Ben Vereen

Rich with archival gems and Liza Minnelli’s own point of view, Bruce David Klein's luminous documentary celebrates a young entertainer full of boundless raw talent and the deep, creative relationships with her mentors and influences.

Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age explores the world of Broadway from 1959 through the early 1980s as recounted by a diverse cast of Broadway stars who lived through it, creating a first-hand archive of personal backstage stories and memories. The new documentary is the long-awaited sequel to late filmmaker Rick McKay’s award-winning 2003 film Broadway: The Golden Age, continuing the saga into the '60s and '70s and spotlighting beloved classic Broadway shows including Once Upon a Mattress, Bye Bye Birdie, Barefoot in the Park, Pippin, A Chorus Line, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Chicago, and 42nd Street. Featuring a galaxy of stars including Alec Baldwin, Carol Burnett, Glenn Close, André De Shields, Jane Fonda, Robert Goulet, Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, Dick Van Dyke, Ben Vereen, and many more, the film also includes rare archival photos and never-before-seen footage both onstage and off.

The film is set at Aztec Corp., a company that auctions off ancient antiquities and semi-distinct wild exotic animals.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS presents a 2013 concert celebrating Chita Rivera's 80th birthday as a fundraiser to aid struggling artists during the pandemic. Chita offers a musical retrospective of her career in the theatre with guest stars Tommy Tune and Ben Vereen. Includes songs from 'Seventh Heaven,' 'West Side Story,' 'Bye Bye Birdie,' 'The Happy Time,' 'Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris,' 'Chicago,' 'The Rink,' 'Kiss of the Spider Woman,' & 'The Visit,' among others.

A half-striped zebra is blamed for the drought and leaves his herd in search of his missing stripes. He is joined on his quest by an overprotective wildebeest and a flamboyant ostrich; they defeat the tyrannical leopard and save his herd.

Evicted from his squat and suddenly alone on the streets, George is a man without a home. Struggling with his demons and desperately trying to connect with the daughter he abandoned, he navigates the system, hustling for change and somewhere safe and quiet to gather his thoughts. But the streets are relentless and soon, George finds himself teetering on the edge, alone and abandoned.

Though he began in stand-up comedy, Andre Allen hit the big-time as the star of a trilogy of action-comedies about a talking bear but now he wants to be taken seriously. His passion project about the Haitian Revolution, a movie called Uprize, was panned by the NY Times film critic. A couple days before the wedding to his reality star fiancée, he's forced to spend the day with Chelsea Brown, a profile writer for the New York Times. Unexpectedly, he opens up to her, and as they wind their way across New York, he tries to get back in touch with his comedic roots.

An all-star cast tells the inside story of the Broadway theater, and how it came back from the brink thanks to innovative work, a new attention to inclusion and a sometimes uneasy balance between art and commerce. Legends of the stage and screen—including Helen Mirren, Christine Baranski, August Wilson, James Corden, Alec Baldwin, John Lithgow, Viola Davis, Hugh Jackman and Ian McKellen—take us behind the scenes of Broadway's most groundbreaking and beloved shows, from A Chorus Line to Hamilton. Iconic performances by Lin Manuel Miranda, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, James Earl Jones and Mandy Patinkin lead the way on a hurly burly ride through Times Square, once again the main street of American show business in this documentary directed by Academy-Award nominee Oren Jacoby.

After getting a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, newly engaged couple Brad and Janet encounter the eerie mansion of the flamboyant, seductive Dr. Frank-N-Furter and a variety of eccentric characters. Through elaborate dance and rock music, the mad scientist unveils his latest creation: a perfect, muscular man.

A retrospective of Chita Rivera's film, television and stage career, including interviews with Dick Van Dyke, Ben Vereen, Carol Lawrence and others. Originally aired as Episode 2 of Season 43 of the PBS series Great Performances.

A documentary about Canadian music icon David Foster.

Preacher's daughter Amara Winter sings in the church choir before being discovered by a well-established musician. She soon rises to international fame as a pop singer.

On the film's 40th anniversary, the cast and crew of Cabaret look back at the creation of this cinematic landmark, winner of 8 Academy Awards and the crowning achievement of its director, Bob Fosse. Documentary Short narrated by Neil Patrick Harris.

A reticent piano player Percival, along with Rooster, his flamboyant lead performer and manager, struggle to keep their speakeasy, in the Prohibition-era South, out of the hands of gangsters who want to take it over.

Set in nineteenth-century New Orleans, the story depicts the gens de couleur libre, or the Free People of Colour, a dazzling yet damned class caught between the world of white privilege and black oppression.

Successful New York journalist and single mom Julie Davidson's six-year old son Jake is acting up, so she finds his sperm-donor father Paul Cooper, who's a struggling actor and law-school drop-out.

Homeless woman Yvonne Caldwell is a woman with good reason to be bitter: she has lost everything except her two beloved dogs, Bebe and Man-Man. With her one friend, Wes, Caldwell lives the daily struggle of being homeless in Los Angeles until a chance encounter caused by her dogs leads to a friendship with LAPD officer Tami Baumann, and hope for a better life begins in earnest for Yvonne.

Heath Freeman (Tru Calling, ER) heads an all-star cast including Clifton Davis (Any Given Sunday) Ben Vereen (Roots), Stacey Dash (Renaissance Man) and Debbie Allen (Fame) in the period drama Soldier of Change, which resurrects the turmoil and confusion of the late sixties. Travel back in time to visit a young man, Randy (Freeman) who finds himself immersed in the impassioned civil rights cause in the States, and struggles valiantly to adjust to the changing social fabric around him. But this is only the first of two worlds that Randy encounters. When he is drafted and shipped off to Asia - and the nightmare that called itself Vietnam - this inexperienced soldier must fight for his life and his convictions as he attempts to survive amid the turmoil of a war whose real nature is alien even to the country fighting it.

An insane homeless guy turns the world upside down for a blowhard. Tapioca is a funny, raunchy romp, a quirky, comic tale of redemption starring Broadway legend Ben Vereen (Roots), Tim Kazurinsky (Saturday Night Live), Greg Hollimon (Strangers With Candy) and a crazy cast of Second City veterans.

Fosse is a three-act musical revue showcasing the choreography of Bob Fosse. The musical was conceived by Richard Maltby, Jr., Chet Walker, and Ann Reinking. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2000. In 2002, Fosse, featuring Reinking and Ben Vereen, was aired as part of the "Great Performances — Dance In America" series on PBS television. This filmed Broadway tribute strings together acclaimed director/choreographer Bob Fosse's "greatest hits."

A young mouse, mole and hedgehog risk their lives to find a cure for their badger friend, who's been poisoned by men.

In the mid-80s, three women (each with an attorney) arrive at the office of New York entertainment manager, Morris Levy. One is an L.A. singer, formerly of the Platters; one is a petty thief from Philly; one teaches school in a small Georgia town. Each claims to be the widow of long-dead doo-wop singer-songwriter Frankie Lyman, and each wants years of royalties due to his estate, money Levy has never shared. During an ensuing civil trial, flashbacks tell the story of each one's life with Lyman, a boyish, high-pitched, dynamic performer, lost to heroin. Slowly, the three wives establish their own bond.

In this sentimental holiday tale, a young boy is taken away from his loving, adoptive household when his new mom is killed in an auto accident and his traveling musician dad is deemed unfit to care for him, being on the road too much. Now, the only thing that can help is if a cold, bureaucratic adoption agency caseworker sees the error of her ways and allows them to be together.

Vaudeville is a 1997 PBS documentary under its American Masters program. Using film clips and photos, the art and history of vaudeville (1890-1930s) is illustrated.

Still nursing wounds from a breakup, a man is forced by his sister into a blind date that turns into a nightmare.

Set in the mythical world of Rhymeland, Gordon Goose returns home to discover that his mom has mysteriously vanished. Now the characters of Rhymeland are in danger of disappearing unless Mother Goose returns.

Get ready to jam with The Chipmunks on some of the hottest tunes in rock! Join host Fresh Prince on a rockin' and rappin' funfest of music from the '50s to the '90s! Alvin hooks up with Michael Jackson himself - dancing to "Beat It," like you've never seen before! Then Alvin, Simon and Theodore work their Chipmunk magic on songs made famous by Rock Legends Little Richard ("Tutti Frutti"), Elvis Presley ("Heartbreak Hotel"), and Elton John ("Crocodile Rock") and Supergroups like The Beatles ("She Loves You"), The Beach Boys ("Surfin' Safari"), The Rolling Stones ("Satisfaction"), and others! Rockin' With The Chipmunks is bursting with fantastic music and lots and lots of fun surprises!

An NBC TV special featuring David Foster and his all-star guests.

For the first time in their careers, all the Muppets (except the ones that couldn't make it, like the Doozers, Gorgs and most of the Fraggles) have gathered together in one place to celebrate their thirtieth anniversary and honor the one who brought them together: Kermit the Frog (and by doing so, Jim Henson).

A 15-year-old girl meets her father for the first time. He never married her mother because his adventurous life did not allow it. He takes his daughter on a working vacation to the exotic island of Aruba, where after a timid start a strong bond develops between father and daughter. Until she discovers that her father is 'unfaithful' to her.

The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place Friday February 19, 1982 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The event, for which ticket-buyers paid up to $1,000 a seat (tax-deductible as a contribution to the Actors' Fund) was billed as "The Night of 100 Stars" but, actually, around 230 stars took part. And most of the audience of 5,800 had no idea in advance that they were paying to see a TV taping, complete with long waits for set and costume changes, tape rewinding, and the like. Executive producer Alexander Cohen estimated that the 5,800 Radio City Music Hall seats sold out at prices ranging from $25 to $1,000. The show itself cost about $4 million to produce and was expected to yield around $2 million for the new addition to the Actors Fund retirement home in Englewood, N. J. ABC is reputed to have paid more than $5 million for the television rights.

Herbie Altman is framed for Stock fraud by his boss when the SEC starts investigating his company. Sent to prison, he helps a fellow inmate successfully invest his money. Soon all the inmates want his help. To manage all the money, he forms CON INC. and runs it from the prison under the noses of the warden and the guards. But when the IRS and SEC begin to investigate this successful company, it looks like he may be in trouble again

The Jesse Owens Story is a biographical film about the black athlete Jesse Owens. Dorian Harewood plays the Olympic gold-winning athlete. The drama won a 1985 Primetime Emmy Award and was nominated for two more.

Star studded show

A former boxer known as Old Leather Face opens a nightclub called the Zoo, which does not do a good business. A group of homeless teenagers want to rent the place and start what they hope will be a profitable business, but a gang threatens to shut it down. Old Leather Face accepts the teenagers offer and becomes involved with trying to help them succeed.

Various entertainers and artists look at how Walt Disney influenced these areas through his work in a variety of fields.

Don't Ask Me, Ask God is a TV Special starring Michael J. Fox.

A televised event in honor of the 40th president, Ronald Reagan, the year he was sworn in for his second term of office.

Filmed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Independence anchored in the Hudson River, this variety fundraiser aimed to raise money for the reconstruction and restoration of the Statue of Liberty.

Simon Templar returns to New York via Concorde and is feeling restless, until a note from an old flame surfaces. This TV movie was an unsold pilot for an attempted series revival.

A young man (Gregory Hines) journeys from rags-to-riches thanks to his talented Puss in Boots (Ben Vereen). Starring Ben Vereen, Gregory Hines, Alfre Woodard, George Kirby, and Brock Peters. Narrated by Shelley Duvall.

Documentary about the life of explorer Jacques Cousteau.

A mysterious performance troupe led by a Leading Player tells the story of Pippin, a young prince on his search for meaning and significance. Taped at Hamilton Place in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Facing his parent's impending divorce and emotional upheaval, a young boy runs away and joins a gang of London street urchins who live by their wits, begging, and thievery.

Lynda Carter's fifth musical TV special, with guest stars Eddie Rabbitt and Ben Vereen.

The fourth annual Walt Disney World Christmas parade. Hosted by Joan Lunden and Ben Vereen, with Regis Philbin (1986).

STREET DANCERS: They're bold and they're bad; they're breakers — freestyle dancers who know a mean beat as well as a mean street. STAGE DANCERS: Grand and graceful gypsies — polished performers who are passionate about their art and the theater. When the choreographer of a troubled Broadway-bound musical brings the two groups together to energize his show, the results are less than successful. The professional dancers rebel when the street-wise breakers invade their turf — the theater. Tempers explode and the opening of the show is threatened. The exciting dance sequences, including the grand finale, were choreographed by Beat Street's Lester Wilson.

The Charmkins is a television film based on an early 1980s toyline by Hasbro, which was broadcast on October 25, 1983.

Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Parade is a live television special.

Joe Gideon is at the top of the heap, one of the most successful directors and choreographers in musical theater. But he can feel his world slowly collapsing around him - his obsession with work has almost destroyed his personal life, and only his bottles of pills keep him going.

Famous singer Fanny Brice has divorced her first husband Nicky Arnstein. During the Great Depression she has trouble finding work as an artist, but meets Billy Rose, a newcomer who writes lyrics and owns a nightclub.

A gas is let loose upon the world that kills anyone over 25 years old.

An extended dream sequence presents a biblical allegory about the creation, downfall and rebirth of humanity, told through a series of surrealistic vignettes and musical numbers.

Ben Vereen, best known as Chicken George in the miniseries Roots, stars in a primetime special where he sings and dances.

A TV musical special starring Cheryl Ladd and her guest stars in various musical numbers and vignettes.

The story of how jazz great Louis Armstrong got his start playing in Chicago clubs, how he was framed on a drug charge, and his travels throughout Europe, where he first gained worldwide fame.

Taxi dancer Charity continues to have faith in the human race despite apparently endless disappointments at its hands, and hope that she will finally meet the nice young man to romance her away from her sleazy life. Maybe, just maybe, handsome Oscar will be the one to do it.