Carol Channing and Pearl Bailey On Broadway--television broadcast on DVD

Yes, the title says they were on Broadway and in many ways they were, but Carol Channing and Pearl Bailey On Broadway was really on television--ABC in June of 1969 to be more exact.

Both of these performers were already icons by the time they presented this hour-long production. And while it touches on some of the most famous aspects of their careers (Carol sings "Girl from Little Rock", Pearl sings "Bill Bailey"), the true delights for me were the unexpected items.

Ms. Channing sings a surprisingly restrained and effective "If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof. She also performs two hysterical sketches which I assume are from her stage show; she performs a song in German (or maybe it's mock German) as Marlene Dietrich and does a monologue as a former silent film star. Both are very polished acts and still work today.

Ms. Bailey moves non-stop around the stage, making it a challenge to record her both visually and vocally. It feels a little too casual at times for me, and I wished for more slower-paced stuff apart from "Little Green Apples."

Are there performers that could get this kind of project broadcast today? Maybe Queen Latifah or Jennifer Hudson. It certainly wouldn't be on broacast television, but something like Bravo, or A and E. Hugh Jackman could get a one-off musical television show of the ground (he tried with that short-lived Laughlin, Nevada, but that was a series, not a special). Idina Menzel? Kristin Chenoweth? Rita Moreno? Carol Burnett? How about Ron Raines from "Days of our Lives"? (See correction in comments). He's had a busy musical career all the while doing the soap. Would it take them all being together? Perhaps television is a lost venue for Broadway style musical performance.

Carol Channing and Pearl Bailey On Broadway
Filmed at the Winter Garden Theater
Broadcast on ABC in June 1969
Cast: Just those two