Bernarda Alba (3/14/06) Off Broadway

Big River (9/23/03) Broadway

Cast: Leon Cooke (Billy), Brad Kavanagh (Michael), Emma Hudson (Debbie), Haydn Gwynne (Mrs. Wilkinson), Philip Whitchurch (Dad), Chris Lennon (Tony), Ann Emery (Grandma), Paul Broughton (George), Alex Delamare (Mr. Braithwaite), Stephanie Putson (Billy's Mum). 20 minutes coverups at the beginning, good shooting starts at 'Solidarity' number; minor coverups throughout the recording not affecting anything. A

Matthew Koon (Billy) Great capture of the show. A

David Alvarez, Haydn Gwynne, Gregory Jbara, Carole Shelley, Santino Fontana, Frank Dolce, Stephen Hanna, Joel Hatch, Leah Hocking. A-

Trent Kowalik, Haydn Gwynne, Gregory Jbara, Carole Shelley, Santino Fontana, Frank Dolce, Stephen Hanna, Joel Hatch, Leah Hocking. A-

Pro-Shot live in London. Playing the role of Billy Elliot for this spectacular performance is eleven-year-old Elliot Hanna, joined by Ruthie Henshall as Mrs Wilkinson, Deka Walmsley as Billy’s dad, Chris Grahamson as Tony, Ann Emery as Grandma, and Zach Atkinson as Michael and in the role of ‘Older Billy’, is the phenomenal Liam Mower, the first boy ever to play the role of Billy Elliot on stage. Also includes the reunion of twenty-five current and former Billy Elliots in a specially-choreographed mash-up finale. A+

Mitchell Tobin (Billy), Vicki Lewis (Mrs. Wilkinson), David Atkinson (Dad), Marsha Waterbury (Grandma), Stephen Weston (Tony), Jake Kitchin (Michael), Jamie Torcellini (George), Kim Huber (Dead Mum), Neil Dale (Mr. Braithwaite), Sammy Gayer (Debbie), RJ Higton (Tall Boy/Posh Boy), John B Williford (Big Davey), Natalie Sachse (Lesley), Brandon Forrest (Adult Billy), Bruce Merkle, Justin Michael Wilcox, Tyler Ledon, fantastic production, believed to be the only full capture of Mitch as Billy, near perfect capture with no obstruction or washout, first minute of Act II is blacked out, a couple of quick dropouts between scenes but the rest of the show is full intact, filmed in 16:9 with a mix of wides, mediums and close-ups, includes curtain call and playbill scans. 2 DVDs

Jeff Daniels, Allison Pill. Slight camera problem, as the first 8 minutes go from color to black and white and back again, but it gets fixed and it ends up being a great quality video.  Includes scanned Playbill information.  Filmed at the closing night of the show at the Manhattan Theatre Club.   A-

Rupert Everett (Charles), Jayne Atkinson (Ruth), Christine Ebersole (Elvira), Angela Lansbury (Madame Arcati), Susan Louise O'Connor (Edith), Simon Jones (Dr. Bradman), Deborah Rush (Mrs. Bradman).   A-

Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers' one-woman Broadway show, The Blonde in the Thunderbird, a collection of stories about her life and career. The show was supposed to run for at least 3 months, but negative publicity and disappointing ticket sales caused an early closing. The show reportedly took in only $5,000.00 in ticket sales, and played for just 9 performances; professionally filmed for video, but never officially released. A+

Cast: Lyn Paul, Keith Burns, Mark Hutchinson. Not much info on this video. B

Benjamin Walker, Kristine Nielson, James Barry, Darren Goldstein, Greg Hildreth, Jeff Hiller, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, Cameron Ocasio, Bryce Pinkham, Nadia Quinn, Maria Elena Ramirez, Kate Cullen Roberts, Ben Steinfeld, Emily Young, great capture of this show, high energy rock show based on Andrew Jackson's life, A

Benjamin Walker, Kristine Nielson, James Barry, Darren Goldstein, Greg Hildreth, Jeff Hiller, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, Cameron Ocasio, Bryce Pinkham, Nadia Quinn, Maria Elena Ramirez, Kate Cullen Roberts, Ben Steinfeld, Emily Young, great capture of this show, high energy rock show based on Andrew Jackson's life, A

Cast: Heather Headly, Lloyd Owen, Debbie Kurup, Mark Letheren, Ray Shell, Nicalos Colicos, Mark McKerracher, Sean Chapman, David Page, Oliver Le Sueur. Heather’s final performance as Rachel Marron. Only includes Act One and missing the last 10 minutes of that Act. Recorded from the central stalls in HD. B+

Christian Borle, Will Chase, Ann Harada, Megan Hilty, Brian D’Arcy James, Jeremy Jordan, Donna McKechnie, Katarine McPhee, Debra Messing, Ripley Sobo. Not the complete show; songs only. Filmer does a good job of shooting around heads. Fan-Made DVD with title cards.

Original Cast. Video of the London Production which I liked a lot better than the Bway production. Generation Loss but not sure there is anything better out there. B

Digital video. A few head obstructions and mostly shot between two heads but full of zooms and great close-ups from the dress circle (mezzanine). A-

Manu Narayan, Madhur Jaffrey, Sriram Ganesan, Tanvir Gopal, Deep Katdare, Anisha Nagarajan, Ayesha Dharker Good quality video but because of battery problems, the taper only taped the musical numbers and the video ends during “Wedding Quawali”, nice otherwise;  Masters copy had battery die, so no end of show. B-

Laura Osnes, Jeremy Jordan, Claybourne Elder, Melissa Van Der Schyff, Louis Hobson, Joe Hart, Talon Ackerman, Leslie Becker, Mimi Bessette, Alison Cimmet, Daniel Cooney, Jon Fletcher, Kelsey Fowler, Victor Hernandez, Michael Lanning, Garrett Long, Matt Lutz, Marissa McGowan, Tad Wilson. Excellent quality and amazing show! A

A revue of numbers by Ruth Wallis who in an earlier era devised dirty ditties like "The Dinghy Song" and "Johny's Got a Yo-Yo" The raunchier the song gets, the more amusing things become. Mostly full stage with some washout, but great otherwise. A-

Josh Gad (Elder Cunningham), Andrew Rannelss (Elder Price) Rory O’Malley (Elder McKinley), Michael Potts (Mafala Hatimbi), Nikki M James (Nablungi), Scott Barnhardt, Justin Bohon, Graham Bowen, Ta’Rea Campbell, Darlesia Cearcy, Lewis Cleale, Kevin Duda, Jared Gertner, Asmeret Ghebremichael, Tyson Jennett, Clark Johnsen, Mala Nkenge Wilson, John Eric Parker, Benjamin Schrader, Michael James Scott, Brian Sears, Jason Michael Snow, Lawrence Stallings, Brian Tyree Henry, Rema Webb, Tommar Wilson

Josh Gad, Andrew Rannells, Nikki M. James, Rory O'Malley, Michael Potts, Lewis Cleale. Excellent quality, some camera wandering at first, but once things settle down, an excellent capture. A

Nic Rouleau, Ben Platt, Syesha Mercado, Pierce CAssedy, James Vincent Meredith, Christopher Shyer, David Aron Damane. 2 DVDs

Howard McGillin, Richard Kind, Michelle Pawk. Chicago production of Sondheim musical. Not too bad. A- 

Hugh Jackman, Stephanie J. Block, Beth Fowler, Isabel Keating, Jarrod Emick

Audio is slightly fuzzy, but is barely noticeable most of the time.  Wonderful video of this wonderful show. A-
Boy From Oz (10/6/03) Broadway Opening Night

Hugh Jackman (Peter Allen), Stephanie J. Block (Liza Minnelli) , Jarrod Emick (Greg Connell), Mithcell David Federan (Young Peter), Beth Fowler (Peter’s Mom), Isabel Keating (Judy Garland). Great filming, clear close ups and color. Hugh and cast are at their peak. Some brief and sporadic blockage and ends before Curtain Call. A-

Tony Le Page, Erica Peck, Richard McMillan, Kathryn Ballantine, Matthew Bradley, Caleb Cosman, Tracy Dawson, Tom Delbello, Kelly Fletcher, Jacquelyn French, Jeff Giles, Richard Harte, Allie Hughes, David Hurwitz, Joanna Keats, Cody Scott Lancaster, Brandon McGibbon, Adrienne Merrell, Shawn Meunier, Matt Murray, Carson Nattrass, Laura Olafson,Ange Pagano, Kristen Peace, Justin Stadnyk
Pro-shot press reels, highlights only. Formerly known as The Beautiful Game. A+

Jessica Grove, Nancy Hass, Bethe Austin, Paul Carlin, Andrea Chamberlain, Sean Palmer. Directed by Broadway legend, Julie Andrews. Recorded through the house camera, so it's a stationary, full-stage shot. Amazing clarity with some minor spotlight washout. Wonderful show. A-

Jackee Harry, Tom Hewitt, Lauren Mitchell, Chip Zien. Great Capture. A-

Emilia Clarke (Holly Golightly), Cory Michael Smith (Fred), George Wendt (Joe Bell), James Yaegashi (I.Y. Yunioski), Suzanne Bertish (Madame Spanella), John Rothman (Editior/Sir Arbuck), Tony Torn (Rusty Trawler), Lee Wilkof (OJ Berman), Kate Cullen Roberts (Mag Wilwood). Filmer sat about 15 rows from the stage, some occasional heads at the bottom of the screen, but over a great video, contains nudity