A Celebration at Carnegie Hall)

Starring:Bernadette Peters, Chip Zien, Joanna Gleason, Tom Aldredge, Robert Westenberg, Kim Crosby, Danielle Ferland, Ben Wright (II), Barbara Bryne, Merle Louise, Chuck Wagner, Pamela Winslow, Philip Hoffman (II), Lauren Mitchell, Kay McClelland, Edmund Lyndeck, Joy Franz, Cindy Robinson, Maureen Davis (II), Mandy Patinkin
Director: James Lapine, Terry Hughes, Michael Houldey
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
The six-disc Stephen Sondheim DVD Collection is pure Broadway gold, encompassing three original Broadway cast performances and three all-star concerts celebrating the work of musical theater's most important composer over the last half of the 20th century. Into the Woods is Sondheim's most popular show, an amalgam of fractured fairy tales and what happens after "happily ever after." Bernadette Peters heads the cast, joined by Tony winner Joanna Gleason and Chip Zein. Sunday in the Park with George was Sondheim's immediately preceding work, also a collaboration with writer-director James Lapine and also starring Bernadette Peters. She plays Dot, the mistress of brilliant French pointillist painter Georges Seurat (Mandy Patinkin), in a powerful work about the nature of art and the artist that gains substantially when you can see the staging elements. The third Broadway cast performance is Passion, which was shot on stage though not before a live audience. It's a story of obsessive love in which the romance between Giorgio (Jere Shea) and Clara (Marin Mazzie) is disrupted by a strange woman named Signora Fosca (Tony winner Donna Murphy).

Amazon.com

The six-disc Stephen Sondheim DVD Collection is pure Broadway gold, encompassing three original Broadway cast performances and three all-star concerts celebrating the work of musical theater's most important composer over the last half of the 20th century. Into the Woods is Sondheim's most popular show, an amalgam of fractured fairy tales and what happens after "happily ever after." Bernadette Peters heads the cast, joined by Tony winner Joanna Gleason and Chip Zein. Sunday in the Park with George was Sondheim's immediately preceding work, also a collaboration with writer-director James Lapine and also starring Bernadette Peters. She plays Dot, the mistress of brilliant French pointillist painter Georges Seurat (Mandy Patinkin), in a powerful work about the nature of art and the artist that gains substantially when you can see the staging elements. The third Broadway cast performance is Passion, which was shot on stage though not before a live audience. It's a story of obsessive love in which the romance between Giorgio (Jere Shea) and Clara (Marin Mazzie) is disrupted by a strange woman named Signora Fosca (Tony winner Donna Murphy).

Sweeney Todd is generally considered Sondheim's best work, and it's well performed by Patti LuPone and George Hearn (reprising his role as the demonic barber almost 20 years after he played it opposite Angela Lansbury in a 1982 video recording). Follies in Concert was an attempt to right a wrong created by a truncated original cast recording, so it's ironic that roughly half the program is backstage material combined with only 47 minutes of concert footage. There are some brilliant moments, though, from such performers as Barbara Cook, Hearn, Patinkin, and Lee Remick. A Celebration at Carnegie Hall is another all-star cast performance of both Broadway stars and operatic voices peppered with comedy from Bill Irwin. Highlights include the ensemble numbers, Daisy Egan's "Broadway Baby," and Patrick Cassidy and Victor Garber's "The Ballad of Booth," which is about as close as you'll get to an original cast performance of Assassins. All in all, this invaluable set preserves and celebrates an important body of work that may never again be documented this well. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

A must-have for all Sondheim lovers.......2007-05-08

This is an amazing collection, which showcases the breadth of Mr. Sondheim's talents. No one else combines his musical mastery with his sheer delight in playing with the English language.

Worth every penny that my mom spent!.......2007-01-15

After watching 3 of the 6 DVDs in this collection, all I can say is "amazing!" The winner thus far is Sweeney Todd. The cast is unmatchable. The only thing missing is the airing of A Little Night Music.

A TRUE FAN/COLLECTORS GEM.......2007-01-11

I had the chance to see on Broadway : Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Passion and Into the Woods and Follies in London .It was a real treat to be able to behold the unforgetable experience in that fantastic DVD collection

Sondheim Collection.......2006-07-03

This is a must have in your collection Sondheim fans! This box set has titles that appeal to both the children and adults in a family. My children love Into the woods and the Carnegie Hall concert especially! One of the best purchases I've made this year.

Sondheim: Greatest Theatre Genuis of the 20th Century .......2005-11-30

I have been in love with the work of Stephen Sondheim since the age of 6, when I first memorized the lyrics to all of the songs from West Side Story. Mr. Sondheim has give us many, many wonderful pieces of theatre, and several of his best pieces are represented here.

Sweeney Todd: considered by many his masterpiece. I prefer the Angela Lansbury / George Hearn casting, but if they chose to star Betty Boop and Donald Duck it couldn't hurt this material. Brilliant.

Follies in Concert: Follies remains my favorite Sondheim musical and, unlike some other reviewers, I thought the ORIGINAL book was brilliant. The later revised version considerably weakened both characters and plot, and the "concert" version is even more woefully incomplete than the original cast album, but thank GOD they saw fit to include, "Too Many Mornings".

Sunday In The Park With George: Pulitzer Prize winning paean to the creative process; I can even forgive the casting of Mandy Patinkin, one of my least favorite actors. The recreation of Seurat's masterpiece during the first act climax still gives me chills.

Passion: the more I watch this achingly beautiful show, the more I think it's one of Sondheim's greatest scores. Subtle, yes, but if you allow it to, it will grow and grow on you until you can't get it out of your mind. This show is for anyone who has ever loved someone that they couldn't have.

Into The Woods: I saw both Broadway productions and had difficulty choosing which was better. I think the original cast, represented here, had a slight edge. Possibly the most "fun" of Sondheim's shows, this take on Grimm's fairy tales is clever, entertaining and highly satisfying.

The Carnegie Hall tribute is also wonderful.

I have long been of the opinion that Sondheim can do no wrong. His lyrics are thrillingly brilliant, witty beyond all expectations, and his music contains depth that other Broadway composers can only dream of. What is most amazing to me is how he can vary styles and musical periods from show to show to show - no two of his musicals are ever alike, which is more than I can say for many other composers. I don't understand those who like him only to a point; I have friends who love Sweeny, Follies and Night Music, but hate Sunday, Passion and Into the Woods. I think he gets better with each succeeding show.

This set is well worth the investment. Hurry and get it, as some of the individual videos are now unavailable, and who knows how long the boxed set will last.

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