Alice at the Palace (Broadway Theatre Archive)

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Lenny's description:


Amazon.com:
Meryl Streep displays the talent that would soon make her a movie star in Alice at the Palace, a musical theater adaptation by Elizabeth Swados of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Dressed in pink overalls, Streep sings and dances through such famous scenes as the Mad Tea Party and playing croquet with the Queen of Hearts. This production, from the early 1980s, lies somewhere between Hair and Into the Woods. The music ranges across a variety of styles (from calypso to barbershop quartet) and video manipulations enhance the inventive physical staging, but it's Streep that will carry you through--her sound effects as Alice changes size (after drinking from a bottle labeled "Drink Me") are delightful, capturing both a childlike imagination and the fluid reality of theater. Alice at the Palace features several other recognizable faces, including Mark Linn-Baker (My Favorite Year) and dancer-choreographer Debbie Allen. --Bret Fetzer


Product details:

Item number (ASIN): B00006CXGT
Actor: Meryl Streep, Betty Aberlin, Debbie Allen, Stuart Baker-Bergen, Richard Cox
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Category: DVD
Creator: Girish Bhargava, Joseph Papp, Elizabeth Swados, Lewis Carroll
Director: Emile Ardolino
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
ISBN: 076979601X
Languages: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
Manufacturer: Kultur Video
Number Of Items: 1
Original Release Date: January 16, 1982
Package Dimensions: 58 x 542 x 710 (hundredths-inches)
Publisher: Kultur Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: June 25, 2002
Running Time: 72, minutes
Theatrical Release Date: January 16, 1982

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Rating: - Awkward
The most important quality of this DVD is that it exists. There's something strange, awkward, and distant about many of the recordings in this series: You're watching well-known actors at the top of their respective games but not reaping the benefit of their skill, magic, or charisma. Perhaps it's that these plays-on-video are just that -- not plays, not films, but an uncomfortable hybrid of the two. But, be that what it may, this is still an intriguing and, occasionally, surprising document of a piece of work created at a specific moment in time.

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Rating: - Broadway Theatre Archive, Alice at the Palace
I saw this when it was first broadcast in 1982 and loved it. Then, when I saw it was on DVD, I bought it. I watched it with old friends and it was still just as fresh and delightful. We laughed and ooohed and aaaahed all the way through it. Thank you, Broadway Theatre Archive, for putting it on DVD!!

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Rating: - The Amazing Meryl Streep and an amazing supporting cast!
I cannot tell you how much I adore this movie. Meryl Streep never ceases to amaze me, and the entire cast, I could rave on and on and on about them. I just simply adore this, and the music itself is FANTASTIC. i don't know why I had not heard of it sooner or why more people do not do it. I cannot recommend this enough!

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Rating: - Juvenile at best
I expected some entertainment value at least with Meryl Streep in the lead as Alice but I was disappointed. This might be a good show to watch with a class of 5-6 year olds, but it is certainly not adult entertainment. Meryl does OK but the rest of the cast is, in a word, awful. I could barely get through it and I am certain I will never watch it again.

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Rating: - The Young Meryl
Elizabeth Swados seems to be virtually unknown these days outside of theater circles, despite a rich output of plays and books, but her "Runaways" was the "Rent" of its day, and it was showered with Tony awards. I had fond memories of her musical riff on Lewis Carroll, "Alice At The Palace" (aka "Alice In Concert") -- which adapts story elements from both "Alice in Wonderland" and "Alice Through the Looking Glass" -- from a PBS broadcast back in the early 80's. Seen through my older, seen-it-all eyes in middle age, the show now seems a little aimless and v-e-r-y l-o-n-g. There's still a lot to savor, though, not the least being Meryl Streep's charming Alice. There are some other familiar faces, like Debbie Allen, Mark Linn-Baker and the late Michael Jeter, all skilled theatrical entertainers, but it's Streep who carries the production. With a bit of judicious fast-forwarding (past, for example, Linn-Baker's tiresome Jewish Mock Turtle), it could provide an entertaining evening.

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