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Rediscover the magic of Fred Astaire in Second Chorus and Royal Wedding. Marvel at the incredible dance moves of Cyd Charisse and Jane Powell in Black Tights and Delightfully Dangerous. Relive the magic of jazz legends like Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, The Dorsey Brothers, Count Basie and Sarah Vaughn. Sit back and enjoy the songs of all time greats like Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, Eartha Kitt, Perry Como, Judy Garland and Dinah Shore. The Classic Musicals 50-MoviePack brings an incomparable world of song, dance and orchestration to life in a collection that offers countless hours of entertainment.

Celebrate the brilliance of Stephen Sondheim, one of musical theater's most acclaimed and popular talents, with this special collection. A CELEBRATION AT CARNEGIE HALL: This star-studded salute to Sondheim's most enduring melodies features Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Liza Minnelli, Madeleine Kahn, Victor Garber, Glenn Close, Betty Buckley and many more! FOLLIES IN CONCERT: The incomparable Stephen Sondheim brought his sensational Follies to the stage in 1971 where it was hailed as "monumental theater" by The New York Times. Fourteen years later, the magic was recreated by an unparalleled gathering of stage and screen luminaries performing with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center for a wildly enthusiastic audience. Includes the memorable songs "Losing My Mind" and "I'm Still Here" and an all-star cast. INTO THE WOODS: A baker and his wife journey into the woods in search of a cow, a red cape, a pair of golden slippers and some magic beans to lift a curse that has kept them childless. Tony Award winners Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason and the rest of the original Broadway cast weave their magic spell over you in Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece, a seamless fusion of fairy tale characters and what happens after "happily ever after." PASSION: An unforgettable chronicle of the redemptive power of love, this is a mesmerizing musical rhapsody in which a soldier torn between two women discovers the true meaning of love. A haunting study of obsessive love, this striking production offers a visual and musical feast that will linger in your heart and soul forever! Winner of 4 Tony Awards. SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE: Sondheim and James Lapine construct a dazzling story from one of the world's most famous painting, Georges Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte," creating a moving exploration of art, love and commitment. Winner of the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. SWEENEY TODD IN CONCERT: This delicious production, a musical thriller of revenge and romance set in Victorian England, features Broadway diva Patti LuPone as Mrs. Lovett and veteran stage actor George Hearn in the title role. Premiering in 1979, the legendary show went on to win nine New York Drama Critics Circle Awards and eight Tony Awards; recorded with the San Francisco Symphony as conducted by Rob Fisher.

Always absorbing and frequently brilliant, Leonard Bernstein's The Unanswered Question is a very lucid and convincing discussion of music's history and forms, with particular emphasis on modern music. It addresses the average intelligent listener who is not musically trained but wants to know what makes music work--what is meant, for example, by "tonal" and "atonal." It requires some concentration, but Bernstein, a superb teacher, keeps technical jargon to a minimum, illustrates what he means with musical examples and graphics, and repeats key points. Delivered in 1973, the talks were transcribed for a book, but in it Bernstein insists "The pages that follow were written not to be read, but listened to," really an endorsement of the video edition. The talks are, in fact, performances. Television was always kind to Bernstein; he had magnetism and knew how to use it. To illustrate various points in his analyses, he plays the piano frequently, sings occasionally, and conducts significant works of key composers: Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Wagner, Ravel, Debussy, Ives, Mahler, and Stravinsky. Bernstein traces the development of music from its origins to the 20th-century struggle between tonality (championed notably by Stravinsky) and atonalism (represented mainly by Schoenberg). The last two talks, devoted to these composers, are particularly enlightening, but all six are outstanding. He argues persuasively that humans are born with an ability to grasp musical forms, and that rules of musical syntax are rooted in nature--in mathematically measurable relations between tones and overtones. These talks are a key document. They coincide chronologically, as cause and/or symptom, with the movement of America's leading composers back from Schoenbergian forms toward a tonal orientation. Bernstein predicts and promotes this movement, which is still in progress. He is clearly an advocate of tonality, but he discusses atonal music with sympathy and understanding. --Joe McLellan

The Master Collection includes 10 Gilbert and Sullivan operettas produced for British television. The Opera World series (1982) is the only comprehensive Gilbert and Sullivan series on video. It comprises 12 G&S works (if you cheat and count Cox and Box, written by Sullivan without Gilbert), including, for some titles, the only available version. (Cox and Box and the one-act farce Trial by Jury, their first collaboration, are not part of this set.) In terms of quality, the series is uneven. There are some treasures, but some productions have a disconsolate penny-pinching look, and a few need more rehearsal. The casts are a blend of Broadway singers, British and American comedians, and D'Oyly Carte veterans, with stars including Vincent Price (Ruddigore), Joel Grey (The Yeomen of the Guard), and singer-songwriter Peter Allen (The Pirates of Penzance). Frequent standout performers include Keith Michell, Clive Revill, Kate Flowers, and Anne Collins, who shines as a procession of unloved older women. Of the series, the standouts are Ruddigore, a trifle of a ghost story set to gorgeous music, and The Sorcerer, a buoyant tale of a magic potion that causes a whole village to fall in love with the wrong people; Iolanthe (a House of Lords satire mixed with ethereal fantasy), The Gondoliers (with Sullivan's Italianate, most radiant score), and Princess Ida (a satire of higher education for women set in an Arthurian kingdom) are also well worth seeing. The others--The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore, Patience, and The Yeomen of the Guard--are less satisfying. --David Olivenbaum

42ND STREET: Splashy Hollywood does splashy Broadway in this behind-the-scenes of a show musical. The leading lady is as many times before suddenly unavailable and the understudy chorus girl is thrust into the limelight. Last minute preparations for opening night with the new star turn the entire production on its ear before the big premiere. DAMES: This backstage musical features dancing ironing boards and puzzle pieces amongst its surreal delights. Blondell Keeler and Powell sing dance and chew up the scenery in a hoary plot about a rich bluenose's attempts to close down a Broadway show. Never mind. Just keep your eyes on those chorus lines in numbers such as "Girl at the Ironing Board" and "I Only Have Eyes for You." FOOTLIGHT PARADE: A stage producer discovers that talking pictures have killed the demand for musical shows so he re-channels his talents into creating live musical numbers for movie theaters to present between features. His fledgling business is threatened by unscrupulous business partners co

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This spectacular 4-tape set includes; The Glory of the Kirov, The Glory of the Bolshoi, Ballet Favorites, and Great Pas de Deux. Stars Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nuryev, Margot Fonteyn, Natalia Makarova, and many others. 360 minutes.

The Glory of the Kirov
From the early days of this century, the Maryinsky Ballet, later the Kirov, dazzled audiences with the beauty of the dance. Five years research in Russia's archives has unearthed fascinating footage, much of it never before available in the West, of many of the company's great dancers including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova, Natalia Dudinskaya, and many others. Ballets featured include Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Raymonda and more.

The Glory of the Bolshoi
During the Bolshoi Ballet's first tours abroad in the mid-20th century, Western audiences were brought to their feet by the Bolshoi style - thrilling athleticism that never lost the essential beauty of the dance. Five years research in Russia's film archives has unearthed fascinating footage, much of it never before available in the West, of many of the company's great dancers including Vladimir Vasiliev, Galina Ulanova, Irek Mukhamedov, and many others.

Ballet Favorites
Ballet Favorites features many stunning ballet sequences on one video. This spectacular compilation showcases the talent of many of the greatest dancers of recent years, filmed at the world's leading venues, and combines the remarkable athleticism of Mikhail Baryshnikov and Wayne Eagling with the beauty and elegance of Iria Kolpakova, Darcey Bussell, and many more.

Great Pas de Deux
This superb collection of thrilling pas de deux, from many of the best-loved classical ballets features some of the most celebrated partnerships of our time including Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev in Le Corsaire, Natalia Makarova and Anthony Dowell in A Month in the Country, and many others.

Release Date: 2002-11-12, Rating: NR (Not Rated)