Broadway: The Golden Age: Exclusive Video From The Vault Featuring Stephen Sondheim

When creating a documentary featuring the who's who of Broadway, one can't possibly include everything - that means tough decisions on what to keep and what must unfortunately get cut.  Rick McKay had over 300 hours of footage filled with fascinating theatrical stories told by the people that lived them. BroadwayWorld.com is pleased to celebrate Broadway: The Golden Age this week by presenting 6 exclusive featurettes that you won't see anywhere else - including on PBS and on the DVD.

Today's exclusive video from the vaults of Rick McKay features Stephen Sondheim. The career of Stephen Sondheim, who is considered by many to be the greatest living composer-lyricist of musicals, has spanned almost 50 years since his Broadway debut in 1957 as the lyricist of West Side Story. After also penning the lyrics to Gypsy (with a return to mere lyric-writing for 1965's Do I Hear a Waltz?), Sondheim went on to write the scores for a litany of shows that challenged musical theatre conventions in theme, content and structure. Among his shows are A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Anyone Can Whistle, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd (currently seen in a hit Broadway revival), Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Assassins and Passion. His latest musical, Bounce, closed out of town in DC before making it to Broadway but an expanded, limited-run production of 1974's The Frogs bowed two years ago at Lincoln Center.

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Broadway: The Golden Age, which premiered at the Angelica Theatre in June of 2004, is the most comprehensive film ever made about America's most celebrated indigenous art form. Upon its theatrical release, the film earned rave reviews as well as much support and praise from both Broadway stars and fans alike. Now, the film comes to PBS airing throughout the country for its March pledge drive airing around thecountry throughout the month, and premiering in New York on March 13th. The DVD is also available in stores, and for order at Amazon.com and other sites.

The award-winning documentary was created by Rick McKay, who traveled across four continents over the couse of five years to discover "whether there had been a golden age of theatre and why it had never been documented, as well as to learn "the stories of our theatrical legends, how they came to New York, and how they created this legendary century in American theatre." He interviewed dozens of Broadway artists, icons and stars, includingCarol Channing, Betty Comden, Barbara Cook, Nanette Fabray, Julie Harris, Uta Hagen, Jerry Herman, Donna McKechnie, Ann Miller, Robert Morse, Jerry Orbach, Harold Prince, Chita Rivera, Steven Sondheim, Elaine Stritch, Leslie Uggams, and Gwen Verdon, whose memories brought to life Broadway's glamorous and glorious heydey. A starry sequel--Broadway: Beyond The Golden Age--is currently filming and is set for a 2007 release date.