Product Description

The annual Tony Award® broadcast provides the only filmed record of Broadway’s best for audiences to experience as if they were front-row-center on opening night. This second compilation of great musical moments from the Tonys® features another dazzling array of stars and performances. Hosts Lauren Bacall, Bebe Neuwirth, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Jerry Orbach introduce these 18 one-of-a-kind performances and share their personal Broadway and Tony® memories.
"Praise be to the theatre gods. . . for what was ‘lost’ is found." —Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the first Broadway’s Lost Treasures.

THE LEADS
Patti LuPone, Anything Goes
Angela Lansbury, Beatrice Arthur, Mame
Robert Morse, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Jane Lapotaire, Piaf
Richard Kiley, Man of La Mancha

ALL SINGING, ALL DANCING
Nell Carter, cast, Ain’t Misbehavin’
Michael Jeter, Brent Barrett, Grand Hotel
Gregory Hines, Jelly’s Last Jam
Walter Bobbie, Nathan Lane, Guys and Dolls

REVIVALS AND RECORD BREAKERS
George Hearn, cast, La Cage aux Folles
Cast, Les Misérables
Shirley Verrett, cast, Carousel
Jerry Orbach, Chicago

BONUS PERFORMANCES
Katharine Hepburn, Coco
Robert Lindsay, Me and My Girl
Tom Bosley, Fiorello!
Kathi Moss, cast, Nine
Bill Hutton, cast, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

BONUS EXTRAS
Five additional performances not seen on the PBS broadcast
Historical information about the original Broadway productions
PLAYBILL cover art

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37672 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-10-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

Amazon.com
The follow-up to the original Broadway's Lost Treasures delivers more of the same--historic performances of great moments in American musical theater televised on the Tony Awards--but is a step up in terms of sheer entertainment value. The first volume included only performances before 1987, and while they had bigger stars (Yul Brynner, Robert Preston), some of them were lip-synced and considerably less polished than their feature-film equivalents. Broadway's Lost Treasures II features newer performances that are almost indistinguishable from an actual show, including scenes from splashy, high-energy revivals such as Anything Goes (Patti LuPone and company performing the title tune) and Guys and Dolls (the fabulous "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat"), and new shows such as Grand Hotel (Michael Jeter and Brent Barrett in a gloriously exuberant "Take a Glass Together"), Les Miserables ("One Day More"), La Cage aux Folles (George Hearn solo and with a chorus line in drag in "I Am What I Am"), and Jelly's Last Jam (Gregory Hines tapping "That's How You Jazz"). There are classic performances too, including Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur's 1987 reunion of "Bosom Buddies" (Mame), Richard Kiley's "The Impossible Dream" (Man of La Mancha), Jerry Orbach's "All I Care About" (Chicago), and (in the DVD's bonus content) Katharine Hepburn in a 15-minute part-dramatic, part-musical scene from Coco. Fans were disappointed when performances from Dreamgirls and A Chorus Line were pulled from the first program due to rights issues, and those still aren't included here, but one can always hope they might appear in a future volume. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

Worth it -- but another mixed bag
Once again, I'm grateful for what good we do get in the mix of performances captured in Broadway's Lost Treasures II -- for what is good is quite good.

Among the best are Michael Jeter and Brent Barrett having a ball in Grand Hotel, Patti LuPone brassily belting in Anything Goes, Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur radiating charm and affection in Mame, Robert Lindsay acting and singing very much like Anthony Newley in Me and My Girl, and Walter Bobbie and chorus bringing down the house in Guys and Dolls.

But we also get plenty of less-exciting segments, and several once again are lip synched (generally the performers recreating their performances for the 1971 Tony show's retrospective). The latter include Richard Kiley in Man of La Mancha and Tom Bosley in Fiorello. The whole lifeblood of Broadway is LIVE performance, so these artificial segments should have been left in the vault and more time should have been given to other truly live performances.

The most curious segment is Katherine Hepburn in Coco. In the end, though, it doesn't do much for the reputation of the show -- or Hepburn, for that matter. She can't sing -- that's no surprise -- but she's also unable to immerse herself in the character. You never forget it's Hepburn doing Chanel, and she tends to bellow to be heard across the footlights. Since Hepburn insisted on having this segment pretaped without an audience, we also get a very intrusive laugh track. But for many, Hepburn's star wattage will be enough.

All that said, every Broadway fan needs to have this DVD in his/her collection. And we can only hope that more will be forthcoming.

RARE AND MAGNIFICENT
I received the first and second issues of the series the same day, watched both twice. It was wonderful to relive some of the performances I saw on Broadway as well as to see some performances I was not able to see "live". There is nothing like the m,agic of live theater and both volumes bring it to you via Toney Awards telecasts. It was nice to see Tom Bosley [ Happy Days, Father Dowling Mysteries, and Murder She Wrote] in his Tomy Award performance as Fiorello Laguardia; Jerry Orbach [Law and Order] in 42nd Street and Chicago, Angela Lansbury [Murder She Wrote] in Mame and Sweeny Todd., and so it goes. THIS IS A MUST FOR ANYONE WHO LIKES MUSICAL THEATER. I only hope there is a third edition.

Treasures is a perfect title for this DVD!
As a musical theatre lover I've seen a lot of footage from various tony's & concerts, but this was delightful! The wide range of preformances and preformers are just great! I'd get this based only on the fact that it has Patti LuPone doing Anthing Goes on it! :) Also, the selections from Jelly's Last Jam & Chicago are just great! Enjoy! (and if you haven't seen the first Lost treasures DVD, treat yourself to that!)