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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 1.78:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • English: Dolby Digital Stereo
  Subtitles
  • None
  Extras

    My Favourite Broadway - The Love Songs

    Image Entertainment/Warner Vision . R4 . COLOR . 104 mins . G . PAL

      Feature
    Contract

    Broadway may be on the other side of the world, but this disc is able to bring the best love songs into your living room. Favourites such as Music Of The Night, Lullaby Of Broadway and I Don’t Know How To Love Him are performed by over a dozen of the best Broadway singers such as from Michael Crawford, Nathan Lane and Chita Rivera. The entire cast of performers are some of the most talented musicians around, and are a joy to watch and just stunning to listen to.

    The orchestral score behind the vocals is very energetic and jazzy which really adds to the feel of the music. Memorable songs include Heather Headly’s beautiful voice with an emotional and sensitive version of He Touched Me, and the Broadway Inspirational Voices with Adam Pascal with a brilliant soul version of Seasons Of Love. All the cast members really look like they are enjoying themselves which adds to the audience enjoyment. The great talent that is performing on stage really excites the audience and their delight can be seen with some of the camera shots into the audience.

    The host for the night is a beautiful Julie Andrews, and surprised the audience for the finale where she sung The Rain In Spain with Michael Crawford which made the audience go wild with delight.

      Video
    Contract

    The video is very nice to watch, with bright, clean colours and great shadow detail. The lighting on the stage production is always changing, and all the colours come up bright and clear with all the different sets and designs. The shadows that these lights create on the performers’ faces are very clean, with no artefacts and no visible grain. Skin tones all come up lifelike, and the only downside would be the over-saturation of the red tones, such as lipstick.

    The video is in a widescreen aspect of 1.78:1, and is 16x9 enhanced. Throughout the show many different camera angles are used which keeps the audiences’ attention, and also shows different angles of the same performer, and the orchestra which is placed either side of a central platform on the stage. The camera angles were aided by a moving camera strung on a wide across the theatre, which is only visible in once scene. The different angles really show more than if you were there, and close ups of the performers faces too.

      Audio
    Contract

    For a stage production the audio is stunning. The surround channels are used for the full orchestra score, and an echo on the vocals, and the score is often built up using these speakers, such as in Crawford’s Music Of The Night. The vocals are all audible and easy to understand as far as Broadway lyrics go, and even Julie Andrews is able to deliver clear lines. All of the instrumental solos come up clearly, including the brilliant acoustic guitar solo in He Touched Me and the various piano solos throughout the show.

    There are two audio tracks on this disc, a Dolby Digital 5.1 track and a Dolby Digital 2.0 track. The 2.0 track offers a very clear and sharp audio track, and the 5.1 track offers a richness to the music which is produced by the rear speakers. The only quibble with the sound is that the levels of the bass are up way too high, but this is where some of the richness comes from. The rear channels are used very appropriately to enhance the feelings from within the music which then washes over the viewer.

      Extras
    Contract

    A nice looking menu with an Audio Selection page and Chapter Selection (or Song Selection) pages. But that’s it.

      Overall  
    Contract

    Wow! This disc just stunning. The single layered video is a delight to watch, and the clarity of the audio, and the use of the rear channels is simply magic to listen to. The only way for this disc to be better is to have multiple angles, or just to be there! If you are a Broadway fan, grab this disc to add to your collection.


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=669
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      And I quote...
    "The only way this can get better is to be there!"
    - Martin Friedel
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          REC R-800c
    • TV:
          TEAC 68cm CTV
    • Speakers:
          Cambrige pc works
    • Centre Speaker:
          Cambrige pc works
    • Surrounds:
          Cambrige pc works
    • Subwoofer:
          Cambrige
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          standard s-video
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