Broadway Worldwide was established in 1995 as a worldwide distributor of Broadway musicals captured live-in-performance for digital cinema, DVD, video on demand (VOD), pay per view (PPV), pay TV, wired and wireless television. Since it started, Broadway Worldwide has captured and distributed Smokey Joe's Cafe, Stephen Sondheim's Putting It Together starring Carol Burnett, Jekyll & Hyde the Musical starring David Hasselhoff, and the 2010 Tony Award for Best Musical winner, Memphis.
Production process
Broadway Worldwide records Broadway musicals, live-in-performance, on the broadway stage during a show's New York run, in front of paying audiences. Prior to recording, Broadway Worldwide's team works with the Broadway artists who created the stage show to determine and implement the optimal approach to depict the material. Performances are recorded using 10 to 12 hand-held, stationary and robotic cameras and as many as 70 microphones positioned throughout the theatre. High-definition video and 5.1 surround sound audio equipment is used to capture the productions.
Broadway productions filmed
Smokey Joe’s Cafe (2000)
Broadway Worldwide's first foray into recording Broadway shows occurred with the performance of Smokey Joe’s Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller, the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history. Broadway Worldwide utilized 11 high-definition cameras strategically positioned onstage, backstage and around the theatre, and 40 microphones to capture the performance. The show was directed for Broadway Worldwide by Emmy winner Don Roy King.
Smokey Joe's Cafe features the original Tony Award-nominated cast performing 40 songs by the songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The songs performed include: "Jailhouse Rock", "Hound Dog", "Treat Me Nice", "Stand By Me", "Spanish Harlem", and "On Broadway". Smokey Joe’s Cafe received a Grammy Award, as well as seven Tony Award nominations including one for Best Musical.
Cast members of Smokey Joe's Cafe are: Victor Trent Cook, B. J. Crosby, Brenda Braxton and DeLee Lively (all Tony Award-nominated), Ken Ard, Adrian Bailey, Matt Bogart, Deb Lyon, and Fred Owens. The show was directed on Broadway by four-time Tony winner Jerry Zaks.
Putting It Together (2000)
Only a short while after the taping of Smokey Joe’s Cafe was completed, producer Cameron Mackintosh approached Broadway Worldwide executives about licensing his Broadway production of the Stephen Sondheim musical review, Putting It Together. Featuring an ensemble headed by Carol Burnett, Putting It Together is a celebration of the songs of multiple Tony Award-winner Stephen Sondheim. The production was directed for Broadway Worldwide by Emmy winner Don Roy King.
Co-starring with Ms. Burnett are Tony Award-winner George Hearn (La Cage aux Folles, Sunset Boulevard), Olivier Award nominee John Barrowman (The Fix), Olivier Award winner Ruthie Henshall (She Loves Me) and Bronson Pinchot (Perfect Strangers). The Broadway show was directed by Eric D. Schaeffer, with musical staging by Bob Avian.
Among the shows from which the musical numbers come are: A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum (1962); Anyone Can Whistle (1964); Company (1970); Follies (1971); A Little Night Music (1973); The Frogs (1974); Sweeney Todd (1979); Merrily We Roll Along (1981); Sunday in the Park with George (1984); Into the Woods (1987); Assassins (1991); the film Dick Tracy (1990) and an un-produced television musical, Do You Hear a Waltz? (1962).
Putting It Together was also recorded in high definition with 10 cameras. The music of Stephen Sondheim, featuring orchestrations by Academy Award, Tony Award, and Emmy Award, winner Jonathan Tunick, was captured in 5.1 surround sound.
Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical (2001)
Broadway Worldwide captured its third Broadway musical, the Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse musical Jekyll & Hyde, starring David Hasselhoff.
Being the longest-running show in the history of Broadway's Plymouth Theatre, the production broke the house record at the Plymouth Theatre on three occasions and ran for over 1,500 performances. Additionally, the show has won a legion of repeat visitors, dubbed by the press as "Jekkies", with some hardcore fans having seen the show hundreds of times.