The Stephen Sondheim Collection (Into the Woods / Sunday in the Park with George / Follies in Concert / Passion / Sweeney Todd in Concert / A Celebration at Carnegie Hall)

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The six-disc Stephen Sondheim DVD Collection is pure Broadway gold, encompassing three original Broadway cast performances and three all-star concerts celebrating the work of musical theater's most important composer over the last half of the 20th century. Into the Woods is Sondheim's most popular show, an amalgam of fractured fairy tales and what happens after "happily ever after." Bernadette Peters heads the cast, joined by Tony winner Joanna Gleason and Chip Zein. Sunday in the Park with George was Sondheim's immediately preceding work, also a collaboration with writer-director James Lapine and also starring Bernadette Peters. She plays Dot, the mistress of brilliant French pointillist painter Georges Seurat (Mandy Patinkin), in a powerful work about the nature of art and the artist that gains substantially when you can see the staging elements. The third Broadway cast performance is Passion, which was shot on stage though not before a live audience. It's a story of obsessive love in which the romance between Giorgio (Jere Shea) and Clara (Marin Mazzie) is disrupted by a strange woman named Signora Fosca (Tony winner Donna Murphy).

Sweeney Todd is generally considered Sondheim's best work, and it's well performed by Patti LuPone and George Hearn (reprising his role as the demonic barber almost 20 years after he played it opposite Angela Lansbury in a 1982 video recording). Follies in Concert was an attempt to right a wrong created by a truncated original cast recording, so it's ironic that roughly half the program is backstage material combined with only 47 minutes of concert footage. There are some brilliant moments, though, from such performers as Barbara Cook, Hearn, Patinkin, and Lee Remick. A Celebration at Carnegie Hall is another all-star cast performance of both Broadway stars and operatic voices peppered with comedy from Bill Irwin. Highlights include the ensemble numbers, Daisy Egan's "Broadway Baby," and Patrick Cassidy and Victor Garber's "The Ballad of Booth," which is about as close as you'll get to an original cast performance of Assassins. All in all, this invaluable set preserves and celebrates an important body of work that may never again be documented this well. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

A must-have for all Sondheim lovers.......2007-05-08

This is an amazing collection, which showcases the breadth of Mr. Sondheim's talents. No one else combines his musical mastery with his sheer delight in playing with the English language.

Worth every penny that my mom spent!.......2007-01-15

After watching 3 of the 6 DVDs in this collection, all I can say is "amazing!" The winner thus far is Sweeney Todd. The cast is unmatchable. The only thing missing is the airing of A Little Night Music.

A TRUE FAN/COLLECTORS GEM.......2007-01-11

I had the chance to see on Broadway : Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Passion and Into the Woods and Follies in London .It was a real treat to be able to behold the unforgetable experience in that fantastic DVD collection

Sondheim Collection.......2006-07-03

This is a must have in your collection Sondheim fans! This box set has titles that appeal to both the children and adults in a family. My children love Into the woods and the Carnegie Hall concert especially! One of the best purchases I've made this year.

Sondheim: Greatest Theatre Genuis of the 20th Century .......2005-11-30

I have been in love with the work of Stephen Sondheim since the age of 6, when I first memorized the lyrics to all of the songs from West Side Story. Mr. Sondheim has give us many, many wonderful pieces of theatre, and several of his best pieces are represented here.

Sweeney Todd: considered by many his masterpiece. I prefer the Angela Lansbury / George Hearn casting, but if they chose to star Betty Boop and Donald Duck it couldn't hurt this material. Brilliant.

Follies in Concert: Follies remains my favorite Sondheim musical and, unlike some other reviewers, I thought the ORIGINAL book was brilliant. The later revised version considerably weakened both characters and plot, and the "concert" version is even more woefully incomplete than the original cast album, but thank GOD they saw fit to include, "Too Many Mornings".

Sunday In The Park With George: Pulitzer Prize winning paean to the creative process; I can even forgive the casting of Mandy Patinkin, one of my least favorite actors. The recreation of Seurat's masterpiece during the first act climax still gives me chills.

Passion: the more I watch this achingly beautiful show, the more I think it's one of Sondheim's greatest scores. Subtle, yes, but if you allow it to, it will grow and grow on you until you can't get it out of your mind. This show is for anyone who has ever loved someone that they couldn't have.

Into The Woods: I saw both Broadway productions and had difficulty choosing which was better. I think the original cast, represented here, had a slight edge. Possibly the most "fun" of Sondheim's shows, this take on Grimm's fairy tales is clever, entertaining and highly satisfying.

The Carnegie Hall tribute is also wonderful.

I have long been of the opinion that Sondheim can do no wrong. His lyrics are thrillingly brilliant, witty beyond all expectations, and his music contains depth that other Broadway composers can only dream of. What is most amazing to me is how he can vary styles and musical periods from show to show to show - no two of his musicals are ever alike, which is more than I can say for many other composers. I don't understand those who like him only to a point; I have friends who love Sweeny, Follies and Night Music, but hate Sunday, Passion and Into the Woods. I think he gets better with each succeeding show.

This set is well worth the investment. Hurry and get it, as some of the individual videos are now unavailable, and who knows how long the boxed set will last.

Average customer rating:

This video is as cracked as the face on the logo :(
Aging Gracefully.
WAY UP THERE.........
I'LL TAKE ANY SCRAP I CAN GET!
Hats off, here they come those beautiful girls!

Stephen Sondheim's Follies in Concert
Starring: Andre Gregory , Arthur Rubin , Barbara Cook , George Hearn , and Jim Walton
Director: Michael Houldey
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

Documentary | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00005KH3H
Release Date: 2001-07-24

Amazon.com essential video

Follies in Concert: Four Days in New York provides a backstage look at a genuine Broadway event, the 1985 concert performance of Stephen Sondheim's 1971 Broadway musical Follies. A star-studded roster is backed by the New York Philharmonic, featuring principals Barbara Cook, Mandy Patinkin, Lee Remick, and George Hearn, supported by the likes of Carol Burnett, Liliane Montevecchi, Elaine Stritch, and Liz Callaway. Unfortunately, this 90-minute documentary only includes about 47 minutes of actual concert footage--ironic because the purpose of the concert was to record the whole score after the original Broadway cast recording had omitted or shortened many songs.

Still, what's here is not to be missed. Sondheim's musical brilliantly captures the memories and heartache of a long-lost era and the performers who embodied it. At a reunion of the fictional musical revue The Weismann Follies, the long-retired players relive their careers through pastiches of past songwriters, sometimes accompanied in song or dance by the ghosts of their previous selves. At the same time, four of the people (two married couples) remember their pasts and wonder whether they chose their spouses--and the course of their lives--correctly. This film includes glimpses of the rehearsals and comments from the actors and Sondheim himself that lend depth and insight to the production. And even if only about half of the actual concert is represented, the closing "Loveland" sequence is almost complete, and "Who's That Woman (The Mirror Song)?", though heavily edited, does provide some sense of the choreography. --David Horiuchi

Description

The incomparable Stephen Sondheim brought his sensational 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.

Customer Reviews:

This video is as cracked as the face on the logo :(.......2007-08-25

I REALLY like the soundtrack and the originally broadcast show I saw on PBS years ago. The stars and the songs are incredible. However, this DVD only shows parts of most of the songs and omits some of the very best songs and scenes altogether. It is also a grainy copy that looks like it was dubbed on an old VHS video tape. Please save yourself the time, the money, and the memories, if you have seen this show before. Sometimes the memories are better than the reality. Athough that is also the message of this musical, it should not be a message conveyed to consumers by the publishers of this poorly crafted DVD.

Aging Gracefully........2004-11-03

"Beautiful Girls". What a fantastic opportunity for lovers of Broadway musicals to see the behind the scenes creation and making of a successful musical in four days. This film is in part documentary combined with hi-lights of the finished performance at Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic. The story line of "Beautiful Women" attending a Follies Reunion so many years into retirement is powerful and awakens thoughts of aging. Mandy Patinkin, Carol Burnett, Barbara Cook and Lee Remick lead an all star cast in this Steven Sondheim Classic. You might want to view this film more than once.

WAY UP THERE................2004-07-18

LEE ..... Lee Remick, Barbara Cook, Mandy, George, Liliane, Carol ..... {A}licia ...Liz ...Betty ....Adolphe .... how quickly it fades .......SO????

It's not complete - but WHAT we have is LEGEND!

So priceless ..... WHERE IS the MOVIE Version?

MGM was supposed to do this way back .......

WHY do we wait ... ?

This DVD is merely a TANTALUS version ... excellent but just a glimpse of THE GREATNESS of the Great White Way ....

OK .... so just where are the new Ziegfelds????????

[Streisand should consider this vehicle ... from a director's pov. Reynolds, Powell, MacLaine, Grayson, Gaynor, Andrews, Close, LuPone, Page, Minelli, Menzel and Chenowith ... and the others are STILL around .....for now ......]

DO THIS !

I'LL TAKE ANY SCRAP I CAN GET!.......2003-11-03

True...this is not "the best" documentary film ever made, although it IS pretty darned good, and part of the criticism may come because most of us who would want to see this would be just as happy with just one long uncut take of the concert on film...but we do have that on CD (thank goodness!). And what a concert it was!!! This is as near a dream cast as one could hope for. Of course there will be be endless quibbling over that opinion, and endless comparisons to the OBC...that's the glory of theatre...many opinions. But the overall arc and energy of this concert is amazing and that cannot be disputed...the CD is a classic... and one of those rare few "I wish I were there" events captured on recording. That said, the documentary does offer delight in the backstage glimpses it gives, especiallly after several (hundred? thousand?) listenings to the CD. For instance...I went into this already worshipping and adoring Barbara Cook (for me there can be no other Sally Durant), but after watching, I was really hooked onto Lee Remick too. And there were lots of discovery moments like that because of the documentary...so it did indeed, bring me someplace that the concert CD alone did not, and for that I truly value this DVD. So, perfect? No. (And franky, what is?) But it is worth watching and re-watching, especially if you are a total Follies junky, or learning to become one. How many other backstage stories can you say that of? For me, darned few...this one's a keeper. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Hats off, here they come those beautiful girls!.......2002-07-15

This is by far my favorite musical, not the concert but the actual musical from the 70's. When i saw Alexis Smith the first time i fell deeply in love. Of course i was only 24 at the time.Even though this is just the concert version minus the terrible cutting and editing it's better than nothing at all. This cast was also wonderful with it's vintage and well polished cast, I gave it the four stars only because it's not as complete as the CD. After all most of the people that would buy the concert version would also have been fans of the original show itself so why not include all the production numbers.Maybe if enough people make compaints do you think they may re-do this DVD?To all those wonderful women who were in the original production,,,Hats off, to those wonderful girls.. The likes of this will never come again.

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