42nd Street West End revival out on Blu-Ray today

[phantom39]

Posted: 7/5/21 at 5:09pm

The BroadwayHD / Great Performances capture is out on Blu-Ray today - a truly marvelous replica of the 2001 Broadway revival directed by the late Mark Bramble.

West End musical 42ND STREET now available on DVD and Blu-Ray

[nealb1]

Posted: 7/6/21 at 4:28pm

Great news! This has been on my dvr since it first aired on PBS in November 2019!

[morosco]

Posted: 7/6/21 at 5:45pm

Great news! This has been on my dvr since it first aired on PBS in November 2019!

Same here. It's been on my dvr since it was first broadcast on Friday November 1, 2019. I remember the exact time it aired because I was to go through an incredibly stressful episode in my life the following Monday (open heart surgery which was a breeze and very successful) and the broadcast brought me such joy. It was a much needed mental break and I kind of think of 42nd Street as a good luck charm now.

I remember though that I was disappointed at the beginning of the show during that "get out your tap shoes Frances! Julian Marsh is doing a show!!" sequence where the curtain rises just a bit to magically show all those dancing feet. I was disappointed because PBS placed an on screen graphic (maybe it said Great Performances or something) partially obstructing the full-stage camera shot. It kind of ruined that iconic moment.

Oh... and whenever I see a performance of 42nd Street, I always wish that Peggy Sawyer would get the last bow instead of Julian Marsh.

Sad that it will probably be a long time before we ever see a show with that big of a cast again.

 

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/6/21 at 6:45pm

This 2017 London revival was really fascinating for a number of reasons. It was essentially the 2001 Broadway revival, but yet it played so much better at the Drury Lane than it did at the Hilton/Lyric/Ford Center/Foxwoods. Both are big theatres, but to hear a mix with real ambient sound at the Drury Lane, rather than something agressively piped at you through the sound system made a huge difference. I think too they were able to use all the swings for the big production numbers, so everything looked huge.

Small cavils: I wish the revival had more of the Depression-era palette of the original David Merrick production. Everything is a little too day-glo and candy colored. Also, the cast of this London revival was stronger at the top of the run. This cast gets a little too broad in spots. But still, it's largely delightful. 

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 7/6/21 at 7:45pm

I received the Blu-ray today from Amazon and will definitely watch it this week. I’d stopped traveling to London around the time the show opened there, so I saw a review roundup in a Google search today and the reviews were stellar for this production! I’m looking forward to it…

[BenjaminNicholas2]

Posted: 7/6/21 at 11:34pm

Claire Halsey is a star.  I saw her Peggy Sawyer three times over the London run and she never gave less than 110% and made it look easy, each and every time.

This show, in replica of London's production, would be PERFECT for the reopening of Broadway.  The world could use some fun, frothy, production shows right now.  

In a perfect world, someone would mount a top-tier revival of Crazy For You as well.

[jdrye222]

Posted: 7/7/21 at 12:03am

I’ve always thought 42nd Street would be perfect in one of the NBC live things. It could so easily be done in one of those sound stages and it could provide camera angles etc you can’t quite get filming it onstage.
I enjoy that this recording of London does exist…. I just wish they’d been able to do something of the sort with the original cast of the Broadway revival. (I found MOST of this London cast to be completely unbearable … the Maggie especially). I will always be a huge fan of this show though. Not everything needs to be epic and dark…. This show is literally about show business rising out of a dark time with merely the love of the craft to propel it forward. It’s so timely.
That revival on Broadway remains, to me, one of the great revivals of all time. It topped the original in many ways (namely the final sequence actually feels like it matches the stress of teaching Peggy the show - it gives her two huge features she didn’t have at all in the original). While I think some of Skinner’s choreography (where he didn’t have Champion to base it on) is somewhat sloppy and lazy (ditto ALL of White Xmas) those dancers just make me cry to watch .. that is the real show biz trouper right there … the grit, the athleticism, the sweat and tears.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/7/21 at 12:54am

Speaking of Robin Wagner's original sets (I don't think anything ever came of this).....

‘42ND STREET’ SHUFFLE – DID HIT MUSICAL’S DESIGNER STEAL FROM ‘80 SHOW?

Updated On: 7/7/21 at 12:54 AM

[nealb1]

Posted: 7/7/21 at 5:32pm

JDRYE222, you are so right - the 2001 Broadway revival was just spectacular.  So lavish and opulent.  The added musical numbers took an already fantastic show, and elevated it to another level.

Saw it many times during it's 3 & 1/2 year run.  I also saw the final performance in January 2005, and that last show was like a rock concert.  Each number stopping the show.  

[jdrye222]

Posted: 7/8/21 at 1:18pm

I was also at the final show., nealb1 ….
I don’t know why but I cannot remember who was Peggy at closing - it couldn’t have still been Nadine Isenegger…?? I saw it at least 15 times because I kept bringing people over the years when they visited (and a good friend of mine understudied Oscar)… Nadine was by far the best Peggy. (Not the best singer but she acted so beautifully while dancing, not just mechanical steps …. And she also was the only one who made the erotic tension with Julian believable).
Also - I know he took breaks here and there - but how in the world did David Elder do the ENTIRE RUN?!?! He wasn’t old, but he was not 22. Remarkable.

[nealb1]

Posted: 7/8/21 at 1:31pm

Yes, it was Nadine.  She was a phenomenal Peggy Sawyer!  Just fantastic!  Saw her many times, and loved her.  Her and Julian did have a underlying sexual tension that I didn't see before.  David E was a fantastic Billy L!  Such a great show!  Love it!!!

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/8/21 at 3:24pm

This was such an awful production. Opulently designed and choreographed, but the performances and Bramble's direction were excruciating. The book has always been terrible, and these performances put a magnifying glass up to its flaws. There is no weight to the story, and the fluffy musical numbers don't move the plot, so it feels more like a Radio City Christmas show than a musical.

David Merrick's demotion of "lead-ins and crossovers" (instead of "book) had a lot of merit.

Updated On: 7/8/21 at 03:24 PM

[phantom39]

Posted: 7/9/21 at 4:51pm

Personally, I love this revival. Having seen both the Broadway revival and this in the West End, I think the original cast in the West End had way more energy. The set was also upgraded from the Broadway designs and looked terrific. Too bad it had a difficult time filling up the huge Drury Lane and didn't last long!

[inception]

Posted: 5/8/22 at 2:36am

PBS played this again last night, at least the Seattle station did.

I have to agree with the comments about this being a pretty fluffy show. I put it on this afternoon while doing chores/ making dinner, so didn't watch all the dancing, but the book is full of so many groaners. Also parts of the plot  (like calling in a mobster to deal with the boyfriend) feels like it's  lifted  from other shows, but then it never really goes anywhere interesting.  When I did sit down & watch parts of this performance, I found this cast to be quite bland.

I've only seen this show live a couple times in regional summer stock productions.  Those were able to use large choruses, with lots of young dancers, and weren't terrible even though those acting the lead roles in both productions tended to play the characters very broadly.

In the current climate, I can't see an expensive production of this show being done without a big name attached; but the only problem is that none of the lead roles really offer anything to attract a name.  Even in the OBC cast, it feels like Jerry Orbach's talents must have been really wasted.

 

[morosco]

Posted: 5/8/22 at 2:39pm

Am I the only one who has always felt like the actress playing Peggy Sawyer should get the last bow?

[inception]

Posted: 5/8/22 at 3:56pm

morosco said: "Am I the only one who has always felt like the actress playing Peggy Sawyer should get the last bow?"

She usually doesn't because it is usually a more famous actress in the Dorothy Brock role.