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Broadway's Lost Treasures

Broadway's Lost Treasures

List Price: $24.95
Your Price: $18.71
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Clarity a Problem
Review: First, I would give the DVD a 5 star rating for the opportunity to see all those broadway numbers with most of the original casts. That is a treat, and something to treasure. But I gave it a three star rating, as it was so blurry, especially if you have a large television. Watching it on a smaller tv makes it clearer. Therefore, my question, is why was it not redigitized. I did not realize that some of the songs were lip-synched, until I read the earlier reviews. Seeing Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera together was a true treat. Hope they make more of these DVD's, but please spend the money and digitize them

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Some of these "treasures" should have stayed lost.
Review: I am a Broadway musical "junkie" and it saddens me to not give this DVD the five star rating it promised. My disappointment came when I noticed some of the numbers are basically the original cast members lip synching to the original cast recordings. Still there are enough "live" performances on this DVD to make it well worth the money. Just be prepared to be a little dissappointed for the reasons stated above.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Broadway DVD!
Review: I got a lot of enjoyment while watching Broadway's Lost Treasures. This is a must for any theater lover's DVD or video collection.

John Gennusa
the Jack E. Jett Show

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Broadway DVD!
Review: I got a lot of enjoyment while watching Broadway's Lost Treasures. This is a must for any theater lover's DVD or video collection.

John Gennusa
the Jack E. Jett Show

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very Beautiful
Review: I like this dvd alot.it shows alot of broadway history.i recommend it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It was seeing a Broadway festival in my living room!
Review: I really enjoyed this DVD, mainly because it introduced me to some musicals I'd never heardof, and it let me view footage of performances that I had heard of but had been performed before my time. I was exited to see Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon doing a medly from Chicago, my favorite musical. I had heard them on the original cast album but had never dreamed if seeing them perform it! I also enjoyed "If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof, which is the soring musical my school is doing thic year. I loved the movie Cabaret and really enjoyed seeing Joel Grey performing this as it had been done on Broadway, quite different from the movie's rendition of "Willkommen". I also enjoyed, for possibly the first time, "Tomorrow" from Annie, because that was the first "good-sounding" version I've heard, it wasn't as nasally as the versions in the movies. Overall, this DVD gave me a Broadway experience that I may never get to see. Plus, I like seeing things done by the originals.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It was seeing a Broadway festival in my living room!
Review: I really enjoyed this DVD, mainly because it introduced me to some musicals I'd never heardof, and it let me view footage of performances that I had heard of but had been performed before my time. I was exited to see Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon doing a medly from Chicago, my favorite musical. I had heard them on the original cast album but had never dreamed if seeing them perform it! I also enjoyed "If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof, which is the soring musical my school is doing thic year. I loved the movie Cabaret and really enjoyed seeing Joel Grey performing this as it had been done on Broadway, quite different from the movie's rendition of "Willkommen". I also enjoyed, for possibly the first time, "Tomorrow" from Annie, because that was the first "good-sounding" version I've heard, it wasn't as nasally as the versions in the movies. Overall, this DVD gave me a Broadway experience that I may never get to see. Plus, I like seeing things done by the originals.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Where's Jennifer Holliday?
Review: I'd read they were planning on including "And I Am Telling You (I'm Not Going)" on this DVD, but it isn't listed. While some of the selections are exciting, some, considering what they have to choose from, are disappointing. In addition to Dreamgirls, I'd love to see Tommy Tune's staging of "Be Italian" from Nine, as well as Lansbury and Bea Arthur singing "Bosom Buddies." And so on...it's all in there. The idea of this DVD is a great one and about time, and definitely worth owning. Hopefully, if sales are good, they'll issue a Volume 2.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Hopefully there will be a second volume
Review: In the early 1980s, I briefly had the honour of working for Broadway producer Alexander H. Cohen, one of the greatest showmen of all time. "Broadway's Lost Treasures" is a compilation of musical numbers from several annual editions of the Tony Awards, all produced under Alexander Cohen's aegis. A disproportionate percentage of these numbers are from the 1971 Tony Awards ceremony. The 1971 Broadway theatre season was less distinguished than usual, and the American Theatre Wing expected that year's edition of the Tony Awards to be thin pickings. With one of his legendary bursts of inspiration, Alex Cohen realised that this year (1971) was the 25th anniversary of the Tony Awards. He decided to celebrate the occasion by having several of Broadway's most legendary performers reprise their most famous musical numbers. "Broadway's Lost Treasures" contains several of those re-enactments.

Unfortunately, some of the re-enactments in "Broadway's Lost Treasures" are less than first-rate. From the 1971 Tony special, we see Vivian Blaine doing an abbreviated version of 'Adelaide's Lament' from "Guys and Dolls," plus Robert Preston doing 'Trouble' from "The Music Man," Yul Brynner doing 'Shall We Dance?' from "The King and I" and John Raitt singing 'Hey There' from "The Pajama Game." But all of these performers did these songs much more brilliantly in the respective film versions of these musicals, which are now (although not in 1971) readily available on video. The John Raitt number is especially disappointing: why didn't he reprise for the Tony Awards his greatest number of all, 'Soliloquy' from "Carousel"? This is especially regrettable, since -- unlike "The Pajama Game" -- Raitt didn't get a chance to repeat his performance in the film version of "Carousel."

Angela Lansbury performs 'The Worst Pies in London' from "Sweeney Todd." A close-up reveals that she's lip-synching to her own pre-recorded voice.

On the plus side, we get Joel Grey's brilliant performance of 'Wilkommen' from "Cabaret," 'Kickin' the Clouds Away' from "My One and Only," performed in sprightly fashion by Twiggy, Tommy Tune and some tap-dancing bridesmaids, and 'A New Argentina' from "Evita."

The most pleasant surprise is Julie Andrews' 'Send in the Clowns' from "A Little Night Music." At one point during this live performance, she glances offstage to check the lyrics on a cue card ... but her performance is so deft that you'll barely notice this.

The finest vocal performance here is by the young Andrea McArdle, singing 'Tomorrow' from "Annie."

Despite its flaws, "Broadway's Lost Treasures" is required viewing for anyone interested in the American musical theatre.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: THEY HAD FACES THEN!
Review: It is very exciting to see these performances for the first time. I am more of a fan of Wicked and Hairspray but this was great! Too good to be true. I could have skipped the talking in between as it seemed forced and this is really one you buy just to see these stars doing what they are famous for. I love Mandy Patinkin and wish they still made musicals so he could be doing more of them in movies. Where was he in "Chicago"? I mean Richard GERE?!


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