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List Price: $13.98 | | Label: RCA Victor Broadway
Salesrank: 10302
Released: November 9, 2004 |
| Our Price: $8.98 |
| Used Price: $4.18 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Studio: Sony Music Release Date: 11/09/2004
Description of Broadway - The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There:
It's not a comprehensive survey of the American musical theater, but Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There is an invaluable and moving salute to the art form composed of interviews with the people who were there in the 1940s through the 1960s. There are too many to list, but they include John Raitt, Angela Lansbury, Hume Cronyn, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Carol Channing, Jerry Orbach, Robert Goulet, Robert Morse (even he's gotten old!), Jerry Herman, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Stephen Sondheim, and Harold Prince. There are also some rare performance clips, such as Ethel Merman in Gypsy, Patricia Morison in Kiss Me Kate, and Angela Lansbury in Mame, as well as more familiar television performances, but very few film versions (for either authenticity or rights reasons). Director Rick McKay's focus, however, is on evocative stills, a few too many shots of the city, and most of all the words from the stars themselves. Fact is, because Broadway shows are a live performance medium, there simply isn't a lot of footage available, which is why it's a treat--no, it's an obligation--that we hear the stories from the people themselves. It's the best way the form will survive. After a bit of a slow start, the interviews cover the culture of Broadway, hanging out at Walgreen's and Sardi's, taking a show on the road, and thoughts about the current generation. (Broadway in this case refers to the location in New York rather than the musical-theater genre, so non-musicals are a major part of the discussion.)
Broadway: The Golden Age had a limited theatrical run in 2004, and there will be inevitable comparisons to Broadway: The American Musical, the six-hour series that played on PBS in the fall of that same year. The PBS series is much longer (especially counting the DVDs' bonus interviews) and unlike The Golden Age, it attempts to be a comprehensive survey of 100 years of American musical theater. The ambition is admirable, but often hard to live up to. The Golden Age offers more rare footage, and a more powerful sense of nostalgia throughout the interviews. On the downside, there's no real structure to the film other than grouping the interviews by random subject, and director McKay relies too much on his own personal experiences as a jumping-off point. But it's a worthwhile, often passionate film that captures a priceless glimpse at a way of life as lived by so many memorable figures whose like will never be seen again. --David Horiuchi
Broadway - The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There Reviews:
Great Documentary! 
2009-12-06 - It's a Great Documentary! The name of the film is Broadway: The Golden Age. It is specific to Broadway Shows or Broadway Shows that started out of town and moved to Broadway. Scott Miller says, in so many words, not to waste your time and save your money on an earlier posted comment. Scott Miller spends most of his career bashing the classics and praising the MUNY in St Louis. As a matter of fact, Mack and Mabel was destroyed when it played at the MUNY after successful out of town tryouts in LA, because the theater was too damn big and the actors had to scream to be heard. It never recovered until it was revived years later. The MUNY is no more interesting or special than other huge theaters that exist throughout the country. As for his comments about Irving Berlin: White Christmas, Easter Parade, There's No Business Like Show Business, Heat Wave, God Bless America, and Always, will remain entrenched in our popular culture long after the songs of Shrek the Musical, The Color Purple, and Light in the Piazza are long forgotten. Annie Get Your Gun is a classic - It might come off as politically incorrect or sexist to the PC police, but it was a solid, well constructed hit with great songs by Irving Berlin and a book by Dorothy & Herbert Fields. It is done in revivals, High Schools, Colleges, and Community Theaters for that very reason. It is universal. Hair on the other hand is also fun, but it is a nostalgic look at an era with references to things that are already long forgotten. Many of the musicals and revues of the thirties don't hold up for that very reason as well, but many of the songs are still remembered because they are also universal. ON BROADWAY, the golden age of the 40s thru the 60s existed because there were was an artistic movement that was part of the popular culture of the time. They had a plethora of well constructed books and scores that were universal and entertaining to the masses and discriminating critics alike. The original cast album of My Fair Lady sold millions of albums for a reason. Golden Age Musical like My Fair Lady, the King and I, Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls, Kiss Me Kate, Annie Get Your Gun, Hello, Dolly!, Fiddler on the Roof, Gypsy, Carousel, South Pacific, and Brigadoon will be revived as examples of a Golden Age, long after Caroline or Change is long forgotten. Candide was a flop when it originally opened, but it was still part of the Golden Age. There was indeed a Golden Age of Sondheim in the 70s (only Sondheim) , but it wasn't a cohesive movement that had anything to do with popular culture in general, and not other composer lyricist could create the kind of quality work that he did during that time. A Chorus Line, Chicago, and Pippin also appeal to many, but they are individual successes and do not consititue a Golden Age. There will always be great musicals created here and there, but a golden age did exist that will always be remembered as such from the early forties until the mid sixties. I left out plays. The plays of Tennesee Williams, William Inge, John van Druten, Philip Barry, Arthur Miller, Arthur Laurents, Clifford Odets, and Thorton Wilder coincided with the era of the great musicals that created a force that was THE GOLDEN AGE OF BROADWAY.
Broadway legends
2008-12-29 - An excellent CD for anyone who cares about theater and cares about the people who created the legend of Broadway. A wonderful tribute.
So fun!
2008-10-08 - Anyone who loves Broadway will love this! So great to see the history of Broadway through the actors eyes and cool clips from performances.
EXCEPTIONAL!
2007-02-10 - This DVD is for everyone who loves musical theatre. If you were fortunate enough to personally experience "The Golden Age", you will love this reminiscent journey. If you've seen only contemporary productions, you will be thrilled with this remarkable history as told by those who lived it. Rick McKay put his heart and soul in this production.
A Must Have For Any Theater Lover
2007-01-10 - I saw this and immediately bought a copy for myself and several others. It is an absolute gem, something any theater lover will want to have in their permanent collection. Not only is it wonderfully put together, but there is footage in there of scenes from plays otherwise impossible to see, of people who made Broadway history who are long gone but their legacy lives on. It is beautifully made and I cherish it.
