Synopsis

Producer-director Dori Berinstein’s full-length documentary “Show Business” is certainly a movie to remember. The film, which won the Grand Jury prize for best documentary at the Florida Film Festival, packs the 2003-2004 season’s worth of rehearsals, performances, reviews, and awards into 104 minutes of excitement. In fact, Berinstein whittled down nearly 400 interviews and 400 hours of footage to focus on four major musicals produced that year: the $3.5 million “Avenue Q,” the $7.5 million "Caroline, Or Change,” the $10 million “Taboo,” and the $14 million “Wicked.” She follows their stars, producers, writers, and directors as they struggle through the season with their eyes on the prize, i.e., The Tony Awards.

“Show Business” is like having a VIP All Access Backstage pass to see what goes on behind the curtain at Broadway’s biggest shows. In addition to Kristin Chenoweth, Tonya Pinkins and other stars attached to the shows, Broadway storytellers including Alan Cumming, Chris Boneau and William Goldman provide their insights, theater critics share their opinions, and theater-goers such as Billy Jean King put in their two cent’s worth. It's also great fun to see “Taboo” producer Rosie O’Donnell and composer/lyricist Boy George share their thoughts on how the critics and crowds react to their gender-bending production that stars a London unknown, Euan Morton, in an uncanny performance as the famed lead singer of Culture Club.

Berinstein expertly weaves the stories together chronologically and emotionally. You can’t help but share the hope, elation, fear, and disappointment of all the Broadway players, despite which particular show you’re hoping will win. Similarly, the theater critics come across as real people trying to do their best at their jobs. During four separate meetings at various points during the season, several top theater critics and columnists meet for lunch to talk about the current status of Broadway shows. They criticize, but sympathize. They’re flabbergasted by public taste. They argue with each other. But mostly, they just love good theater. When it comes to good theater and good film, Berinstein’s got them both covered. And she promises even more; some of those missing 398 ½ hours of footage will appear on the DVD.

Source: Ezine Articles

About the director

Dori Berinstein has enjoyed an extensive career working behind the scenes in other capacities for film, television, and for the Broadway stage. She executive produced, produced or supervised production on over 40 feature films including Unzipped, MuppetVision 3-D, and Dirty Dancing, and has worked as a producer for companies that include Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers, and Sony Pictures. She is a three-time Tony® award winning Broadway producer whose stage productions include Thoroughly Modern Millie, winner of 2002 Tony® award for best musical, The Crucible with Liam Neeson and Laura Linney, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest starring Gary Sinise. Berinstein is currently prepping her 11th Broadway show, Legally Blonde, based on the 2001 MGM movie.

Source: www.tribecafilmfestival.org

Photos

See Euan in Show Business updated!

Trailer

Watch a trailer for Show Business: A Season to Remember.

Awards and nominations

Show Business: A Season to Remember won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature at the 2006 Florida Film Festival.

ShowBusiness was also an International Documentary Association (IDA) Distinguished Documentary Award Finalist and a feature finalist for Best Documentary of 2006.

Reviews

"It's Delicious!" (Ain't It Cool.com)

"A Rich Behind-The-Curtain Look at a Turbulent Theatre Season. Bravo!" (AOL/Moviefone)

"Broadway is singing the praises of SHOWBUSINESS, a hilarious documentary about the theatre business" (NY Post)

"A Sparkling Documentary" (Playbill - Channelling Theatre)

"An Epic Tail of Aspirations" (Newsday)

"A Triumph of Access" (NY 1)

"A Welcome Valentine to the Magic of Live Theatre" (TheaterMania)

"A potential gold mine" (Variety, speaking about the DVD)

"An ecstatic crowd. The overwhelmingly warm reaction is well-deserved." (The Journal News)

"A Dynamite Documentary. Captures the hard work, hilarity and heartbreak of putting on a Broadway Musical. Sure to be one of our favorite films of 2005" (Playbill)

Latest news

The film will receive a theatrical release nationwide, beginning May 11th 2007 in New York at the Landmark Sunshine Theatre. After that, the film will begin rolling out in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Atlanta, Rochester and beyond (see Schedule below). A DVD release will follow in the fall.

Very special thanks to Dori Berinstein for the information.

Schedule

Date	State	City, Theater	Address, Phone
07/13/07	MO	St. Louis, Tivoli Theatre	6350 Delmar in The Loop
06/29/07	WA	Seattle, Varsity Theatre	4329 University Way N.E.
06/22/07	DC	Washington DC, E Street Cinema	555 11th Street NW
06/22/07	GA	Atlanta, Midtown Art Center	931 Monroe Drive
06/08/07	CA	San Francisco Landmark Embarcadero Center	One Embarcadero Center
06/08/07	IL	Chicago Music Box Theatre	3733 N. Southport Ave. 773-871-6604
06/08/07	MA	Boston, Kendall Square Cinema	One Kendall Square  Cambridge
06/08/07	NY	Rochester, The Little Theatre	240 East Avenue
06/01/07	CA	West Los Angeles, Westside Pavillion	10800 Pico Boulevard at Overland Avenue
05/11/07	NY	NYC, Landmark Sunshine Cinema	143 East Houston St. (212) 330-8182

Links

 

Official sites

www.tribecafilmfestival.org
www.floridafilmfestival.com
www.imdb.com
www.documentary.org

 

Selection of articles

Ssdc.org (March 29th 2007) Documentary Film SHOWBUSINESS to open in NYC May 11th
Theatermania.com (May 2nd 2005) Show Business: David Finkle reviews Dori Berinstein's documentary on the 2003-2004 Broadway season.
Playbill.com (May 8th 2005) Channeling Theatre: Dori Berinstein and Her “Show Business” Documentary