Arts Movie Reviews

This movie is great with wonderful music and extrordinary skating from jumping to spinning. Performances by Katarina Witt, Rosalyn Sumners, and Toller Cranston make it even better. I would deffinetly suggest buying or taping it!

Katarina is great in this movie. Some great songs and even better skating. A fairytale for the whole family.

It may be just a quirk of mine, but I have yet to appreciate a translated opera. Had I realised beforehand that this was in English, I would not have ordered it. Opera translations never (I can think of no exceptions)come off. The libretto never lyrically matches the music as the composer intended, and the worst translations are into English; they become so prosaic and silly. Can you imagine a Wagnerian singing, "Come in and shut the door...please be quiet, now"?

Nevertheless, though marred by the translation, this piece was well and traditionally staged, competently acted, and nicely played. If you do not suffer from the same quirk as I do, then you will enjoy this Met production.

It seems like "magical" is a word only used by hack reviewers from suspicious-sounding newspapers. But really, there's no better word for this production. The richly romantic score is wonderfully played by the orchestra, and sensitively conducted by Fulton. The singers are uniformly good. The fantasy elements are spectacular... the house, the forest, the flying of angels and witches add immeasurably to the production. The only thing that I wasn't overly fond of was at certain moments the production was "childrened down," like with the occasional addition of somewhat corny graphics. But much better than some productions that remove anything "dangerous" at all, and have the witch played by a man as a drag queen! All in all this is a wonderful production of a wonderful opera. You'll be whistling the folksy score for days, and that haunting, meltingly beautiful prayer will stick with you for a long time.

Speaking as a former dancing mushroom (yes, one of the ones seen in this video), I can say that this is one of my favorite videos! As a child, performing in this production was an exciting rush. As an adult, watching the opera still gives me a thrill. The production is beautiful, the stars incredible and the dancing mushrooms...well...
An excellent introduction to opera and an enjoyable video for children and adults alike!

The action of this play takes place in a single room (and a single act), and this version makes no attempt to change this, so don't watch it if you're looking for filmic frills. That said, the set is well-done and the performances are very good, good enough, in fact, that it's hard to point out any particular standouts. (Star Trek fans will note the appearances of Rene Auberjonois and a very young-looking Andrew Robinson, billed as Andy Robinson, as Leduc the actor and the (German) Major.)

The BTA series was originally done for television, so the image quality is not great, but both picture and sound seem to be as good as "new."

Like all the Kultur DVDs of the Broadway Theatre Archive I've seen, this version has no extras to speak of. Aside from the program itself, there is a short of previews of other titles and a scene selection option.

Sound quality , picture quality and performance are very good in this production by the Australian Opera Co. Most heart warming was the scene in which the children dreamed of their real mother,
departed. Beyond that point this performance in flawed for 3
reasons. One: The Dew Fairy scene is a mockery. Second: Displayed
at the Witches home is a human hand sitting in the intake of a
manual meatgrinder. Last: Instead of a magic wand or some other
device, the witch uses a large butcher knife to keep Gretel at bay viewed by Hansel prisoned in a cage. I waited for this DVD,
in all reality will not play it for any children in my family nor
recommed it. Definately in poor tast and should not be shown to children. I plan to return it and buy the older Met version on DVD which does not have these types of gruesome overtones.

Clever scenic design, and a top-notch Hansel highlight this decent Australian Opera staging of the Humperdinck classic. The dream ballet sequence veers from the tried and true by beautifully depicting the children's dead mother in a heartbreakingly lovely moment. Those hoping for an ornate, mouth-watering gingerbread house may be disappointed, but the slice of birthday cake served up by designer Mark Thompson gets high marks from me, especially since it cleverly harkens back to the afore-mentioned dream ballet. The costumes range from the inspired (The kooky Dew Fairy sequence) to the dreadful (The low-rent children's theatre Sandman sequence). Elijah Moshinsky's stage direction offers up some wonderful moments, particularly for Elizabeth Campbell in the normally thankless role of Gertrude, played here by Campbell as a chain-smoking drudge. Sadly, video director Virginia Lumsden is not on the same directorial page as Moshinsky and often misses the mark with camerawork that generally stays too tight when expanse is begged for (i.e. the final chorus). Suzanne Johnston is absolutely perfect as Hansel - boyish and boundlessly energetic. Feistily looking through his (her) glasses, Johnston struts surely through a role that too often comes off forced, all the while sporting an excellent mezzo. Singing in a clear but sometimes top-heavy voice, Christine Douglas is as cute as a jiggly plum pudding as Gretel, gamely keeping up with Johnston and successfully avoiding the cliche that comes too easily when adults portray youth. Margaret Haggart seems a tad uncomfortable as the Witch, but when she trusts her director and really commits to the character, she comes shining through, both vocally and acting-wise. I far prefer Haggart's smug take on Rosina Daintymouth to the mugging tongue-lashing Rosalind Elias offers on the Met DVD. Malcolm Donnelly is a nicely grizzled Peter. The children's choir seems a tad under-rehearsed, but they are energetic and not as much the scenery they usually come off as.
Johannes Fritzsch conducts well throughout. Although I always prefer the original German, the opera here is performed in English in a good translation.
For a more traditional take on this beloved (and underrated) classic opera, you'll be happier with the Met's warhorse version. But those more familiar with the piece will find many pleasures in Moshinsky's sometimes beautiful, sometimes quirky, always intelligent directorial choices and in Johnston's superb Hansel.

I really wanted to check this out because I had heard Tommy Chunn's performance on Star Search,which I liked,and I really liked him in "Undercover Brother",and I had seen him on Def Comedy Jam,and his half hour HBO special.I was GREATLY dissapointed.AJ Johnson cussed WAYYY too much,and all he talked about was sex,plus this was supposed to be an Eddie Griffin DVD,and he got A LOT more time than Eddie Griffin.Tommy Chunn used the same lines over and over.Sheryl Underwood is never funny,and Eddie Griffin just plain (...).Last Stand is not good either.Out of the whole 102 minutes,I did not laugh once.For good black comedy,check out Richard Pryor,Chris Rock,or "The Original Kings Of Comedy".From Urbanworks,check out Def Comedy Jam or the Platinum Comedy Series,especially the Platinum Comedy Series.