Steambath (Broadway Theatre Archive)
by Burt Brinckerhoff
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DVD details
Actor: Bill Bixby, Herb Edelman, Neil J. Schwartz, Patrick Spohn, Stephen ElliottDirector: Burt Brinckerhoff
Brand: Kultur
Producer: George Turpin
Producer: Norman Lloyd
Writer: Bruce Jay Friedman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-09-24
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Kultur Video
DVD Reviews of Steambath (Broadway Theatre Archive)
DVD Review: Irreverent and Very Funny
Summary: 5 Stars
This a very funny, irreverent and sharp-edged filming of the off-Broadway show written by Bruce Jay Friedman. A young guy named Tandy (Bill Bixby) wakes up in a steambath. He doesn't know how he got there, and neither do any of the people around him -- an old taxi driver, a gorgeous, somewhat dim-witted young woman (Valerie Perrine), a couple of aging gays, a slob, a gambler who is also a stock broker. The only person in the place who seems to know what's going on is the skinny, Puerto Rican bath attendent (Jose Perez). It slowly dawns on Tandy that he's dead and so is everyone else, except the attendent. Turns out the attendent is God, and the steambath is a holding room while God decides where to send them. He doesn't have a lot of time because there's always new people due to show up.
God turns out to specialize in lame magic tricks and philosophical chatter. He likes the people to tell about their lives and explain why they shouldn't be dead. Perez is great as God who is skeptical of good intentions, has a load of disbelieving come-backs, and who has to keep things moving. Bixby does a first-rate job as a guy who has never done much with his life but who always intended to. And Valerie Perinne does an outstanding job as a sexy young lady sort of unaware of her effect on people. Other excellent actors are in the cast...some of them are Herb Edelman, Kenneth Mars, Stephen Elliot.
Steambath is a dialogue-driven play, and the dialogue is very, very funy. This production was broadcast once by PBS and as far as I know was never repeated. I think it's highly unlikely that the PBS of today would ever take a chance on something like this. It has some nudity and some funny but strong situations. Mostly, it's food for thought while being irreverent...God as a Puerto Rican steambath attendent?
If you're interested in American theater, the American Theater Archive is the place to look. They're saving a number of plays that appeared on television years ago. This is the only place to go if you're interested in seeing how gripping and sad Lee J. Cobb and Mildred Natwick were in Death of a Salesman (they recreate their stage roles), the incredible performances of Jason Robards and Colleen Dewhurst in A Moon for the Misbegotten, or why Robards was one of the great American actors as he stars in The Iceman Cometh. Most of the Archive is now available on DVDs and you can probably get them, among other places, at Amazon.
The DVD is in color and is a respectable transfer.
Description of Steambath (Broadway Theatre Archive)
STEAMBATH - DVD MovieThis unique play presents the afterlife as a steam bath, in which dead souls continue to obsess about the same petty concerns that obsessed them in their lives, until they are cast into a dark void by God, the Puerto Rican attendant (José Pérez). But new arrival Tandy (Bill Bixby) at first refuses to accept what's happened, and when he finally does, he pleads to be allowed to return to his life. Steambath was controversial in its day for its obscene language (which was softened for this filmed version, originally presented on PBS), its satirical take on religion, and some brief nudity by bombshell Valerie Perrine. Today it's still very entertaining, but mostly as a core sampling of the surprisingly uncensored male attitudes from the dawn of the 1970s. Everyone gives a solid performance and Bixby's easy charm makes his self-centered character sympathetic. --Bret Fetzer
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