An interesting but odd historical document on Off Broadway in its golden era takes on an early work of Stephen Schwartz as its subject, and it's amusing to see an older white man being surrounded by the hippies and not shouting at them to cut their hair or take a bath. Obviously wanting to attract a younger audience, the episode doesn't start off with the best known songs from the show, using the parables of Jesus to advance its story and promote understanding of the younger generation of the early 70's and their concerns.
I don't know that this would entice me into the theater as the limited space of the TV studio doesn't make any real impact. The set and staging screams "amateur", and the musical clips are mostly cloying. It's also the replacement cast so most of them are obscure actors. Soap actress Meg Bennett was the only one I recognized. There's very little exposition of the history of the show so what you get are 95% show snippets. Obviously this doesn't represent what was in the theater, because as presented, this would never warrant a Broadway transfer let alone the big movie version two years later. Of course the most popular song closes out the half hour.
I don't know that this would entice me into the theater as the limited space of the TV studio doesn't make any real impact. The set and staging screams "amateur", and the musical clips are mostly cloying. It's also the replacement cast so most of them are obscure actors. Soap actress Meg Bennett was the only one I recognized. There's very little exposition of the history of the show so what you get are 95% show snippets. Obviously this doesn't represent what was in the theater, because as presented, this would never warrant a Broadway transfer let alone the big movie version two years later. Of course the most popular song closes out the half hour.