I was a public relations front of house usher for the show. Got to know the actors and the crew, all very nice people, including Jonathan Freeman who recreated his role of Jafar in the musical, he was the original voice in the animated film. So, seeing this bootleg of the show irks me because none of the actors will receive compensation from it.
There has been an official recording of the show, but I believe it was of the West End version which will be released on Disney+. Jonathan Freeman mentioned this a few months back. Since he played Jafar on Broadway (and basically in every other medium) I wonder if it was a West End guest performance. And not to veer too much off topic but it's a shame how so few Broadway musicals get public video releases. I know it's complicated with rights and everything but it's still a shame.
IMO, every Broadway musical should be professionally recorded during its initial run for historical preservation purposes. When you think of how much is lost to history, it’s a shame.
Actually, a lot of them ARE recorded. I believe you can watch them in the New York Public Library or something. That being said, with the advent of streaming platforms I'd be surprised if we don't get to see more of them on those. D+ already had Hamilton and Newsies, and since there are proper recordings of the Beauty and the Beast musical I believe that we could see basically every Disney musical in due time. Other shows, like Wicked will probably have recordings as well, and they would perform great. The problem is that when a musical does great, studios are eager to turn it into a movie, so they hold back on releasing the stage performance. This was one of the reasons Hamilton was released this year and not any earlier. Wicked is also in movie limbo. However, there is an official youtube channel called the Show must go on that releases an offical stage recording online every weekend (and yanks it off afterwards) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdmPjhKMaXNNeCr1FjuMvag Of course, tastes and quality differs but there have been some great musicals on the channel like the Phantom, War of the World, an American in Paris, Kinky Boots and many more. Sometimes, they're West end perfomances, sometimes broadway and sometimes those NBC live musicals. That being said, they are free to watch for a limited time so we shouldn't complain.
Maybe Rhino will license out the HD transfers since they clearly lost interest (and I’m assuming money) on the project. It’d be a way to recoup their investment. I think their mistake in the video box was the actually box itself. They wanted it to fit in with the beautiful CD sets they did. It was an expense they didn’t need. Ironically, they cheaped out a bit on the thickness of the outer cardboard box and that caused them issues and replacement costs. Still, an awesome release that found interest too late in the game.
That's right. It is easy to make the mirror/1:1 copies. Also, the ClassicTVShop one obviously doesn't have the box that we discuss in this thread. The Blu-ray discs don't have the movie reel look on the label side like the actual discs. I remember last year, before I finally was able to buy the box set, that there was a person on eBay selling DVD copies of the release with similar packaging as ClassicTVShop's.
I just picked up a second-hand copy of this set for about 3x MSRP (beats some of the prices I'm seeing, but still!). Shame about what happened with all the unassembled copies. It's a somewhat different, more subtle resentment than the one I have for all the Rhino Handmade super deluxe edition CDs I missed out on, ha.
I have the set and IIRC I was sent a replacement outer box, it is essential if you’re a Monkees aficionado. I am unaware or may have forgotten, but what happened to the unassembled units?
At least per a post on another Thread here by Andrew Sandoval I believe.... Rhino just shelved the incomplete parts (physical media discs/DVD or Blu-Rays, inserts, booklets) to the warehouse. Again I could be wrong, but that's where the distribution stopped cold.
We got the two regular Rhino DVD sets cheap at Half-Price Books ages ago, no slip case(s) or box of any kind. I finally got to see the 33 1/3 show through it and was frankly rather underwhelmed by it having heard about it for so long. All the other extras were great though. My eyes just aren't good enough to enjoy Blu-ray or HD enough (and why is it 'blu' not blue?).
from an online post - on April 22, 2020 An update (sorta) from Andrew Sandoval regarding the Monkees Blu-Ray TV set: Background: This Initially (on March 15, 2019) appeared to be sold out online at Rhino However on December 11, 2019 Rhino sent an email out saying these were back in stock and available again for sale. But the website did not allow you to add the item to your cart, so you couldn't purchase it. I wrote Rhino about this and they never wrote me back. Later Andrew confirmed that these were in fact NOT sold out. Rhino only sold through all the assembled box sets and it was more of a money/labor issue why the others were not put together and offered for sale. Now today, Andrew had this to say on one of his eBay listings: "Only a few thousand of these sets were released to the public via Rhino mail order and on tour. People always ask me when they will be available again and I will tell you the absolute truth: I do not know and I am kinda doubting with the world in lockdown if it will happen at all. I have asked Rhino and they say they can no longer find the unassembled parts for these." a comment posted on another message board: Rhino has been leaving money on the table for over a year and driving business to flippers and scalpers through their own incompetence....
The DVD edition of 33 1/3 is significantly lesser quality than the remastered one on the Blu-ray set. The show itself is still weak but the visual and sonic upgrades make it more bearable and it’s RE-edited into its original running order which is a plus
I've mercilessly been raked over the coals around here over my comments about Rhino. Yes, I get that they've been responsible for keeping Monkees music alive the last 30+ years, but just about everything they touch they manhandle and screw up. The Blu Ray set was no exception to that. I ended up getting from them TWO boxes that were destroyed and STILL waiting on the third and I've had this Blu Ray set since the word go. Someone around here (I do forget your screen name and I apologize) sent me a multi-disc plastic case that works fantastically well for this set and even made a nice insert card for the front and wrap-around back cover. THAT is how these should have come out, not in that silly box. The box was not designed well and Rhino will never own that. In the end Monkees fans suffer because many just want the damn show but can't get it due to their utter incompetence. Rhino is poorly run and if you didn't know that fact, you'd go around blaming the people on the album covers or Blu Ray covers that seemingly have poor QC quality, not the label.
I think with impractical designs the aim is a design innovation award, and not actual functionality, nor protection and accessibility of the discs.
I I have that same Blu-Ray case and wrap around cover. Love it. Keeps the actual box untouched and a sight to behold.