BlueGobo.com
I thought I'd give credit where it's due for the inspiration for the new Musical Moments feature on my blog. Last week my friend David, a Broadway conductor and pianist, sent me a link to a new website called BlueGobo.com. The site houses a growing video archive of musical theatre performances, many with the original stars, from the late '4os to the present day. The clips were saved from Ed Sullivan Show appearances, television specials, B-roll footage , Tony Awards shows and the like. In many cases these clips are all we have left of the original performances. Performances that made careers, created stars and live on as legend: Julie Andrews in My Fair Lady, Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner in The King and I, Ethel Merman in Call Me Madam, Patti LuPone in Evita. I could go on. There is even rare footage of some infamous Broadway flops such as Rodgers and Hammerstein's Allegro, Charles Strouse's Rags and a show from 1997 called Side Show, a musical about a set of Siamese twins.Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be a way to post to a blog from BlueGobo yet so I'll have to go through YouTube for now. They also have decent collection though not as organized and conveniently archived as BlueGobo.
In his email messge to me all David said was "This is life-changing." Indeed. Go check it out.
Labels: Theatre
posted by Michael @ 7:51 PM
6 Comments:
Woo Hoo! Thanks for this link, Michael. I love musical theater. :)
OMG, I can't believe you mentioned Side Show. I thought I was the only one that remembered it ever existed. I never saw it but bought the CD after seeing them on TV and love, love, love it!
Don't be surprised if I post their show stopping number if I find it over at BlueGobo. Thanks for the link.
Gavin--I actually SAW Side Show!
Too funny. Great minds think alike! :)
After I went over to BlueGobo, the clip they had was the appearance I referred to in my previous comment. They were on with Rosie singing Who Will Love Me As I Am? back in 1997.
Seeing that again brought back such feelings. That song still speaks to me deeply. The essence of why I love musical theater is that composers, lyricists, and performers who don't even know you can strike such a chord within. You don't have to be a freak in a sideshow to feel like an outsider.
I tried to snag it for my blog but didn't know how. If you have a chance, let me know how you got the Light In The Piazza clip.
Gavin, the tragedy with Broadway flops is that there is often at least one or two songs from the show that were pretty good but no one will eever know about. The one you mentioned is one from Side Show the other is the heart-wrenching "I Will Never Leave You," a good song on it's own, but when sung by conjoined twins comes across as ridiculous and comical. Oh COURSE you'll never leave each other. YOU'RE JOINED AT THE HIP!
I don't think there's a way to post to a blog from BlueGobo. I used YouTube instead and just searched "Light in the Piazza" clips.
Glad you liked the site!
Check out SUGAR BABIES... Ann Miller looks like someone doing Ann Miller!
Post a Comment
<< Home