Broadway's Lost Treasures

We saw this on PBS and almost made an outrageous donation to obtain a DVD, then held out for its public release. (The price was far more reasonable buying it through Amazon!) Our family enjoys American muscial theater and this DVD serves up plenty of great performances. The production is well-done, with four segments: Broadway Divas, Leading Men, Dancin', and Record Breakers. Angela Lansbury introduces the show, then each part is hosted by Joel Grey, Tommy Tune, Jerry Orbach and Chita Rivera, each of whom has at least one terrific performance during the show. Many of the scenes were clearly taken from a special that aired on TV in the late seventies. The singers and dancers---some of them getting a bit up there in years---deliver wonderful performances. There isn't a single bad one in the roster. It's difficult to choose a favorite, but our family really loved Betty Buckley's awesome version of "Memory" from Cats, Andrea McArdle belting out "Tomorrow" from Annie and the great hoofing and singing by Jerry Orbach and company in "42nd Street" from the musical of the same name. We also found Angela Lansbury creepily funny in Sweeney Todd and Joel Grey just plain creepy in Cabaret, as his character was intended to be. Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon also prove the old gals still have it in their song-and-dance number "All That Jazz" from Chicago. Yul Brynner also is light on his feet in "Shall We Dance?" from his signature musical The King And I. Paul Lynde vents wonderfully as a frustrated parent in his part from Bye, Bye Birdie; both Robert Preston as The Music Man and Zero Mostel as the poor man from Fiddler On The Roof display remarkable energy and zest for their longtime roles. As for the ladies, Carol Channing croaks and squeaks delightfully in Hello, Dolly!, Julie Andrew is elegant and wistful singing "Send In The Clowns", and Patti Lupone is great as Evita. The DVD is nicely done, and includes five bonus acts not shown on the PBS version. We highly recommend this for fans of American musical theater or those curious about this almost-lost art form.

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

This a very good DVD. There are some low points though. One of them is "The Worst Pies in London". If you try to sing this song to yourself you will see why they had it Lip-synched in front of a live audience. The rest of the Dvd for the most part is excellent. The appluase number in the extra is great. Buy this DVD , But with some caution.