The Classic Musicals Collection: Broadway to Hollywood (Easter Parade Two Disc Special Edition / The Band Wagon Two Disc Special Edition / Bells Are Ringing / Finian's Rainbow / Brigadoon)

The Classic Musicals Collection: Broadway to Hollywood (Easter Parade Two Disc Special Edition / The Band Wagon Two Disc Special Edition / Bells Are Ringing / Finian's Rainbow / Brigadoon) Review

The Classic Musicals Collection: Broadway to Hollywood (Easter Parade Two Disc Special Edition / The Band Wagon Two Disc Special Edition / Bells Are Ringing / Finian's Rainbow / Brigadoon) Feature

• Band Wagon, The: Special Edition: - Fading movie musical star Tony Hunter, down and out in Hollywood, decides to try his luck on the Broadway stage. Unfortunately, the simple hoofer discovers that a pretentious director has control of the project, and that instead of good humor, happy songs and a tapping chorus line, there'll be lengthy speeches, heavy drama and lots of deep soul-searching. Ev

Broadway to Hollywood: The Classic Musicals Collection is a five-film set of fondly remembered, mostly MGM musicals: Easter Parade (1948), The Band Wagon (1953), Bells Are Ringing (1960), Finian's Rainbow (Warner, 1968), and Brigadoon (1954). Four of the films are making their DVD debut, all are available separately (for a higher price), and the two best films, Easter Parade and The Band Wagon, come in two-disc special editions complete with commentary tracks, new and vintage documentaries, and musical outtakes. Both of those films star Fred Astaire following his return from premature retirement. Easter Parade is a Pygmalion-like tale of a Vaudeville veteran (Astaire) who attempts to develop an act with a small-timer (Judy Garland) after his partner (Ann Miller) leaves him. Favorite songs include the title tune, "Steppin' Out with My Baby," and "We're a Couple of Swells." The Band Wagon was a sort of career retrospective for Astaire, as he plays an aging film star trying to resurrect his career by returning to the Broadway stage. Costars include Cyd Charisse, Jack Buchanan, Oscar Levant, and Nanette Fabray, and favorite numbers include "Dancing in the Dark," "By Myself," "Triplets," and "A Shine on Your Shoes."

Bells Are Ringing is a charmingly dated Vincente Minnelli film starring Judy Holliday, in a reprise of her Tony-winning Broadway role as an employee at an answering service who finds herself falling for a client (Dean Martin). Favorite songs include "Just in Time" and "The Party's Over." Finian's Rainbow is a bloated oddity directed by a young Francis Ford Coppola and starring Astaire as a leprechaun and '60s pop icon Petula Clark as his daughter. It does have some great songs, however, including "How Are Things in Glocca Mora," "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love," and "Old Devil Moon." Brigadoon has been out on DVD twice before, but appears now in its best version yet, remastered, anamorphically enhanced, and with musical outtakes. It stars Gene Kelly and Van Johnson as Americans who stumble across a Scottish village that only appears on Earth one day every 100 years, which is a problem when Kelly falls in love with one of its residents (Cyd Charisse). Favorite songs include "Almost Like Being in Love," "The Heather on the Hill," and "I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean."

While none of the films in the Broadway to Hollywood collection are absolutely top-tier MGM (and Astaire, Garland, and Kelly all made better films in their careers), all have their charms and are welcome additions to the DVD catalog. Trivia note: The title of the set isn't 100% correct. Easter Parade did not originate as a Broadway musical, but Tommy Tune made an unsuccessful attempt to adapt the movie into a Broadway show in the late 1990s. --David Horiuchi

Seven-disc set includes "Easter Parade (Special Edition)," "The Band Wagon (Special Edition)," "Brigadoon," "Bells Are Ringing," and "Finian's Rainbow."

Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway

Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway Review

Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway Feature

• Actors: Will Chase, Adam Kantor, Michael McElroy, Rodney Hicks, Tracie Thoms.
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC.
• Language: English. Subtitles: English, French.
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only).
• Not Rated. Run Time: 165 minutes.

For passionate fans of Rent--the popular Broadway rock musical that updated La Boheme with electric guitars, steel drums, strippers, and drag queens--Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway is a must-have.Written and composed by Jonathan Larson (who died suddenly of an aortic aneurysm just before the show premiered), Rent follows an absurdly clean-cut gaggle of hipster artists who, after having been squatting in a run-down building for a year, are now being told they have to pay that rent by the building's owner, a former friend. At least, that's the plot point that launches everything; really, the musical is about modern romance, grappling with AIDS, and celebrating the creative spirit. This film documents the last performance of the Broadway production, which ran for 12 years. Though the aggressive camera moves and sometimes frenetic editing seem intended to make the film feel less stagebound, this Rent first and foremost captures the stage experience. The production's raw set and self-conscious theatricality (which highfalutin' theater folk might call "Brechtian") creates genuine show-biz razzle-dazzle and helps distract from some of the cliches in the musical itself. There are no famous faces (the closest is Tracie Thoms, who played the same role, the lesbian lover of a performance artist, in the movie version), but the cast is solid and exuberant, throwing themselves wholeheartedly into the show's unapologetically sincere paeans to life and love. --Bret Fetzer

Stills from Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway (Click for larger image)

Set in New York City's gritty East Village, the revolutionary rock opera RENT tells the story of a group of bohemians struggling to live and pay their rent. "Measuring their lives in love," these starving artists strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic. RENT is Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer and Tony Award winning musical, one of the longest running shows on Broadway.

Memphis: The Original Broadway Production [Blu-ray]

Memphis: The Original Broadway Production [Blu-ray] Review

BluRay release featuring the original Broadway cast! Winner of four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score, and Best Orchestrations.Bursting off the stage with explosive dancing, irresistible songs and a thrilling tale of fame and forbidden love, this incredible journey is filled with laughter, soaring emotion and roof-raising rock 'n' roll.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Broadway Version)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Broadway Version) Review

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Broadway Version) Feature

• Times are hard in 1846 London and one must make do. So Nellie Lovett adds something extra to the meat pies she peddles on Fleet Street. The secret ingredient: freshly murdered victims of her partner in crime, barber Sweeney Todd.Composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim refashions a macabre tale into a musical masterwork in this dazzling performance of the 1979 Broadway hit originally staged by Harold Pr

Stephen Sondheim's Victorian horror thriller Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is generally considered his greatest work, macabre but darkly humorous with a viscerally powerful score that has found a home both on Broadway and in opera houses. George Hearn (who replaced Len Cariou of the original Broadway cast) plays the title character, a wronged man whose lust for revenge drives him to murder (an 18th-century legend who has been traced to a real-life barber), and Angela Lansbury plays his partner in crime, Mrs. Lovett, who finds a practical business use for Todd's victims. This combination of horror and humor is echoed in Sondheim's score: brooding menace ("The Ballad of Sweeney Todd," "My Friend"), achingly beautiful ballads ("Johanna," "Not While I'm Around"), clever puns ("A Little Priest"), coloratura arias ("Green Finch and Linnet Bird"), and intricate choral and ensemble numbers.

Continuing a fortuitous tradition of capturing the Sondheim legacy on video recordings, this performance was filmed before a live audience in Los Angeles during the 1982 national tour. Almost 20 years later, Hearn returned to the role opposite Patti LuPone in an acclaimed concert production. But Sweeney Todd is an especially compelling experience in this 1982 version, complete with the clever staging tricks (e.g., the barber's chair) and as close to the original cast as we're likely to see. --David Horiuchi Times are hard in 1846 London and one must make do. So Nellie Lovett adds something extra to the meat pies she peddles on Fleet Street. The secret ingredient: freshly murdered victims of her partner in crime, barber Sweeney Todd. Composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim refashions a macabre tale into a musical masterwork in this dazzling performance of the 1979 Broadway hit originally staged by Harold Prince. In her Tony-winning role (one of eight the show earned, including Best Musical), Angela Lansbury plays Nellie. George Hearn turns his stage role of twisted Sweeney into an Emmy-winning triumph. The score coils around itself in ever-tightening spirals. The lines ripple with black humor and madness. Enter Sweeney's tonsorial parlor. Attend the tale.

Victor Victoria: 1995 Broadway Production [Blu-ray]

Victor Victoria: 1995 Broadway Production [Blu-ray] Review

One of the world's best-loved performers, Julie Andrews reaches new heights in her most challenging role as a woman pretending to be a man impersonating a woman! Filmed on the Broadway stage, VICTOR/VICTORIA is a warm, funny, wildly energetic look at the nature of love, gender perceptions and the battle of the sexes. Written and directed by Blake Edwards, with an unforgettable score by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse, VICTOR/VICTORIA tells the story of an out-of-work singer whose life changes when she meets the flamboyant Toddy. With his help, she becomes "Victor," an overnight singing sensation in the nightclubs of Paris. But success becomes hilariously complicated when she meets the love of her life, King Marchan, a macho Chicago gangster. From the electrifying excitement of "Le Jazz Hot" to the contemplative "Crazy World," from the humor of "Chicago, Illinois" to the touching "Almost a Love Song," this classic musical has it all.

Broadway - The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There

Broadway - The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There Review

BROADWAY:GOLDEN AGE - DVD Movie

Stephen Sondheim's Passion (Original Broadway Cast)

Stephen Sondheim's Passion (Original Broadway Cast) Review

An unforgettable chronicle of the redemptive power of love, this is a mesmerizing musical rhapsody from the Broadway team of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. In 19th century Italy, handsome soldier Giorgio, is embroiled in a steamy affair with lovely, and married, Clara. Giorgio is transferred from Milan to a remote military outpost where he comes into contact with the ailing, homely Fosca, his commanding officer's cousin. Fosca falls instantly and deeply in love with Giorgio, who resists her affections. Gradually she reveals, and Giorgio learns to appreciate, what is truly beautiful about herself. This highly acclaimed Broadway musical features extraordinary performances from Donna Murphy (The King & I), Marin Mazzie (Ragtime, Kiss Me Kate) and Jere Shea (Damn Yankees). A haunting study of obsessive love, this striking production offers a visual and musical feast that will linger in your heart and soul forever! Winner of 4 Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Actress (Musical) - Donna Murphy, Best Book (Musical) - James Lapine, Best Original Musical Score - Stephen Sondheim

TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Broadway Musicals (Show Boat / Annie Get Your Gun / Kiss Me Kate / Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)

TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Broadway Musicals (Show Boat / Annie Get Your Gun / Kiss Me Kate / Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) Review

SHOW BOAT (1951) A vivid and vibrant saga of riverboat lives and loves has glorious stars (Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Marge and Gower Champion) in Technicolor radiance, timeless Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II songs and an equally timeless outcry against racial bigotry. Like Ol' Man River, its delights just keep rollin' along. ANNIE GET YOUR GUN Betty Hutton (as Annie Oakley) and Howard Keel (as Frank Butler) star in this sharpshootin' funfest an Oscar winner for adaptation scoring based on the Broadway smash boasting Irving Berlins beloved songs, including Doin' What Comes Naturally, I Got Lost in His Arms and the anthemic There's No Business like Show Business. SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS The perfect marriage of song and dance! Backwoods boys inspired by romance and the lure of hot biscuits raid the local town for brides. Un-uh: The would-be brides insist the fellas first become respectable! Howard Keel and Jane Powell head a leaping whoop for joy in this exuberant Oscar winner. KISS ME KATE When squabbling ex-married's Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel are cast as squabbling Renaissance romantics in a musical The Taming of the Shrew, life imitates art, art imitates life and it all proves no musical comedy imitates this backstage/onstage delight from the Broadway hit with 14 peerless Cole Porter songs. It's all Too Darn Hot!