Aficionados of theatre lore will swoon over Rick McKay's documentary Broadway: The Golden Age, an extraordinary compilation of recollections from creators and performers who were part of the Broadway scene during the 1930s-1960s. A Midwesterner who came to the Big Apple in 1981 expecting to find the Great White Way he'd imagined from newspaper articles and original cast albums, McKay discovered a very different place, and--after arming himself with a video camera--set off to find out whether the street's so-called "golden age" was a myth or a lost reality. This technically modest labor of love is the result, featuring a cornucopia of remembrances from people like Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Gwen Verdon, Hume Cronyn, Jerry Orbach, and Stephen Sondheim, as well as archival footage of theatres and local watering holes, and rare “home movies” of actual rehearsals and performances. Late in the film, McKay hones in on one figure mentioned repeatedly as a major influence--actress Laurette Taylor--whose artistry today exists mostly in memory (although one of McKay's greatest coups is recovering a screen test of Taylor that proves she was a natural). The treatment of Taylor is the apex of what becomes the film's overall theme: the theatre's amazing immediacy and power, combined with its fragile, transitory character. Sure to be cherished by devotees of the American theatre, this joyful and poignant documentary is highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by filmmaker Rick McKay, the 16-minute “Broadway and Hollywood Premieres” featurette featuring cast members and footage from the New York and California debuts of the film, four extended/deleted scenes (14 min.), an alternate ending (18 min.) with a “younger cast,” a 35-minute preview of McKay's upcoming sequel Broadway: The Next Generation (prefaced by a text intro by McKay), a trailer, and a weblink. Bottom line: a very nice extras package for a fine documentary.] (F. Swietek)
Broadway: The Golden Age
RCA Victor, 111 min., not rated, DVD: $19.98 Volume 20, Issue 1
Broadway: The Golden Age
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