Editorial Review

Julie Harris brings depth and grace to one of history's most maligned first ladies in Read more

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What Becomes A Legend Most
I first saw this play during previews of its disgracefully short Broadway run in 1973, and I knew serious theatre was in trouble when audiences simply didn't turn out for this magnificent and important play.I vividly remember that the first time I saw this show, shortly before the curtain rose, the ushers actually escorted members of the audience to better seats, moving us from the rear mezzanine to the front balcony.Without being asked!During previews!I don't ever expect to see that happen again in a Broadway theatre.
"I live from dream to dream--it is NOT better than death."
Written by James Prideaux and directed by George Schaeffer, this adaptation of the play for which Julie Harris won the Tony Award in 1973, is a stunning example of great theater commissioned for television.Seemingly without friends or allies after the death of Abraham Lincoln, Mrs. Lincoln (Julie Harris) is at odds with the world.Her sister and southern relatives have always believed Lincoln beneath her.Congress has refused to reimburse her for installing central heating and indoor plumbing in the White House, and they have refused to approve her pension.The press uses her vituperation to their own advantage, and the fates have taken two of her sons before adulthood.
I Saw The Final Performance of "The Last of Mrs. Lincoln"
I was fortunate to be in the audience for the final performance ofMiss Julie Harris in "The Last of Mrs. Lincoln" on Broadway. When the curtain came down and the thuderous applause began, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.Read more

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"There's something so terrible here...no end ever...just no end."
Set in summer, 1933, in the depths of the Depression, Arthur Miller's most personal and intimate play focuses on the workers in a warehouse, a grim place in which men and women work for small wages and are grateful for the work.Appearing at the beginning of this production to set the scene, Miller observes that the Civil War and the Depression were the only times in American history in which the whole country was in the same boat-"You could not do a single thing that you wanted to do because no one had any money." The warehouse, he notes, became a grotesque sort of haven for the employees since they, at least, had jobs.Miller's own experience in a warehouse shows in his exceptionally realistic portrayal of the workers, men who often lose themselves in alcohol to escape reality, and women who must put up with sexual abuse and mistreatment to save their jobs.
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Mr. Cobb absolutely riveting.

A Masterful Work and Presentation by Cobb
An insightful play about the realities of life. Cobb gives a standup performance in this classic play equal to none. Actors of his caliber are few and far between. Simply the best performance of this play to date. Lee becomes Willy in a somewhat scary portrayal. It is hard to tell the difference between Lee and Willy. Highly Recommend this version to serious theatre affcianados.

VINTAGE THEATRE TELEVISION
Startling and ambitious vintage network TV production from 1966 is a heart-breaking and unrelentlessly tragic drama with Lee J. Cobb in such a supoerb performance, you want to reach out and console the troubled sympathetic character. So downbeat as to be almost dismal, the play succeeds in it's grip on the realities of grief and doom and the undying hope of a better tomorrow.The rest of the cast is equally superb and I loved the fake realism of the CBS cameras taping a obviously theatrical set. ... Read more

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One of the classics!
This is another memory in my favorite plays - I saw this on A&E in the '80's and fell in love with Marc Singer - his acting, his looks - this version from the ACT in San Francisco is sensuous, and gives a mighty kick to the play - makes a delightful play even more so.
great rendition!
I love shakespeare and am, in fact, in a shakespeare class at school, so I might be biased. anyway, I borrowed this dvd from my teacher so I could watch it at home and wasn't disappointed. it's wonderful! it's done in the commedia dell'arte style and reminds me of when I saw it in oxford. it was great then and fredi olster and marc singer are really nice together. the only reason I might give this four stars would be because the quality of the recording. it's a stage production and filmed like one, not like a movie! I didn't hold it against them, though, because that's certainly not their fault.

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
I REMEMBER SEEING THIS ON PBS IN THE 70'S.I LOVED IT THEN. IT IS MY FAVORITE COMMEDY.MARC SINGER'S AND FREDI OLSTER PERFORMANCE REALLY MAKE THIS PRODUCTION WONDERFUL.I LOVE THE STYLE IT IS PRESENTED. IT REMINDS ME WHEN I WAS YOUNGER AND THERE WAS SHAKESPEARE IN OUR LOCAL PARK.I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET YOUNGER PEOPLE INTERESTED IN SHAKESPEARE BY WATCHING THIS PLAY. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Comedy    2. Comedy Video    3. Movie    4. Performing Arts - Theater    5. TV Shows   

Editorial Review

Brilliant performances from an amazing cast highlight this piece of modern theater history. James Earl Jones stars as Lear in this digitally remastered recording of a live performance in the park. (If you've ever wished you could see one of Joseph Papp's legendary New York Shakespeare Festival productions, this is your chance.) The crowd reactions add a layer to the play by helping to bring the excellent production to life. The direction is vibrant, keeping both a reverence for Shakespeare's work and the importance of entertaining a crowd in mind. The astonishing supporting cast includes Rosalind Cash, Paul Sorvino, Rene Auberjonois, and Raul Julia, and a remarkable performance by Douglass Watson as Kent. Read more

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OF ALL THE KING LEAR'S THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST RECORDED
and that includes Ran.
The Best I've Seen
"Lear" is not an easy play to watch by any standard, or in any medium.Anyone who has ever wished that he or she had more money or property to leave to his or her children would do well to watch this one.Poor families get along better, believe me.
Superb
This Movie gave me an actual reason to like shakespears writing and plays.There was superb acting by all the actor and actresses and mainly Mr. James Earl Jones.Just watching his anger and how it progressed through the play just gave a new meaning to acting, the way he used his facial expressions and when his saliva came pouring out of his mouth just showed how hard he worked to perfect his perfromance. As for the Director he could not have got a better cast. This is why i gave this mvie FOUR STARS ... Read more

Editorial Review

Playwright Wendy Wasserstein's acclaimed debut, Read more

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Still resonant after all these years
I caught this on PBS this weekend and was quite impressed.Despite its *very* dated appearance, it drew me in immediately with its wit - it made me sad again at Wendy Wasserstein's untimely death.But it was not just funny - the characters felt real and you could sympathize with their ambitions and ultimately their unfulfilled desires.I would recommend to any fan of Wasserstein, esp. as this is probably the only chance you will get to actually see the play performed.
superb
A play that takes you into the distorted world of a women's college, circa 1970, but still relevant to today in its main themes...Although the language has been somewhat cleaned up - the F word edited out, among others - it's a wonderfully fast excursion into the wit and mind of the beloved Wendy Wasserstein, and one not to be missed...Think of it as what Seinfeld would have looked like without men, and then add large doses of richly observed and well-acted scenes from a young and brilliant Meryl Streep, and a fresh Jill Eikenberry, and a fabulously lithe Swoosie Kurtz, nicely shot to give you its sense of being a play for the stage...H

"I feel as if I'm under-articulating."
Wendy Wasserstein's debut play, directed by Merrily Mossman and Steven Robman, is brought to hilarious life in this finely cast production starring Swoosie Kurtz, Jill Eikenberry, and Meryl Streep.Setting the play in 1970 at Mount Holyoke College, Wasserstein focuses on six young women who are about to graduate and go out into a world newly sensitized to feminist goals.Caught between traditional values of home, hearth, and finding a husband, and sexual liberation, women's liberation, and personal liberation, these women are on the cusp of a whole new way of life.The play opens a few years after graduation as the women meet to reminisce about their lives in college, where "milk-and-crackers" teas and "gracious living" have dominated.
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Editorial Review

Blythe Danner gives a luminous performance in this Tennessee Williams classic. Read more

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"I may be eccentric but not so eccentric I do not have the need for ordinary human love."
Written in 1964, Eccentricities of a Nightingale, like several other Tennessee Williams plays, focuses on a neurasthenic young woman for whom time has stood still.Unmarried, Alma Winemiller fails to belong to the local society of Glorious Hill.Though she is a singer and teaches music, her exaggerated gestures and her personal tics make her an object of pity and even mockery within the town, and her minister father often reprimands her for her peculiarities, which he believes reflect badly upon his position.Her mother, mentally ill, is hidden upstairs, and Alma and her father fear Alma may have inherited her mother's illness.
Excellent production of a rare Williams play
Outstanding performance by a luminous Blythe Danner and a wonderfully underplayed Frank Langella. We enjoyed this much more than "Summer and Smoke".

A Fabulous Peice of Acting
I saw this work many years ago and it has stayed with me all this time. It stands out as masterful acting by Miss Danner; her work is touching and delicate. The play is a work of genus. It is too bad that is it not known as well as some of Tennessee Williams other works. ... Read more

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Albee's 1971 Meditation on Death
Albee's 1971 meditation on death is a challenging work.It takes a delicate balance to bring the poetry of the text to life and to enrich the characters on stage without getting lost in the static nature of the unfolding drama.In a very quiet way, this play has as many barbs as "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" but contains only a fraction of the humor that is in "Virginia Woolf".The subject of death runs through every thread of the play and presents variations on the theme through the characters and their identities and conflicts.Read more

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Editorial Review

Katharine Hepburn, one of the great American actresses, stars in this filmadaptation of one of the greatest American plays, Tennessee Williams'sRead more

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A memorable performance by Katherine Hepburn
Each character has played the assigned role in a charming manner, bringing out the human shortcomings, grief and disappointments.

sheer brilliance
THE GLASS MENAGERIE is one of the theatre's great masterpieces.Originally opening on Broadway in 1944, the play established playwright Tennessee Williams as a force to be reckoned with and provided Laurette Taylor with her final great Broadway role as Amanda Wingfield (check out Rick McKay's outstanding BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE to hear Marian Seldes and others discuss their memories of Taylor).
"What shall I wish for, Mother?"
A brilliant cast gives life to this 1973 production, lending new interpretations which overcome the dated aspects of this 1944 play.Set in St. Louis, the action takes place entirely in the crowded tenement apartment of the Wingfield family, which has fallen upon hard times.Amanda Wingfield (Katharine Hepburn) is a domineering but good-hearted woman with two children, her husband having long vanished.Her daughter Laura, pathologically shy, spends most of her time polishing her collection of glass animals.Unable to adjust to the requirements of secretarial school, Laura is totally dependent on Amanda and Tom, her brother.Amanda is determined to find a husband for Laura so that Laura will be taken care of--and she begs Tom to bring home a friend as a "gentleman caller."
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Editorial Review

Kevin Kline directs and stars in this first-rate production of Shakespeare's most famous play. Originally produced by Joseph Papp for the New York Shakespeare Festival, this version was adapted by Kline and television director Kirk Browning for PBS. While one occasionally longs for the live audience reaction, the television production does offer the advantage of seeing Read more

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Reviews (8)

I've Waited For This For Over 10 Years
As it says in my profile, I love almost everything Shakespearian.I saw this production on PBS's Great Performances, back in 1990, & I've been looking for it in some form ever since.So when I found it on DVD at Amazon.com I leaped at it.
Mixed Matter
I have mixed feelings about this Hamlet; there are some things about it I emphatically do not like, and others I emphatically do like.
From the Broadway theater archive
William Shakespeare's Hamlet directed and starring Kevin Kline.Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Drama    3. Television   

Editorial Review

This gorgeously designed theater production of Lewis Carroll'sworld-famous fantasy, based on a famous production from the 1930s,features an astonishing array of notable actors. Richard Burton is quietlytouching as the doddering White Knight; Eve Arden spits out commands asthe bloodthirsty Queen of Hearts; Donald O'Connor plays the woeful MockTurtle as a jaunty standup comedian; and such varied talents as ColleenDewhurst, Nathan Lane, Maureen Stapleton, James Coco, Andre Gregory, andGeoffrey Holder fill out Carroll's phantasmagoria as Kate Burton(Richard's daughter) plays the title character in the classicblue-and-white dress and blond tresses. All the sets and costumes aremeticulously based on the illustrations from the original books (thestory line is a mix of Read more

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a rare treat for theatre fans
Fantastic television performance of the Eva LeGallienne adaptation of Lewis Carroll's ALICE IN WONDERLAND, featuring the 1982 Broadway revival staging by director Kirk Browning.Richard Addinsell's lovely score highlights the production with fine performances all around, headed by Kate Burton who gives Alice a sassy, modern sensibility.LeGallienne's version (which premiered in 1933 and was first revived in 1947) throws the stories and characters of "Wonderland" and "Looking Glass" together, creating a veritable kaleidoscope of colour and whimsy.
It's a bad sign when the sets are better than the actors.
This particular "Alice" has a long history. It started as a hit play in the early '40s, was resurrected in the late '70s with Kate Burton in the title role, and then ported to Great Performances on PBS - the latter of which is what we have here on DVD. Presumably it worked a little better on stage, and probably a little better in the '40s, too. Sadly, it runs through both "Alice" stories in a breakneck 90 minutes' time, and much of the acting is truly lamentable - some of the actors are so bad, I actually thought that might be an intentional joke, as with Austin Pendleton's monotonistic White Rabbit! Probably the best of them are Donald O'Connor - the only one of the lot who can actually sing! - as the Mock Turtle, Geoffrey Holder as the Cheshire Cat, and Richard Burton as the White Knight. The tea party crew is fairly good as well. The rest...well, the sooner forgotten about, the better. Great Find
I remember watching this on PBS when I was a kid and I was so excited to see this on DVD. It's a great production with a great cast. I like that the play features both Alice in Wonderland AND Through the Looking Glass. As a Lewis Carroll fan I was happy to see how closely the play follows the books. ... Read more

Editorial Review

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But see it for Sondheim!
There are so many better things to do with your time than watch this movie.But how often do you get the opportunity to see Stephen Sondheim act?Rarely, so it's worth it just for that.

Just to see Sondheim acting
"June Moon" is not much of a play. Accually, I can hardly understand why would somebody want it in his archive. It's not among Susan Sarandon's best moment (no fault of her) nor Kassidy has something special to say. It's actually a not bad performance of an easy to forget play. Well, why then do I rate it with 3 stars instead of proper 1? The answer is simple: Stephen Sondheim. The only reason somebody would pay any attention to this play, is just to see Mr. Broadway Musical to act (not bad at all!) and play the piano. I thing that only Sondheim maniacs should care about this dvd.
Country boy seeks success in Tin Pan Alley in 1929.
There's a good reason that this is one of the lesser known entries in the Broadway Theater Archives.It is so dated that even with a stellar cast, including Jack Cassidy, Estelle Parsons, Susan Sarandon, and Stephen Sondheim, it fails to engage the viewer except as a period piece, a curiosity which illustrates what constituted "humor" and "theatrical excitement" in 1929, when it was first produced.Showcasing the frantic drive for a hit by Tin Pan Alley composers and lyricists, this show might have been considered amusing and even creative in 1929, but by 1974, when this production was filmed (and certainly by the present day), styles had changed, and audiences had become more sophisticated.
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"The younger generation comes bearing retribution."
Produced in 1960 by David Susskind, this Broadway Theater Archive production of one of Ibsen's most famous plays focuses on an older man's fear that he will be replaced by the younger generation before he has been able to reconcile his success with his personal sacrifices.Halvard Solness (E. G. Robinson) is a Master Builder who has built much of the small town in which he lives.Arrogant, manipulative, and often paranoid, there is little he will not do to appear in control.
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Editorial Review

Meryl Streep displays the talent that would soon make her a movie star inRead more

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Alice Becomes Streep (or vice versa!)
Composer Elizabeth Swados created something unique in her adaptation of
"I suppose this is a regular day if you're mad."
Produced by Joseph Papp and directed by Emile Ardolino, this Palace Theater/vaudeville version of Alice in Wonderland, filmed in 1981, is so energetic, so beautifully choreographed (by Graciela Daniele), and so full of fun that when I finished watching it, I immediately watched it all over again!Part of the reason comes from the joy of watching Meryl Streep as a music hall star, playing seven-year-old Alice, acting as a comedienne, and singing her heart out.With a strong soprano voice and perfect timing, Streep as a singer is a real surprise for those more accustomed to seeing her in Sophie's Choice or The French Lieutenant's Woman, but she is, not surprisingly, as gifted a vaudeville star as she is a serious dramatic actress.
The best of the best - Papp, Swados, Streep, pure GENIUS!
I saw this and taped it on VHS when it first came out as a Peacock Presentation on television. I was delighted at the opportunity to replace my old VSH tape with a new DVD and the "remastered" DVD is crisp and clean, with sharp sound and great color.
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Frank Chin's work recorded
This is not the racist-sexist movie starring Mickey Rourke from the early 1980s.This is a play recorded for television from the 1970s.
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"Promise you won't do the hurdles again tonight."
One of three plays adapted by the Broadway Theatre Archive from short stories written by John Cheever, O Youth and Beauty is as much a product of the 1970s as are the other two stories/plays in the Shady Hill series, The Sorrows of Gin and The Five Forty-Eight.Produced in 1979, these plays reflect the struggle of educated suburbanites and their families to find meaning in their lives, struggles which, in their concern with preserving the yuppie life-style, now feel superficial, trite, and dated.
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Great performance! Don't overlook it.
I can't commend this highly enough.I saw it on the local Public Television station here in Chicago when it was first broadcast in the early 1970s, and it made a tremendous impact on me.This play, and the very similar "Awake and Sing," are depression era dramas written by Clifford Odets and originally produced for the stage in the mid 1930s, when they were the cutting edge of contemporary theatre and dealt with contemporary issues.These new DVDs contain television productions done with top-notch casts in the early 1970s.I found them unforgettable, and am delighted to be able to savor them again after 30-plus years.They're just as good as I remember.Read more

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Editorial Review

Meryl Streep and John Lithgow star in this Broadway revival of an 1895 thriller. The action is set in Richmond in 1864 as the South is making one final stand in the Civil War. Demure but headstrong belle Edith (Streep) is determined to keep her dashing beau, Captain Thorne (Lithgow), at home and away from the front lines. She manages to win him a commission running the Confederacy’s telegraph office just as word gets out that there’s a Yankee traitor trying to infiltrate that very post. The man running the investigation is--oh, no!--Edith’s bitter rejected suitor. Fun as that would be as a standard melodrama, Read more

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Better than I remembered!
Many years ago I had the pleasure of seeing this filmed stage play on PBS and am delighted to see it was finally released on video. Based on the William Gillette play, this Civil War spy story features (VERY young) John Lithgow, Meryl Streep, and Charles Kimbrough (best known for his work in 'Murphy Brown') in the lead roles.(Look quickly for Jeffrey Jones of 'Ferris Buller' fame in a bit as a Southern soldier.)Read more

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