Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Joined: 12/31/69
#1Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/26/07 at 9:19pm
I found by surprise, in a bargain bin, the other day the DVD release of Musical Performances from the Ed Sullivan Show (for four bucks Canadian!)
The bad news is I have about 6 videos filled with Ed musical theatre clips already and already had all of these, in virtually the same high quality image, but it is nice to have them on DVD.
So at the end they promise a volume two and mention ll the performances--did this ever get made? Did the first vol not sell enough?
It's a shame--even from what was included they really had time (the DVD is an hour) to show more--like the full 15 minute Flower Drum Song segment I've seen, not just one clip. Or howabout the Stunning performance of Cool by teh cast of WSS to go along with Tonight--or If They Could See Me Now from Charity to go along with Brass Band (which is definetly the highlight of the DVD).
Anyway it got me thinking--who owns the rights to these? I knwo that one thing you always get in trouble for posting to Youtube are Sullivan clips so someone out there must be watching over them...There are SOO many treasures out there and I'm surrpised they don't even get leased for DVD releases of the movies (I mean the 2 disc special edition of West Side Story would be far more special if it had these clips of the original Broadway cast of WSS, ditto for all the other movies adapted to musicals--but then movie musicals never seem to bother with that--witness Dreamgirls' ignoring all the great clips of the original stage production for their DVD)
E
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#2re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/26/07 at 11:25pm
Nope...the mentioned Volume 2 was never made/released/issued. I guess this Volume 1 sold poorly, hence the reason Volume 2 never went into production.
There are lots of rights issues with the Ed Sullivan Show performance clips, and I know that all those rock compilations have to go thru alot of clearance and other legal crap whenever they want to include a classic Ed Sullivan Show clip.
About a decade ago PBS aired Ed Sullivan Show 'specials', which featured tons and tons of performances. If any of us was wise to videotape these, we'd at least have them to share. Seems no one videotaped these (I didn't).
I'm aching for a crisp and great quality print of those two MUSICAL COMEDY TONIGHT programs (from 1979 and 1981) were found, which were hosted by the sensational (and informative) Sylvia Fine (Danny Kaye's wife). I remember watching these endlessly as a young teen. They recreated in full the original sets, costumes and staging of numerous musicals: COMPANY, SWEET CHARITY, OKLAHOMA!, LADY IN THE DARK and others. Numerous 'stars' appeared in them, which must have been a dream for them to perform those numbers and in those original sets and costumes.
I remember Sandy Duncan doing "Another Hundred People" and Bernadette Peters doing "Barcelona" IN the original costumes and infamous plexiglass and chrome COMPANY set from 1970. They also performed the short scenes which led into the numbers. Also, Carol Burnett did "The Ladies Who Lunch". For SWEET CHARITY, Juliet Prowse (the original 60's Las Vegas and London Charity) recreated her "If My Friends Could See Me Now" and "There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This" (with Annette Charles playing Nikkie -- forgot the gal playing Helene). They also did Bob Fosse's ORIGINAL "Big Spender" number as seen in 1966!
These felt like musical theatre master classes!
Where oh where are these shows?!!!
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
JohnBoy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/21/06
#3re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 12:19am
I suppose everyone knows about this site...
Show clips
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
gumbo2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/21/05
#5re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 1:13am
Holy crap! Thanks JohnBoy, this site is so incredible...
Now I'm gonna be up all night watching videos.
#6re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 1:18am
Thank you so much for that site....I think we just found our "Holy Grail"
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist.
Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino.
This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more.
Tazber's: Reply to
Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
#7re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 1:27amBarbara Harris doing "Hurry..." from On A Clear Day. Better than I ever could have imagined!Thank you!
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#8re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 1:45am
Funny the changes made for some of the Ed performances/censorship. They had no problem with WIlkoman on the Tonys but on Ed Sullivan they had to change the line "each and everyone a virgin!" to "innocent!" And in the song Cabaret she now says abotu her friend Elsie "As a matter of fact she changed her heart each hour" whatever that means...
E
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#10re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 7:35ambookmarked! Thanks for the link! Awesome site!
#11re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 8:37amThere's a clip of Patti singing Buenous Aires at the 1981 Tony Awards that's absolutely great...except for the giant vein on the side of her neck that bulges as she belts...it kind scares me. I've never noticed it before...
#12re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 9:19am
JohnBoy2,
I owe you BIG TIME!!!! for that one!
Need anyone killed?
sondheimboy2
"A coherent existance after so many years of muddle" - Desiree' Armfelt, A Little Night Music
"Life keeps happening everyday, Say Yes" - 70, Girls, 70
"Life is what you do while you're waiting to die" - Zorba
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#13re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 9:35am
COurtny that Buenos Aires is on one of the Broadway's Lost Treasures-I love it but wish it were fully staged (but I know it was just for a small segment)
So great to see some of the Ed Sullivan stuff I was missing--I had the Life Is performance from one of my fave underated musicals, Zorba (which is oddly done by Zorba in a circle and not how it was done on stage) but I had never seen the Mine Dance--Ron Field's choreography is great for it (even if it does make me realize where some of the unfair comparisons to Fiddler critics had came from)
E
#14re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 9:45am
Have you watched Carol Channing singing "100 Easy Ways to Lose a Man" from "Wonderful Town" yet?
It's soo cool!
And "Deep Down Inside" from "Little Me" with the original Bob Fosse choreography!
"A coherent existance after so many years of muddle" - Desiree' Armfelt, A Little Night Music
"Life keeps happening everyday, Say Yes" - 70, Girls, 70
"Life is what you do while you're waiting to die" - Zorba
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#15re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 9:50am
Down Deep Inside was one of the ones I already had on tape and had warn out almost isnce I was a kid--I love it (though I was always hopping that Sullivan at one point had had the showstopping I Got Your Number from the show performed--but I suppose if they foudn the line "Virgin" in Cabaret too risque then Swen Swenson stripping would be a bit much...)
And that Carol Channing one is wonderful--I never knew she replaced Roz...
(Some of those early 50s Ed segments are so random--I had seen their Pajama Game special episode before too but it's all up there--with things like John Raitt singing Hey There in a medieaval castle, Hernando being given to Janis Paige, etc... It wasn't till the late 50s they started worrying more about bringing some remnant of the actual staging into the studio it seems--like the great 1958 performance of Cool from WSS)
E
#16re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 10:15amThat site is my new favorite...I'm supposed to be studying for my exam in two hours, buuuuuut...
#17re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 10:42am
I just watched the OBC of Most Happy Fella in that LONG sequence.
Heaven!
Susan Johnson in her prime, belting out "Big D" with Shorty Long.
They don't make 'em like that anymore.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#18re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 11:20am
Wow! Can't believe that's the first we've heard of THAT amazing site! Guess I'm going to have to scope it out and post some of my gems that aren't on there.
I'm into sharing, as my additions to that other site can attest. 
JohnBoy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/21/06
#19re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 1:23pmI almost didn't post the link. I figured everyone already knew about that site. I'm glad you're all enjoying it! I don't even remember how I found it.
#20re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 1:31pmThanks for the link!
"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#21re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 1:41pm
Well...just scoped the site out. Though they are quite limited on the clips, at least the Ed Sullivan Show clips are on there. You won't find those on that other site.
Quite surprised that none of the clips I have posted on that other site are on this one. Hmmm. I guess my stuff is 'rare'.
gumbo2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/21/05
#22re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 2:10pmBrodyFosse, what is your name on that other site? I probably watch your videos constantly.
#23re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 2:50pm
To:Ericmontreal: You mentioned dance numbers from LITTLE ME. I just finished watching "Deep Down Inside" from the Show Clips website. I was lucky to see the OBC with the fabulous Sid Caesar back in 1962. It opened during a prolonged NY Newspaper strike so the rave reviews that it got never made it into print. I think some of the reviews were broadcast on TV. Critic Walter Kerr summed up his review with the Quote: "A blockbuster so genial it looks like a breeze."
LITTLE ME was the funniest show I have ever seen in over 50 years of theatregoing. The book was by Neil Simon. The score by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh was great and, as you know, the choreography was typical, terrific Bob Fosse. But it was Sid Caesar who was responsible for the show being so wonderful. The run of only 275 performances can be blamed on the long newspaper strike which prevented the needed print advertising.
Back then TV wasn't used for advertising Broadway Shows, for some reason.
I have also just finished watching the extended medley from Noel Coward's THE GIRL WHO CAME TO SUPPER, a wonderful flop from 1963. Tessie O'Shea is superb as a music hall singer and the choreography by Joe Layton is great as well. Check it out.
Thanks JohnBoy II for providing the link. It will provide hours of pleasure for me since I have seen so many of the old shows in their original productions. I'm only sorry that GYPSY isn't one of them.
"Madam Rose...and her daughter...Gypsy!"
Updated On: 4/27/07 at 02:50 PM
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#24re: Ed Sullivan Broadway Clips
Posted: 4/27/07 at 6:54pm
They actually have the Gantry numbers
I cannot wait to watch them
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