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Broadway: The American Musical

Broadway: The American Musical

★ 7.9/10•2004•1h 0m•TV-G•Documentary
Similars

This six part documentary miniseries presents the evolution of the Broadway musical from its inception in 1893 to current day 2004. It presents those influential players both on stage and behind the scenes, as well as a variety of influential Broadway shows, a handful which are known to have transformed the musical into what the audience knows it to be today.

Michael Kantor · Director

StatusEnded
Runtime1h 0m
LanguageEN
First Air DateOct 19, 2004

Episodes

E1

Give My Regards to Broadway (1893-1927)

The episode features interviews with Irving Berlin’s daughter Mary Ellen Barrett, Ziegfeld Follies girls Doris Eaton and Dana O’Connell, New Yorker critic Brendan Gill, theater artist Al Hirschfeld, composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim, and Ziegfeld daughter Patricia Z. Stephenson. Highlights include newly-restored color footage of The Ziegfeld Follies and footage of Fanny Brice singing “My Man.”

Oct 19, 2004

E2

Syncopated City (1919-1933)

The episode features interviews with actor Carol Channing, Gershwin sister Frances Gershwin Godowsky, Al Jolson & Co. creator Stephen Mo Hanan, critic Margo Jefferson, writer Miles Krueger, New Yorker theater critic John Lahr, radio host/music critic Jonathan Schwartz, theater historians Max Wilk and Robert Kimball, and director/producer George C.Wolfe. Highlights include rare performance footage of composer Eubie Blake and a specially animated sequence of Rodgers and Hart’s 1927 hit “Thou Swell” from A Connecticut Yankee.

Oct 19, 2004

E3

I Got Plenty O' Nuttin' (1930-1942)

The episode features interviews with actor and original “Bess” Anne Brown, playwright Jerome Chodorov, actor Carol Channing, film director Stanley Donen, actor and original “Porgy” Todd Duncan, writer Philip Furia, actor Kitty Carlisle Hart, actor June Havoc, actor/producer John Houseman, actor/director Tim Robbins, and composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Highlights include rarely seen home movies of the Gershwin brothers from the 1930s, and 1950s TV footage of the incomparable Ethel Waters singing Irving Berlin’s “Suppertime.”

Oct 20, 2004

E4

Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin' (1943-1960)

The episode features interviews with actor Julie Andrews, writer/lyricist Betty Comden, choreographer Agnes De Mille, writer/lyricist Adolph Green, Oscar Hammerstein’s grandson Andy Hammerstein, choreographer Michael Kidd, author James Michener, theater historian Steve Nelson, musician John Raitt, choreographer Jerome Robbins, composer Mary Rodgers Guettel, and conductor Michael Tilson-Thomas. Highlights include never-before-broadcast footage of Jerome Robbins’ choreography for On the Town, 1960 TV footage of Rex Harrison re-enacting “I’m an Ordinary Man” from My Fair Lady, and the first American broadcast of 1950 footage of the original Guys and Dolls cast performing in London.

Oct 20, 2004

E5

Tradition (1957-1979)

The episode features interviews with actor Joel Grey, composer Marvin Hamlisch, actor Jerry Orbach, producer Hal Prince, writer Frank Rich, lyricist Stephen Sondheim, director Julie Taymor, and actor Ben Vereen. Highlights include rare footage of Ethel Merman rehearsing for Gypsy and home movies from the original stage production of Chicago.

Oct 21, 2004

E6

Putting It Together (1980-2004)

The episode features interviews with writer/producer Mel Brooks, actor Kristin Chenoweth, Walt Disney Corporation CEO Michael Eisner, actor/bookwriter Harvey Fierstein, composer/lyricist Jerry Herman, actor Nathan Lane, playwright/director James Lapine, producer Rocco Landesman, director Arthur Laurents, actor Idina Menzel, Nederlander Theaters chairman James Nederlander Sr., director Susan Stroman, and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Highlights include home movies of Jonathan Larson working as a waiter before leaving his job to create Rent, and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of Wicked in rehearsal and opening on Broadway.

Oct 21, 2004

Actors

Julie Andrews

Julie Andrews

Self (Host)

Al Hirschfeld

Self

Kitty Carlisle

Kitty Carlisle

Self

Carol Channing

Carol Channing

Self

Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim

Self

Michael Kidd

Michael Kidd

Self

Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks

Self

Joel Grey

Joel Grey

Self

Hal Prince

Hal Prince

Self

George C. Wolfe

George C. Wolfe

Self

Tommy Tune

Self

John Lahr

Self

Arthur Laurents

Arthur Laurents

Self

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