Elaine Stritch at Liberty
January 2004 Reviewed by: Wes Phillips Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

If you are looking for a big, googleplex-filling, special-effects-laden movie, Elaine Stritch at Liberty ain't it. It is too simple, too quiet, and too ordinary. It is merely a one-woman Broadway show, filmed in performance by a single camera.

Merely? It's a document of a boffo performance, a once-in-a-lifetime vehicle for one of Broadway's most dynamic talents. If, like me, you missed it when it ran at the Public Theater in 2001 (and the Neil Simon Theater in 2002), this DVD gives you a chance to see for yourself just what all the raves were about. You can catch a blockbuster at any old shopping mall, but how frequently do you get a chance to witness magic in your own home? DVDs like this one are all the justification the format requires.

Quintilian said, "The height of art is to conceal art" and, of course, Elaine Stritch at Liberty is not nearly as natural as it seems. The basic show was scripted (or "constructed," as the credits read) by John Lahr and then "reconstructed by Elaine Stritch." It's tight and moves quickly through Stritch's victories and setbacks throughout her career. These include anecdotes about famous cohorts -- Noel Coward, Ethel Merman, Judy Garland, Marlon Brando -- as well as painful personal details, including the death of her husband, her alcoholism, and her eventual triumph over it. But the show's real story is Stritch's lifelong love of the theater -- and it is as theatrical as all get out.

Stritch is a superb actress -- good enough to make this all look offhand -- but she is best known as a singer, and she hits her career high spots here with the help of a nine-piece band led by Rob Bowman. And what high spots they are: "There's No Business like Show Business," "Broadway Baby," "But Not for Me," "I've Been to a Marvelous Party," "The Ladies Who Lunch," "Zip," and "I'm Still Here!"

What you won't get from the DVD are any of the extra trappings the big-budget movies have these days. You won't miss 'em. Video and audio quality are good enough, but not exceptional. All of that seems beside the point when confronted with Stritch's triumphant turn on stage

After watching Elaine Stritch at Liberty you'll be awfully grateful that we have this chronicle -- and for the DVD's ability to store it for any occasion when you need a bit of that Broadway black magic to elevate your spirits.

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