Musicals on DVD - Discounted Musical DVDs

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 03/04/2003 Run time: 89 minutes Rating: Nr

This delicious production of Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," a musical thriller of revenge and romance set in Victorian England, features Broadway diva Patti LuPone as Mrs. Lovett and veteran stage actor George Hearn in the title role. Premiering in 1979, the legendary "Sweeney Todd"--winner of nine New York Drama Critics Circle Awards and eight Tony Awards--is recorded with the San Francisco Symphony as conducted by Rob Fisher. <P> Now a major motion picture directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp! Opens in theaters December 21, 2007

On a September evening last fall, at New York's venerable Carnegie Hall, a star-studded audience was treated to a concert of Broadway showstoppers performed by the greatest divas of the American theatre. Under the baton of musical director Paul Gemignani, the American Theatre Orchestra accompanied Liza Minnelli, Audra McDonald, Linda Eder, Nell Carter, Andrea McArdle, Jennifer Holliday, Lea Delaria and a host of other Broadway luminaries in what was certainly the event of the fall season. Featuring selections from <I>Chicago, A Chorus Line, Showboat, <I>Guys and Dolls, Ain't Misbehavin', Dreamgirls, <I>Company, Gypsy, Man of La Mancha, On the Town and others, this evening of song and celebrity will live forever, preserved on home video for any time you feel like bringing up the curtain! Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 soundtracks. 100 minutes.

The incomparable Stephen Sondheim brought his sensational <I>Follies to the stage in 1971 where it was hailed as "monumental theater" by The New York Times. Fourteen years later, the magic was recreated by an unparalleled gathering of stage and screen luminaries performing with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center for a wildly enthusiastic audience. This one-night-only performance became a legendary event in Broadway history--Follies in Concert! The evolution of this unique, historic event is exclusively captured in this film, from the first rehearsal--just four days before the show--to the last-second butterflies just before the curtain rose. This is a rare treasure for all fans of musical theater. Includes the memorable songs "Losing My Mind" and "I'm Still Here" and an all-star cast: Carol Burnett, Liz Callaway, Betty Comden, Barbara Cook, Adolph Green, George Hearn, Howard McGillin, Liliane Montevecchi, Phyllis Newman, Mandy Patinkin, Lee Remick, and Elaine Stritch. 90 minutes.

If your favorite part of a football game is when the marching band takes the field, then you're going to love Blast. Think of the most rousing, in-sync band that you ever saw, turn them <I>way up, add cool costumes and a black-and-white checkered stage with colored spotlights, throw in a good helping of the Stomp vibe, and you've got <I>Blast.

Color is the theme that threads the different musical pieces together. Beginning with Ravel's Bolero, the audience is pulled into this new music/dance/theatre experience as the band takes the stage marching, twirling, and weaving. The performers aren't simply musicians--they dance, sing, act, and play their brass and drums. "Loss," in the Blue section of the color wheel, is particularly touching. Even the flag team--a very sexy and talented flag team--is represented. The Green section melds into a sober and lovely rendition of "Simple Gifts," then concludes quietly with Copland's Appalachian Spring. In the black light of "Battery Battle," you're pulled into the rhythm of the lone drummer, then dueling snare drums, and finally a row of energetic, blindfolded drummers who never miss a beat. "Medea" combines movement and music in a dramatic interpretation of Samuel Barber's piece, and, set to a dance-club beat, "Lemon Techno" is a flurry of yellow flags, poles, and sensuous movement. A spectacularly sultry "Malaguena" drenched in red ends the program.

It's easy to see why Blast is a PBS favorite. It's an amazing new type of performance--one that every high school marching band member will want to emulate. Included here is a 25-minute documentary, <I>Music in Motion: The Making of Blast, which takes you behind the scenes to the conception of the show and into the ensemble's homes and lives as they perform in London's West End. --Dana Van Nest

The 10th anniversary of the international musical sensation Les Misérables is celebrated in this 1995 concert at London's Royal Albert Hall. The all-star cast features Colm Wilkinson (Valjean), Ruthie Henshall (Fantine), Michael Ball (Marius), Judy Kuhn (Cosette), Lea Salonga (Eponine), Philip Quast (Javert), and Alun Armstrong (Thenardier). Favorite songs from the Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg score include "Who Am I?", "I Dreamed a Dream," "Master of the House," "One Day More," "Do You Hear the People Sing?" and "Bring Him Home."

Tracklisting
1. Cold, Cold Heart
2. Call of the Wild
3. Fade to Grey
4. Dear God<BR> 5. I See Hope<BR> 6. (You) Move Me
7. No Regrets
8. Alone
9. Breathe
10. One Small Day
11. Monster
12. Beneath a Spielberg Sky
13. Lament<BR> 14. Vienna (Duet with Russel Watson)<BR> 15. Love's Great Adventure<BR> 16. If I Was
17. Hymn
18. The Voice
19. Dancing With Tears In My Eyes

It is a celebration of song and dance, an international phenomenon that has swept across the globe like a tidal wave of soaring faces and stomping feet. Gumboot dancing was born out of the oppressive gold mines of South Africa. Forbidden to speak and in almost complete darkness, the slave laborers developed their own language by slapping their gumboots and rattling their ankle chains. In time, it has developed into a truly unique dance form that has captured an international audience. Unrivaled in its energy and physicality, "Gumboots" celebrates the body as a musical intrument, while highlighting South Africa's rich and complex culture. Songs: Nelson Mandela, Paulina, Ta La Li La Le, Joburg, Shosholoza, Egoli, City of Gold, Sibiziwe Amazinyo Amhlophe, Who's Foolin' Who?, I'm Too Sexy, Mabele, Bump Jive, Ughuba Isisu, Dronkie, Train, Omm Ohh Ho La La, Hiyo!, Ukuvalwa Kwe Mine, Asikhathali, Ma-Gumede. 80 minutes.

Bernadette Peters is a glorious anachronism, a tiny New Yorker with a big voice, coppery pre-Raphaelite curls, and the sort of ripe physicality that made it logical she should ignore PC and have legendary pinup artist Vargas capture her for an album cover portrait. While most of her musical peers were getting funky, getting in touch with themselves, or getting high, Peters was honing her skills as a musical actress, setting her compass by Broadway with occasional detours to Hollywood. Now Peters is acknowledged as one of the Great White Way's natural wonders, a bona fide Tony-winning musical comedy star performing here in her first full-length video concert.

Taped in London's Royal Festival Hall, this 1998 performance expands on the same song list as the 1997 Carnegie Hall debut captured in her CD Sondheim, Etc.: Bernadette Peters Live at Carnegie Hall. Like that show, the London appearance leans on Stephen Sondheim's remarkable canon, including both the shows Peters herself starred in (Into the Woods and <I>Sunday in the Park with George) and those she wished she did. Indeed, her stage patter toys with the facts and fiction in her career, a refreshing wink at her own putative diva-hood. While she's clearly a thinking fan's diva, she also radiates a rare sweetness and a lush sensuality. <I>--Sam Sutherland