Tribeca 2005

Show Business

 (Docu)

By DAVID ROONEY

Makeup artist Joe Dulude turns Idina Menzel green for 'Wicked' in the docu 'Show Business,' chronicling the paths of four Broadway shows.

A Dramatic Forces production. (International sales: Cinetic Media, New York.) Produced by Dori Berinstein. Executive producers, Mitchell Cannold, Stewart F. Lane, Bonnie Comley, Robin Brown. Co-producers, Alan Cumming, Wendy Riseborough. Directed by Dori Berinstein. Screenplay, Berinstein, Richard Hankin.
 
With: Alan Cumming, Chris Boneau, Nancy Coyne, William Goldman, Rocco Landesman, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Robyn Goodman, Bobby Lopez, Jeff Marx, Kevin McCollum, Jason Moore, Jeffrey Seller, John Tartaglia, Jeff Whitty, Tony Kushner, Tonya Pinkins, Jeanine Tesori, George C. Wolfe, Raul Esparza, Boy George, Euan Morton, Rosie O'Donnell, Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Joe Mantello, Stephen Oremus, Marc Platt, Stephen Schwartz, David Stone, Ben Brantley, Charles Isherwood, John Lahr, Patrick Pacheco, Michael Riedel, Jacques le Sourd, Linda Winer.
 

The anxious parenting that goes into the creation of a Broadway musical, from conception through evolution to opening night and its sink-or-sail aftermath, is chronicled in entertaining fashion in "Show Business." Directed and co-written by Dori Berinstein, whose own experience as a Tony-winning producer gives her insight into the process, the docu focuses on four distinct animals from the tuner genus: the outright flop ("Taboo"), the succes d'estime ("Caroline, or Change"), the mega-musical blockbuster that overcame critical indifference ("Wicked") and the critical darling that became a surprise underdog hit ("Avenue Q").

Like similar insider legit docs such as "Broadway: The Golden Age," this one will find its most expansive commercial prospects in a DVD market fed by theater geeks drooling for backstage access. And the history of Berinstein's project indicates a potential gold mine of additional material to be included in that package.

Structured over a single theater season beginning in summer, as the new shows are being groomed for Broadway, and ending the following spring, when the Tony awards crown the all-important best musical, the film initially was planned as an overview of the entire 2003-04 season offerings. That means footage of countless other shows was shot, only glimpses of which made it into the final edit here. The decision to rein in the subject field pays off, giving the feel of a tight race for survival and adding a competitive element even in an industry where the shared goal is for the maximum number of shows possible to flourish.

By sheer good fortune, the chosen season turned out to be an uncommonly eventful one, highlighted by the surprise win of modestly scaled Off Broadway transfer "Avenue Q" over the $14 million behemoth "Wicked" at the Tonys, an upset few predicted.

The documaker also got lucky with the backstory of Rosie O'Donnell's troubled gestation of Boy George musical "Taboo" at the same time the court clash between the novice Broadway producer and her former publisher was going on. The media bloodbath during this case, and the show's critical lambasting, poor box office, early closing and $10 million loss to O'Donnell give the film a genuine element of sacrifice and slaughter.

But as someone close enough to have witnessed or experienced the crushing loss of a show's failure first-hand, Berinstein documents the brutalizing "Taboo" saga with respect and sensitivity. She focuses on Scottish singer-actor Euan Morton, who came to New York hoping for wider discovery after his London success in the show but was sent home with an expired work visa when it shuttered. Morton's tearful account of the sense of loss when what had become his world collapsed provides a moving personal story.

Underlining the unforgiving nature of the business, the film also recaps the season's even more savaged casualties: Farrah Fawcett starrer "Bobbi Boland," which closed in previews; "Prymate," a critical punching bag that lasted five post-opening perfs; and Ellen Burstyn solo show "Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All," which opened and closed the same night.

Accounts of "Wicked" and "Caroline" are more standard-issue in their illumination of the creative process, not going especially deep but providing minor insights that will be fascinating to fans of those shows. In particular, the slow-building teen and tweener fanaticism that fanned "Wicked" to a current $30 million advance is well documented, while there are amusing glimpses of George C. Wolfe at work directing "Caroline," along with the show's lead, Tonya Pinkins, on the sometimes jolting experience of Broadway stardom.

There's some more prosaic commentary, too, much of it from "Taboo" star Raul Esparza, who plays tour guide a little annoyingly, with trite observations like "It's a miracle it all comes together." Yawn.

Though it seems odd that Berinstein neglects to discuss how "Caroline" and "Avenue Q" both came to Broadway from Off Broadway runs, development of the latter show provides some of the film's most enjoyable moments. This is due in large part to the engaging personalities of composer-lyricist team Bobby Lopez and Jeff Marx, who come across as delightful nerdy kids still pinching themselves about meeting Boy George (puffing on a quick fag at the stage door in full Leigh Bowery drag) or getting their show on a Times Square billboard, let alone winning a Tony.

The real scene-stealer, however, is Marx's hilarious father, whose assessments of his son's talent range from "He got fired from every job he ever had. Couldn't last three weeks at Carvel!" to the triumphant "My kid is a genius!" And "Avenue Q" star John Tartaglia has a priceless bit rehearsing winning and losing faces in the back of the limo en route to the Tonys.

Co-writer and supervising editor Richard Hankin and editor Adam Zucker do a tidy job of keeping the progress of all four shows in play, punctuating their development with pre- and post-opening comments from several New York theater critics as the season takes shape. Former Variety (now New York Times) scribe Charles Isherwood's bone-dry wit is well harnessed, while the New York Post's Michael Riedel gleefully assumes the villain role, auguring a new spate of bombs to provide him with column fodder.

As much as the shows themselves, the film extends a warm embrace to Broadway fans, from the kids with their faces painted green, jumping out of their skins with excitement at "Wicked," to a "Taboo" partisan struggling to comprehend the musical's failure. He gets the docu's biggest laugh, bemusedly observing, "There are some people that tell me it's too gay... but it's theater!"

Camera (color), Alan S. Deutsch; supervising editor, Hankin; editor, Adam Zucker; music, Jeanine Tesori; sound (Dolby Digital), Peter Waggoner; associate producer, Tom LaMere. Reviewed at Tribeca Film Festival (Spotlight), April 25, 2005. Running time: 102 MIN.