ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway
Encyclopedia
ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway is an American documentary film, the first feature film directed by Dori Berinstein, a Broadway Producer, Writer and Filmmaker. Berinstein completed the film in 2005. The film premiered at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival. The film was named one of the top 5 films of 2006 by the IDA (International Documentary Association) and received the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the 2006 Florida Film Festival. The film was released commercially in 2007, with the first such showings on 11 May 2007 in New York City.
Berinstein filmed each principal musical on Broadway for her project during the 2003-2004 season, for about 600 hours of initial film footage. She focused the film on four musicals, through the difficulties of pre-production, their openings, attendant publicity around the shows, and their reviews, through the 2004 Tony Award
competition. The four musicals, three of which were nominated for Best Musical in the Tony Awards that season, were:
The film climaxes with the 2004 Tony Awards ceremony. In addition to coverage of the musicals themselves, the movie includes interviews with New York theatre critics, and footage of several theatre critics discussing in a restaurant the various musicals and their predictions for the Tony Award winners.
Theatre critic Michael Riedel received harsh criticism from actors and songwriters who were subjects of the film, after seeing his comments in the film.
Berinstein filmed each principal musical on Broadway for her project during the 2003-2004 season, for about 600 hours of initial film footage. She focused the film on four musicals, through the difficulties of pre-production, their openings, attendant publicity around the shows, and their reviews, through the 2004 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
competition. The four musicals, three of which were nominated for Best Musical in the Tony Awards that season, were:
- WickedWicked (musical)Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
- TabooTaboo (musical)Taboo is a stage musical with a book by Mark Davies , lyrics by Boy George, and music by George and Kevan Frost....
- Caroline, or ChangeCaroline, or ChangeCaroline, or Change is a through-composed musical with book and lyrics by Tony Kushner and score by Jeanine Tesori that combines spirituals, blues, Motown, classical music, and Jewish klezmer and folk music....
- Avenue QAvenue QAvenue Q is a musical in two acts, conceived by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, who wrote the music and lyrics. The book was written by Jeff Whitty and the show was directed by Jason Moore and produced by Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, and Jeffrey Seller...
The film climaxes with the 2004 Tony Awards ceremony. In addition to coverage of the musicals themselves, the movie includes interviews with New York theatre critics, and footage of several theatre critics discussing in a restaurant the various musicals and their predictions for the Tony Award winners.
Theatre critic Michael Riedel received harsh criticism from actors and songwriters who were subjects of the film, after seeing his comments in the film.