Blasts From the Past
“Thank God for film!” Thus exclaims Liza Minnelli in That’s Entertainment, making the point that movies of great performers doing their stuff allow future generations to get an excellent idea of what made these people so special. Liza might well have added, “Thank God for videotape!” As I’ve often pointed out, home video releases of stars performing on TV variety shows are invaluable in that these icons were almost always captured singing live, rather than lip-synching. In contrast, even when stars do their own singing in Hollywood films rather than being dubbed by others, and even when they do an excellent job of matching their mouth movements to their pre-recorded voices, a certain emotional distance is created by the lip-synching. (This is why Liza’s mama Judy Garland’s performances on her TV series are even more electric than her renditions of the same songs in Meet Me in St. Louis, A Star is Born, etc.)
So thank God for Video Artists International, or VAI for short. The company made a big splash two years ago with its home video release of the legendary joint appearance of Ethel Merman and Mary Martin on the Ford 50th Anniversary Show in 1953, and its DVDs of performances from the famous old Bell Telephone Hour series feature such immortal musical theater artists as Barbara Cook, Dolores Gray, Carol Lawrence, Gretchen Wyler, Alfred Drake, John Raitt, and Robert Goulet. I recently spoke with Allan Altman, VAI’s product manager, about this treasure trove.
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THEATERMANIA: VAI began as a purveyor of classical and opera videos and CDs, isn’t that right?
ALLAN ALTMAN: Yes. The company was started in 1984 as one of the first labels to bring performing arts to home video. Now we’re branching out. There are a number of archives that we work with — for example, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the RAI — and we’re opening talks with others.
TM: In the past, obtaining music rights has been a huge roadblock in releasing home video version of old TV shows. I remember specifically that, for years, Carol Burnett couldn’t include musical selections in home video releases of highlights from her series because the costs for the music rights were so astronomical. On top of that, you need to get clearance for the actual tapes. Is there a short answer as to how you’ve resolved these issue?
AA: First of all, [VAI president] Ernie Gilbert is very good at negotiating with the rights holders for the video material. In the case of the Bell Telephone Hour, the rights holder for the programs is Michael Jaffe. He’s a producer in his own right and the son of Henry Jaffe, who produced the series. Part of his eagerness to get things going and to give us carte blanche to the whole series is that he’s very proud of his father’s contribution to the performing arts. Of course, he’s making a profit — that’s good too! — but it also means a lot to him on the artistic level that his father’s legacy is being continued. As far as the music rights are concerned, it’s a lot of work to obtain them. That’s why the release of our Dolores Gray DVD was delayed for months. In fact, all of those DVDs — the Barbara Cook, the Carol Lawrence, and the others — were supposed to come out earlier than they did.
TM: Are you saying that the amount of time put into obtaining the rights is more of an issue than the cost?
AA: To an extent. What makes the negotiations so complicated is that, in any one TV show, there can be a different publisher for each song.
TM: So you can’t just hammer out a blanket deal with ASCAP or BMI?
AA: No. It works that way with audio, which is why it’s very easy to do CDs. There is a set fee if something’s been recorded once; after that, you can do whatever you want with it. There’s what’s known as a “statutory rate” for re-use of audio, so you don’t have to go to the publishers directly. But there’s no statutory rate for video.
TM: Do you think there will be, some day?
AA: I doubt it, because I think it benefits the rights holders not to have one. The reason such a rate exists for CDs but not for DVDs is that home video came much later than home audio.
TM: And the rights holders wised up?
AA: I don’t think it’s that; they just address it so differently. Every time we want to issue a video, we have to start from scratch.
TM: I imagine that one of your biggest challenges is contacting all of the artists from whom you need to obtain clearance.
AA: Yes, it’s complicated. So far, we’ve been able to get around the cost of it, but it’s very labor intensive to get in touch with everyone and then follow up — although the Internet has made it a lot easier. Recently, we were looking for Marc Breaux, who played Gip Watson in Destry Rides Again. [A number from that show is included on the Dolores Gray disc.] I Googled his name and found a website of some professor who had done an interview with him. I e-mailed the professor and got a phone call from him literally five minutes later. He said, “I just spoke to Marc Breaux. He’s expecting your call. Here’s his phone number.” Generally speaking, people are very happy to hear from us. Very few have said, “Oh, I don’t want those things released.”
TM: Talk to me about the technical aspects of the video transfers.
AA: Henry and Michael Jaffe were very smart with the Bell Telephone Hour tapes, and they preserved them very well. The oldest of those shows are among the earliest extant color telecasts of anything; they go back as far as 1959, which is extraordinary. In those days, NBC used a proprietary color videotape format; that’s a pain for us now, because NBC has a very small number of working machines that will play them back — and some of the tapes made in certain other, later formats are very tricky in terms of whether they’ll play back well.
TM: What kind of response has the series received? Have these DVDs sold according to your expectations?
AA: Yes. Barbara Cook, in particular, has done very well. It’s a funny thing for me, from a personal perspective. I used to be a pure opera guy; then, about three years ago, I changed almost overnight and became a Broadway guy. Now, you practically have to drag me kicking and screaming to the opera. It was great that my interest in Broadway coincided with working on the Bell Telephone Hour stuff.
TM: The Dolores Gray disc is your most recent release. What else do you have in the pipeline that you’d like to talk about?
AA: We’re going to do a Shirley Jones release; there’s enough material there, and she’s got mainstream recognition. Also, Florence Henderson. Then we have a few tribute shows; there’s an Alan Jay Lerner tribute that includes scenes from On a Clear Day… with Barbara Harris and John Cullum. It’s exciting to get into this field, and I think we’re building an audience for our product that hadn’t known about our company before.
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[For more information on past, present, and future releases in the Bell Telephone Hour series and other VAI product, visit www.vaimusic.com]
