Costumes Movie Reviews

Although the drama on stage was disappointing, Muti and the vocalists create terrific music. It is unfortunate that the recording quality is only mediocre. Furthermore, the stage lighting was inappropriately dim for capturing the opera on tape, and most of the scenes are excessively gloomy. All in all, this performance fails to demonstrate the strengths of the DVD format.

Mozart's operas have never been the easiest to set, and this production's director does little to alleviate that stigma. The sets are austere and repetitive, the costume design is good but hackneyed by overuse, and the lighting often obscures the more delicate details of the staging. But, if the backdrop to the music is slightly disappointing, the music itself is anything but. Mutti leads a roaring interpretation that lets down neither his lightning fast tempo nor the jubilent spirit at the heart of Mozart's music.The casting is superb! From Zerlina (Metzner), meek and innocent (even through her final curtain call) to Leoporello (Desderi) whose antics on the stage make us fall in love with his character to Thomas Allen's Don Giovanni who is the perfect blend of regality and wickedness. All around this is the best recording of Don Giovanni available on DVD, and one those eager to aquire Mozart's grand masterpiece in this format first need look in to.

This is the best performance of Don Giovanni that I have seen yet.Except for a little backround noise, it was really great.I loved Thomas Allen's and Natale De Carolis's singing.The sets were also very nice.I happen to think that Zerlina was a little smarmy, but she sang well.This opera was recorded nicely,and I would reccomend it to anyone.I wish I saw it live!

I have this Kevin Kline, Rex Smith, Linda Rondstadt stage performance of The Pirates of Penzance on DVD and despite the flaws of the not so good camera work and it being filmed on a tiny stage and the visibility not being what it could have been because it was filmed outside at night when it was pretty dark out and it probably would have been better filmed on a bigger stage inside a well lit theater but I still enjoyed watching it and I'm happy that I have the DVD because you can still see how great it is and the pure magic and energy of the performances really shines through that any minor flaw can be easily over looked. I just wish I could have been a part of the audience in Central Park when this was performed but watching it on DVD is the next best thing. I haven't seen the movie version of this but I think I will like it too so whenever it becomes available on DVD I will definitely buy it but I wouldn't get rid of this version for it, I would definitely keep both versions. Despite the minor flaws I still think the excellent performances merit a 5 star rating!

I previously rated the VHS version of this Joe Papp production (which I fortunately have on Laserdisc). It's one of my favorites, but the VHS version was recorded later for cable broadcast and it suffers from it. Although it has excellent picture and sound (at least on my Laserdisc), it frustratingly falls short of the original cast CD. To fit its time slot, some verses or even whole numbers were omitted, while more visual business was added - some of it over-the-top silly.

This DVD is from a taping of a live performance in Central Park. It suffers from wind noise in the microphones, bugs flying around, and all sorts of other hazards of a live taping. Not that it's bad, but simply don't expect the same audio and video quality of the slick later soundstage production.

Having said all that, I wouldn't give up either of them! This version was made some 3 years years before the other and it shows on the actors who all are obviously younger. Better yet, it has all the verses and all the numbers that are on the CD - even the ones "borrowed" from other G&S works. The same sense of fun prevails. Patricia Routledge actually fits the part of Ruth better than Angela Lansbury did in the later production (both are *far* better than Estelle Parsons who's on the CD!) One minor disappointment is that the camera never pays enough attention to Tony Azito, who pretty much stole every scene he was in in the later production. Possibly just as well - wearing stage makeup and without the moustache he sported in the later version, he looks a little goofy here.

So take your choice... A great, but incomplete production on VHS or this technically inferior, yet intact production on DVD. I'm just glad to have both.

UPDATE:
Since this is a favorite in my family, I've now watched it several additional times with various family members. Imperfect as it may be, it's easily become my favorite of the two. The infectious sense of fun, the audience interaction, Routledge's superior performance - all set it apart. Will I still buy the soundstage production if it's released on DVD? Yes, if only for The better presentation of "When the Foeman Bares His Steel". But if I could have only one, I'm afraid this would be it.

Thank goodness this version of Joseph Papp's "Pirates" has been unearthed and released to the public! For as lavish as the 1983 film version is, I always felt that it was lacking something....a live audience.

With the exception of Kevin Kline's performance, this live recording of the Central Park production is very charming and well worth the watch. Mr. Kline is wonderful as The Pirate King, but his performance in the 1983 version is far better. After 3 years of performing the role, he perfected it, and truly made it his own.

Reviews back in 1980 complained about Linda Ronstadt's performance as Mabel, noting her lack of acting training. I found her to be perfectly charming and quite adorable. She's a cross between Snow White and Lilian Gish...the perfect mix! She handles the vocal difficulty of the role with ease and clarity. Her upper voice is slightly improved by the time the big screen version was shot, but this early attempt is wonderful! And Mabel really doesn't have a lot of acting depth to her anyway....G & S wrote her as a parody of grand opera sopranos. Player her "straight", as Ronstadt does, and she's fabulous.

The late George Rose and the late Tony Azito are almost exact on both versions...which to me a sign of a great performer. I always heard the Rose did the entire movie version with no retakes, and I can now understand why...he's flawless. Azito could have given Ray Bolger a run for his money back in the day...the man was like rubber.! I would have loved to have seen him play the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz! Sadly both Rose and Azito were taken from us before their time. It's a great loss.

Patricia Routledge leaves Angela Lansbury in the dust in the battle for the better Ruth. Routledge actually had a character unlike Lansbury who simply played Jessica Fletcher as Ruth....serious miscasting there folks! If you are a fan of Patricia Routledge in "Keeping Up Appearances", this is a must see for you!

The video used for the DVD and VHS versions of this show is very rough. It's been digitally cleaned up a much as possible, but it is 23 years old! Only so much can be done! But it's worth the watch anyway!

I LOVED IT!!!!

Chomsky's "inverted nationalism" is truly something to behold. The politics of other countries have no responsibility for anything that happens in them or to them. Chileans played no role in Allende's overthrow and subsequent dictatorship. Nor did Iranians and Guatemalans with regard to Mossadeq and Arbenz respectively. You wont find any serious analyses of the history, social structures or politics of other countries or even of international context in Chomsky because these complex phenomena don't actually matter. What matters in every case is the uniquely omnipotent and evil character of American corporate and political power. (It is indeed ironic how much criticism Bush received for using the "e" word when it has always been a primary concept of the radical Left. What else are the bourgeoisie, the elite, the corporations but evil? Even when they're flogging the products of the radical Left! Sorry Amazon.) This from a man who would prefer to see Milosevic, the Taliban as well as Saddam Hussein in power rather than the use of US power. Distorted morality indeed.

The thought that intelligent people, supposedly progressive at that, should fall for this peddler of rubbish and experience exasperation with "ordinary" Americans for being "asleep" is laughable. So too is the claim that he is ignored by the media - Chomsky is ubiquitous in bookshops and the internet, not to mention academic and journalistic references. His disciples don't like it but his arguments are more often rejected than ignored.

By all means read and watch Chomsky - but don't think for a moment that the exercise is itself critical. It isn't.

It is true that Chomsky spends a great deal of time criticizing his own country and relatively little criticizing other countries. He is even kind enough to tell us why: Because, as a citizen of the USA, it is simply more sensible, efficient and responsible for him to focus his efforts there. As a voter and a public personality, he can make a difference in the US, much more so than in other countries. He believes, in short, that criticism, like charity, begins at home. In no way does he excuse the oppressive governments of other countries. He does force the realization, however, that we simply DO NOT KNOW if those governments would have ended up being oppressive in the absence of American foreign policy atrocities, because, in fact, many of them were never given the chance.
At the very least, Chomsky's work can help us to "de-brainwash" ourselves. We may not end up agreeing with him (I disagree with his viewpoint on the Second Amendment, for example), but at least we will be thinking 'outside the box', for a short time, anyway. And it is always good to do that as it leads to further insights. This is the way society evolves.
Five stars for the always thought-provoking Mr. Chomsky. Don't be afraid to think afresh, people. Buy it now.

Thats what it is called when we kill hundreds, or thousands of individuals who live in other countries.

Twenty years after the war on terror was the leading story in the world we yet again find ourselves with the same leaders, wearing the same shoes.

Its not that hard to notice blatent problems...few are willing to open their eyes, are you?

I personally believe Chris Rock is the funniest comedian ever. I purchase both Vol1 & Vol2 of "the Best of the Chris Rock Show". The 2nd DVD deserves 4.5 out of 5 stars, without a doubt but the first volumne is pale in quality, length & content.

This seems to just be grabs of random pieces of his show and are bar far NOT "the best off". The 2nd volumne has 55mins of skits and then another 45mins of his "Taxi Cab Driver Confessions" which alone almost makes the disk worth the purchase. This disk is just a poor collection of skits from the show, then 2 skits from the Taxi Cab. If you want a good Chris Rock DVD, buy volumne 2, but pass this one up, its not worth it, not even with a less than (...) pricetag.

If you love CR's HBO show, this is worth the $. I've watched it with friends over and over, busting out laughing every time...

I was in for a treat. This was al new Chris Rock of me. And I ate it up. Chris Rock is simply the best comic in a one man show. I don't have cable TV, and if I did, I would never be home to watch it, so with this being my first exposure to the Chris Rock Show, no wonder it is the hit it is. Great work.

I WAS NOT AWARE OF THE SYDNEY OPERA COMPANY UNTIL I SAW A PRODUCTION OF LA BOHEME. i FELL IN LOVE WITH DAVID HOBSON AND LOOKED FOR MORE. I FOUND THE GONDOLIERS AND FOUND IT TO BE EXHILERATING, ENCHANTING, IT SPARKLES, IT SHINES. IT MOVES RIGHT ALONG . UNLIKE SOME OF YOUR REVIEWERS I FOUND THE SOUND TO BE PERFECT. THE CHOREOGRAPHY WAS GREAT AND THE UPDATES A RIOT. UNLIKE THE PURISTS WHO LOVE TO BE NAYSAYERS IMPRESS OTHERS WITH THEIR SNOBBERY( BY THE WAY THE PURISTS NEED TO CHECK UP ON TRADITION OF G=S AND LEARN THAT UP DATES TO THE TIME WITH AD LIB IS PART OF THE SCORE...READ IT!!.)THE MAN PLAYING COUNTESS DEL TORO IS MAGNIFICENT AND SEEMED TO BE THE REINCARNATION OF HERMIONE GINGOLD. I DONT KNOW WHAT I TOUGHT WAS GOING ON IN THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE UNDER THOSE GORGEOUS SAILS BUT I KNOW NOW...PURE MAGIC.CAN YOU IMAGINE DAVID HOBSON WITH EAINE PAIGE? WOW. IF YOU WERE DISGUSTED BY THE PERFORMANCE I'LL BUY YOUR COPY FOR FRIENDS WHO HAVE TASTE.

I WAS NOT AWARE OF THE SYDNEY OPERA COMPANY UNTIL I SAW A PRODUCTION OF LA BOHEME. i FELL IN LOVE WITH DAVID HOBSON AND LOOKED FOR MORE. I FOUND THE GONDOLIERS AND FOUND IT TO BE EXHILERATING, ENCHANTING, IT SPARKLES, IT SHINES. IT MOVES RIGHT ALONG . UNLIKE SOME OF YOUR REVIEWERS I FOUND THE SOUND TO BE PERFECT. THE CHOREOGRAPHY WAS GREAT AND THE UPDATES A RIOT. UNLIKE THE PURISTS WHO LOVE TO BE NAYSAYERS IMPRESS OTHERS WITH THEIR SNOBBERY( BY THE WAY THE PURISTS NEED TO CHECK UP ON TRADITION OF G=S AND LEARN THAT UP DATES TO THE TIME WITH AD LIB IS PART OF THE SCORE...READ IT.)THE MAN PLAYING COUNTESS DEL TORO IS MAGNIFICENT AND SEEMED TO BE THE REINCARNATION OF HERMIONE GINGOLD. I DONT KNOW WHAT I TOUGHT WAS GOING ON IN THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE UNDER THOSE GORGEOUS SAILS BUT I KNOW NOW...PURE MAGIC.

The problem with using 'topical' references in G&S (or similar) productions is that they quickly become dated, so in this case what was regarded as very funny in 1988 is now passe and almost forgotten (even by Australians) and in one instance - the reference to the Princess of Wales - painfully unfortunate.

Modern lyrics aside, the music is as delightful as ever, of course, although the sacrifice of 'I am a Courtier, Grave and Serious' was regrettable (particularly since the Duke and Duchess' Duet which preceeded it was 'modernised'). The singing, too, is first -class, even when one is reminded just how old this production is by the young David Hobson's endearingly croaky bottom notes in 'Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes' - the future Mozart stylist was still near the beginning of his career!

The routine pairing of Hobson and Roger Lemke, thoroughly enjoying themselves as Marco and Giuseppe Palmieri - the Gondoliers of the title - complimented by Christine Douglas (Gianetta) and Suzanne Johnston (Tessa) made for some excellent performances by the 'young chickens'. Right behind them, though, were the 'old birds', Australian Opera stalwarts Robert Gard and Graeme Ewer as the Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro, and the inimitable Dennis Olsen (Don Alhambra).

Susan Benson's costumes showed to particular advantage in the highlight of the production, the Act II "Cachucha" sequence - where Director/Choreographer Brian Macdonald was to be congratulated for managing to make most of the cast look like reasonable dancers!

Certainly not the classic production. I find that the clowns and use of large cloth ribbons is too much of a distraction. Also there is too much stage noise to enjoy the music. This one is not for me.

The first video Barber of Seville I saw was a VHS with Cecilia Bartoli. So I was scared off by some of the reviews below. Having watched it, I agree with another review: the negative reviews are unfair.

True, early on the movements are distracting and there are moments where the crowd noise is a problem. But like any good drama, this staging draws you in. After the first scene or so, the extra action really adds to the production. If you like a static production where the singers just stand around and sing, then, no, you won't like this one. But if you like action that creates a grand spectacle, than you will experience this production more positively. On the whole, it works. I'm no expert in operatic historiography, but this production FEELS right for the genre.

I'm also no expert in singing, but the music in this production sounds fine to me.

As with "sinyung" I'm giving this 5 stars since it is "so much fun." I burst out laughing numerous times. Isn't that what a great comedy is to do? Yes, there are occasional flaws, but they are more than outweighed by the positive aspects.

Video of a bunch of people on a stage singing can get boring--
NOT HERE ! DARIO FO EXCITES THE STAGE with live acting; AND
actually brings it closer to THE TRUE VERSION of the comic opera
Rossini intended. The Italian clowns interact with the performance and truely enhance it. The singing of Figaro's
"Largo al factotum" is the best ever recorded ! The singing
of the whole opera has an unusual LIFE to it, AND actually
sounds amazingly like the spirit of Rossini himself was inspiring

everyone ! Alberto Zedda conducts the orchestra in such a manner that it seems to have an amazing insight into the music.
Even the Overture is performed in a way I noticed certain tonalities I never noticed before. The balance between orchestra
and singer is so amazing you wonder if they aren't actually
communicating telepathically. Even the added actors must have memorized every note, and carefully planned each movement.
The recording is loud and clear --excellent !
IT IS MORE FUNNY THAN THE BUGS BUNNY VERSION-- AND
MORE TRUE TO ROSSINI THAN ANY OTHER VERSION.
I almost wonder if Salvador Dali inspired some scenes ?
SURREAL !

I just watched this version of Pirates of Penzance and I think it awful! I love the musical itself and I like the movie, and I was looking forward to seeing it on the stage. But this was terrible. This cast killed the show. The Pirate King, while a good actor, could not sing and couldn't hold a note longer than his finger. Frederic was so homosexual and it clearly showed in the performance. His tone was so nasally I wanted him to blow his nose or something. And his acting [was bad]. He killed the performance. Mabel was okay but her vibrato was so annoying sometimes-it was so forced. The Major General was quite gay too and his dancing just ruined the whole thing. I could go on but I won't. Don't waste your time on this video like I did.

This is not a review of the DVDs, which I have not seen. I have, however, heard broadcasts of these performances, and a word of warning is in order. Many of the reviewers here have commented on the rewritten dialogue in these productions - but there has been little said about the rewritten music. These are emphatically NOT Sullivan's own graceful and apt orchestrations, but rescorings by Stratford Festival music director Berthold Carriere. To my ear, they infinitely cheapen and coarsen the score. This isn't just a matter of reorchestration but of additions, unecessary hoking-up, and elevator-music touches like upward modulations between verses. Such things may be fine on Broadway - most B'way composers didn't orchestrate their own shows anyway - and they may not bother some listeners, but for lovers of Sullivan's music they may be painful to hear. They certainly make these productions unlistenable for me.

This 3 DVD set is an excellent addition to the library of those who enjoy films of live stage performances. Presented by the Stratford Festival in Canada, these productions do feature updated lyrics by music director Berthold Carriere. Some find these offensive, personally I think they are true to the spirit of Gilbert and Sullivan. They cleverly skewer current (at the time) social and political mores of both Canada and America, which is the intention of Gilbert's lyrics anyway. "The Mikado" is by far the strongest of the three- charmingly acted and well-sung. Pooh-bah steals the show, but musicians will enjoy the quality singing from Nanki-Poo, Yum-Yum and Katisha- sung surprisingly sensitively. "Pirates" features Broadway vet Brent Carver as the Pirate King and Jeff Hyslop as Fredric, both of whom are good. Personally, I find the Mable wanting in the vocal department, having been spoiled by Valerie Masterson of D'oyly Carte. "Iolanthe" is the least compelling, and the "show within a show" stagehands distract from the work. All of the productions are very strong physically- beautiful sets and costumes. This is the best "Mikado" out there, go with the DVD of the Broadway revival of "Pirates" from Central Park for sheer exuberance.

The back cover promises this performance of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" to be refreshingly controversial. Unfortunately, some people don't seem to realize that there is a difference between what is controversial and what is simply bad.

Before I even get started, let's take a look at the performers themselves and some of the technical stuff:

The setting, decoration and costumes are completely ridiculous. This is where the fine line between controversial and bad must be drawn.

The lighting is okay but a bit bright. For some reason, all throughout Isolde's "mild und leise" we are graced by view upon endless view of her tongue, which appears to be purple. This was endlessly distracting.

The sound is superb. Thank you.

Tristan is played by Jon Frederic West, the worst tenor I have ever heard. He mispronounces just about everything. He sounds as though he's in tremendous pain when he sings. He almost never looks at Isolde, especially when singing, instead choosing to look--out into the audience, I guess. I saw him spit more than once. "So stürben wir um ungetrent," one of my favorites in all of opera, is completely ruined by his idiotic staring at whatever it is he finds so interesting in the audience, his terrible pronounciation, and complete lack of phrasing.

Isolde is played by Waltraud Meier. She does a much more convincing job than West, and she can most certainly sing. Her acting is much better and, unlike West, she seems to be genuinely affected by the love potion. She is certainly one of the better things about this performance.

Brangäne is played by Marjana Lipovsek. She has a good singing voice but her acting leaves a lot to be desired.

Now for the performance. This is an absolutely terrible performance of one of my favorite operas. It is a disgrace to watch. Observe:

The vorspiel, very nicely played if you don't mind the fact that the orchestra is never anywhere near Mehta's beat, ends and the curtain opens to reveal an amazingly bland white and blue set (the yacht--yes, yacht--is all white and the sky is blue). Isolde stands in what is probably one of the most terrible dresses I've ever seen, looking on. Brangäne is in a lounge chair, sipping from a cocktail glass (the potion is later served in a cocktail glass) and reading.. whatever it is, it looks stolen from a 70's disco. She wears a dress that is, in theory, even uglier than Isolde's but at least it's tastefully ugly. In walks the sailor who sings the opening, wearing a stereotypical white and black (dark blue?) sailor's uniform. He just walks in and stands there, singing and looking as though he feels that he just walked into the wrong room and staring at Isolde stupidly. At this point I closed my eyes until I heard this absolutely terrible tenor, opening my eyes to see what is apparantly Tristan, who has shaving cream on half of his face and is wearing this stupid purple velvet robe you would expect to see on a pimp.

The second act.. look, I don't know where in the world Isolde and Brangäne are supposed to be, but it's an ugly smear of a whole lot of purple and a lot of ugly pastel colors. Isolde is still wearing the hideous dress but has a blue cape-thing over it. They do a pretty nice job until Isolde goes off to get the torch, which is.. what looks like a piñanta some junior high art class threw together. After she "puts out the torch" by throwing it off stage, she takes off the cape-thing and spreads it out on the ground to show that the it is covered with what looks like moons and stars. She squirms ecstatically upon this cape-thing until something is thrown out on stage and Tristan enters, howling away and still wearing that stupid purple velvet robe. They converse and Tristan walks off stage.. to push out into the middle of the stage this ugly yellow couch covered with red flowers. It is upon this couch that they sing the duet to the night.

The third act goes by relatively tamely if you don't mind Tristan's terrible singing. The action proceeds as expected until Tristan "dies".. and then the next thing we know, Tristan and Isolde are standing there, holding hands! Then Tristan sits down on the stage and Isolde sings "mild und leise" to him. The aria ends and they join hands, walk off stage, and then the curtain opens to reveal two coffins. I guess this is supposed to be symbolism of some kind--that in death they "live on," so to speak, through their love. Whatever. It's a nice idea but looks completely ridiculous in how it's executed.

Let's see. An idiot sailor who looks lost, some of the worst costuming ever, a pathetic Tristan, horrid sets, and.. that couch. Seriously, folks. It's one thing to be controversial and look at a piece in a new light, it's quite another to be completely tasteless and simply very very very bad. Thank god I was able to rent this from my college's music library, for free, instead of wasting my money on it.

What do I think? One star. Don't waste your money.

I have been all of my adult life involved in the production of Grand Opera and therefore am qualified to make this statement....
In regard to this production...BUY a CD instead....The whole scenic concept of Tristan is destroyed like an atomic bomb was dropped on it....To be very kind....For those of us, who have over the years, seen the romantic productions...This one is a waste of money and time....The works were written to fit within a time epoch...The music, Libretto, and the presentation were outlined by the composers as to production values as well as musical values ( especially this composer ), The set designer must be one of the young brats that wouldn't know romanticism if he were clobbered over the head with it...There's more to Opera than just singing and orchestra music... Here's good advice......Steer Clear of This Production if Eye Candy is as important to you as well sung portrayals of characters and good orchestral presentation....

i was very blessed to have seen this work live - in fact, the very performance here on DVD. Having hitherto never seen T&I before, i was a clean slate, i knew by beloved old teacher and mentor in opera-tickets strongly reacted against it, thought it to be trivializing... but then: epiphany and revelation. of the almost 50 operas i have seen live (not bad for a young chap), this would be the single most worthy event so far! Nevermind that the singing, save for J.F.West, who is trying his best, is the best in modern-day Wagner (Meier, perhaps the greatest Kundry of all times, makes Isolde her unlikely best role), with support from the great Moll(!), Weikl (!) and Lipovsek (!)) - and Konwitschny, not a young rebell rouser as some reviewers had suspected, but Germany's currently most respected Wagner-expert for the stagings, on par with David Alden, for sure, creates a wonderful, wonderful first act (immediately connecting, perhaps a little to 'cheap' upon digestion? - i still love it), a witty second act (which did not impress me when i saw it, but now i do appreciate it a bit more) and a SUBLIME third act. never have the EXACT feelings and intangible flavours of the setting been better and LESS obstrusively and intrusively been told, than in this production. Surprise? perhaps... but if one does not EXPECT a certain set, it is extremely subtle, because it is so effective. psychologically a masterpiece. Imagine the Castle of Tristan, kept together as best as the townspeople could, in honour of their beloved but long-gone king... and now he was returned to the existent, if slightly run-down home: over the corner you see the inside of a pale gray barren room. a window, underneath a heating unit and a bucket. language could not say more.
Tristan languishes, ill, in memories of his childhood: on a lazy-boy of sorts, reclined, in his right hand the button for the: SLIDE projector, projecting unto the wall: pictures of his childhood. Tristan with family dog at the sea, tristan with mother and aunt etc.... it was a joy! and note that i am subjective and blinded by my love for this work and this performance and this setting thereof! to me it is the vision of wagner exactly: the perfect GESAMTKUNSTWERK.

I rented this from the library, luckily, thinking naively that because it was the Pirates of Penzance, it would be nothing other than a treat. What I found instead was a shabbily acted, and even more so sung, operetta where all I could do was cringe and be sorry that I was replacing my memories of the hilarious masterpiece with such an unworthy production.

What bothered me the most was that Maybel and Friedrich were both so unlikeable! Maybel I can't claim was off-key because she was on every key! Friedrich was anything but "exceeding beauty" and I don't think any girl would be wooed by that whiny, wimpy voice of his.
Just about every other character disappointed me as well, though the pirate king had his moments. I did find that they all sounded good together in the choruses. Overall, though, I expect better quality to match to the genius of Gilbert and Sullivan.

I have several versions of The Pirates of Penzance on DVD and video and I enjoy watching all of them . I Have this Stratford Festival version on DVD and I enjoy it and thought it was very good and I didn't think it was a bad production at all. In my opinion all of the performers are good but the best performers are Brent Carver as the Pirate King and Douglas Chamberlain as Major General Stanley and I personally think that the minor changes like the addded character, Mabel's Bluestocking sister and one or two added songs were done very well and didn't take away from Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta and I didn't see those changes an an insult to them and I thought the sets and props were good! I own this DVD and I don't feel like I wasted my money buying it!

I watched this version of The Pirates of Penzance and I thought it was going to be the absolute pits because of all the bad reviews but instead I wound up enjoying it and wondering if the people who didn't like it are just Gilbert and Sullivan purists who won't allow themselves to enjoy a version that is only slightly different. I liked this version and I actually liked Brent Carver who played the Pirate King and all the rest of the cast and at least the guy who played Fredric was better then the guy in another version who looked too old to be playing Fredric and Brent Carver was better then the Pirate King who was too flamboyant, by the way I want to point out that I am not talking about the Kevin Cline, Rex Smith version that one was great just like this Brent Carver version.

Let us cut to the point here, Eddie Izzard is a comic genious! If you like his other DVDs then you will find this one to be a worthy and most amusing companion to them. On the downside, it is shorter than others and while worthy of your hard earned cash it isn't up to the lofty standard of D2K.

If you are new to Eddie Izzard, I would first reccommend taking a look at "Glorious" on CD (the video isn't as good) or the Dress To Kill DVD before adding this to your collection. If you aren't new to Izzard, WHAT are you doing reading reviews - just buy it!

I had to give Circle a total of four stars out of five simply because the behind-the-scenes footage was so great. Seeing Eddie drunk and breaking down into a fit of giggles was truly priceless.

The Circle performance itself was nowhere near the outrageous lunacy of D2K, but it still had glorious shining moments. As mentioned in previous reviews, The Deathstar Cantina and the monkey bits were some of the best.

If you are a hardcore Eddie fan, then you must own this DVD. If you are a beginner, start with Dress to Kill or Glorious, then watch Circle. Definite Article and Unrepeatable are also fabulous. As you can see, I am an Izzardite, so I know what I am talking about. Really, I do. Now shut up and go watch a video.

i must admit i was a little disappointed the first time I watched this. was looking for the d2k rolling on the floor funny, but this is a very good dvd. I love the extras and Circle IS funny! plus it's EDDIE! the man is phenominal! I gave it five stars because it gets better with each viewing. I saw him in SEXIE in Boston and it was GREAT! Amazon, I'm ready to pre-order my SEXIE DVD now! I hope Eddie doesn't make us wait too long for that one!