Customer Reviews

Broadway's Lost Treasures 2 [VHS]

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4 star:		(8)
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Once again, I'm grateful for what good we do get in the mix of performances captured in Broadway's Lost Treasures II -- for what is good is quite good.

Among the best are Michael Jeter and Brent Barrett having a ball in Grand Hotel, Patti LuPone brassily belting in Anything Goes, Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur radiating charm and affection in Mame, Robert Lindsay acting and singing very much like Anthony Newley in Me and My Girl, and Walter Bobbie and chorus bringing down the house in Guys and Dolls.

But we also get plenty of less-exciting segments, and several once again are lip synched (generally the performers recreating their performances for the 1971 Tony show's retrospective). The latter include Richard Kiley in Man of La Mancha and Tom Bosley in Fiorello. The whole lifeblood of Broadway is LIVE performance, so these artificial segments should have been left in the vault and more time should have been given to other truly live performances.

The most curious segment is Katherine Hepburn in Coco. In the end, though, it doesn't do much for the reputation of the show -- or Hepburn, for that matter. She can't sing -- that's no surprise -- but she's also unable to immerse herself in the character. You never forget it's Hepburn doing Chanel, and she tends to bellow to be heard across the footlights. Since Hepburn insisted on having this segment pretaped without an audience, we also get a very intrusive laugh track. But for many, Hepburn's star wattage will be enough.

All that said, every Broadway fan needs to have this DVD in his/her collection. And we can only hope that more will be forthcoming.

I received the first and second issues of the series the same day, watched both twice. It was wonderful to relive some of the performances I saw on Broadway as well as to see some performances I was not able to see "live". There is nothing like the m,agic of live theater and both volumes bring it to you via Toney Awards telecasts. It was nice to see Tom Bosley [ Happy Days, Father Dowling Mysteries, and Murder She Wrote] in his Tomy Award performance as Fiorello Laguardia; Jerry Orbach [Law and Order] in 42nd Street and Chicago, Angela Lansbury [Murder She Wrote] in Mame and Sweeny Todd., and so it goes. THIS IS A MUST FOR ANYONE WHO LIKES MUSICAL THEATER. I only hope there is a third edition.

As a musical theatre lover I've seen a lot of footage from various tony's & concerts, but this was delightful! The wide range of preformances and preformers are just great! I'd get this based only on the fact that it has Patti LuPone doing Anthing Goes on it! :) Also, the selections from Jelly's Last Jam & Chicago are just great! Enjoy! (and if you haven't seen the first Lost treasures DVD, treat yourself to that!)

Don't get me wrong, vol. 1 was great to see. But I have some fond memories of the listed numbers, and it's possible this volume might have less star wattage and show familiarity but more polished, enjoyable performances. The list:

The Leads:
Patti LuPone, Anything Goes
Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur, Mame
Robert Morse, How to Succeed
Jane Lapotaire, Piaf
Richard Kiley, Man of La Mancha

All Singing, All Dancing
Nell Carter and cast, Ain't Misbehavin'
Michael Jeter and Brent Barrett, Grand Hotel
Gregory Hines and cast, Jelly's Last Jam
Walter Bobbie and Nathan Lane, Guys and Dolls

Revivals and Record Breakers
George Hearn and cast, La Cage aux Folles
Cast, Les Miserables
Shirley Verrett and cast, Carousel
Jerry Orbach, Chicago

Bonus Performances
Katharine Hepburn, Coco
Robert Lindsay, Me and My Girl
Tom Bosley, Fiorello!
Kathi Moss and cast, Nine
Bill Hutton and cast, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

For those of us of a certain age - which probably means anyone past 50, these days - this is an incredible look back on the people, the performances, the to wonderful music and dance that we just don't see enough of in this age of rap and hip-hop (which we know is aimed at a younger crowd, who probably feel as passionate about them as we do about "our" kind of entertainment.) It's a super hour-and-a-half of happy memories.

To begin with, I totally agree with some reviewers that the lip-sinked numbers are a low part of the disc, but even so we watch the people who 'introduced' these classics to the public. I also think Hepburn was Hepburn, and the long dialogue section could - and should! - have been cut. But the sets and the concept of the number were great.

But in general my wife and I had the sensation that "It's A Pity It Had To End!" We could have been there for the whole night watching number after number without blinking. Michael Jeter and the cast of Grand Hotel and of course Tommy Tune's concept were incredible. Angela Landsbury and Bea Arthur were marvelous doing one of Jerry Herman's best.

Well, in conclusion, I LOVED this DVD. And we can't wait for BLT 3.

I am so happy to see that this sequel is out there. I hope that they keep putting them out over and over. I actaully like this one more than the first. I am crazy about Patty LuPone and she is phenomenal as usual.

This is one to watch again and again.

The only thing I didn't care for much were the interviews, which I found to be very light weight and not adding much to the show. But, that is a small quibble in something so valuable.

Though there is a little weak material on this DVD, the whole is an item absolutely essential to the Broadway lover's collection. You will replay many of the sequences over and over, like Jeter and Barrett's smashing scene from Grand Hotel (even my musical-disliking friends liked this one), Gregory Hines and his peerless company in Jelly's Last Jam, and Jerry Orbach's turn as Billy Flynn in Chicago. On the other hand, the Coco sequence is long, dull, and forgettable; the girl playing next to Hepburn is incredibly bad, and it's a surprise that someone like her would be on the Broadway stage. I thought the Me and My Girl sequence was also long, dull, and forgettable, with a repetitive song and a dance that seemed less than brilliantly choreographed. I just wish they would ultimately release all the Tony performances; in most cases, these are the only surviving snippets of much classic theatre, and whether they're "treasures" or not they're always worth seeing and preserving.

If you love musical theater this is an absolute must. I enjoyed this program even more than the first Broadway's Lost Treasures. How fortunate we are to have these fantastic performances preserved for us to enjoy. Buy it!

If you're interested in the history of Broadway musicals, this DVD is a good start. However, it just covers the top-selling shows and does not delve too deeply.