MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS Broadway 1989

[@patr0clus]

aurora, this video looks so amazing i’m having a hard time believing this is 1989. this looks cleaner than the bootlegs i grew up on in the early 2000’s 😂❤️

[@estudiorobertoayala]

Thanks so much, I remember all those sets and costumes, but the Book had problems, the night we saw it there was something a stage hand drop on the wings during a George Hearn scene, and he was so mad, stopped the show for I Guess 15 seconds but felt like hours.. thanks again for making all of us so close to the Theatre we love si much during the Covid times

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

Thanks for that George Hearn story, and thanks for your kind comment--much appreciated.

[@SweatyOracle]

Those fountains 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 it’s so terrible that those beautiful live fountains would just be a projection now. Bring back the class of all LIVE productions!

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

So true. This show was nothing if not lavish.

[@mattybfierce]

But even projections on Broadway look flawless, IMO. Saves clean up time for the crew too!

[@sohoboy506]

I completely agree!!!

[@annedemarie]

I saw this in 1990 when i was ten. Can’t believe I’m seeing it again thirty years later. Thanks for posting. Very happy times.

[@matthewbermudez5105]

The Gershwin’s rake makes the trolley really effective at parts. First time I’ve noticed it with my eye (from a screen)

[@mikeborowski6000]

WOW! Have been hoping to see this full "Trolley Song" again -- thanks for posting! This production was GIANT. At the early preview I saw, there was a huge tech gaff right before "Have Yourself..." in which just about EVERY piece of hydraulic scenery came out on stage at the same time and got jammed. The onstage pause seemed to go on forever with the conductor having the bells keep playing the intro over and over... Finally, the safety curtain came down, the bells stopped and there was an announcement there would be a second, impromptu intermission. Eventually, it started again. Donna Kane was absolutely delicious. There's a lot of filler on the cast recording, but it's a guilty pleasure and she sounds terrific throughout.

[@sohoboy506]

Wow, how special this is to see!!

[@Joey10036]

I saw this when it first came out, and enjoyed it tremendously. And I have to say, considering the size of this production, sets and all, they made great use of the Gershwin theater's massive stage.

[@lisatsou5569]

Thank you so much for posting this, @aurora spiderwoman. I always wondered what this looked like so what a lovely surprise for the holiday season!

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

Yes, I put this up primarily to show how lavish this production was, and for the Christmas tie-in of course.

[@robertd.carver6240]

This looks like it should be a huge hit. Unfortunately, audiences stayed away and the critics were less than kind. One review read: "Clang! Clang! Clang! went the music. Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! went the book. Bump! Bump! Bump! went the scenery. When it went, the whole theatre shook!"

[@lemurlover7975]

Wow! What great belting and singing :)

[@christopherbush9027]

Thank you for the holiday classic posting-a very Happy Holidays to you and yours Spiderwoman! Thank you for all the joy you bring year round, often at times we need it the most!!!

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

Happy holidays to you too, and thanks for your constant support and good words.

[@supercoolbrian5929]

Thanks for adding this (and everything else you add). I love the recording but the actual footage from this recording (and the Tony's clip) just looks so over danced! I would love to see what they could do with this show now with all the tech advances in the past 30 years.

[@JulianChild]

This looks like an awesome production.

[@samosullivan1744]

Donna Kane was truly brilliant! Amazing that this was actually her Broadway debut!

[@ryebread9299]

It’s time! For me to come back and listen to her belt out merry little Christmas. 🥰

[@katmorgo1892]

Having the chorus saying the trolley song is problematic

[@katmorgo1892]

Having the chorus saying the trolley song is problematic I do not know why they started this song. I have problem with the costume on the Esther character. I don’t know why she’s wearing pink.

[@kallen868]

Recently read the book. Love the Judy film and this looked awesome too.

[@geofferygermann3202]

High Broadway at its finest!

[@twistingboulevard]

Wow, this quality is fantastic! I have two videos from the Broadway production, but neither are nearly this clear. Thanks for sharing with the world as always!

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

You are very welcome. This comes direct from the master, recorded on Hi8 cassettes.

[@charlesrabb5568]

The theater I worked with in California was one of the first theaters to do this production. They gave us all the music some used on broadway some not. It was alot of fun. Even if I had to be one of the people pushed the trolley across our stage.

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

I recall there was also a post-Broadway tour with Debby Boone that used some of the Broadway script but with substantial revision.

[@peterboq1]

I think this was the first Broadway show to have a full moving trolly car, and a ice rink and a melting snow man? I saw it when I was little but loved all of Judy garlands films but meet me in at Louis was second favorite after my one true love the wizard of Oz movies and Baum books. I don’t like what they have done to the script and score now, at least the Muny tried to add back in the songs that the original Beoadway show cut like over the Banister, and restored the attack from John truet being done during the holloween section like in the film, that was the only but I always had a problem with was having tootie say John pushed her on the ice when she really fell down, I think the Halloween story line with acne and tootie abd john trying to help them and tootie lying about it is so much more dramatic and realistic to what could have happened in real life I haven’t read the book so not sure if that was a real part of the writer tootie life?

[@josephphillipps4697]

This show is classy as hell and you know that this was back when people in New York were dressed to the nines to see a show!

[@Itstonytime77]

You never see casta this large or sets this grand anymore very sad

[@smurf902]

Donna has a fantastic voice. Don't listen to the naysayers.

[@paulcanaday-elliott9834]

So interesting. Honestly, from this clip it looks kind of, well, maybe not awful but at least decidedly meh. I feel bad for Donna Kane for stepping into a seemingly no win situation, playing Judy Garland’s role. At the same time, I’m not seeing that she brought much personality to the role, either. Either way, it’s a great find! Thank you for posting!

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

You got this exactly right, sir. Really no point in trying to compete with that gorgeous movie. Still, the same house had played host to the Broadway premiere of "Singin' in the Rain" about three years earlier, so someone thought a Broadway "St. Louis" was a good idea.

[@marcuspd7502]

Yeah, Ms. Kane has a serviceable voice that has, at times, a certain hint of Garland’s tone. It’s just not close enough to feel like she’s a match for Garland, and not pleasing and different enough to allow an opportunity for the audience to open up and embrace something fresh and new. When she tossed her hair like Judy on the trolley, I thought she was going to knock us out. Not so much.

[@bellagil6754]

is there a full video of this anywhere?

[@nir0bateman]

How is that video so clean? Did you use a U-Matic?

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

Glad to hear you liked the quality here, and thanks for making me google and learn what "U-Matic" means. In fact, this was recorded on Hi-8 cassettes, and those masters were later transferred to DVDs.

[@sgtdroxie]

Do you have website. Can people purchase copies of the shows you have? Thank you for posting so many gems here. I love Betty Garret. Do you have any of her singing.

[@nir0bateman]

@@auroraspiderwoman5886 Oooh, I forgot about those. Another excellent dead format (Should have inspected the horizontal break line closer). the microphone was pretty good too. The sound isn't saturated, but still shows impressive range for the time (Some minor gain and cleaning and it's practically pristine). Must have been expensive in 1989 (Even if you would probably only need one tape for a 2 hour show). The B'way Phantom from 1988 has a vertical break line, so that must have been a different camera, but it has a smoother look. I'm guessing a different dead format?

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

@@nir0bateman Such interesting comments, thank you. Yes, sound was rather good on those Hi-8 cassettes. If you're referring to the '88 "Phantom" clips on this channel, those would have been recorded on plain old VHS cassettes. Transferring the masters to DVD somehow makes them look better than they did back in the '80s.

[@nir0bateman]

@@auroraspiderwoman5886 Plain old VHS??? Wow. Unless you used some high quality tapes, but still, so well preserved...Hats off, really.

[@richardmayora1289]

She was very charming but I found this production forgettable.

[@katmorgo1892]

The choreography is not good