Product Details

• Actors: Mandy Patinkin, Dawn Upshaw, Judith Blazer, Audra McDonald, Richard Muenz
• Directors: Hart Perry
• Format: Classical, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Kultur Video
• DVD Release Date: July 25, 2006
• Run Time: 55 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000G1ALEI
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #43,236 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "Leonard Bernstein's New York / Mandy Patinkin, Dawn Upshaw, Donna Murphy" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Leonard Bernstein's New York is a video companion to the 1996 CD of the same name, which collects songs from the three Broadway musicals Bernstein wrote that were set in--and celebrate--New York City: West Side Story, On the Town, and Wonderful Town. In the documentary, the singers--Mandy Patinkin, Judy Blazer, Donna Murphy, Audra McDonald, Richard Muenz, and Dawn Upshaw, the most glorious voices in musical theater at the time--explain their affinity for Bernstein's music and how it captures the heart and soul of the city. Additional comments by Bernstein scholars and director Hal Prince are interspersed with songs performed by the singers in evocative New York locales--Patinkin singing "Some Other Time" at Coney Island, Blazer driving Patinkin in a cab in "Come Up to My Place"--in the recording studio, or alongside pianist Eric Stern (who also conducted the orchestral numbers)--such as Murphy in a slinky yellow gown torching up "Ain't Got No Tears Left" or Upshaw making "Lonely Town" one of the most achingly beautiful things you'll ever hear. The music is so good, the only thing a viewer could wish for would be more of it. --David Horiuchi

Product Description

A new generation of American musical theater artists come together in a "glorious mosaic of Leonard Bernstein’s show tunes" (New York Times). Brilliantly filmed in the very New York locations celebrated by the songs - Coney Island, Central Park, Times Square - this DVD joins today’s performers with the ageless music of perhaps New York’s greatest musical personality. On the Town, Wonderful Town and West Side Story chronicle the city in all its variety and excitement, and these performances bring a heightened measure of entertainment to Bernstein’s singular achievement. "New York, New York! a helluva town!" the company sings - it was never truer than in "Leonard Bernstein’s New York" today.
With Dawn Upshaw • Mandy Patinkin • Donna Murphy • Audra McDonald • Judy Blazer • Richard Muenz. Produced and directed by Hart Perry.

On The Town: New York, New York (ensemble) • Ya Got Me (Murphy, Blazer, Patinkin) • Come Up To My Place (Patinkin, Blazer) • Lonely Town (Upshaw) • Some Other Time (Patinkin) • Ain’t Got No Tears Left (Murphy)
Wonderful Town: What a Waste (Muenz, Upshaw, Murphy) • A Quiet Girl (Muenz) • Wrong Note Rag (Patinkin) • Story of My Life (Blazer) • A Little Bit in Love (McDonald)
West Side Story: One Hand, One Heart (Upshaw, Muenz) • Balcony Scene (Tonight) (McDonald, Patinkin)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Go for the CD instead, October 13, 2006

By	Melissa Leilani Larson "Mel Leilani" (Coralville, IA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been a fan of this DVD's companion recording for years. When I heard that the DVD was being released, I rushed out to find it. But despite the incredible quality of the music and the performances, this DVD was really quite disappointing. At under an hour, the piece isn't sure what it wants to be: a documentary on Bernstein or a collection of music videos to accompany the initial recording. The compilation is a tribute both to Leonard Bernstein and to the city he loved, including songs from his New York-set musicals: "On the Town", "Wonderful Town", and "West Side Story". While the performers are top notch (the incomparable Audra McDonald, Dawn Upshaw, Judy Blazer, Donna Murphy, Mandy Patinkin and Richard Muenz) and the music classic, the DVD filming is sophomoric, looking low res in spots and making unmotivated cuts between recording sessions, music video moments, and random documentary bits. The music gets a little shafted; some songs you hear completely, while others are layered pointlessly beneath conversation. And when these fabulous singers are running around downtown NYC posing and lip-syncing, the result is just silly. One particularly silly segment puts Blazer as a cute n' sexy cabbie in the front seat to a sight-seeing Patinkin; her costume is obviously theatrical and over-the-top, while he is just playing himself. Another video segment has the gorgeous Donna Murphy decked in a gold evening gown singing the tremendous torch song "Ain't Got No Tears Left"...as she walks along a random trash-strewn beach. ??? Most of the re-enactments here are pretty ridiculous and look low-budget; the lackluster cinematography does them no favors. And why are some songs given the music video treatment while others just show the performers in the recording studio? One of the best tracks on the CD is Dawn Upshaw's amazing "Somewhere"--it's nowhere on the DVD!! I was in shock after watching this film/doc/concert/whatever it is. I whole-heartedly recommend the CD "Leonard Bernstein's New York" and give it 5 stars, but this DVD...well, golly, it's just not as good.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful treat., November 19, 2006

By	I. Sondel "I. Sondel - lover of the arts" (Tallahassee, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I picked up the CD of this a number of years ago but only recently received this DVD as birthday gift. What a treat. Let me just say that I'm a big fan of every one of the singers/actors represented here. The location photography is hit and miss, but the performances are uniformally great. My favorites - the numbers I consider the highlights - are Donna Murphy's "Ain't Got No Tears Left" (when are we going to get a solo CD from this terrific singer???), McDonald's "A Little Bit in Love," "What a Waste" sung by Muenz, Upshaw and Murphy) and, most especially, Patinkin's reading of "Some Other Time" (an all-time favorite song of mine). There are a number of interviews with stars of the original Broadway productions as well as Harold Prince. Lover's of Bernstein and the musical theatre will find this DVD a treasure.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Town!, July 30, 2006

By	Ian C. Punter (Thailand) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Bernstein at his best! This is one terrific compilation. I started out with the CD, then the VHS, and now this. Paul Theroux wrote in one of his books, that what he loved most about New York, (if you're from 'out of town'), was the feeling that you had as much right to be there as the person walking past you. I'm from the UK but have been lucky enough to live in NY for a good few months in the past, and as a Lenny-admirer to boot, this is simply great. I have a huge distrust of the word 'genius' and it gets thrown around willy-nilly these days, but if Bernstein possessed it in however small measure, it's evidenced particularly in this side of his achievement.
It's an idea that could have proved an embarrassment, the soloists trotting off on location round NY and singing their numbers in the streets, (to playback, presumably), often surrounded by bemused gawpers, but it works, brilliantly.
Dawn Upshaw singing 'Lonely Town' is worth the price of the disc on its own, Mandy Patinkin may be an acquired taste for some, but is totally at home in his numbers, and Audra McDonald is gorgeous in every sense. (To mention but three of what really feels like a 'team')
Get it!!