Kiss Me Kate (Broadway Revival - PBS Great Performances) (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)`Kiss Me Kate', Winner of 5 Tony Awards, 6 Drama Desk Awards and 4 Outer Critics Awards including Best Musical Revival, is a wonderful production with breathtaking performances from a stellar cast including Brent Barrett and Rachel York. What I want to clear up is the criticism of the DVD. I have to disagree with everything negative said - the sound is fine and a pleasant balance of orchestra and vocal with a crisp clarity.
Secondly, the DVD is widescreen and captures a lot of the onstage `business'. Indeed the cameras do follow the main action, but never misses anything. It has been filmed by people who both appreciate the performance, the art and the intention of Michael Blakemore. Since he directed it and then adapted `Kiss Me Kate' for television, surely he of all people knows what needs to be filmed?
Always, the performance has an `on stage' feel and I urge you to ignore the exaggerated views of others here. Sound is good, video is good, DVD menu is good and I guarantee that you'll be as enthusiastic about the DVD as I was today after watching it. Maybe the others need to appreciate that this is a stage `adaptation' as stated on the DVD case.

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The first Broadway revival in nearly 50 years of the musical comedymasterpiece by composer Cole Porter and book writers Sam and Bella Spewack not onlyenchanted critics and delighted audiences, but went on to triumph as one of the biggestprize winners of the 2000 season. Taking its inspiration from Shakespeare, this hilarious romp recounts the backstage and on-stage antics of two feuding romances during an out-of-town tryout for a musical adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew. Sparkling with 18 classic Cole Porter songs including "Another Op'nin', Another Show," "Wunderbar," "So in Love," "Always True to You in My Fashion," "Too Darn Hot," and "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" this is Broadway musical comedy at its irresistible best. Directed by Michael Blakemore, this Tony winner for "Best Revival" stars Brent Barrett, Rachel York (Victor/Victoria), Nancy Anderson and Michael Berresse as the squabbling couples whose offstage disputes entangle them with a pair of song-and-dance gangsters and a pompous U.S. army general.

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The Taming of the Shrew (Broadway Theatre Archive) (1976) Review

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(More customer reviews)Riveting high energy interpretation of one of Shakespeare's more problematic comedies. The director's decision to present this somewhat sexist comedy as an over-the-top commedia dell'ate production was brilliant. Patruchio's use of physical violence to tame his headstrong finacee is somehow made tolerable because all the relationships in this play are embued with violence. And like characters in a Roadrunner cartoon, victims bounce back with vigor and always manage to give as good as they get. The troupe is incredibly in sync with one another, highly athletic, and incredibly gifted at reciting their iambic pentameter flawlessly while being twirled overhead or kicked in the groin. It really has to be seen to be believed. And who knew Marc Singer, the Beastmaster, could act?! In the end, he brings a subtlety to his part that leaves you wondering who's taming whom?
Harold Clurmann's interview with the director is a nice DVD extra.

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Twelfth Night (ATV British television production) (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been waiting for years for a DVD release of this fine staging of Shakespeare's gender-bending comedy. I first saw this production on A&E cable in the 1980s and enjoyed it tremendously.
Joan Plowright is, by far, my favorite Viola/Cesario. She's convincing in both roles (and, compared to many other Violas, you can believe she might pass as a teenage boy). Plowright is equally impressive in the final act, which requires her to add still more subtleties to her performance.
In the broader comedy roles, it's hard to beat a production that includes Alec Guinness, Ralph Richardson and Tommy Steele. (Steele's manic persona, which is not for all tastes, serves him very well here as Feste.)
The outstanding script adaptation abridges the play to about 100 minutes. The decision to reverse the order of scenes 1 and 2 was ingenious: it makes for a more dramatic opening and allows a type of exposition that television can do well but which could not have been done easily on Shakespeare's stage.
The video itself is slightly grainy (presumably a function of its age), and some minor glitches in the quad tape were not corrected. But these are trifles, and the DVD is very enjoyable.
Be aware that this is a stage-like television production: a play produced on videotape. If you want something more cinematic, Trevor Nunn's 1996 film version is very good.

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William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night DVD: Performed in American Sign Language and English Review

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(More customer reviews)William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is a DVD theater production of Shakespeare's classic romantic comedy especially for deaf and hearing-impaired viewers. Featuring an American Sign Language performance with a stellar cast including deaf actors Adrian Blue, Peter Cook, Robert DeMayo, Monique Holt, and Jackie Roth, optional captions, and a lively English voice-over track for accessability to hearing audiences, William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is a singularly expressive and vivacious presentation. A "must-see" Shakespeare experience for ASL users everywhere. 131 minutes, color.

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The Shakespeare Collection: The Taming of the Shrew Review

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(More customer reviews)If this was just about the Stratford production, I'd have put 5 stars, no hesitation--it's a joy to watch. But the box doesn't even tell you it's Len Cariou as Petruchio. On top of that, the tapes are reproduced at EP/SLP, and they *still* use two tapes for a roughly three hour presentation!! If you can't stand not owning this, go ahead and blow the money, but otherwise wait until a better quality tape or DVD comes out. Same goes for the other tapes in the collection.

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As You Like It (1982) Review

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(More customer reviews)This rendition of the popular comedy is not a glitzy Hollywood production, and in fact much of its charm derives from the fact that it is a live stage production that was "movified" by video cameras in the theater.
Although movie creations can offer intimacy and rich scenery that is not available on stage, there are always speeches that are whispered and shouted, and some of the throw-away lines are swallowed so that it can be difficult to understand the words-which is very important to the appreciation of the philosophical richness of Shakespeare's comedies. The twin benefits I see is this Stratford Festival production are that (1) it is much easier to understand all of the words, because stage players have to speak all lines to the guy in the back row. And (2) the stage and scenery are more like the Elizabethan theaters the plays were written to be performed in. You don't need fancy scenery to enjoy a Shakespeare play; you need excellent actors and a lively imagination.
All of the important actors are extremely well-cast, but Roberta Maxwell outshines them all. She brings Rosalind to life in a fresh and captivating interpretation. Truly she "counterfeits well" in her male impersonator's role, but throughout she is feminine grace personified. I fell in love with her by the end of the second scene, as would any red-blooded male who is free to do so. Her hands are especially beautiful in her eloquent gestures.
Of course, Orlando is as charming to the ladies, but his role is almost eclipsed by the brilliant Roberta.
The words of the play are true to the text, but the barnyard humor is surprisingly overplayed for the taste of educated people; however, mature observers can discount these occurrences for the richness of the morality and the philosophical expression offered by the Shakespearean wit. He puts most of the best lines into the mouths of rustics and fools, which makes them the more notable.
This video is an excellent buy!

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Shakespeare Collection Review

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(More customer reviews)This video trilogy is a set of live theatrical performances taped up in Canada of three of Shakespeare's more familiar works: "The Taming of the Shrew," "As You Like It," and "Romeo & Juliet." Unfortunately, they are not the most LIVELY theatrical performances I have encountered.
The productions are sound, and obviously ably directed. But that doesn't fully counteract the fact that, especially for two of Shakespeare's sillier comedies, they just aren't played very funny. This particular production company obviously went for a deep artistic production rather than audience-friendly entertainment. Which is too bad, for I like all three plays when they are done well and captivating.
These are NOT the videos to buy if you're hoping to foster a love for Shakespeare in new-comer junior high students, which is what I was hoping for when I bought them.

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