When you consider the hundreds of musicals that have been nominated over the course of the Tony Awards’ 72 year history, it is easy to see that very few Tony Award nominated and winning musicals have been legally filmed live for public consumption. 

Broadway is an immensely influentially and highly coveted corner of the musical theatre world. Despite this, Broadway is inaccessible to millions of people around the world due to cost and, importantly, geography. This year’s Tony Awards broadcast worked to include some of those Broadway lovers around the world with the initiative #TonyDreaming. On Twitter, I wrote that filmed live musicals are an amazing way to help fuel the dreams of aspiring thespians.

What better way to reach out to millions of theatre lovers, aspiring actors, technicians, writers, and directors than by making legally filmed high quality captures of Broadway shows available to those people? Yes, the New York Public Library Theatre on Film and Tape Archive exists, but it is only available to people who live in New York, and each capture is only available to view once. 

We have come to expect cast recordings as normal for Broadway shows, I dream of the day when filmed live recordings are also a standard occurrence. As I looked at in a previous post, filmed live releases of Broadway shows do not negatively affect ticket sales. It doesn’t mean a filmed live recording needs to be released on opening night, or that every single musical should be recorded, but there is a hunger for Broadway, and we need a better solution to combat bootlegs. 

Of the 25 filmed live Broadway shows currently in the database, 20 are available to view, either in the cinema, on DVD, or online. As shown below, you can use the database to search for musicals and learn more about where to watch them.

​The great thing about filmed live musicals is that they are not limited to Broadway. Several Broadway productions have been filmed whilst on tour, such as the original production of Sweeney Todd or more recently, Disney’s stage version of Newsies. The database has plenty of musicals such as An American in Paris, Billy Elliot, and The Phantom of the Opera which have played on Broadway, but have been staged elsewhere and filmed live for public consumption.

From this year’s Tony batch, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Live from Lincoln Center will film the gorgeous revival of My Fair Lady, and the capture of Once on This Island’s Tony Awards performance demonstrates that theatre in the round is ready to be filmed live. With Daddy Long Legs producer Ken Davenport at the helm, perhaps we will have another Tony Award winning revival to view on screen. Given that all the nominations for Best Musical were all based on movies, we can hope that filmed live musical versions of those musicals will also be possibilities.

Congratulations to all of this year’s nominees and winners, and let’s hope we will see more of them filmed live and available on a screen near us soon! ​​​

​Andrew Lloyd Webber is having quite a moment. To celebrate his 70th birthday on March 22, the prolific composer published a new memoir Unmasked, and released a “personally curated” 4-disc album, Unmasked: The Platinum Collectionfeaturing hit songs from across his 50-year career in musical theatre. On March 28, NBC aired the documentary Andrew Lloyd Webber Tribute to a Superstar, and on April 1 broadcast Jesus Christ Superstar in Concert live on national television. 

The Lord Lloyd Webber has composed 20 musicals, 18 of which have played on the West End, and 13 on Broadway. In 2017, Lloyd Webber became the first composer since Rodgers and Hammerstein to have 4 shows running concurrently on Broadway — Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard, and School of Rock. 

At the time of writing, The Phantom of the Opera and School of Rock are playing on Broadway and the West End, while Love Never Dies and Jesus Christ Superstar are on national tours of the United States. The Woman in White continues to run on the West End, and Sunset Boulevard, Evita, and Starlight Express are being performed throughout the UK and Europe. 

In honor of NBC’s triumphant Jesus Christ Superstar in Concert, let’s take a look at all the Lloyd Webber musicals that have been filmed live and released to the public. 

Filmed Live Musicals 
Jesus Christ Superstar

• The 2012 Jesus Christ Superstar Arena Tour was filmed live in Birmingham. The production starred Tim Minchin as Judas, Melanie as Mary Magdalene, and Ben Forster as Jesus.
• NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert was a departure from previous live television musicals as it was filmed in one location, and with a live audience.
• The 1992 Australian production starring John Farnham as Jesus, and Kate Cebrano as Mary was filmed live, but has not been officially released. A highlights album was released in 1992.

Tell Me On a Sunday

• The initial production was a made-for-tv special taped live at the Royalty Theatre, London on Jan 28, 1980. It aired on the BBC on Feb 12 and March 9 1980, and again a year later. The show starred Marti Webb performing with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Song and Dance

• A special performance of Song and Dance starring Sarah Brightman was held at the Palace Theatre, London on April 28, 1984. It was taped by the BBC and aired on August 27, 1984.

Love Never Dies

• The 2011 Australian production was filmed live in Melbourne. It was released in cinemas and on DVD.

The Phantom of the Opera

• The 25th anniversary gala at Royal Albert Hall was broadcast live to cinemas around the world. Footage from three performances was combined and released on DVD, and on American television.
• On the 30th anniversary of both the Broadway and West End productions, special curtain calls were livestreamed on Facebook. ​

​Other Films/Live Recordings 
Aspects of Love

• The Australian production directed by Gale Edwards was filmed in November 1992. The film is held at the University of New England Stage and Screen Collection.

Evita

• John Snelson’s biography on Andrew Lloyd Webber lists an “audio visual presentation of original recording” of Evita that was presented at the Sydmonton Festival in 1976.

School of Rock

• In October 2015, School of Rock became the first Broadway musical to release a 3D promotional clip. Filmed in a classroom, the clip featured cast members performing “You’re in the Band.” Within 3 days, the clip had been viewed over 1 million times on YouTube.
• In December 2017, NBC Nightly News visited School of Rock on Broadway and filmed another 3D video of “You’re in the Band.”

Starlight Express

• Selections from the long-running Bochum production were presented on German television in 1989. The Bochum production, which in 2018 will be celebrating it’s 30th anniversary, has released two live albums, one in 1989, and the second in 2013.

Film Versions
In addition to filmed live musicals, several of Lloyd Webber’s shows have been adapted into film versions. 

By Jeeves

• Made for television version produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Company, Really Useful Films, and Tapestry Pictures in 2001

Cats

• Directed by David Mallett, the film version of Cats was released in 1998. The film featured actors from both the London and New York original casts.

Jesus Christ Superstar

• Directed by Norman Jewison, the first film adaptation was released in 1973.
• A second film adaptation based on the Broadway revival directed by Gale Edwards was released in 2000.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

• Also directed by David Mallett, the 1999 film starred Donny Osmond, Maria Friedman, Richard Attenborogh, and Joan Collins.

The Phantom of the Opera

• Directed by Joel Schumaker, the 2004 film version starred Gerard Butler as the Phantom, and Emmy Rossum as Christine Daae.

To Andrew Lloyd Webber, thank you for your immense contributions to musical theatre, and for making so much of your work available to audiences around the world through the screen. 

Am I missing any productions? Remember bootlegs are not included in the database! 

This week's blog title comes from Langston Hughe's poem "Note on Commercial Theatre," which is spoken by  Brenda Braxton in the 1979 musical When Hell Freezes Over I’ll Skate. ​In researching last week’s blog post, History Has Its Eyes, I was fascinated by the biography of the musical's director, Vinnette Carroll, and decided to spotlight her incredible career in this week's post. 

Carroll was one of the first African American women to direct on Broadway, and the West End. She was nominated three times for a Tony Award, and was the first (and regrettably, still the only), African American woman to be nominated for a Tony Award for Best Director. She was an Obie and Emmy Award winner, and celebrated in her lifetime as a driving force for theatre by, and about, African American people.

Over the course of her career, Vinnette Carroll created and wrote 16 musical plays, many of which were written with long-time collaborator Micki Grant. Carroll also collaborated with Alvin Ailey and Langston Hughes. Her work has been credited with launching the careers of actors such as Cicley Tyson, Clarence Williams III, James Earl Jones, Jennifer Holliday, Brenda Braxton, and Cleavant Derricks, among many others.

Born in New York in 1922, Carroll spent most of her childhood in Jamaica. She returned to New York City to attend high school and, thanks to her father’s thriving dental practice, enjoyed a rich cultural life attending theatre and receiving music lessons.

To satisfy her father, Carroll trained to be a psychologist. Shortly after leaving her PhD program at Columbia University in 1948, Carroll sought to pursue her true passion as an actor. She attended the New School and the Actors Studio, training with Erwin Piscator, Lee Strasberg, and Stella Adler.

Upon completion of her actor training in the early 1950s, Carroll found regular acting work, but was frustrated by the limited range of roles made available to her as an African American woman: maids, and roles that reinforced negative stereotypes of people of color. In response, Carroll created her own work and successfully toured a one woman show.

Carroll began teaching acting at the High School for the Performing Arts in 1955, a position she held for 11 years. During this time, Carroll developed a passion for directing.

In 1964, Carroll won an Emmy Award for the television production Beyond the Blues, a dramatization of works by African American poets.

In 1968, Carroll joined the New York State Council on the Arts as the new director for the Ghetto Arts Program. The Ghetto Arts Program (GAP) sought to provide collaborative theatre experiences for African American and Hispanic communities in New York, and establish a new repertory company that created new work.

In her capacity as director of GAP, Carroll founded the Urban Arts Corps (UAC). Within a few years Carroll left GAP and became the artistic director of the UAC. The UAC trained a troupe of actors from African American and Hispanic backgrounds, who wrote and performed original material. Later knowns the Urban Arts Theatre, the UAC worked in schools, colleges, and prisons to bring theatre, and theatre training, to minority audiences.

Throughout her 10 years with the Urban Arts Corps, Carroll directed over 50 productions. Musical highlights include But Never Jam Today, Don’t Bother Me I, I Can’t Cope, and Your Arms Too Short to Box with God.

Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope, which first opened at the UAC in 1970, opened on Broadway at the Playhouse Theatre in 1972. The musical earned Carroll a Tony nomination for Best Director of a Musical and played 1065 performances. It will be performed in 2018 as part of Encores! Off Center’s summer program.

Your Arms Too Short to Box with God transferred to Broadway in 1976, earning Carroll her second Tony nomination for Best Director. The musical was revived on Broadway in 1980, 1982, and 1996.

But Never Jam Today, was an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland featuring gospel and calypso-infused music. The musical adaptation began life as Alice, and after much re-working and several off- and off-off-Broadway runs opened on Broadway in 1979. It was a commercial flop and closed within a week of opening.

In 1984, living in Florida in “semi-retirement,” Carroll founded the Vinnette Carroll Repertory Company. The company was renamed the Metropolitan Diversity Theatre at Carroll's request in 2000 after she suffered a debilitating stroke. The theatre is now the home of Fort Lauderdale’s Cinema Paradiso.

Despite Carroll’s immense body of work, just one of her shows was filmed live for public distribution: When Hell Freezes Over I’ll Skate. The musical had a short run at the UAC in January 1979, before being presented as part of the Lincoln Center’s Black Theatre Festival in May of the same year. An hour-length version of the musical co-directed by Carroll was presented on PBS in June 1979. When Hell Freezes Over I’ll Skate was released on VHS in 1999, and on DVD in 2003. Sections of the musical are currently available on YouTube.

In the capture of When Hell Freezes Over I'll Skate, we get a mere glimpse of Carroll’s incredible talent as a writer and director. One wonders if Carroll had been born white, and a male, how much more of her work we could have continued to enjoy watching today. 

In honor of Black History month, I wanted to highlight the filmed live musicals that feature predominantly black actors and/or creative teams. I post this entry with the awareness that Black History month, also known as African American History month in the United States, is a contentious entity. 

Of the 100+ musicals currently in the database, less than 10 feature predominantly black casts and/or creative teams. It is interesting to note that nearly all of these musicals feature, or are about, the music of black artists.

I want to acknowledge the frustrating fact that the current catalogue of filmed live musicals is dominated by white creators and performers. It is my hope that more musicals with diverse casts and creative teams will not only be produced, but recorded for posterity.

We are watching. 

When Hell Freezes Over I’ll Skate
When Hell Freezes Over I’ll Skate was a musical drama featuring the poetry of black poets. The show was directed by Vinnette Carroll, a multi-talented and highly influential actor, director, and writer who found success in both the UK and the United States.

When Hell Freezes Over I’ll Skate aired on Theater in America in 1979.

The musical drama was released on VHS in 1999, and on DVD in 2003.

Sophisticated Ladies
Sophisticated Ladies was a revue celebrating the music of Duke Ellington.

In November 1982, Sophisticated Ladies became the first Broadway musical to air on pay TV. Due to sour contract negotiations, and fears the telecast would affect ticket sales, most of the Broadway cast did not appear in the telecast.

The revue was released on DVD in 2005, and is also available on DVD.com.

Ain’t Misbehavin’
Set in a Harlem nightclub, Ain’t Misbehavin’ is a musical revue featuring the music of stride pianist Fats Waller.

The Broadway production won the 1978 Tony Award for Best Musical, and went on to play 1604 performances before closing in 1982.

NBC aired a filmed live recording of Ain’t Misbehavin’ in June 1982. It is not officially available to view.

The Gospel at Colonus 
The Gospel at Colonus is a re-telling of Sophocles’ Oepidus at Colonus through a pentecostal sermon.

The musical was filmed live during the American Music Theater Festival in 1985 and aired on PBS’ Great Performances. The cast included Morgan Freeman, Carl Lumbly, Robert Earl Jones, The Institutional Radio Choir, Clarence Fountain and the Five Blind Boys of Alabama.

The Gospel at Colonus was released on DVD in 2008.

Smokey Joe’s Cafe
Another musical revue, Smokey Joe’s Cafe celebrated the music of 60s rock n’ roll writers Leiber and Stoller.

The cast featured a predominantly African American cast, three of whom were nominated for a Tony Award for Featured Actor or Featured Actress in a Musical, including Victor Trent Cook, B.J. Crosby, and Brenda Braxton (DeLee Lively was also nominated).

The final performance of the five year run was taped by Broadway Television Network in January 2000, and aired on pay TV in September 2000.

Smokey Joe’s Cafe is available to view on DVD.

Passing Strange
Loosely based on the life of rock musician Stew, Passing Strange is a rock musical about a young man who leaves his conservative Californian home to find “the real” in Europe.

Spike Lee filmed the Broadway production live in 2008, and released Passing Strange: The Movie in 2009 to much acclaim. The film was aired on PBS in 2010, and also released on DVD.

Passing Strange: The Movie is available to view on DVD and on Amazon.

FELA!
FELA! is a biographical musical about the pioneering Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. The musical was directed by choreographer and director Bill T. Jones, and featured Sahr Ngaujah in the title role.

When FELA! opened in London in 2010, it became the first National Theatre musical production to be concurrently running on Broadway. The London production was filmed live for the National Theatre’s NT Live program, and broadcast in cinemas around the world.

FELA! is not currently available to view.

Memphis
Memphis is an original musical about the power of music to overcome racial divides in 1950s America.

Despite lackluster reviews, the musical won 4 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and played on Broadway for three years.

Memphis was the first Broadway musical to be released in cinemas whilst playing on Broadway. It was subsequently released on Netflix, DVD, and Blu-Ray, and aired on PBS’ Great Performances.

Memphis is now available to stream on BroadwayHD and YouTube.