Customer Reviews

That's Singing: Best of Broadway [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This taping absolutely blew me away! I originally bought it for the single purpose of seeing Barry Bostwick perform "Summer Loving" (instead of the talentless Travolta) after hearing the recording of the orginal "Grease!" cast. What an incredible find. As someone who is in love with musical theatre-I consider this film a treasure! To see such talented performers reviving the roles that they created is a once in a life time oportunity caught here for generations to fall in love with. You are treated to Broadway's Grand Dame Ethel Merman singing 2 of her timeless classics, Nell Carter bringing character and energy to Cole Porter music, Barry Bostwick and Carol Demas proving once and for all who the real Danny and Sandy were, Stephen Nathan and David Haskell tackling probably one of the most challenging duets ever-from "Godspell", the enigmatic Chita Rivera dancing to "The Shriners' Ballet" as well as singing and hoofing to "Little One New York",multi-talented Jerry Orback singing "Try to Remember" and the show-stopping "Lullaby of Broadway", and Ray Walston, gleefully reminising "The Good Ol' Days". Any self-respecting Broadway and/or musical theatre fan should own this taping. It gives the audience a glipmse back to a time when it took pure talent to make in on the Great White Way!!

Wonderful! If you really want to experience the thrill of Broadway Musicals, this is it. Some of the best performances seen on a video collection. For Musical fans, a must!

This video was ordered to introduce our children to the virtually lost art form of American musical theater, and it succeeds admirably. Hosted by the self-effacing Tom Bosley (of "Happy Days" fame), this program features excellent performances by a plethora of famous and not-so-famous singers, such as Barry Bostwick, Debbie Reynolds, Ray Walston, Anthony Perkins (yes, Norman!), Glynis Johns, Jerry Orbach and, of course, Ethel Merman. The singing is punctuated by fine hoofing by the American Dance Machine. Many standards are sung with obvious love by the performers who originally sang them on Broadway. Two of our personal favorites were Glynis Johns's wistful rendition of "Send In The Clowns" and Jerry Orbach singing "Try To Remember" (Yes, he had a long musical career before singing the part of Lumiere in "Beauty and the Beast" or acting on "Law & Order"). An extremely pleasant surprise was Barry Bostwick's soulful and humorous job of belting out "Summer Nights" from "Grease"---we still can't believe that he was passed over for the movie role in favor of the considerably less talented John Travolta (Who, by the way, sings even more poorly than he danced disco. Even Anthony Perkins sings better!). The only gripes we had were: The tape is too short, and that's probably because an entire segment of composers were left out. What happened to Rodgers and Hammerstein---or Lerner and Loewe? We love Stephen Sondheim, but felt there was way too much time devoted to his stuff. Perhaps the producers of this program figured that the famous duos didn't really need the exposure, but it was still an appalling oversight, given their contributions to the American stage. Other than that, this was a crisp, enjoyable set of performances by a group of people madly in love with their work. Very close to perfection!

I have the video "That's Singing!" and just to to CHITA RIVERA perform the original choreography of the Shriners Ballet is absolutely enough! She's Fabulous! She's...DIVA! Other highlights includes Ethel Merman BELTING "Everything's Coming Up Roses", Barry Bostwick & Carol Demas in the Original rendition of "Summer Nights" (GREASE). Donna McKechnie & Wayne Cilento (2 original cast members of A CHORUS LINE) meet up again to do a sock hop dance "Charlie's Place" from the musical OVER HERE. Another Dance number is one from CAN-CAN! Very cute. This video is great for your musical theatre collection. Buy it, love it.

I also noticed Mary Martin at the curtain call at the end of the show (you can't actually see her face - I just deduced it from the white hair). Why was her performance removed and no credit was given? Whether it was her peak performance or not should not be an issue. Nevertheless, this video is a gem. It really is a historical glimpse at musical theater. The fact that theater only lives for the moment and is seldom preserved - is one of the most frustrating aspects of the theater. Luckily we have a few videos like this one to help us remember. WE NEED THIS VIDEO IN DVD FORMAT WITH EXTRAS - AND MARY MARTIN'S PERFORMANCE SHOULD BE INCLUDED - PLUS OUTTAKES AND BACKSTAGE BRAWLS - WE WANT IT ALL.

At first, I wasn't a big fan of Broadway. I mean sure, a little music here, a little dancing there, but I just didn't see what's so fantastic about some street in New York. One of my closer friends gave me this video, and I was about to return it to the store, when I decided to give it a try. Boy was it a great decision. I didn't even know the songs, and I was up dancing and singing all over my livingroom carpet. For either the big broadway fan, or the bored bum, this VHS is sure to get you laughing, crying, and dancing in your seat. Want a great buy? Don't look farther.

Here are my rankings of the songs sung:
1)Fantasticks
2)Annie Get Your Gun
3)Ain't Misbehavin'
4)Company
5)How to suceed in business without really trying.

That's all you need to know. And if you need to know more, than look at the price. Make the best buy. Get "That's Singing"

I was at the taping of this video at the La Mirada Civic Auditorium. It is an evening that is unforgettable and thanks to this tape, I can always have a reminder of this cavalcade of treasures. One ad appeared in the L.A. Times for the $15 tickets to the taping. The ad included a large list of the names of Broadway stars that "might" be there. The tickets sold out in hours. The audience was filled with Broadway musical fanatics not knowing who would appear. When "Miss Ethel Merman" was announced as the opening performer absolute pandemonium ensued and when she sang "Everything's Coming Up Roses" there was awe-struck silence followed by applause that almost did raise the roof. It didn't let up for the entire performance. As the tape shows, we were present at a performance uniqurly historic. Other reviewers on this site have mentioned some of the highlights of this tape. To me the pinnacle of this concert is Glynis Johns singing the song she introduced ("Send In the Clowns") wiith her original co-star Len Cariou. This performance includes not only this world-class song but the dialogue that ties it all together. This almost complete scene from Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" is worthy of Shakespeare. It is one of the most moving, funny, charming and gently profound scenes I have ever witnessed. And this is the only video record of it.

In short, if you love the American Musical Theatre, this tape is a must. Buy it and marvel at one of this country's great art forms, now, sadly, fashionably pooh-poohed. But this form will outlast and be appreciated long after most of today's ultra in-things are no longer remembered. Treat yourself to a celebration of one of the U.S.A's many great contributions to world culture.

This video is a great way to see those songs and dances that some of us may be too young to have viewed. Some of the highlights include the Shriner Ballet, You Could Drive a Person Crazy and SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many others. Tom Bosley and Ethel Merman star in this all-star cast.