Broadway Shows on Blu-ray

[cinemaphile]

I wanted to start this thread partially to track what's available, but mostly to find out for myself what's out there. I love musical theater, but very little was ever even released on VHS or DVD, and even many of those still haven't made it to Blu-Ray (Cats, Joseph/Dreamcoat, Oklahoma, ...)

Anyway, here's the first few I know are available. Please let me know of more to add to the list!
(note: I considered including movie adaptations of Broadway shows - Rent, Dreamgirls, Chicago, etc - but I'll wait to see what the rest of you think about including those here.)

Les Miserables: The 25th Anniversary Concert
Rent: Live on Broadway
Victor/Victoria

p.s. If there's already a thread on this, point me to it and delete this one. I didn't find anything in a search.

[EricJ]

Well, there's "Company", but.....yeesh, whiny yuppie 70's-NYC Sondheim.

Other than that, as noted, the good performance DVD's haven't gone to Blu yet, since most were videotaped--
Sweeney Todd (original), Into the Woods, Sunday/George, Jekyll&Hyde, Barnum...Have to settle for the movies, for most of the classics.

[BillieCassin]

Great idea. I really enjoy these productions on Blu. I loved watching Victor/Victoria, because when I saw the play live it was when Liza Minnelli took over for Julie Andrews during her illness, and I never saw Julie's version.

[cinemaphile]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

Great idea. I really enjoy these productions on Blu. I loved watching Victor/Victoria, because when I saw the play live it was when Liza Minnelli took over for Julie Andrews during her illness, and I never saw Julie's version.

I just wish they would release a lot more. It's not like it will hurt attendance. The fact is there are thousands of people who would love to see these shows that just can't pick up and take a trip to NYC just to see a show.

[Guitar Joe]

Originally Posted by cinemaphile

I just wish they would release a lot more. It's not like it will hurt attendance. The fact is there are thousands of people who would love to see these shows that just can't pick up and take a trip to NYC just to see a show.

I would like them to film and release The Book Of Mormon for that reason.

[cinemaphile]

Originally Posted by Guitar Joe

I would like them to film and release The Book Of Mormon for that reason.

That is #1 on my wish list as well! Can't make it to NYC, touring version doesnt start until 2013 (in Denver - who knows when they'd get to my area), and though they say they'll probably make a movie eventually, I'd say that's at least 3+ years away.

Hasa Diga Eebowai!

[OneWayFilms]

Oh how I WISH Andrew Lloyd Weber would release CATS, JOSEPH & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, & JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR on bluray.

I still have my dvd's of them, but they look HORRIBLE on my HDTV.

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by cinemaphile

I just wish they would release a lot more. It's not like it will hurt attendance. The fact is there are thousands of people who would love to see these shows that just can't pick up and take a trip to NYC just to see a show.

I think we are going to see more. I keep reading about how these shows that are doing the live-digital-theater broadcasts (where you go to your local theater to watch a feed). I'd like that to catch on.

I see why they are not terribly common; the life of a show even after it's left Broadway is long, from national tours to regional productions and yes, finally high schoolers, LOL. But, to be honest, I get to shows a few times a year when I'm in NYC but other than that I don't have a lot of time to track down closer productions. But, if I saw a show on Blu that I really liked, I'd be much more likely to seek out a live version.

[MichaelR]

Not quite Broadway, but:

Company (2011) Blu-ray review

Originally Posted by EricJ

.....yeesh, whiny yuppie 70's-NYC Sondheim.

To the extent it has a time period, Company is set in the latter half of the Sixties, the same period as the latest season of Mad Men. The term "yuppie" describes a group (and mindset) that didn't appear until fifteen years later in the Reagan era. To the extent it ever really existed, it disappeared with the stock market crash of 1987. If one wants to situate the work historically, the angst that pervades it has much more to do with the sense of the world speeding up and changing too fast that Mad Men is exploring in an entirely different way. But I think the play works better by leaving all that out. Relationships are hard, and they always will be.

Next up: Oklahoma!

[MichaelR]

Oklahoma! (1999 London production) Blu-ray review

[EricJ]

Also, "Memphis", and.....dear gods, was that awful.
I can appreciate that the Tonys are trying to get an entire 80's and 90's of somber humorless Cameron Mackintosh Les Mis shows out of their system with more retro singing/dancing musicals like "Jersey Boys", but this was like watching a fourth-grader write the script to "Hairspray"!
(And, frankly, I don't even know what the lead actor was doing, trying to play a white Tennessee "deep southerner" like a combination of Nicholas Cage and Igor... )

Growing up in upstate NY, we got the NY Times every Sunday, I kept hearing these legends of bad Broadway shows closing in two weeks, and always wanted to see what a bad musical looked like. Memphis was about as close as I ever came, but I never officially saw a "flop" with my own eyes until our PBS station aired the Blu-ray of "Phantom II: Love Never Dies". Yeah, that one you could analyze for faults.
(Fortunately, we now also have the original Phantom on Blu, whose stage version in concert is still miles ahead of the misfired Joel Schumacher movie.)

[cinemaphile]

This isn't about Blu ray, but Fathom Events is showing Tim Rice's new musical version of From Here to Eternity in theaters in October, before it premieres on Broadway. So for those of us who can't make it to New York to watch shows, this is a great chance to see something new. I only wish they would do this with all current shows

[OneWayFilms]

Originally Posted by cinemaphile

I wanted to start this thread partially to track what's available, but mostly to find out for myself what's out there. I love musical theater, but very little was ever even released on VHS or DVD, and even many of those still haven't made it to Blu-Ray (Cats, Joseph/Dreamcoat, Oklahoma, ...)

Anyway, here's the first few I know are available. Please let me know of more to add to the list!
(note: I considered including movie adaptations of Broadway shows - Rent, Dreamgirls, Chicago, etc - but I'll wait to see what the rest of you think about including those here.)

Les Miserables: The 25th Anniversary Concert
Rent: Live on Broadway
Victor/Victoria

p.s. If there's already a thread on this, point me to it and delete this one. I didn't find anything in a search.

I now have the following on Bluray to add to your list: I have these and they are VERY good.

CATS

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

JOSEPH & THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT

SHREK: THE MUSICAL

[Doombear]

https://www.blu-ray.com/The-Phantom-...rt-Hall/61596/


https://www.blu-ray.com/Love-Never-Dies/91399/


I wish they'd put Wicked onto film - and a proper filming of the Les Miserables stage play.

[whiteberry]

The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-P...Blu-ray/25004/

[zmarty]

[zmarty]

[movie_master]

Any word on a Dear Evan Hansen release? No ones going to grt tickets so it makes sense! :~P

[OneWayFilms]

I'm glad to see a slow trend taking place and more titles are being released. Here's two more:





So far, my ALL-TIME favorite live production is NEWSIES, and it was just released on digital download, but I believe an announcement is coming soon of a bluray release.

[Dubstar]

Into the Woods
Miss Saigon (UK region free release)