User Reviews

This certainly is a treasure trove of great performances, all gathered to celebrate Broadway. From Merman and Rivera to Orbach and Cariou, Annie Get Your Gun to Grease and beyond. Tom Bosley hosts, but does not sing, which is sad considering that there's really little of his big musical hit "Fiorello!" out there other than maybe a few concerts where Audra McDonald sings "When Did I Fall in Love?" and other miscellaneous moments. But Merman singing songs from "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Gypsy", Chita repeating her "Shriner's Ballet" from "Bye Bye Birdie", and dance numbers from forgotten musicals such as "Tenderloin" and "Over Here!" performed by the American Dance Machine. Those who thought that Anthony Perkins could only be "Psycho" will be surprised to hear him sing a Frank Loesser song from the flop "Greenwillow", while Sondheim fans will cherish the reunion of Bobby Baby's three suitors from "Company", the bitchy antics of Alexis Smith's Phyllis from "Follies", the original Desiree, Glynis Johns, performing "Send in the Clowns", and Len Cariou, her co-star in that show, singing about "Pretty Women" from "Sweeney Todd".

Nell Carter had already performed "Ain't Misbehavin'" on TV, but who cares? Seeing her again makes me wonder how she would have been had she chose to play Effie in "Dreamgirls" rather than going onto "Gimme a Break". Robert Morse and Ray Walston got to repeat their Broadway roles in "How to Succeed" and "Damn Yankees" on screen, but for a live performance, they give their all. Jerry Orbach, not yet a TV icon, tries to remember what it was like to sing the lullaby of Broadway, and succeeds very well. And yes, on 42nd Street, he was indeed "fantastik!". The original Broadway stars of "Grease" remind us that it wasn't Travolta and Olivia singing about those "Summer Nights", while a revisit to "Godspell" is a profound religious experience as well. Diahann Carroll shows off her vulnerability from "House of Flowers", but is still every inch the glamorous "Dynasty" star where she was at this time. And for fans of the MGM musical, Debbie Reynolds proves why she made us love her, repeating a moment from her big Broadway bow, "Irene". Too many fabulous moments in one wonderful special.

Saw this on the original broadcast and then was lucky enough to get a tape of the show. It brings together people who starred in the original Broadway productions of some of the great musical comedies of the 60's and 70's. Most people are familiar with the John Travolta character of Danny Zuccho from Grease not realizing it was Barry Bostwick who originated the role on Broadway.

The song Enter the Clowns from a Little Night Music is presented by the original star of the play Glinis Johns. Most people don't realize that song was an add on to the play because they needed a closer for act 1 and they were pretty sure it would be cut in the final production. Another hidden gem was the dance number from The Tenderloin as presented by The American Dance Machine.

If you get the opportunity to watch this gem take it. The only negative is Tom Bosley didn't do any of the numbers from his Tony Award winning play Fiorello.