Great Performances (TV Series) Broadway's Lost Treasures (2003) User Reviews

Close as you can get to live theater

[Bernie4444 · 8/10 · 15 October 2023]

No recording can capture the feel of live theater. However, this series comes close. What it does do is allow you to see the movies you have watched from a different angle. And for the few that were lucky enough to see the plays, they also see a different version, but it brings back their memories of the real thing.

As with any selection, "usually called the best of," most of this production is my favorites and then again, the performances that I would like to have seen are missing. An example of this is from "Evita" they cannot play everything; we did get to watch "A New Argentina" and "Buenos Ares" but did not get to see "Don't Cry for Me Argentina."

About "Evita" I have the recording from Patti Ann LuPone, however, this is the first time I saw her.

There are too many performances and performers to do them credit in this review.

The DVD is split up into sections: Broadway Divas Leading Men Dancin' Record Breakers Bonus Performances (written information about the shows and performers)

Alexander Cohen's greatest hits

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 10/10 · 3 September 2003]

For part of the 1970s and the early 1980s, I (all too briefly) had the honour of working for Broadway producer Alexander H. Cohen, one of the greatest showmen of all time. Mr Cohen ('Alex' to his thousands of friends) was the only producer to maintain permanent production offices both on Broadway and in London's West End. In addition to mounting many intelligent dramas and comedies, Alexander Cohen also invented the "nine o'clock musical": an intimate, plot-less revue featuring one piano and a minimal cast. Ironically, the only form of theatre production in which Alexander Cohen never had significant success was the book musical: the type of stage musical that has a plot as well as a score. For many years, Mr Cohen was ably abetted by his wife (former actress Hildy Parks), their two sons, and his associate Roy Somlyo.

Alexander Cohen's greatest achievement (among many) was his long stint as producer of the Tony Awards: an annual special presentation on CBS-TV, in which the American Theatre Wing presented awards to the best plays and musicals of each theatre season. Regrettably, Mr Cohen was pressured into stepping down as presenter of the Tonys when he publicly made a disparaging remark about one (extremely unpopular) theatre critic, and implied that he spoke for the American Theatre Wing as well as himself when he made this remark.

"Broadway's Lost Treasures" is a compilation of 17 musical numbers from several annual editions of the Tony Awards, all produced under Alexander Cohen's aegis. A disproportionate percentage of these numbers are from the 1971 Tony Awards ceremony. The 1971 Broadway theatre season was less distinguished than usual, and the American Theatre Wing expected that year's edition of the Tony Awards to be thin pickings. With one of his legendary bursts of inspiration, Alex Cohen realised that this year (1971) was the 25th anniversary of the Tony Awards. He decided to celebrate the occasion by having several of Broadway's most legendary performers reprise their most famous musical numbers. "Broadway's Lost Treasures" contains several of those re-enactments.

Unfortunately, some of the re-enactments in "Broadway's Lost Treasures" are less than first-rate. From the 1971 Tony special, we see Vivian Blaine doing an abbreviated version of "Adelaide's Lament" from 'Guys and Dolls', plus Robert Preston doing 'Trouble' from 'The Music Man', Yul Brynner doing 'Shall We Dance?' from 'The King and I' and John Raitt singing 'Hey There' from 'The Pyjama Game'. But all of these performers did these songs much more brilliantly in the respective film versions of these musicals, which are now (although not in 1971) readily available on video. The John Raitt number is especially disappointing: why didn't he reprise for the Tony Awards his greatest number of all, 'Soliloquy' from 'Carousel'? This is especially regrettable, since -- unlike 'The Pyjama Game' -- Raitt didn't get a chance to repeat his performance in the film version of 'Carousel'. Also on offer here, Zero Mostel repeats his biddy-biddy-boom routine from 'Fiddler'. I've always thought of this grossly overrated and undisciplined performer as Less-than-Zero Mostel, and his performance here does nothing to convince me otherwise.

On the plus side, we get Joel Grey's brilliant performance of 'Wilkommen' from 'Cabaret'. Here too is a number which the Broadway performer has repeated in the movie version ... but Grey's characterisation here, as the German cabaret's compere, is astonishingly different from his Oscar-winning performance of this same role in the film. I was thrilled to see this. (Intriguingly, Joel Grey is backed here by an interracial chorus ... a surprising decision, as this show takes place in 1930s Berlin.) The great Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera are slinky and sexy in their Bob Fosse duet from 'Chicago': it's intriguing to see their different dance styles side by side. (Ms Verdon's legwork had much more amplitude than Ms Rivera's, even before Chita Rivera's taxi accident.)

Also extremely enjoyable here are 'Kickin' the Clouds Away' from 'My One and Only', performed in sprightly fashion by Twiggy, Tommy Tune and some tap-dancing bridesmaids, and 'Hello, Argentina' from 'Evita'. I found the 'Lullaby of Broadway' number from '42nd Street' much too overblown, but some people will like it. Angela Lansbury performs a rapid-fire patter song (with tongue-twisting Sondheim lyrics) from 'Sweeney Todd'. A close-up reveals that she's lip-synching to her own pre-recorded voice. Since the Tony Awards were broadcast live, I can't blame Alexander Cohen's decision to take this precaution.

The most pleasant surprise here is Julie Andrews warbling 'Send in the Clowns' from 'A Little Night Music'. Ms Andrews was one of those rare singers who actually emoted a song rather than merely performing it: her rendition here is warm and enchanting. At one point during this live performance, she glances offstage to check the lyrics on a cue card ... but her performance is so deft that you'll barely notice this.

The finest vocal performance here is by the young Andrea McArdle, singing 'Tomorrow' from 'Annie'. This is one of the greatest examples I've ever heard of the 'Broadway belt' voice: the fact that it's emerging from a child performer makes it even more astonishing. How regrettable that Ms McArdle has never had equal success during her adult career as an actress.

Despite its flaws, "Broadway's Lost Treasures" is required viewing for anyone interested in the American musical theatre. I'll rate this TV special 10 points out of 10. Alex Cohen, you are missed and loved by your legions of friends and theatre audiences in New York and London.

Great little time capsules from the Tony Awards

[jdeitz · 10/10 · 21 October 2006]

I'm sure the other reviewer did not realize that these performance capsules were done as musical numbers during the Antoinette Perry Awards in the USA(The Tony Awards). Many of these were originally on ABC for the 25th Anniversary of the Tony Awards in 1971. I was in the audience, and it was a very special night. They gathered as many of the Best Musical winners from the beginning thru 1970, with the original casts, or at least the principle stars. So these are celebrations of the Silver Anniversary of the Tonys, not done just for television's sake to capture a performance. The staging might seem shoddy, but these were done during an awards show, and that explains the limited staging and props. Since many are from the 1971 show, they only had a glittering curtain and slide out platform sets...would like to know if Robert Morse is going to be in a future one, as I remember he almost went flying when his meager set slid out, only to save himself when he hooked his arm through the phony, mirror-less mirror to sing "I Believe in You" from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

So don't think of think of these performances as strictly for archives...all were moments of Tony Award history, and thank God for that. Some of these are the only glimpse we have of what it was like to see the original stars perform their original Broadway performances. I never thought I'd see them again...since I was there in 1971, and it was before VCR's, it's delightful to see how it looked on the TV screen, compared to being there in person. In person was indeed a little more special, but this comes close!

Great concept, Shoddy realisation...

[chouchoulane · 22 December 2003]

Whoever had the idea of resurrecting Broadway musical footage from the TV companies' vaults and giving it DVD-availability deserves a pat on the back. Unfortunately, the Cohen company, who present this compilation as a tribute to their Father(?), Alexander Cohen, have given us brilliant performances wrapped in shoddy presentation.

I have no axe to grind with Richard Kiley, but he does not appear in the show. Why, then, does he pop up in the montage of excerpts that precedes the excerpts themselves? ( Somebody wasn't paying attention!) If I were the excellent Barbara Erwin (Lily St. Regis in the "Easy Street" routine) I'd want to know why I wasn't named in the "opening night cast" list in the bonus features. (Somebody thought she had the role of Grace Farrell who is named in the cast credits.) And just listen to the commentary preceding the "Easy Street" number. Ask yourself why he did not correctly stress the word "their" before "luck". Because he was merely reading a script, that's why, not trying to make sense of it as he ought to have been doing.

So, should I be offloading this on the "Nitpickers" site? Not at all. My point is that the performances on "Broadways Lost Treasures" are such pure gold that they deserve professional presentation and that they did not get.

I keep returning to Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney in "Sugar Babies" What a treat it would be to have a complete performance of that show on DVD. And the wonderful Dorothy Loudun's Miss Hannigan in "Annie" gets repeat showings on my screen. (What a great pity to hear that Dorothy Loudun died recently. God rest her soul and long may her image and her filmed and audio performances continue to bring her talent to the world). My admiration for Patty Lupone increases each time I see her in a new role .And these are only a few of what were the show's highlights for me. Perhaps I should mention that, before obtaining the DVD, I thought I'd be constantly watching Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon do their "All That Jazz" and "Nowadays" routines from "Chicago". What a disappointment! A severely truncated version of the dance routines is all that is to be seen on this DVD. I myself could have done the choreography for what we see here. Anyone who has seen Karen Ziemba and Bebe Neuwirth dance these numbers in "Broadway-The Leading Ladies" knows how they ought to be performed. I can only assume that the footage of Rivera and Verdon was not all of sufficiently high quality to be included on this DVD.

There is a special reason for being hard on the producers of "Broadway's Lost Treasures". It looks as though there will be another batch of "Treasures" soon and this time, you Cohen guys, let's have P-E-R-F-E-C-T-I-O-N. Those guys and gals of the Broadway stage deserve nothing less!

Awesome

[erikalilly007 · 10/10 · 30 December 2004]

I thought Broadways Lost Treasures was amazing. I am very young and wasn't even born before these shows were performed so I got a chance to see old Broadway, which in my opinion is the best. Patti LuPone is absolutely amazing, and so was Jerry Orbach. We know Jerry Orbach just recently passed away so this is a good memento to have and remember his stellar performing skills. My Broadway knowledge was expanded, and it led me to buying movies such as Chorus Line, Guys and Dolls and Cats. I also have the second Broadways Lost Treasures and it is equally enjoyable. This DVD is for anyone interested in Broadway and would like to see rare performances or just enjoy the magic of Broadway.