"Broadway: The American Musical" (2004) TV series

User Rating:

8.8/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

19 October 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Plot:

A six-part documentary about the Broadway musical

Plot Keywords:

Broadway's Golden Age | Nostalgia | Broadway New York City

Awards:

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Julie Andrews	...	Herself - Host / ... (6 episodes, 2004)
John Lahr	...	Himself (6 episodes, 2004)
Stephen Sondheim	...	Himself (6 episodes, 2004)
Philip Furia	...	Himself (4 episodes, 2004)
Brendan Gill	...	Himself (4 episodes, 2004)
Al Hirschfeld	...	Himself (4 episodes, 2004)
Tommy Tune	...	Himself (4 episodes, 2004)
Max Wilk	...	Himself (4 episodes, 2004)
Joel Grey	...	Himself / ... (3 episodes, 2004)
Stephen Hanan	...	Himself (3 episodes, 2004)
Robert Kimball	...	Himself (3 episodes, 2004)
Harold Prince	...	Himself (3 episodes, 2004)
Jonathan Sheffer	...	Himself (3 episodes, 2004)
Nancy Kathryn Anderson	...	Herself (2 episodes, 2004)
Mary Ellen Barrett	...	Herself (2 episodes, 2004)
Mel Brooks	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Kitty Carlisle	...	Herself (2 episodes, 2004)
Carol Channing	...	Herself (2 episodes, 2004)
Ted Chapin	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Jerome Chodorov	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Stanley Donen	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Ann Douglas	...	Herself (2 episodes, 2004)
Chris Ferry	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Jonathan Freeman	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
John Herrera	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Margo Jefferson	...	Herself (2 episodes, 2004)
Jane Krakowski	...	Herself (2 episodes, 2004)
Miles Kreuger	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Arthur Laurents	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
John McMartin	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Steve Nelson	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Dana O'Connell	...	Herself (2 episodes, 2004)
Jerry Orbach	...	Himself / ... (2 episodes, 2004)
Frank Rich	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Jerome Robbins	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Mary Rodgers	...	Herself (2 episodes, 2004)
Jonathan Schwartz	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Peter Stone	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Julie Taymor	...	Herself (2 episodes, 2004)
Ben Vereen	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
George C. Wolfe	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Jeffrey Wright	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
Chip Zien	...	Himself (2 episodes, 2004)

Runtime:

360 min (6 parts)

Country:

USA | UK | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Shubert Theater - 225 West 44th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Ghost Light Films

Trivia:

The unidentified two-strip Technicolor sequences used to illustrate "The Ziegfeld Follies" were lifted out of Glorifying the American Girl (1929). The star of this film, also unidentified although frequently shown in the clips, was 'Mary Eaton', sister of interviewee Doris Eaton.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: A two-strip technicolor clip of Dennis King and Jeanette MacDonald from The Vagabond King (q.v.) is used to illustrate the pre-Ziegfeld shows seen on Broadway before the turn of the century. The Vagabond King was not performed on Broadway until 1925, and the film was made four years later (1929) and released in 1930.

Movie Connections:

Features 42nd Street (1933)

superb mini-series

This in-depth mini-series (6 episodes) took the story of Broadway musicals from the vaudeville age and Mr Ziegfeld's spectaculars right up to the present day with Wicked! On the way, in the capable hands of presenter Julie Andrews, we remember Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Jerome Kern, Kander and Ebb, Jerry Herman, 42nd Street, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Hair!, Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Rent, and La Cage Aux Folles.

There are tantalising clips from rare TV broadcasts and films (perhaps a weakness of the series is that people TALK over the clips - who wants to hear someone remember a show when you can see John Raitt sing Soliloquy from Carousel?) which are well-worth seeing the series in themselves. Contemporary and archive interviews bring the likes of Jerome Robbins, Kitty Carlisle, Jerry Orbach, and Tommy Tune into the story.

For my money, the best episodes were the first two, for the rare footage shown. But you'd have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the toll of musical theatre back-room boys (and front-line artists) lost to AIDS.

A fantastic trip along the Great White Way - thanks to PBS for putting it together, and to BBC4 for airing it in the UK.