Customer Reviews

Richard Rodgers - An Enchanted Evening

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

there is a difference in style, vocal and presentation between British and american, but this is really worth it. Dame Judy Dench in long wig doing "Sixteen" is FUNNY. "10 cents a dance" is it the song, the singer, or the dress? Ruth Henshall, Claire Moore and most of the rest are new to me, but that is the fun part. And Aunt Ellers comment on Hugh Jackman from Oklahoma rehearsals, well I won't spoil it. Broaden your horizon to talent from across the pond.

This is an excellent DVD with good sound for a live performance, wonderful singers singing wonderful songs. Since Oklahoma was performed in Australia, London, and translated into many languages, I question another reviewer' statement that implies only Americans can do this music. Granam Bickley, Leslie Garrett, Kim Criswell, Maureen Lipman, Johnny Johnston and the Oklahoma Rejects (or some sort) are particularly wonderful. The best track on the DVD is Dame Judi Dench and Brendan O'hea switching roles and doing a perfectly legitimate parody of "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" from the "Sound of Music". Buy it, you'll like it.

More details of my opinion can be found in my comment on Mr. Jurgen's unfavorable review, which you will find below, following his review.

In summary, this is an outstanding video and audio recording of a "one night only" benefit performance. It's so obvious that these very accomplished British performers love the music of Richard Rodgers as much as we do. They more than do it justice. It was one of those "magic" evenings and we are so fortunate that it was recorded so carefully - that we might now and forever share the magic. All contributors to it deserve our thanks. Of course one will have their own "playlist" of favorites - whether the lyrics are by Hart or by Hammerstein. Through it all is the music of Richard Rodgers. My only regret - that it wasn't a longer evening.

VERY VERY ENJOYABLE-- GREAT MUSIC, GREAT PERFORMERS. LOVELY EVENING WHICH GAVE A LASTING PLEASENT FEELING.

I bought this primarily for Judi Dench singing "Send In the Clowns" and was justly rewarded for doing so. This was a wonderful presentation and then you get all the other great performances as well.

Worth every penny.

If you're buying this DVD because of Gillian Anderson, you should know she only makes one introduction at the beginning and is on screen for about 60 seconds. However, if you're buying this because you want to see an excellent concert with outstanding performances, then you are in the right place! My personal favorites were Leslie Garrett singing "If I Loved You", and Judi Dench's hilarious performance in "Sixteen Going on Seventeen". Both performances are priceless. Each and every performance was outstanding, and I think you will enjoy this DVD very much.

MS ANDERSON, THOUGH LISTED IN THE CREDITS AND ON THE FRONT OF THE JACKET,
DOES NOT APPEAR IN A PERFORMANCE ROLE. SHE DOES A SHORT INTRODUCTION ONLY. THE MUSICAL PORTION OF THE DVD IS COMMENDABLE, HOWEVER.

Oy, what a disappointment. Very poor recording quality of this live performance -- sounds like someone on the front row recorded it with an old cassette tape pocket device. The Judi Dench number ("Sixteen Going On Seventeen") is a hoot, and there's a pretty colorful number from Oklahoma ("Kansas City"), but they can't compensate for the rest of this very sub-par project. It is anything but "enchanting".

What a terrible way to treat the music of a genius such as Richard Rogers. I'm sure this ensemble didn't set out to destroy the beautiful music created by this genius, but unfortunately that is exactly what they did.

First of all, the production was technically miserable. The sound engineering was absolutely awful. The orchestra was so powerful that the vocalists could hardly be heard. Also, this evidently was recorded at a live event for PBS broadcast, and the auditorium had some terrible acoustics. Anyone speaking or singing from the stage area caused terrible echos which made it all the harder to hear the vocals. I'm sorry to be so critical, but this goes back to the failure of the sound engineering, there evidently was nothing done to correct this problem for the broadcast recording.

Secondly, the selections of talent to perform the songs left a few things to be desired. While some may get a laugh out of Judi Densch singing "I am sixteen going on seventeen,"`I found it disgusting. This song told a wonderful part of the story in the "Sound of Music" and this presentation lowered it to slapstick.

There are two bright points in this dismal production, the performances of "No Other Love" ffom "Me and Juliet" and "Johnny One Note" from "Babes in Arms." At least the perfomers had some talent and also stage presence.

Finally, I'm sorry, but the Brits just don't cut it in performing selections from "Oklahoma." Seeing a Brit twirl a rope is just about the worst thing you want to see. So, if the idea of this production was to introduce a new generation to the wonder of Richard Rogers compositions, it fails miserably, in fact, it may go as far as to turn people off to the genius of this great composer.