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Broadway: The American Musical

  • TV Mini Series
  • 20042004
  • 6h
IMDb RATING
8.8/10
373
YOUR RATING
Broadway: The American Musical (2004)
DocumentaryMusic
A six-part documentary about the Broadway musicalA six-part documentary about the Broadway musicalA six-part documentary about the Broadway musical
IMDb RATING
8.8/10
373
YOUR RATING
  • Stars
    • Julie Andrews
    • Stephen Sondheim
    • John Lahr
  • Stars
    • Julie Andrews
    • Stephen Sondheim
    • John Lahr
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 8User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 2 Primetime Emmys

    Episodes6

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    1 Season
    2004

    Photos11

    Broadway: The American Musical (2004)
    Broadway: The American Musical (2004)
    Broadway: The American Musical (2004)
    Broadway: The American Musical (2004)
    Vivian Blaine and Sam Levene in Broadway: The American Musical (2004)
    Sam Levene in Broadway: The American Musical (2004)
    Vivian Blaine and Sam Levene in Broadway: The American Musical (2004)
    Vivian Blaine and Sam Levene in Broadway: The American Musical (2004)
    Vivian Blaine and Sam Levene in Broadway: The American Musical (2004)
    Vivian Blaine, Stubby Kaye, Sam Levene, and B.S. Pully in Broadway: The American Musical (2004)

    Top cast

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    Julie Andrews
    Julie Andrews
    • Self - Host…
    Stephen Sondheim
    Stephen Sondheim
    • Self
    John Lahr
    • Self
    Tommy Tune
    Tommy Tune
    • Self
    Al Hirschfeld
    • Self
    Brendan Gill
    • Self
    Max Wilk
    • Self
    Philip Furia
    • Self
    Joel Grey
    Joel Grey
    • Self…
    Harold Prince
    Harold Prince
    • Self
    Stephen Hanan
    • Self
    Jonathan Sheffer
    • Self
    Robert Kimball
    • Self
    Jeffrey Wright
    Jeffrey Wright
    • Self
    Mel Brooks
    Mel Brooks
    • Self
    Jane Krakowski
    Jane Krakowski
    • Self
    Jerry Orbach
    Jerry Orbach
    • Self…
    Carol Channing
    Carol Channing
    • Self
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    6.8
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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • 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
      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.
    • Connections
      Features Sandow: The Strong Man (1894)

    User reviews8

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    A great source of information...
    For many of us, with only a passing knowledge of American musical theatre, this is a godsend. I always suspected that these composers borrowed freely from each other and was not surprised to find out that they were often each others mentors.

    The section on the THE CRADLE WILL ROCK was an alarming history lesson in recent censorship and should be as much a part of school curriculum as prohibition or blacklisting. Perhaps New York would not be so quick to condemn other states if it faced its own history of oppression since the behaviour of the city has often been the forerunner of standards, including censorship, elsewhere.

    The series captures the social and artistic effects of SHOW BOAT, OKLAHOMA!, WEST SIDE STORY, HAIR and A CHORUS LINE among many others and beautifully highlights the effect they had not only on audiences but also on the talent behind the scenes.

    One surprising (and annoying) feature of this set is the misguided effort to highlight the contribution of African Americans by segregating black performances into sections. The final effect is an "us and them" result that will appear racist as the years go by. Surely the contribution of black talent is not any more or less important than that of any other minority in the melting pot and the series easily integrates Jewish, Irish and Hispanic contributions effortlessly. Surely there is no need to suggest that Ethel Waters brought more to the stage by way of personal baggage than Fanny Brice or Harvey Fierstein. One obvious and major contributing element that becomes an elephant in the room to anyone who has ever seen a Broadway musical is delicately footnoted. This element is the fact that these shows are usually, dare I say it, quite gay in every sense of the word. Perhaps this is a current mutation of the badly kept Hollywood secret that the studios were mostly run by Jews. Do the producers really think it unimportant or simply too obvious to address?
    helpful•8
    3
    • bijou-2
    • Jun 19, 2005

    Details

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    • Release date
      • October 19, 2004 (United States)
      • United States
      • United Kingdom
      • Japan
      • PBS (United States)
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Shubert Theater - 225 West 44th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • Ghost Light Films
      • Thirteen / WNET
      • NHK
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 6 hours
      • Color
      • Stereo

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