Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Live Broadway Captured!, Oct 25 2002
This review is from: That's Singing, The Best of Broadway - A Celebration of American Musical Comedy (VHS Tape)
This taping absolutely blew me away! I originally bought it for the single purpose of seeing Barry Bostwick perform "Summer Loving" (instead of the talentless Travolta) after hearing the recording of the orginal "Grease!" cast. What an incredible find. As someone who is in love with musical theatre-I consider this film a treasure! To see such talented performers reviving the roles that they created is a once in a life time oportunity caught here for generations to fall in love with. You are treated to Broadway's Grand Dame Ethel Merman singing 2 of her timeless classics, Nell Carter bringing character and energy to Cole Porter music, Barry Bostwick and Carol Demas proving once and for all who the real Danny and Sandy were, Stephen Nathan and David Haskell tackling probably one of the most challenging duets ever-from "Godspell", the enigmatic Chita Rivera dancing to "The Shriners' Ballet" as well as singing and hoofing to "Little One New York",multi-talented Jerry Orback singing "Try to Remember" and the show-stopping "Lullaby of Broadway", and Ray Walston, gleefully reminising "The Good Ol' Days". Any self-respecting Broadway and/or musical theatre fan should own this taping. It gives the audience a glipmse back to a time when it took pure talent to make in on the Great White Way!!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great buy!, May 24 2002
This review is from: That's Singing, The Best of Broadway - A Celebration of American Musical Comedy (VHS Tape)
At first, I wasn't a big fan of Broadway. I mean sure, a little music here, a little dancing there, but I just didn't see what's so fantastic about some street in New York. One of my closer friends gave me this video, and I was about to return it to the store, when I decided to give it a try. Boy was it a great decision. I didn't even know the songs, and I was up dancing and singing all over my livingroom carpet. For either the big broadway fan, or the bored bum, this VHS is sure to get you laughing, crying, and dancing in your seat. Want a great buy? Don't look farther. Here are my rankings of the songs sung: 1)Fantasticks 2)Annie Get Your Gun 3)Ain't Misbehavin' 4)Company 5)How to suceed in business without really trying. That's all you need to know. And if you need to know more, than look at the price. Make the best buy. Get "That's Singing"
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Tape Full Of Talent, April 16 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: That's Singing, The Best of Broadway - A Celebration of American Musical Comedy (VHS Tape)
This video was ordered to introduce our children to the virtually lost art form of American musical theater, and it succeeds admirably. Hosted by the self-effacing Tom Bosley (of "Happy Days" fame), this program features excellent performances by a plethora of famous and not-so-famous singers, such as Barry Bostwick, Debbie Reynolds, Ray Walston, Anthony Perkins (yes, Norman!), Glynis Johns, Jerry Orbach and, of course, Ethel Merman. The singing is punctuated by fine hoofing by the American Dance Machine. Many standards are sung with obvious love by the performers who originally sang them on Broadway. Two of our personal favorites were Glynis Johns's wistful rendition of "Send In The Clowns" and Jerry Orbach singing "Try To Remember" (Yes, he had a long musical career before singing the part of Lumiere in "Beauty and the Beast" or acting on "Law & Order"). An extremely pleasant surprise was Barry Bostwick's soulful and humorous job of belting out "Summer Nights" from "Grease"---we still can't believe that he was passed over for the movie role in favor of the considerably less talented John Travolta (Who, by the way, sings even more poorly than he danced disco. Even Anthony Perkins sings better!). The only gripes we had were: The tape is too short, and that's probably because an entire segment of composers were left out. What happened to Rodgers and Hammerstein---or Lerner and Loewe? We love Stephen Sondheim, but felt there was way too much time devoted to his stuff. Perhaps the producers of this program figured that the famous duos didn't really need the exposure, but it was still an appalling oversight, given their contributions to the American stage. Other than that, this was a crisp, enjoyable set of performances by a group of people madly in love with their work. Very close to perfection!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most recent customer reviews
|