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Musicals DVDs

Newsies (Collector's Edition)

Sales Rank:1028
List Price: $19.99
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

Anamorphic
Closed-captioned
Color
DVD-Video
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Christian Bale
Bill Pullman
Robert Duvall
Ann-Margret
David Moscow

Except for feature-length animation, the musical has gone the way of the dinosaur. The Walt Disney company took a stab at reviving the live-action musical in 1992 with Newsies, a throwback picture with a curious subject. In 1899, the pint-sized newsboys delivering the New York papers go on strike against the unfair practices of news magnates Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. The production is heavy on kiddie humor, although Christian Bale (the child star of Spielberg's Empire of the Sun) is charismatic as one of the older leaders of the revolt. The adult stars don't fare as well, with Robert Duvall doddering around as Pulitzer and Ann-Margret and Bill Pullman doing decorative duty. The film was not well received when first released, but hindsight reveals its charm (and allowed the young target audience to catch up with the picture on video). The first-time director is Kenny Ortega, the choreographer of Dirty Dancing, who brings plenty of energy to the action. --Robert Horton

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Warner Bros. and the Homefront Collection (Irving Berlin's This Is the Army / Thank Your Lucky Stars / Hollywood Canteen)

Sales Rank:1604
List Price: $39.98
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Box set
Black & White
DVD-Video
Full Screen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Irving Berlin
George Murphy
Ronald Reagan
Joan Leslie
Bette Davis

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 11/11/2008

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The Wizard of Oz

Sales Rank:727
List Price: $19.96
Lowest New Price: $36.95
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MPAA Rating:

Format:

AC-3
Black & White
Closed-captioned
Color
Dolby
Dubbed
DVD-Video
Subtitled
NTSC

Director(s):

Victor Fleming
Mervyn LeRoy
Richard Thorpe
King Vidor

Actor(s):

Judy Garland
Frank Morgan
Ray Bolger
Bert Lahr
Jack Haley

When it was released during Hollywood's golden year of 1939, The Wizard of Oz didn't start out as the perennial classic it has since become. The film did respectable business, but it wasn't until its debut on television that this family favorite saw its popularity soar. And while Oz's TV broadcasts are now controlled by media mogul Ted Turner (who owns the rights), the advent of home video has made this lively musical a mainstay in the staple diet of great American films. Young Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), her dog, Toto, and her three companions on the Yellow Brick Road to Oz--the Tin Man (Jack Haley), the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), and the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger)--have become pop-culture icons and central figures in the legacy of fantasy for children. As the Wicked Witch who covets Dorothy's enchanted ruby slippers, Margaret Hamilton has had the singular honor of scaring the wits out of children for more than six decades. The film's still as fresh, frightening, and funny as it was when first released. It may take some liberal detours from the original story by L. Frank Baum, but it's loyal to the Baum legacy while charting its own course as a spectacular film. Shot in glorious Technicolor, befitting its dynamic production design (Munchkinland alone is a psychedelic explosion of color and décor), The Wizard of Oz may not appeal to every taste as the years go by, but it's required viewing for kids of all ages. --Jeff Shannon

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George Balanchine's The Nutcracker

Sales Rank:593
List Price: $14.98
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MPAA Rating: G (General Audience)

Format:

Anamorphic
Classical
Closed-captioned
Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
Full Screen
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Darci Kistler
Damian Woetzel
Kyra Nichols
Bart Robinson Cook
Jessica Lynn Cohen

Tchaikovsky's timeless Yuletide ballet is presented in an all-new movie version with as much eloquence as one would find in a live stage production. Replete with gorgeous costumes and scenery, George Balanchine's production, adapted by Peter Martins, features the New York City Ballet with narration by Kevin Kline. From the moment the Nutcracker prince winds toymaker Drosselmeier's life-sized dolls, viewers are ushered into the captivating story of a little girl's Christmas Eve fantasy of beauty, magic, and sugarplums. While several versions of this beloved tale are available in video, this one is distinguished for the magnificent performances of a large cast of young ballet dancers from the School of American Ballet. While Culkin lends his star-studded name, that is all he lends in what is mostly a wooden performance (he often appears on the sidelines looking quite blasé and detached). More deserving accolades go to Jessica Lynn Cohen as Marie, whose genuineness never wanes and dance steps never falter. Bart Robinson Cook is wonderful as the playful Herr Drosselmeier, and Darci Kistler is the graceful Sugarplum Fairy. Mostly this film belongs to children--both on the stage and in the audience. What is lacking in spontaneous energy of live theater is made up for in a perfectly polished performance. The only thing missing is the well-earned applause. --Lynn Gibson

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Cats - The Musical (Commemorative Edition)

Sales Rank:922
List Price: $19.98
Lowest New Price: $10.84
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
Letterboxed
Special Edition
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Elaine Paige
John Mills
Ken Page
Rosemarie Ford
Michael Gruber

This pop-cultural phenomenon has been performed on stage for more than 50 million patrons in 26 countries for almost 18 years, churning more than $2 billion in ticket sales. Now that Cats has finally made it to the small screen, attention must be paid not just by fans of this critic-proof show, but also by those entertainment mavens who have somehow avoided Cats until now. The video version has been restaged but, alas, not really reconceived for its new medium.

The video cast, assembled from London, Amsterdam, and New York productions, is competent. Ken Page as Old Deuteronomy, Jacob Brent as Mr. Mistoffelees, and Elaine Paige--the original London Grizabella, the Glamour Cat well past her prime--are a great deal more than that. Paige has toned down her theatrical belting of her big number, "Memory," and allowed the faded ruin of her character's soul to prevail in close-up. For all the "covers" of her signature song, Paige's version remains definitive. The video is, by definition, more intimate, not always a good thing: costumes are even more Halloweeny in garish close-up, the cats less cuddly without that all-important interaction, the stage's appropriately midnight lighting transmuted to a Las Vegas neon. And the chorus of cats in production numbers is even clunkier and more amorphous in two- and three-shots.

The one complete newcomer to the cast is the 90-year-old icon among English actors John Mills, a delight as Gus the Theatrical Cat. Sir John and his character show the youngsters how it's done in close-up, largely behind the eyes, abetted by a heart-tugging delivery of his one song. Yet virtually all of the songs are lip-synched, further robbing the video Cats of its onstage seeming spontaneity. It's clearer than ever that Lloyd Webber's music is mostly twaddle, with the important exception of "Memory," which instantly and rightly became one of the genuine theater standards not dependent on context, in the vein of Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns." On the plus side, most of the Cats characters and lyrics, from T.S. Eliot's 14-poem Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, are far better defined and understood from the video version. --Robert Windeler

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West Side Story (Full Screen Edition)

Sales Rank:1136
List Price: $14.98
Lowest New Price: $4.86
Lowest Used Price: $3.56
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Closed-captioned
Color
Dolby
Dubbed
DVD-Video
Full Screen
Subtitled
NTSC

Director(s):

Jerome Robbins
Robert Wise

Actor(s):

Natalie Wood
George Chakiris
Richard Beymer
Russ Tamblyn
Rita Moreno

The winner of 10 Academy Awards, this 1961 musical by choreographer Jerome Robbins and director Robert Wise (The Sound of Music) remains irresistible. Based on a smash Broadway play updating Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to the 1950s era of juvenile delinquency, the film stars Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as the star-crossed lovers from different neighborhoods--and ethnicities. The film's real selling points, however, are the highly charged and inventive song-and-dance numbers, the passionate ballads, the moody sets, colorful support from Rita Moreno, and the sheer accomplishment of Hollywood talent and technology producing a film so stirring. Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim wrote the score. --Tom Keogh

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Hairspray (Full-Screen Edition)

Sales Rank:666
List Price: $19.98
Lowest New Price: $6.00
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

AC-3
Closed-captioned
Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
Full Screen
Subtitled
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

John Travolta
Michelle Pfeiffer
Nikki Blonsky
Zac Efron

It's rare that a movie captures the intensity and excitement of a live Broadway musical production while appealing to a broader movie-going audience, but the 2007 Hairspray is an energetic, powerfully moving film that does just that. A remake of the 1988 musical film Hairspray, the new Hairspray is a film adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical and features more likeable characters than the original film and an incredible energy that stems from a great cast, fabulous new music, and the influence of musical producer Craig Zadan. What remains constant throughout all three versions of Hairspray is the story's thought-provoking exploration of prejudice and racism. Set in Baltimore in 1962, the film opens with chubby girl Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) singing her heart out in a rendition of "Good Morning Baltimore" that, while admittedly a bit too long, sets the farcical tone for the film. Viewers quickly become immersed in Tracy's teenage world of popular television dance shows, big hair, the stigma of being different, and the first hesitant steps toward racial integration within a segregated world. The Corny Collins (James Marsden) television dance show is a teenage obsession in Tracy's world and Link Larkin (Zac Efron) is every girl's dream partner, so when a call for auditions goes out, Tracy skips school to try out, but is rejected by station manager Velma von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer) because of her large size and the threat of competition for Velma's own daughter Amber (Brittany Snow). Perseverance and the support of her friend Penny (Amanda Bynes), father Wilbur (Christopher Walken), and negro dancer Seaweed (Elijah Kelley) lead Tracy to the spotlight and the chance of a lifetime, but more and more Tracy discovers that fairness and equality for those who are different does not come without a fight and that sacrifices must be made to effect change. While the message is serious, Hairspray is first and foremost a comedy with stellar performances by John Travolta as Edna Turnblad (who ever imagined Saturday Night Fever's iconic star would appear onscreen as a woman?), Christopher Walken, and Michelle Pfeiffer. Part of what makes Hairspray so powerful is the exceptional music composed by Marc Shaiman, including songs newly composed for the movie like "Ladies' Choice," "The New Girl in Town," and "Come So Far," and the awesome vocal talents of Queen Latifah (Motormouth Maybelle) and a cast of heretofore musically-unknown actors like Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron, and Brittany Snow who really can sing. Notable trivia includes Jerry Stiller's appearance in both versions of the film (as Wilbur in the 1988 film and as Mr. Pinky in this 2007 rendition), and a cameo appearance by 1988 director and screenplay writer John Waters. Hairspray is one of the best films of the year--it's powerfully moving entertainment that leaves you energized and motivated to fight for what you believe in. --Tami Horiuchi

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Grease (Rockin' Rydell Edition)

Sales Rank:1218
List Price: $19.99
Lowest New Price: $11.86
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

John Travolta
Olivia Newton-John
Stockard Channing
Jeff Conaway
Barry Pearl

Riding the strange '50s nostalgia wave that swept through America during the late 1970s (caused by TV shows like Happy Days and films like American Graffiti), Grease became not only the word in 1978, but also a box-office smash and a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years later, this entertaining film adaptation of the Broadway musical received another successful theatrical release, which included visual remastering and a shiny new Dolby soundtrack. In this 2002 DVD release, Grease lovers can also now see it in the correct 2:35 to 1 Panavision aspect ratio, and see retrospective interviews with cast members and director Randal Kleiser. All these stylistic touches are essential to the film's success. Without the vibrant colors, unforgettably campy and catchy tunes (like "Greased Lightning," "Summer Nights," and "You're the One That I Want"), and fabulously choreographed, widescreen musical numbers, the film would have to rely on a silly, cliché-filled plot that we've seen hundreds of times. As it is, the episodic story about the romantic dilemmas experienced by a group of graduating high school seniors remains fresh, fun, and incredibly imaginative.

The young, animated cast also deserves a lot of credit, bringing chemistry and energy to otherwise bland material. John Travolta, straight from his success in Saturday Night Fever, knows his sexual star power and struts, swaggers, sings, and dances appropriately, while Olivia Newton-John's portrayal of virgin innocence is the only decent acting she's ever done. And then there's Stockard Channing, spouting sexual double-entendres as Rizzo, the bitchy, raunchy leader of the Pink Ladies, who steals the film from both of its stars. Ignore the sequel at all costs. --Dave McCoy

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The Year Without a Santa Claus / Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey / Rudolph's Shiny New Year

Sales Rank:1448
List Price: $14.98
Lowest New Price: $8.47
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MPAA Rating: Unrated

Format:

Animated
Color
Full Screen
NTSC

Director(s):

Arthur Rankin Jr.
Jules Bass

Actor(s):

Shirley Booth
Mickey Rooney
Dick Shawn
George S. Irving
Bob McFadden

This DVD contains three holiday titles from Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass.

The Year Without a Santa Claus
Even Santa can suffer a case of the holiday blues. In this 1974 stop-motion holiday family favorite, a sparkly eyed Mrs. Claus (voiced by Shirley Booth) sings and tells about the year her hubby felt too weary and too unappreciated to prepare for his annual Christmas rounds. Mickey Rooney stars as the voice of Santa, a rosy-nosed puppet who travels incognito to Southtown in search of his tiniest reindeer, Vixen, and two well-meaning elves. Seems Mrs. Santa sent them to find proof of Christmas spirit--but all they've discovered is ambivalence about Santa's year off. Luckily, when Santa arrives and befriends a buck-toothed lad named Ignatius Thistlewhite, spirits begin to lift rapidly. Adult fans of this cousin to the 1970 television special Santa Claus Is Coming to Town will remember it as the Heat and Snow Miser movie. Their vaudevillian theme songs, complete with trombone and piano riffs, are hard to forget, but other treasured musical moments include "I Believe in Santa Claus," "I'll Have a Blue Christmas Without You," and "Here Comes Santa Claus." --Liane Thomas

Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
The wondrous story of Christ's birth is told by an unlikely source: Nestor, a gentle donkey with incredibly long ears and a first-hand knowledge of life in a stable. This simple tale, which takes place in the days of the Roman Empire, is about a humble couple about to take a long journey to Bethlehem and a small, insignificant donkey that is destined to help them along. By all outward appearances, Nestor does not deserve such a privilege. Stable animals tease him incessantly for his long appendages until, finally, he is cast out of the barn into the winter cold. Snow and ice bring about even greater calamity for Nestor until he receives a dose of divine goodness. Nestor meets Tilly, a heavenly cherub (voiced by Brenda Vaccaro) who imparts guidance to the despairing burro and tells him that soon he will be chosen to participate in a miracle involving a star, a baby, a lowly stable, and some travelers named Mary and Joseph. Short and sweet, this stop-motion Christmas gem from Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass is narrated by Roger Miller. Get out the hanky for an understated holiday classic that will appeal to families of all ages. --Lynn Gibson

Rudolph's Shiny New Year
Rudolph is legendary for saving Christmas, but did you know he saved the New Year as well? While Santa Claus is recuperating from his December sleigh ride, he receives a letter from an old friend, Father Time. Seems that Baby New Year is missing, and if the little tyke isn't found, Old Year will continue forever--a catastrophe for Father Time, whose job it is to keep things moving forward. A search party is essential, yet with such thick fog, there's only one reindeer fit for the job. "Rudolph with your nose so bright, you've six days left to set things right," says Santa. Trouble hits immediately when Rudolph discovers that Aeon the Terrible, a big-beaked monster bird, is also searching for the missing baby. Rudolph gets help from a giant whale and a good-natured caveman, who dish up plenty of song and dance in between narrow escapes in their race against the end of the calendar year. Sound far-fetched? Perhaps, but it contains as much magic as its predecessors, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, all produced and directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr., and written by the esteemed Romeo Muller. The same stop-motion animation we've grown to love is here as well, and narrator Red Skelton has as trusted a voice as Burl Ives and Fred Astaire. While the New Year holiday will never be as celebrated as Christmas, this title is a welcome addition to any Rankin and Bass collection of holiday films. --Lynn Gibson

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Les Miserables - The 10th Anniversary Dream Cast in Concert at London's Royal Albert Hall

Sales Rank:911
List Price: $34.98
Lowest New Price: $25.83
Lowest Used Price: $23.17
MPAA Rating: Unrated

Format:

Closed-captioned
Collector's Edition
Color
DVD-Video
Subtitled
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Colm Wilkinson
Michael Ball
Lea Salonga
Judy Kuhn
Michael Maguire

The 10th anniversary concert video of the international musical sensation Les Misérables might be the best thing to appease fans until a full-fledged movie comes along. Or it might be even better, as feature films are often subject to extramusical casting considerations and this 1995 dream cast is superb. Reprising their roles from the original London company are Colm Wilkinson (Valjean), Michael Ball (Marius), and Alun Armstrong (Thenardier). From Broadway come Judy Kuhn (Cosette), Lea Salonga (Eponine), and Michael Maguire (Enjolras); from a later London production comes Ruthie Henshall (Fantine); and from Australia comes Philip Quast (Javert).

Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's score vividly captures the passion of Victor Hugo's epic tale of post-Revolutionary France, combining tear-jerking ballads ("I Dreamed a Dream," "Bring Him Home") and rousing anthems ("Do You Hear the People Sing"). The format of this concert is closer to that of a dramatic cantata rather than a fully staged production; the singers stand at their microphone stands with an orchestra and chorus behind them, but they do wear costumes and participate in some movement. At certain points such as the climax of the barricade scene, the video switches to action from a stage production. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra sounds great, and it can be thrilling when 200 choristers (dressed in logo T-shirts) rise to their feet for a full-company number such as "One Day More." Also, subtitles provide date and scene information and help move the story along.

The 147-minute video contains footage not seen when Les Mis was a PBS pledge-drive staple, most notably the encore in which a progression of 17 actors who have played Valjean around the world share "Do You Hear the People Sing?" Each sings a line in his native language, a testament to the enduring power of this show to audiences everywhere. --David Horiuchi

DVD features
The 2008 two-disc edition presents the concert on a single-sided disc (the original DVD split the concert over two sides) with optional English subtitles. It's also in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1 aspect ratio) comparied to the original's 1.33 full-screen. The second disc has Stage by Stage: Les Miserables, the hourlong documentary from 1988. Unfortunately the sound is only Dolby Digital 2.0, and there's an odd omission (compared to the earlier Sony DVD): the first 10 seconds of Gavroche's "Little People" are missing ("Good evening, dear inspector, lovely evening, my dear..."). --David Horiuchi

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