Prologue

The last dozen or so years have been mighty rough on Laurel & Hardy fans. The beloved comedy team's best films, those made for producer Hal Roach from the mid-1920s through 1940, were maddeningly stuck in a kind of apathetic corporate limbo. The DVD era had started off well, with Image's The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy series. Featuring the team's silent films, they were among the very first DVD releases of any kind, with Volume One released in December 1998. But those very quickly went out-of-print and even now several volumes command premium collector's prices.

Meanwhile, rights to the Roach library passed to Hallmark, the greeting card company, and Laurel & Hardy's Roach titles pretty much languished there, unloved, year after year. The original film elements were in poor shape, and the company, now called Hallmark Entertainment, had little interest ...Read the entire review

The Product:
Comebacks are never easy. Usually, you need a perfect storm of situations - right project, right time, right talent, right reasons - to make your reintroduction to the public work. In fact, examples of the successful reinvention of one's media self are so few and far between that it's easier to discuss the disgraces than to pinpoint the wins - and no fall was bigger than Mae West's 1978 affront to film fans everywhere, Sextette. After spending the '30s and '40s as America's foremost middle aged sex kitten, and the '50s and '60s parlaying her camp value into a Las Vegas revue and a novelty record act, there was no room in the post-counterculture for this early Golden Era vamp. Now in her 80s, West was worn, unwelcome, and plastic surgeried beyond recognition. Still, someone thought she was capable of being a sexual icon again. So Crown International Pictures took the plung...Read the entire review

The Movie:

The 1972 documentary, Fillmore: The Last Days, pays tribute to rock 'n' roll impresario Bill Graham and the San Francisco music club he transformed into a rock mecca of the Sixties. The flick, which chronicles the final week of the Fillmore West in the summer of '71, doesn't get past Graham's gruff exterior, but it does serve up some great bands amid a bit of psychedelic-tinged nostalgia.

The Fillmore is still in business under new management, but it's a dim shadow of its heyday. Under Graham, the venue played host to some of the top groups of the decade, including such Bay Area luminaries as Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company.

A couple of the aforementioned acts turn up in this concert doc directed by Richard T. Heffron (who also "conceived" of the film, according to opening ...Read the entire review

The Series:

A compelling argument can be made that the idea of attempting to document the entire history of American comedy in the space of six hours is a silly one to begin with. As a result, it would be easy to criticize Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America for what it leaves out rather than what it smashes in, for what it does wrong rather than what it does right. But the fact of that matter is that, condensed and spotty and occasionally rushed though it might be, Make 'Em Laugh is consistently watchable, entirely entertaining, and often quite fascinating. It is not, as it would like to be, the last word on American comedy, but there's so much good stuff in it that you're likely not to mind.

The six one-hour episodes (closer to 52 minutes, actually) are organized by topic rather than straight chronology. Each episode follows roughly the same format; "host" ...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Isn't there something inherently antithetical about taking a "serious" look at comedy? That's part of what hampers at least the first couple of episodes of Make 'Em Laugh, a six part PBS series which begins broadcasting nationally this week. As a clip show, Make 'Em Laugh is a treasure trove. As a thoughtful analysis of what it is that makes American comedy unique, it's somewhat more of a crapshoot, with some excellent "deep thoughts" interspersed with more anecdotal moments that do little other than simply comment on whatever clip we happen to be watching.

Make 'Em Laugh has the very best of intentions, of that there's no doubt. But in its oddly structured format what could have been an insightful look at a century or so of American comedy too often seems like the fodder for pledge-break material that host Billy Crystal in fact parodies in one of the lat...Read the entire review

Released to DVD exactly one day prior to its broadcast debut on PBS, Make 'Em Laugh - The Funny Business of America (2009) features hours of hilarious clips - from classic sitcoms, revered two-reel comedies, rare footage capturing great stand-up acts - while its interview subjects, a Who's Who of Comedy, from Sid Caesar and Mort Sahl to Chris Rock and Bill Maher - some 90 comedians (and cultural historians) in all - have endlessly fascinating things to say about their craft, especially about those who shaped their own careers.

And yet Make 'Em Laugh is an unmitigated disaster of a documentary. The six-part series squanders a mountain of incredible raw material in myriad ways, though chiefly by trying to cover too much ground in too little time, and because of some incredibly bad decision-making about how to organize everything. It's almost heartbreaking to watch: we may never see so ma...Read the entire review

THE FILM

One of the most legendary, exalted cult films of the 1980s finally finds its way to DVD, after years of underground presentations, random cable airings, and bootleg proliferation. It's a picture that's credited as one of the founding mothers of the "riot grrl" movement, inspiring the likes of Courtney Love to go out into the world and challenge the misogynistic carnival of rock music, empowering the minority feminine perspective. It's also a feature that befuddled a studio, rising up from the ashes of blatant corporate indifference to become a defining snapshot of an era, challenging the masses to find the feature and experience a piece of art held back purposefully from view.

And you know what? It's really not that strong of a movie.

Orphaned an...Read the entire review

The Show:

Blue Man Group defies easy classification. Are they musicians? Performance artists? Comics? Space aliens? As anyone who has seen their unique stage show knows, this eccentric trio of stoic blue faces touches on a number of art forms, not the least of which is a commitment to pure spectacle. How to Be a Megastar Live!, which delivers a CD and DVD of Blue Man Group's 2006-2007 concert tour of the same name, captures much of what makes this outfit so entertaining.

Considering Blue Man Group is chiefly an act renowned for visual flair, the real draw here is the DVD chronicling a 2007 performance of theirs American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas. The show, which clocks in just shy of 90 minutes, spotlights the group's trademark inventiveness, audience interaction and quirky humor.

Featuring a sly bit of self-reflexivity, the Megastar tour's central conceit surr...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Decades of graffiti have proclaimed "Clapton is God," but he may end up being canonized as a saint due to his founding of and continued work for Crossroads, a major rehab facility located in the lush setting of Antigua (hey, if you're going to go into rehab, you might as well enjoy yourself, as much as possible). This 2007 Chicago (actually Bridgeview) concert was put together and hosted by Clapton in order to both bring greater awareness to recovery issues (he's obviously an expert in the subject, having battled drug and alcohol addiction for most of his adult life) and to raise money for Crossroads, with the concert revenues and resultant DVD sales both benefiting the center. Clapton's legendary status helped compile an amazing list of artists for this event, including such disparate acts as Sonny Landreth, John McLaughlin, Johnny Winter, Robert Cray, B.B. King, Vince Gill, Alb...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Stories are legion about what Barry Manilow is really like to the hoi polloi--you know, contracts that stipulate no eye contact backstage, bottled water always available at a decreed temperature, things like that. What emerges from this 5 DVD set of his early television specials is instead an ingratiating and for the most part natural and appealing presence who may not be the greatest singer/songwriter of all time, but who knows his strengths and plays to them consistently, creating a volume of work that is melodic, harmonically sophisticated (at least for "pop music"), lyrically focused and always winningly performed. As the old adage about Elvis stated, millions of fans can't be wrong.

The set consists of:

"The First Barry Manilow Special," an Emmy award winning introduction to Barry from 1977 which is at first glance a somewhat hilarious time capsule from an ...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Paul McCartney has been vilified by many music critics as the quintessential hack of the Beatles--lacking Lennon's fiery intellect, Harrison's beatific spirituality or Ringo's....well, lovable goofiness. What McCartney's critics often fail to understand is that the man, as he himself freely (and even happily) admits in one of the bountiful extras on this 3 DVD set, is a writer of pop hits, nothing more, nothing less (though he has, perhaps unwisely, been attempting to branch out into more "serious" concert fare). As McCartney describes his writing process in this extra, he repeatedly returns to the phrase "finding a tune," and that sums up his vast international appeal. While McCartney, lyrically at least, may be occasionally cringe-worthy with such efforts as "Silly Love Songs" or even the mangled English of "Live and Let Die" ("in this world in which we live in"), never rising...Read the entire review

Rhino continues to release sets of Mystery Science Theater episodes,which is a good thing for fans of the show.  I honestly did thinkthey'd get this far, but the twelfth set is due out in time for Christmas. Filled with another four hilarious episodes, this would make a great presentfor that MiSTie on your holiday gift list.

Most of you reading this are probably already familiar with MysteryScience Theater 3000 (or MST3K for short.)  For those whomight have missed the program when it was being aired on Comedy Centralor the Sci-Fi Channel (in its later years), here is the concept in a nutshell:some evil scientists have trapped Joel (later replaced by Mike) on a satellitein space.  Dr. Forester (or his mother in the later shows) torturespoor Joel by forcing him to watch bad movies...Read the entire review

The Film:
Few things in life can me feel both incredibly young and incredibly old at the same time the way hip-hop does. Although it would be easy to argue that I'm not exactly a "first generation" hip-hop head, I first fell in love with the culture around 1981, mesmerized by the sights and sounds coming out of New York. By the time Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five released "The Message" in 1982, I was a diehard hip-hop fan. Sometimes, however, I forget what an integral part of my life hip-hop has been, how it defined much of my youth--practicing breakdance moves on big pieces of cardboard, planning elaborate graffiti murals, and trying to perfect my MC skills. But watching the 25th anniversary edition of Wild Style, the seminal film about hip-hop, I was reminded how incredible the artistic cultural movement that was born in the streets of New York really was, and it brought back...Read the entire review

The Ramones were a band of contradictions.  The group touredconstantly for 22 years, yet the members were often fighting with eachother.  They were incredibly influential, but never commercially popular. The Ramones are often credited as the firstpunk rock band and they had an effect on many groups including The Clash, TheDead Kennedy's, and Black Flag.  More than one band have done coverversions on entire Ramones albums, Motorhead recorded the song R.A.M.O.N.E.S.as a tribute, Billie Joe Armstrong and Tre Cool from Green Day even tookthe names for their children from the band.  The 1991 album We'rea Happy Family consisted entirely of Ramones songs covered by othergroups including such notable names as Kiss, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers,Green Day, Marilyn Manson, Eddie Vedder, and even U2.  Musicians appreciated them yet they neverachieved much popular acclaim during their career...Read the entire review

The Movie

It's useless to approach David Lynch's INLAND EMPIRE (the all-caps title is his preference; in keeping with his often maddening opacity, Lynch refuses to divulge why he prefers it) as a traditional film. Everything about it screams art-against-the-grain -- shot on digital video in a catch-as-catch-can fashion over a period of five years and featuring a plot that could charitably be elliptical and realistically called fucked up, INLAND EMPIRE is an art-house endurance test, a mind-bending feedback loop and the kind of film the true cinephiles like to throw on at parties and watch the room clear out.

Subtitled "A Woman In Trouble," INLAND EMPIRE is Lynch's most ambitious, fractured film yet; it's like the final hour of Mulholland Drive stretched out to three hours -- anything approaching sense is thrown out the window in favor of ghoulish...Read the entire review

The Show:

In the pantheon of rock 'n' roll icons, Elvis Costello is a tunesmith of almost unparalleled excellence. His writing is sharp, biting and brimming with the insights and dazzling wordplay that wouldn't be out of place in a work of great literature. But there's more. His lyrics are matched by an encyclopedic command of popular music, from rock to country, jazz to blues.

If that gushing makes me sound like an unabashed fan, it's because I am. And the musical genius of Declan Patrick McManus, better known as Mr. Costello, is evident on Live - A Case for Song. Recorded in 1997 for the BBC, this London concert spotlights Costello performing with his longtime backup band, the Attractions; the White City Septet; and the renowned string quartet, the Brodsky Quartet, with which he collaborated on 1992's The Juliet Letters.

Costello fans won't be disappointed. A...Read the entire review

THE MOVIE:

I absolutely adore the Pet Shop Boys and have long felt that pop culture has not given this band their due. The public consciousness has somehow frozen somewhere around the late 1980s as far as the band is concerned, missing the fact that the duo of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have continued creating music on into the new millennium, blazing a trail as innovators in electronic dance music. They've even expanded their range to do stage plays and a modern score for Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin, a version of which I'd love to see on DVD. And yet, when I told a friend that I had gotten their new concert disc, Pet Shop Boys: Cubism in Concert, he asked, "Really? Are they still around?"

Le sigh.

Yes, still around and very much at the ...Read the entire review

THE MOVIE:

The Juliet Letters was a 1992 collaboration between rocker Elvis Costello and the esteemed Brodsky Quartet. A concept album of sorts, they composed classically based songs that made full use of the Brodsky strings with lyrics that were meant to represent love letters composed by various characters. It was a bit of a watershed album for Costello, whose career was starting to shift into the eclectic mix of styles that has since seen him move past poetic punk and become something more of a musical lexicon unto itself.

This DVD of a documentary created to promote the release of The Juliet Letters arrives with very little fanfare. A 52-minute program with no extras and a barely passable video transfer, from the way it's structured, I would ...Read the entire review

THE MOVIE:

Made as part of the PBS American Masters series, Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built was put together to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the pioneering music label and the man who started it all.

The story of Ahmet Ertegun is probably worthy of several much lengthier endeavors, but as a primer, this film does its job. Born into a diplomatic Turkish family, Ahmet came to this country in 1935 when his father was Turkey's ambassador to America. Fascinated by American popular culture, Ahmet was blissfully free of the prejudice that divided much of our country's art. His skill as a raconteur is quickly evident as he tells the story of being in seventh grade and sneaking out to see jazz in Harlem. It was the seminal moment in a life of a...Read the entire review

Rhino's tenth boxed set of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodesran into some legal problems (almost assuredly because of the inclusionof a Godzilla movie) and had to be pulled off the shelves soon after release. The company decided to play it safe with their next release, so MST3KSet 11 includes only movies that are in the public domain. Theseofferings, three from the Joel era and one from Mike's run, are averageofferings for the show, which means that they are hilarious. Thiswill be a great addition to any collection.

Most of you reading this are probably already familiar with MysteryScience Theater 3000 (or MST3K for short.) For those whomight have missed the program when it was being aired on Comedy Centralor the Sci-Fi Channel (in its later years), here is the concept in a nutshell:some evil scienti...Read the entire review

THE SHOW:

A lot of the bands that emerged from the 1970s UK punk scene are quite content to rest on their laurels, acting out an endless cycle of break-ups and make-ups, going out on the road at regular intervals to churn through the hits one more time for fans too old to rebel against anything or too young to realize they're stuck in their grandfathers' revolution.

Not so for Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie, the husband-and-wife musical duo who are at the center of the Banshees and also comprise their own band, the Creatures. The two have kept their bands fresh and creative, evolving from one release to the next. As the Banshees got more pop, the Creatures got more tribal and avant-garde. Both acts also transitioned toward dance music, adopting electronic sounds an...Read the entire review

For about two years, from 1970 to 1972, Flip Wilson was the single most influential comedian on American TV, and therefore, in the world. Forget Bill Cosby. Forget Johnny Carson. Or Richard Pryor or George Carlin or Cheech and Chong. Flip was it. The first black superstar on network TV with his NBC variety series The Flip Wilson Show, Flip's characters such as the sassy, outrageous Geraldine, the con man Reverend Leroy of the Church of What's Happenin' Now, and lecherous Freddy the Playboy, and their famous lines such as, "The Devil made me do it," and "What you see is what you get," became national catchphrases. Watching Flip was a Thursday night ritual in our house and across the country (or at least until The Waltons came along and made Flip second choice), with his show jumping immediately in the national ratings to the second most watched show on television for...Read the entire review

Despite the usual grumbling that comes to mind when long-dormant bands reform, there's nothing self-indulgent or exploitative about legendary guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce, and drummer Ginger Baker reuniting after 37 years for Cream's four night stay at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In the interviews on this HD DVD, Clapton notes his bandmates' "healthy disregard for audience requirements". This 130 minute performance reflects the band's mantra that the music is all that matters. Aside from some occasional "thank you"s and the names of the members of the band, there's no stage banter. A group playing to such massive crowds would typically be surrounded by elaborate, overpriced sets and a couple dozen backing musicians; other than amplifiers, a few instruments, and the three performers themselves, the only thing on-stage for Cream's extended stay in London is a small psychedelic back...Read the entire review

Although I have to admit that my feelings for the Eagles are a little closer to Jeffrey Lebowski's, there's no denying that the band gives their fans their money's worth. This HD DVD, recorded in Melbourne as part of their smirkingly-titled 'Farewell Tour I', clocks in just shy of three hours.

"Live from Melbourne"'s twenty-nine songs were spread across two discs when it was released on DVD in 2005, but the concert has been condensed to a single disc in high-def. The sprawling setlist encompasses pretty much everything the Eagles put out collectively as well as each band member's solo projects. The newer songs are expectedly clunky, particularly Joe Walsh's ode to sobriety, "One Day at a Time", and "Hole in the World". Inspired by the events of 9/11, "Hole in the World" may have been penned in 2001, but at least in...Read the entire review

For the past seventeen years, MusiCares has honored artists for their extraordinary musical achievements and their dedication to humanitarian causes. Singer/songwriter James Taylor received the organization's nod as their 'Person of the Year' in 2006, and the tribute taped during the week of that year's Grammy Awards is now being released on HD DVD.

The tribute consists almost entirely of musical performances, featuring covers of Taylor's music by artists he's inspired in his nearly four decades as a recording artist. The selection of songs concentrates most heavily on his earliest work -- nearly half of the songs are from Taylor's first three albums -- with only Bruce Springsteen's intense solo acoustic performance of 1979's "Millworker" and Taylor lending his own distinctive baritone to his 1991 Martin Luther King tribute "Shed a L...Read the entire review

Aguably one of the finest voices to grace any venue in the last fifty years,Barbara Streisand's status as one of the most successful singers of her generation is even more remarkable when one takes into account the fact that she mostly veered away from rock and roll, staying with picture perfect ballads and show tunes. Also notable is the fact that Ms. Streisand used her voice as a springboard for a endeavors such as stage and film actress anddirector.

One Voice is a concert film that first saw life as an HBO exclusive; Streisand used the event- her first live concert since 1972- to vocally protest against nuclear arms buildup in the Reagan era, at a time prior to the conclusion of the Cold War. Erecting an elaborate stage in her own backyard (which opening comedian Robin Williams tags as "Camp Barbara")with tickets going for $5000 a pop. Planned at the time as a fundraiser for Dem...Read the entire review

During the 2006 Grammy Awards Week in Los Angeles, MusiCares broughttogether a group of legendary artists to pay tribute to James Taylor attheir annual Person of the Year gala. This event honored Taylor for hisoutstanding contributions to both the world of music and his philanthropicefforts. His musical legacy and sense of compassion toward humanityrepresent the artistic talents and social awareness that mark all MusiCaresPerson of the Year honorees. He joins a list of previous honorees thatincludes Tony Bennett, Bono, Natalie Cole, Phil Collins, David Crosby, Gloria Estefan, Billy Joel, Elton John,Quincy Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, Sting, BrianWilson, and Stevie Wonder. Net proceeds from the sale and distribution ofthis DVD will benefit MusiCares and its programs to provide a criticalsafety net of assistance to music people in times of crisis.

Bringing together an outsta...Read the entire review

When I was a kid growing up in the 80s some of my most prized childhood possessions consisted of some Transformer or another. Whether it was Optimus Prime, Megatron or Jazz (always a favorite of mine, no idea why) these action figures were something special. I'm definitely not alone in that because just about every adolescent male around that time period had a pile of Transformers and could manipulate their forms with your eyes closed. Sure the show was a glorified commercial, like many cartoons were those days, but the series marched to a different drummer and really caught the imagination.

Over the years several attempts have been made to bring the Transformers back to their glory days. Any fan worth their salt could tell you as much as possible about the upcoming film directed by Michael Bay but over the years many animated series have graced both American and J...Read the entire review

The Show:

From the Big Apple to the Big Easy: Madison Square Garden Concert captures for posterity a Sept. 20, 2005, benefit held in New York City for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Its humanitarian mission alone is reason enough to heap praise on the event -- the show generated millions of dollars for Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, Habitat for Humanity and other entities -- but the marquee talent isn't too shabby, either.

Let's face it: It's tough to go wrong with a lineup that includes (but is not limited to) Simon & Garfunkel, Elton John, Allen Toussaint, Jimmy Buffett, Irma Thomas, the Neville Brothers, Dave Matthews, John Fogerty, Bette Midler, Diana Krall, Lenny Kravitz, Cyndi Lauper, the Meters, the Dixie Cups and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Whew. Like the concert itself, this two-DVD set is handsomely produced and featuring some terrific music – even if 60...Read the entire review

It's hard to believe, but Rhino has released their tenth MysteryScience Theater 3000 video collection. This four disc set containa good mix of shows; two with Joel as host and a pair from Mike as well. The headliner from this set is Godzilla Vs Megalon, a great episodewith the hilarious Jet Jaguar. This set also includes Swamp Diamonds,Teen-Age Strangler, and the wretchedly horrible film The Giant SpiderInvasion along with two shorts and some fun extras. A great treatfor MST fans.

Most of you reading this are probably already familiar with MysteryScience Theater 3000 (or MST3K for short.) For those ofyou who might have missed it, here is the concept in a nutshell: Joel...Read the entire review

In 10 Words or Less
A collection of underrated Prince songs finally ported from VHS

Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: Prince, music videos, Diamonds and Pearls
Likes: New Power Generation
Dislikes: Prince's experiments in rap
Hates: Craptacular transfers, no effort put into releases

The Show
Prince's "Diamonds and Pearls" album, released just before the symbol era but after his classic early albums, was a top-notch collection of Prince compositions, but one that doesn't get the respect that earlier albums enjoy. Part of it might be the ill-advised dabbling in rap, part of it might be the focus on the overtly sexual tracks. It can be argued though that the album has as many quality songs as anything Prince has released since "...Read the entire review

The Show:
The beloved television show Candid Camera, which many consider the first reality TV show, was a long-running series that delighted in creating strange situations and recording people's reactions to them. This disc features the greatest moments of the show, and while some of them are quite good, not all live up to the moniker.

Some of the standout segments from this collection include the talking mailbox, where a voice within a mailbox talks to passersby on a city street, and the car without a motor, where a woman coasts into a auto body shop's parking lot only to find a bewildered mechanic who cannot understand how she got there. Some of the simplest gags are the funniest. In one clip, a "Rest Room" sign is placed on a closet door, and the people are so clearly puzzled that it is hilarious; one man goes in and out of the closet several times, as though he cannot belie...Read the entire review

An interesting eclectic heavy metal band, Dream Theater has attaineda considerable cult status due in large part to the precise, proficientguitar work of John Petrucci. Originally named Majesty and changing it'sname in 1987, this Long Island based group has seen many, many lineup changesover the course of 20 years. What has been a constant is their smart,sharp-edged music, and a renown for putting on incredible live performances.They've released several live albums throughout the course of theirhistory-"Live At The Marquee", a London show, and "Live In Tokyo" among them yet they are still one of the metal genres' mostbootlegged bands.

With Chris Collins as lead vocalist, the band released a demo album in 1986that managed to sell 1,000 copies in six months. When Collins left the bandthey went through a long period with no voice until settling on CharlieDominici as a new lead singer. Signin...Read the entire review

At the end of 2005, Rhino released a three disc set that contained theWho performing their two great rock operas in the aptly titled The Who:Tommy and Quadrophenia Live.  For those people who weren't interestedin the latter concert (shame on you, it's a great show), Rhino has nowreleased the Tommy concert from that set on a single DVD: The Who: Tommy Live.  Their best known work, this presentationof Tommy was given when the group was a bit past their prime, but theystill knew how to rock and it's a great disc.

Tommy was recorded at the Universal Amphitheater in LA in 1989. This wasn't just wasn't another concert, it was the conclusion to their25th anniversa...Read the entire review

Roger's and Hammerstein's South Pacific has been a musical landmark for decades, with an engaging story and a number of songs that became standards overnight for theater goers. Last June, Carnegie Hall presented a one night only performance of the show with a dream cast headed by contemporary country artist, movie and sitcom star Reba McEntire, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Alec Baldwin, Jason Danieley, and Lillias White. Directing here is Walter Bobbie, with music direction by Paul Gemignani conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke's. "South Pacific" was among Rodgers and Hammerstein's most successful shows, taking home nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, in 1950. Although its first Broadway revival will not occur until the 2007-08 season, "South Pacific" has never truly gone away thanks to thousands of productions on a professional and amateur scale through the years, as well as two movie ve...Read the entire review