A DATE WITH JUDY

Directed by Richard Thorpe / 1948 - Starring: Leon Ames, Wallace Beery, Jane Powell, Elizabeth Taylor, George Cleveland, Carmen Miranda, Xavier Cugat

SWEENEY TODD (Warner Bros)

Telecast of the Stephen Sondheim musical starring Angela Lansbury, George Hearn, Cris Groenendaal, Edmund Lyndeck, Ken Jennings and Betsy Joslyn. Directed by Harold Prince.

Rated by Jorge: * * * * *

CLASSIC MUSICALS FROM THE DREAM FACTORY VOL. 3

Box-set that includes HIT THE DECK, DEEP IN MY HEART, KISMET, NANCY GOES TO RIO, TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE, BROADWAY MELODY OF 1936, BROADWAY MELODY OF 1938, BORN TO DANCE and LADY BE GOOD.

BORN TO DANCE / LADY BE GOOD

Directed by Roy del Ruth / 1936 - Starring: Eleanor Powell, James Stewart, Virginia Bruce, Una Merkel, Sid Silvers, Frances Langford - Songs: Cole Porter

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod / 1941 - Starring: Robert Young, Ann Sothern, Eleanor Powell, Red Skelton, Dan Dailey, Virginia O'Brien, Reginald Owen, John Carroll, Lionel Barrymore, Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra

BROADWAY MELODY OF 1936 / BROADWAY MELODY OF 1938

Directed by Roy del Ruth / 1935 - Starring: Eleanor Powell, Jack Benny, Robert Taylor, Una Merkel, June Knight, Vilma & Buddy Ebsen - Songs: Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed

Directed by Roy del Ruth / 1937 - Starring: Eleanor Powell, George Murphy, Sophie Tucker, Judy Garland, Robert Taylor, Buddy Ebsen, Sis Silvers - Songs: Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed

DEEP IN MY HEART

Directed by Stanley Donnen / 1954 - Starring: José Ferrer, Merle Oberon, Paul Henreid, Walter Pidgeon, Helen Traubel, Gene Kelly, Rosemary Clooney, Jane Powell, Ann Miller, Cyd Charisse, James Mitchell, Howard Keel, Tony Martin - Music: Sigmund Romberg

Rated by Jorge: * *

HIT THE DECK

Directed by Roy Rowland / 1955 - Starring: Jane Powell, Ann Miller, Debbie Reynolds, Tony Martin, Vic Damone, Russ Tamblyn, Walter Pidgeon, Kay Armen - Songs: Vincent Youmans, Leo Robin, Clifford Grey & Irving Caesar

KISMET

Directed by Vincente Minnelli / 1955 - Starring: Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Dolores Gray, Vid Damone, Monty Woolley, Sebastian Cabot - Songs: Robert Wright & George Forrest (based on themes by Borodin)

Rated by Jorge: * *

NANCY GOES TO RIO / TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE

Directed by Robert Z. Leonard / 1950 - Starring: Jane Powell, Ann Sothern, Carmen Miranda, Barry Sullivan, Louis Calhern, Fortunio Bonanova, Hans Conried

Directed by Roy del Ruth / 1950 - Starring: Jane Powell, Ricardo Montalban, Louis Calhern, Ann Harding, Phyllis Kirk, Debbie Reynolds, Carleton Carpenter, Clinton Sundberg

SWEENEY TODD

Directed by Tim Burton / 2007 - Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter,Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jayne Wisener, Jamie Campbell Bower, Laura Michelle Kelly, Ed Sanders, Anthony Head, Peter Bowles - Songs: Stephen Sondheim

Rated by Jorge: * * *

LIFE AFTER TOMORROW (Hart Sharp Video)

A documentary that explores “life-changing experience of being a child performer in the hit Broadway musical, Annie, and provides a candid look at the hard knocks that follow early success”. Includes interviews and additional performances with reunited orphans. Direcetd by Julie Stevens and Gil Cates, Jr.

LES MISÈRABLES CONCERT (BBC Warner)

10th anniversary concert on single disc, starring Colm Wilkinson, Michael Ball, Alun Armstrong, Judy Kuhn, Lea Salonga, Michael Maguire, Ruthie Henshall andPhilip Quast. Second disc has 1988 documentary "Stage by Stage: Les Miserables." Contains footage not seen on PBS: the encore in which a progression of 17 actors who have played Valjean around the world share "Do You Hear the People Sing?". Includes "making of" featurette plus commemorative booklet.

Rated by Jorge: * * * *

LUBITSCH MUSICALS

4 DVD box-set that includes four musicals directed by Ernst Lubitsch: THE LOVE PARADE, MONTE CARLO, ONE HOUR WITH YOU, THE SMILING LIEUTENANT. Starring Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins.

THE WIZ

Directed by Sidney Lumet / 1978 - Starring: Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Lena Horne, Richard Pryor - Songs: Charlie Smalls

Rated by Jorge: * *

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

Directed by Julie Taymor / 2007 - Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Salma Hayek, Bono, Eddie Izzard, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs and , Martin Luther McCoy - Songs: The Beatles

Rated by Jorge: * *

HEART & SOUL THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF FRANK LOESSER (PBS)

PBS’ documentary profile on composer/lyricist Frank Loesser (GUYS AND DOLLS, THE MOST HAPPY FELLA, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, among others). Includes clips from some of his shows and movies, plus interviews with Matthew Broderick, Robert Morse, Charles Nelson Reilly, Stephen Schwartz, Jo Sullivan Loesser, Emily Loesser, Margaret Whiting, Jerry Herman and Betty Garrett.

WORDS AND MUSIC BY JERRY HERMAN (PBS)

Jerry Herman documentary that “chronicles Herman's rapid rise from witty, topical off-Broadway revues during the 1950s, to his first Broadway hits in the 1960s, through the less successful shows from the 1970s, to his triumphant return in 1983 with La Cage aux Folles.” Bonus features: the complete "Hello Dolly!" number performed by Carol Channing and the original cast of Hello, Dolly!; "Put On Your Dancing Shoes" from Jerry Herman's 1955 college musical; and "Before the Parade Passes By" with Jerry Herman and Ethel Merman.

Rated by Jorge: * * * *

RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY MAHAGONNY (EuroArts)

PBS presentation of the Los Angeles Opera's February production of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's opera, directed by John Doyle. Starring Audra McDonald, Patti LuPone, Anthony Dean Griffey, Robert Wörle, John Easterlin, Mel Ulrich, Donnie Ray Albert, Derek Taylor and Steven Humes.

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT - Trilogy Giftset (Warner)

"That's Entertainment", "That's Entertainment Part 2", "That's Entertainment III" (all previously released) and a bonus fourth disc entitled "That's Entertainment: Treasures from the Vault", available exclusively with the giftset featuring more than five hours of extras including three documentaries, star-packed musical outtakes from classic films, and more. In Blu-Ray

NAKED BOYS SINGING (TLA)

Filmed performance of the famed staged musical review, featuring Kevin Alexander Stea, Joe Souza, Phong Truong , Anthony Manough, Joseph Keane, Andrew Blake Ames, Vincent Zamora, Jason Currie, Jaymes Hodges and Salvatore Vassallo. Directed by Robert Schrock and Troy Christian.

Rated by Jorge: * * * / To read a review click here