"Broadway: The American Musical" - PBS historical showcase begins 10/19/2004

Cafe Society
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Since we have plenty of discussions here about Broadway shows, thought I’d give a heads up to this six parts series coming up on PBS (shown in three 2 hr segments). All times are ET. Info from WNET – NYC’s PBS station on channel 13.

Tue, Oct 19 9:00pm 2 hrs
Broadway: The American Musical # 101 Give My Regards to Broadway (1893-1927)/Syncopated City (1919-1933)

Julie Andrews hosts this landmark series chronicling the epic story of American musical theater and its link to 20th-century American culture. The first two episode spotlight The Ziegfeld Follies and Jazz Age musicals, featuring interviews with Irving Berlin’s daughter Mary Ellin Barrett, radio host/music critic Jonathan Schwartz, and others. (Parts 1-2 of 6)
Wed, Oct 20 9:00pm
Broadway: The American Musical # 103 I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’ (1930-1942)/Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’ (1943-1960)

These episodes spotlight Cole Porter’s Anything Goes, George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and other musicals of the Great Depression. Highlights include footage from On the Town, My Fair Lady, and Guys and Dolls, and interviews with Carol Channing, Stephen Sondheim, and other musical theater legends. Julie Andrews hosts. (Parts 3-4 of 6)

Thu, Oct 21 9:00pm
Broadway: The American Musical # 105 Tradition (1957-1979)/Putting It Together (1980 - Present)

These episodes showcase innovative 1970s musicals and today’s Broadway blockbusters, featuring home movies from the original production of Chicago, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of Wicked, and other highlights. Interviews include Joel Grey, Marvin Hamlisch, Jerry Orbach, Hal Prince, Mel Brooks, Susan Stroman, and others. Julie Andrews hosts. (Parts 5-6 of 6)

Sat, Oct 23 4:00pm
Broadway: The American Musical # 101 Give My Regards to Broadway (1893-1927)/Syncopated City (1919-1933)
Sat, Oct 23 6:00pm (as per WNET webite, my TiVo says 6:20 pm)
Broadway: The American Musical # 103 I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’ (1930-1942)/Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’ (1943-1960)

Sat, Oct 23 8:00pm (TiVo says 8:40 pm)
Broadway: The American Musical # 105 Tradition (1957-1979)/Putting It Together (1980 - Present)

Sat, Oct 23 11:00pm
Broadway: The American Musical # 101 Give My Regards to Broadway (1893-1927)/Syncopated City (1919-1933)

Sun, Oct 24 1:00am (or, 1:20am)
Broadway: The American Musical # 103 I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’ (1930-1942)/Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’ (1943-1960)

Sun, Oct 24 3:00am (or, 3:40am)
Broadway: The American Musical # 105 Tradition (1957-1979)/Putting It Together (1980 - Present)

Peace.

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Thanks for the reminder – I’ll go buy some blank tapes today!

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I am so psyched!! Can hardly wait for the DVD next week, too!

I’m also in NY–they’re not having Pledge Week, are they? Even though they usually get top stars to help them beg, I hate pledge breaks, esp. when I’m taping.

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Thanks for the heads-up! I’m hoping at least one of the two PBS stations here show it. I’ll load the VCR and check my local listings. :slight_smile:

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I have a horrible feeling they’re going to breeze over the 1890-1925 period in ten minutes, with a lot of condescension.

And if Anna Held is not even mentioned, my head will explode in a cartoon-character manner. They’ll mention the Ziegfeld (please, not “Ziegfield!”) Follies, but not that it was Anna’s idea, financed by Anna’s money and Anna’s previous successes (she was the biggest musical-comedy star of the 1900-10 period).

Wonder if they’ll mention the “Princess Shows,” or The Merry Widow, Eddie Foy and the “fairy-tale musical” fad, or Weber & Fields’ Forbidden Broadway-like parodies, Montgomery and Stone; or the “inventors” of American musical comedy, Harrigan and Hart?

I’ll be tuned in, but with my expectations dialed down to “3.”

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Each 2 hr part is actually two separate 1 hour parts of a 6 hr series. The first one hour episode, “Give My Regards to Broadway (1893-1927)” will give one full hour to that time period. So, rest assured it will not be a 10 minute breeze through.

Whether they’ll be condenscending, I dunno. Rather, I fear the opposite: an uncritical love-fest of everything and anything that was popular on ‘Broadway,’ regardless of quality or historical import.

Peace.

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Hehehehehehe! Can’t wait to see this special! PBS has been doing very well by Broadway lately.

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It’s not out yet? Huh. My bookstore got in the DVD and book and a highlights CD last Tuesday. The full 4-disc CD is set to come out on Tuesday. That’s odd.

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I double-checked on Amazon and yeah, they released the book and DVD already. So you don’t have to wait to see/read it.

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I’ll watch it tonight, and have my VCR set to record it this weekend if it’s any good.

I come loaded for b’ar, so I expect them to completely brush over Harrigan & Hart, and Weber & Fields, who really invented “the Broadway musical.” And if they even mention Anna Held, I will faint. Part of the problem, I predict, is the lack of film clips of the earlier musicals . . .

By the way, I had to write to the NYT about today’s review of the series, telling them it’s Doris Eaton, not “Easton,” and that Bert Williams was neither African nor American.

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Link, just so as not to lose everyone’s previous comments and predictions.

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Oh, bloody hell, I linked to the wrong thread. “Sod it,” as our Brit friends would say.

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OK, so far, not one mention of Harrigan & Hart, or Weber & Fields (despite two unidentified clips of them).

And the Ziegfeld Follies were Anna Held’s idea, financed by Anna’s money and Anna’s successes on Broadway!! Without Anna, there would have been no Ziegfeld and no Follies, and not one goddam mention of her . . .

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A decent amount on Bert Williams, though.

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…and Marilyn Miller! I’m glad I got to see her grave with you, Eve.

Williams was born in the Carribean, right?

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Antigua.

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It’s definitely a celebration of Broadway; if the I :heart: New York people didn’t bankroll this, they missed a bet. But at least they seem to be hitting the high points.

I make no claims to be an expert, but given the format of five-minute segments on major players with a smidgen of filler in-between they’re spreading the love around acceptably. The concentration is also nicely on Broadway stars rather than those who became or recreated themselves as famous later on in movies. Which means that I wanted a lot more than a clip from a Marx Brothers movie, but nothing of theirs from Broadway seems to exist.

As history, well, there’s no point in even bothering. If you want history, read a book. I’ll guess even the companion volume will do a better job.

I’m impressed by the number of color clips. They look to me to be early process color rather than colorized, too. Wonder where they found them all?

As for Bert Williams: Columbus ran aground on the West Indies and never set foot on the mainland. Bert has more claim to be an “American” than the rest of us. :smiley:

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And even though I was not, inexplicably, one of the talking heads, they did pick good ones. But first let me note that the NYT Corrections section has bowed to my wonderfulness today:

An article about the PBS documentary series "Broadway: The American Musical’’ misspelled the surname of an original Ziegfeld girl who is shown in the documentary singing and dancing at age 99. She is Doris Eaton, not Easton. The article also referred incorrectly to the black comedian Bert Williams, who was hired by Flo Ziegfeld over the objections of some cast members. He was born in Nassau, the Bahamas; he was not African-American.

Now, back to our show . . . Once they got to the 1920s they were on sure ground, and I do understand you can’t cover (or even mention) everyone, so their segments on Geo. White, Bert Williams, Fanny Brice, the Gershwins, Irving Berlin and—hoorah!—DeSylva, Brown & Henderson were quite good.

My real gripe is saying the B’way musical started with Ziegfeld, which is like saying the U.S. Presidency started with Lincoln. There was a huge, vibrant B’way musical world as far back as The Black Crook in the 1860s, and the wildly popular hits by The Rogers Bros., Harrigan & Hart, Weber & Fields; the fairy-tale fad of c1900, important stars like Lillian Russell, Eddie Foy, Anna Held, etc., etc.

Christ, they could have given them ten minute of lip service, at least.

(Oh, that sounds naughtier than I’d intended)

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By the way, when Harvey Fierstein’s voice-over started introducing the series, did anyone else think, “boy, Julie Andrews’ voice really has gone to pot?”

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I missed the first 20 minutes or so but what I saw I thought was quite good. I agree that more could have been said about the pre-1920’s but it is to be expected. There’s a lot of ground to cover and they are going to spend more time on big events like Showboat and people like Rogers, etc.

I appreciated the coverage they did have on things like blackface and the influence of Broadway on racial issues. One could make a documentary about just the minstrel shows, or the effect of the stock market crash, or the strikes, etc. but I think they are at least touching on them as well as they can to give an overall picture.

Watching it really takes me back to my theatre history classes in college! I had to do a presentation on Showboat.