The Boys from Syracuse
Rodger & Hart's Shakespearean musical put on by the Stratford Festival in their first musical endeavor.
From the archive
In November of 1938, Rodgers and Hart opened one of their best shows, The Boys From Syracuse, at the Alvin Theatre on Broadway with a book (based on Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors) and direction by George Abbott. With a score full of what are now standards, it was the hit of the season, but when Hollywood (Universal Pictures) got around to filming it (released 31Aug1940) it had been slashed to a mere 73min. and shorn of all but four of its hit songs (two lame replacements were inserted by others). Mr. Abbott took his NEXT Broadway hit (Rodgers & Hart's Too Many Girls) to Hollywood himself, producing, and staging it himself with many members of his Broadway cast. Opening two months after the ill filmed Boys From Syracuse, it was only ten minutes longer, but a far more faithful version of the original. In all these years, despite frequent revivals, there has never been a decent FILMING of poor Boys From Syracuse. On 28Dec1986, however, the CBC aired this first rate production from Ontario's Stratford Festival. Never officially re-aired or formally released, it may be the best available preservation of the whole show.
Why this is free to watch
The Boys from Syracuse (1986) is hosted by the Internet Archive as a public-domain or openly licensed work, which means its copyright has expired, lapsed, or was released by the rights holder. The uploader declared an explicit licence, linked in the source panel. Nitrate streams the file directly from the Archive and hosts no video itself.
- Director
- Norman Campbell
- Starring
- Colm Feore, Geraint Wyn Davies, Keith Thomas, Benedict Campbell, Susan Wright, Alicia Jeffery, Marion Adler, Goldie Semple
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