Whoopi: Back to Broadway: DVD Review (2005)

(Originally published 2005)

At the start of her career, when Whoopi Goldberg was fresh and hadn't become a caricature of herself, she was superb, using stories from her own life to make her one of the best stand-up comediennes of her day.

Those who remember her when she was first introduced to the masses via an HBO special in the mid 1980s saw something that no longer exists--a raw insight that made her dangerous.

Now, two decades later in "Back to Broadway," Goldberg revisits the Lyceum Theater and her most famous characters, including the drugged-out Fontaine.

Some of the jokes hit their mark, particularly when Goldberg takes on the current political climate, but others are disappointing, seemingly conceived by a very comfortable, slightly out-of-touch Hollywood square.

Goldberg's 1985 performance is included in this collection--and it saves the day.

Grade: C+