Editorial Review:Description:The real drama happens behind the curtain in this fascinating and rare look at four high-profile Broadway musicals (Wicked, Taboo, Caroline, Or Change, and Avenue Q) and their fearless journey to the Tony Awards®. Including a star-studded cast, this entertaining film takes viewers on an unprecedented behind-the-scenes view of the creative process that captures all the heartbreak and hilarity of trying make it big in Show Business!
Amazon.com:The playful but intense and vastly informative
Show Business: The Road to Broadway is a documentary about four musicals that were contenders for top Tony Awards prizes in the 2004 Broadway season. Following the parallel action between the quartet--'Wicked,' 'Avenue Q,' 'Taboo,' and 'Caroline, or Change'--from concept through casting, rewrites, rehearsals, opening nights and the relative box-office fortunes of each, the film dazzles a viewer by seeming to be everywhere at once. Along the way, one encounters cascades of neuroses and anxieties from the creative community involved in these shows, but there is also tremendous insight shared by the various playwrights, composers, lyricists, producers, directors, and stars who get these productions up and running. There's sundry drama, too, especially concerning the brief run of 'Taboo,' the financially disastrous musical about Boy George that was largely bankrolled by Rosie O’Donnell and ran into a variety of problems. Excellent fly-on-the-wall moments include a dinner sequence involving a handful of well-known theatre critics, whose tastes vary and who often champion shows no one else seems to like. Everything leads to highlights from the 2004 Tony Awards show, which was full of surprises. A final sequence in which one catches up with the many talents involved says everything about how success and failure is often a mere roll of the cosmic dice.
--Tom Keogh
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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Fun!
I have wanted this for a long time, just didn't have the money. I finally got it and I am so glad I did. Although it is from a few years ago it was such a fun look behind the scenes, and a great look at how Wicked started out! I will watch it again and again and I definitely recommend it to Broadway and theater lovers!!
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A business like any other
"Show Business" provides us with a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of four original musicals that debuted on Broadway during the 2004 season: "Wicked," an inside-out re-interpretation of "The Wizard of Oz," told from the viewpoint of the Wicked Witch of the West; "Taboo," a Rosie O'Donnell-backed chronicle of the life of Boy George; "Avenue Q," a parody of "Sesame Street," done with live actors and puppets; and "Caroline, or Change," a civil rights drama set in the Deep South of the 1960s.
The movie follows all four shows through their various stages of rehearsal, their opening (and sometimes closing) nights, their reception by audiences and critics, and their recognition (or lack thereof) by the Tony Awards. To bring this self-contained and exclusive world to life, director Dori Berinstein interviews a healthy dose of Broadway insiders and hangers-on, including producers, performers, writers, composers, fans and reviewers. The movie captures all the joy and heartbreak, along with all the pressures - both artistic and financial - that go into the creation of a Broadway show (there`s a reason, after all, why they call it "show BUSINESS"!).
This doesn't quite qualify as a must-see documentary, but fans of musical theater - and of these shows in particular - should relish all the juicy backstage info they'll find here.
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Show Business: Road to Broadway
Excellent documentary DVD. Showed 4 musicals of the 2003-2004 season from casting calls to opening night and beyond, how a play/musical could become a winner or a bust with little reason. I liked hearing the critics talk about the shows and see how right or wrong they were in the end. It gave me a whole new insight into the bright lights and darker side of Broadway.
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Entertaining, Informative Look at Broadway
This documentary which chronicles the life and history of four musicals that premiered in the 2004 theater season is amazing. It is highly entertaining but also highly informative. I love the theater and live in Boston. It made me yearn to live in New York where Broadway and the true heart of the theater is. It takes on a life of its own.
4 musicals are chronicled from creation to the Tony Awards - WICKED, AVENUE Q, TABOO AND CAROLINE, OR CHANGE. We get to go deep into the lives and thoughts of all involved - writers, songwriters, actors etc. The previews and Broadway premiers are shown and the great importance that lies with each step is shown. Very interesting is the conversations of some of the most influential critics as they discuss all the shows throughout all the processes. Interesting to see how their opinions varied so strongly.
Bottom line, if you love musical theater you will adore this educational piece of work. Even if you don't it is so well made that you will enjoy it immensely and learn a great deal.
The ending showing how different actors etc. moved on with their lives is very emotional. You truly see how for all the people involved musical theater is not a job but their life. They MUST do it. I also saw that all my thoughts on the Boy George musical TABBOO were incorrect and I wish it had been given its just due. I would have loved to have seen it. Each season to fill in the blanks, old musicals are reissued with a new look. This was original and obviously crashed not because the show wasn't good but for other reasons that are just a shame. I will let you discover them upon viewing this piece.
Highly recommended, entertaining and informative documentrary.
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THERE'S NO BIZNESS LIKE..............
If you have the slightest curiosity about what it takes to produce a Broadway musical, this is for you. Even if you haven't, it's a learning lesson in the unpredictability of how planning can go awry. Entertainment, frustration, elation, gloom. It's all there. I can't recommend it highly enough.