Adored ~ Antonio Banderas; Don't Cry For Me Argentina ~ Elaine Paige; Light At The End Of The Tunnel ~ Ray Shell; Hosana (from Jesus Christ Superstar) ~ National Youth Choir; Hosana (from Requiem) ~ Dennis O'Neill; Pie Jesu ~ Sarah Brightman & Ben De'Ath; Jesus Christ Superstar ~ Marcus Lovett; Gethsemane ~ Michael Ball; Phantom Overture ~ the Orchestra; Phantom Of The Opera ~ Sarah Brightman & Antonio Banderas; All I Ask Of You ~ Sarah Brightman & Michael Ball; Music Of The Night ~ Sarah Brightman; Tire Tracks And Broken Hearts ~ Bonnie Tyler; No Matter What ~ Boyzone; Vaults Of Heaven ~ Michael Ball; Car Chase On Sunset Boulevard ~ the Orchestra; Once Upon A Time ~ Glenn Close & Marcus Lovett; With One Look & As If We Never Said Goodbye ~ Glenn Close; Love Changes Everything ~ Michael Ball & the Cast; Memory ~ Elaine Paige; The Heart Is Slow To Learn ~ Kiri Te Kanawa; Happy Birthday ~ the Cast; Whistle Down The Wind ~ Lottie Mayor & Andrew Lloyd Webber, and The Jellicle Ball ~ the Orchestra. You absolutely can't go wrong with this video. There is something for everyone, and you'll find yourself watching it repeatedly. The performances by Antonio Banderas, Sarah Brightman, Michael Ball, Glenn Close, Boyzone & Bonnie Tyler are all definitely highlights, but there isn't a disappointing performance in the entire 2 hour+ show.
Rating: 
Summary: LLOYD WEBBER'S BEAUTIFUL MUSIC IN THE GALA LIVE CONCERT
Review: When in March 1998 Andrew Lloyd Webber turned 50, a full two-hour celebration gala concert was given in his honour at London's Royal Albert Hall. He certainly deserved it, since by that time he was rightly thought of as the most successful musical composer of all times. As it is wide known, he wrote numerous hit shows, including the two longest running musicals in the history of the West End and Broadway, i.e. "Cats" and "The Phantom of the Opera". So the numerous artists who performed his shows and singles were called together and they delivered this stunning concert accompanied by a wonderful symphonic orchestra. Every show up to that date, except "By Jeeves", "The Beautiful Game" and his latest, "The woman in white", was covered, the former from 2000 and the latter premiered in September 2004. I'll give you my brief impressions of the songs performed here.
1. "Whistle down the wind" performed by Tina Arena: This is the single version released before the show was put to stage. It's a beautiful pop song with the nice guitar and drums use. Tina has the right voice, but her stage presence here is too aggressive.
2. "Any dream will do" and "Close every door" from "The Joseph and his amazing Technicolor dreamcoat" performed by Donny Osmond: These two songs from Webber's first musical Osmond sings with a group of young kids as the backs vocals that blends perfectly with his strong voice.
3. "Variations" is the piece for the cello and the orchestra that Webber based on the work of the Italian violin virtuoso Paganini and wrote for his cellist brother Julian Lloyd Webber, who plays the cello here. He gives a spotless rendition of the two numbers, with professional dancers dancing in front of him.
4. "Evita" follows. The quire of youngsters appropriately dressed performs "The requiem for Evita". Then comes Antonio Banderas dressed as Che and sings his two numbers: "Oh, what a circus" and "High flying, adored" very well, as he did in the movie. "Don't cry for me Argentina", one of the best songs Webber has ever written, is nicely sung here by Elaine Paige, who had the honour to be the first who in 1978 brought Evita to life in the West End. She wears a beautiful white gown and the fitting jewellery, similar to the one she had on stage when she was in the show.
5. "Starlight Express", the Webber's show about trains, is represented here by one ensemble song called "Light at the end of the tunnel". It is performed by one of the Original Cast members from 1984, Ray Shell, who is, with the rest of the singers here, on roller-skates, as the actors in the show are. It's a flashy piece, better to watch than to listen.
6. "Jesus Christ Superstar", Webber's first big success, is next. We have a short reference to the number "Hosanna" and the two solos. Michael Ball, the star of "Les Mis" and Webber's "Aspects of love", sings "Gethsemane" in the right tone and with the needed passion; a touch of sadness is present here. Marcus Lovett, who starred in "Whistle down the wind" that year, with the help of the soul girls, gives a rocky rendition of "Superstar"; very neat. Some will probably enjoy his costume: a tight jeans and shirtless T-shirt, showing his muscles. :-)
7. "Requiem", for which Webber won a special award, comes next in line. He wrote it in 1985 to commemorate the death of his father. The opera singer Dennis O'Neill sings "Hosanna" with his perfect tenor. Then, for the first time that evening, appears Sarah Brightman, who was Webber's second wife. She looks beautiful and reminds me here of a porcelain doll. She sings the most famous song from "Requiem", called "Pie Jesu", together with Ben De'atah, a small quire boy. It is the most solemn rendition of the evening.
8. "The Phantom of the Opera", the most produced of all Webber's shows, starts next, with a strong Overture. Sarah Brightman comes out, with a beautiful smile on her face. She sings in all of the three numbers here, "The Phantom of the Opera" being the first. My main complaint here is that Antonio Banderas joins her as the Phantom, which is very inappropriate. He is good as Che in "Evita", but the Phantom needs a totally different voice. Where was Michael Crawford that evening? Antonio's voice is trembling in this number and you can tell he's really struggling. Michael Ball joins Sarah in a beautiful rendition of the love ballad "All I ask of you" and they share a nice kiss in the end, just like in the show. Sarah wraps up the Phantom part with "The music of the night", originally sung by the Phantom, but here, they rightly didn't want to risk it with Banderas.
9. Two pop singles from "Whistle down the wind" come after that. Bonnie Tyler sings a stunning big number, "Tyre tracks and broken hearts", together with the very well choreographed dancers and the black girls as the back vocals. This whole number looks and sounds great. "No matter what" was an instant hit and is given here by Boyzone, then still existing as a boy band. Very well sung. But they saved the best for last of this part: Michael Ball comes out then and gives an amazing rendition of "The vaults of heaven", backed by the soul quire. This remains one of my favourites here; the sound of this is beyond description, as the applause proves it.
10. "Sunset Boulevard" part is next. "Sunset" remains for me one of Webber's best scores; lush and beautiful. I listen to the original cast recording with Patti LuPone all the time. However, here the songs are performed by Glenn Close. A big mistake. If you've ever listened the American premiere recording with her, you'll know what I am talking about. Yes, her stage presence is strong, as the applause of the audience shows, but her vocal abilities are too limited, and her aggressive approach to the role lacks any subtlety. I can only imagine how it would sound if Patti LuPone was there, or anybody else who sang it properly, like Betty Buckley or Petula Clark. This is one of the main reasons I'm giving this concert 4 stars. In this way, the three songs here, "Once upon a time", "With one look" and "As if we never said goodbye" only give a hint of what they may look like with the right singer. The funny thing is; this was the first time I heard these songs, and thought Glenn Close is OK, until I heard Patti LuPone. So do yourself a favour and get the London cast recording of "Sunset Blvd" to hear it how it should sound.
11. "Aspect of love" is represented by its hit song, "Love changes everything", Michael Ball's number one hit and standard. All the artists come out to the stage and join him in this song; very lovely.
12. Elaine Paige then makes her second appearance to sing "Memory", probably the most famous song of Webber, dressed in a nice feline gown. Her voice is lovely and gentle, though not as strong as on "Cats" DVD, from which it was put to her latest two-disc compilation, "Centre stage: The very best of Elaine Paige", issued in May 2004.
The master himself, Andrew Lloyd Webber, comes to the stage after that, to give a brief thanking speech. He also introduces the next artist, dame Kiri Te Kanawa.
13. Dame Kiri performs a song called "A heart is slow to learn", which belongs among the finest Lloyd Webber's ballads. It was initially intended to use it in a sequel of The Phantom of the opera", but in the year 2000, Webber used this melody with the changed lyrics for his musical "The beautiful game". Dame Kiri's soprano fits the melody perfectly.
14. Another rendition of "Whistle down the wind" follows, this time Webber is playing the piano and the young Lottie Mayor, who played the lead in the show that year, is singing. Her rendition is very opposite to Tina Arena's from the beginning: I like the touch of gentleness that Lottie brings to this song.
15. During the end credits, the orchestra plays "The jellicle ball" from "Cats".
I hope I gave you an interesting description of the whole show. Anyone who, like me, loves Andrew Lloyd Webber's music and musicals is in for a sheer delight. My only regret is that Michael Crawford and good singer for Sunset Blvd part weren't there. Other than that, this concert is a must have for all the Webber fans and those who enjoy quality musical theatre.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent entertainment
Review: This is a very nice collection of Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical pieces. I've seen it many times, but the experience of listening to and watching these excellent singers never gets old. My highlights are Bonnie Tyler, Boyzone, and, well, almost all of them! However, one act that I did not enjoy was Antonio Banderas' performance. His voice sounds strained and raspy, and compared with the clear, beautiful sounds created by his predecessors, he is not even in the same league. There's a good reason he didn't sing Music of the Night!
On the other hand, Elaine Paige's performance was magnificent. Her costumes were appropriate to the time period of the musical, and her acting ability was superb. Boyzone and Bonnie Tyler were only some of the other good acts in this recording. I do not hesitate to recommend this to anyone. Just keep in mind that some of the acts are more appealing to some people than others.
Rating: 
Summary: If only we could all celebrate 50 at Royal Albert Hall!
Review: Of course, most of what I want to say the 221 other reveiwers have beat me to. I'm going to be different, however, and say that Michael Ball's "Vaults of Heaven" was NOT the most memorable performance. I prefered his rendition of Gethsemane (I only want to say). Antonio Banderas did an excelent job with the songs from Evita, though if you want to be knit-picky Evita's dress was distracting. I also have a personal disgust for Sarah Brightman, she can't sing and she looks weird when she tries, but I'm in the minority there and I apologise if I offend anyone. If you like Andrew Loyd Webber's music you'll love this DVD, as it has practically everything he's written on it sung by many good performers.
Rating: 
Summary: Lavish
Review: I consider Lloyd Webber the British heir to Richard Rodgers, and this is what Sondheim would have done if he could have. (In fact Lloyd Webber at 50 even looks like Rodgers.) But I shut the thing off when a church choir-type started singing "The keys to the vault of heaven." Was this thing a retrospective of the composer or a religious revival? It was absolutely sodden with Christianity, nauseously so. Like almost every last song! I hung in there for over an hour and a half because there were some things I very much wanted to see and hear (as a rule, I love Lloyd Webber's music very much, sans the rock), but at this point I'd had enough. Sarah Brightman was absolutely beautiful and natural, what a charming open smile and such a wonderful voice. I loved what she did, and applauded all by myself in my living room at the end of her duet "All I Ask of You," though I dislike that show very much. I thought the fellow who sang Che (right name, spelling?) near the start was worlds better than Mandy Patinkin (whom I'd always loved before he went on to bigger and more pretentious things), also he had the right accent and was prettier. In fact, he was beautiful, as were several of the young men. I learned from reading some of the other reviews that this was an international cast (all unknown to me, ignorant, insular, xenophobic American that I am), all quite famous, and that Lloyd Webber is loved the world over. I can well understand why he is so much loved. However (I have CDs of all his shows that I know of, he may have written more since I stopped buying musicals), it seems to me that his wonderful talent (genius?) diminished as he grew older, his inspiration, gift for melody deserted him. I highly recommend this DVD for anyone who likes rock music (I do not) and who doesn't mind feeling they're in a 21st Century church. I'm sorry I had to stop it.
Rating:
Summary: MUST SEE
Review: Wonderful entertainers and choice of music. I wish this concert was longer because I didn't want it to end. If you like theatre, music, and talented performers, this VHS is for you. I originally saw it on PBS, and am happy I could buy it. However, I believe the place I bought it from shrink-wrapped it themselves instead of giving me a brand new copy.
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