Andrew Lloyd Webber: Masterpiece (2001)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Produced by The Really Useful Group

Features:

• Backstage in Beijing
  
• Cast Visit to the Great Wall of China
  
• Cast Views on the Show
  
• Sponsor of the Show: Motorola
  
• "The Music of the Night (a capella)"
  

Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of the world's most prolific and successful composers of our time. He has written over twenty smash-hit Broadway musicals, many of which are still enjoying long runs on Broadway even today. It is no wonder that someone with his The Really Useful Group got the wild idea to introduce the world of Webber's music to China. After everything was said and done, there was a huge concert at The Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Make no mistake: this is a concert video. It is a video of a very large, expensive concert. Unfortunately, it's not that exciting. The set is extravagant, but very sterile. All of the performers are very good singers, but they just don't seem to have the stage presence to make the music work in this setting. Which is odd because the "international" star of the show is Elaine Paige, who originated the role of Eva Peron in the musical Evita. On the positive side, the orchestra sounded great--but to my ear, all of Webber's music sounds exactly the same. I can hear passages in one show and immediately start singing or humming another.

The DVD is pretty good. The Backstage in Beijing featurette is a really nice detailed look at what it took to mount this production. But that's where the good stuff ends. What is next on the menu is the segment called "Sponsor of the Show - Motorola." This is nothing more than an advertisement for Motorola disguised as tour of the Beijing offices. The section called "Cast Views on the Show" is much too short to get any thing substantive out of it, but what you don't get here, you do get in the section "Cast Visit to the Great Wall of China." This, at least, has longer interviews with the cast. They are not interviews on the show, but about how nice it is be performing this show in China for the first time. Finally, we do get one bit of cast humor on the DVD. The "Music of the Night (a capella)" segment is a short piece of video shot in the dressing room where a bunch of the guys are singing this famous Webber tune like it is a Vegas show number. There's not much to it other than that, but it's worth a little giggle.

I really don't think the concert is worth renting, personally. However, if you are a big fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber, you might enjoy watching it.