Product Details

• Actors: Boy George, Alan Cumming, John Lahr, Joe Mantello, Jason Moore
• Directors: Dori Berinstein
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Liberation Ent
• DVD Release Date: October 16, 2007
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000UAE7NG
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,120 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Show Business: The Road to Broadway" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

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

Product 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!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "One!...Singular Sensation!" October 24, 2007

By "Rocky Raccoon" VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

A documentary about the genesis, success, press, and fallout of four Broadway musicals would have to be quickly paced. Besides that, the well-rounded content of Dori Berenstein's 'Show Business-The Road to Broadway' is whole and complete--entertaining, fun, informative, eventful, and fascinating. If you love musicals, this is a must-see. If you're only luke warm, you'll probably love it anyway just to trace the creative sparks back to their origins.

Well, it's just so exciting! Especially if you don't know the outcomes (like me). Watching four selected Broadway musicals from 2004, we witness each one get created from the piano to the stage. Only a hair less satisfying are the steps of creation for the choreography, rehearsals, and press conferences. It's all in the details. Some of the participants strive for the American dream from the bottom: One got off of welfare; another was working as a temp. Then, as the show takes a life of it's own, we make our bets (like on our favorite horse race) and see which one wins (financially and/or critically). Sort of an entertainment version of 'The Apprentice' without The Donald, Adam Zucker's editing never leaves us yawning in the aisles. The film is effective enough as it reaches its climax at The Tony Awards.

How can you not love a movie that gives you a real look at 'Wicked,' 'Avenue Q,' 'Caroline or Change,' and 'Taboo'? The film features substantative sound bites from a myriad of producers, actors, writers, and artists. As an overview, I loved the round-table discussions by critics at a New York restaurant. Or how about the feistiness and passion of Boy George and Rosie O'Donnell? Then, we're left in suspense as we see which show is left standing and for how long.

Noting that some musicals make millions in a few weeks and others fold the same night, 'Show Business...' gives us "the big idea" and runs off with it. Off the stage, that is, where all the players sip champagne--and celebrate their triumphs or drown out their sorrows. Vibrant like Broadway itself, it is quite a show!

(Especially featuring--besides the aforementioned--Tony award-winning Actor, Alan Cumming and 'The New Yorker' Chief Critic, John Lahr.)

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The bonus features. October 28, 2007

By Jeff Reys

Format:DVD

I'll refrain from reviewing the movie as other reviewers have already addressed that aspect of the film. The bonus features on this DVD are enticing on their own. Liza Minnelli, Alan Cummings, John Lithgow, Brian Dennehy, Antonio Bandares, Patrick Stewart and more share their Broadway experiences in a private and personal conversational manner which makes one wish entire films were devoted to these one on one conversations. Donna Murphy has a particularly passionate and moving conversation about her love of Broadway. Dori Bernstein, Jeff Marx and Alan Cummings provide audio commentary. A study guide, deleted scenes, bonus Footage, Tony Awards clips and Broadway cares all round out the package making this a fantastic behind-the-scenes peek into making a Broadway musical which also makes one wish this were one of a nine or ten volume encyclopedic video series.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A True Valentine to One Tumultuous Broadway Season Full of Insight and Energy July 28, 2007

By Ed Uyeshima HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

The odds against a Broadway musical becoming a profitable hit make Hollywood studio film deals seem like a sure thing by comparison. However, there is a more palpable energy to live theater and arguably a genuine sense of risk. Filmmaker Dori Berinstein has captured this high-wire dynamic in spades with this enthusiastic 2007 documentary, which covers the 2003-04 Broadway season culminating in the Tony Awards held in June. There are plenty of random shots from the season's shows and even coverage of a little-known rehearsal ritual of having the most prolific cast member wear a gypsy robe before opening. Berinstein's focus is primarily on four disparate musicals - the successful $14-million Wizard of Oz-inspired extravaganza, Wicked; a socially conscious period piece, the powerful Caroline, or Change; the glam-rock Boy George autobiography, the financially stunted Taboo; and the season's underdog, the adult-oriented comic paean to Sesame Street, Avenue Q.

Bouncing between the productions in various stages of development, the filmmaker intersperses brief interviews with the producers, directors, writers and principal actors, as well as scabrous roundtable conversations about the spotlighted shows among the influential theater critics who have the power to close a show with a scathing review. The diverse combination of perspectives provides interesting fodder, even though given the wealth of material gathered here, the treatment sometimes feels truncated and cursory, for example, composer Stephen Schwartz and star Idina Menzel are given plenty of attention on "Wicked", but not nearly as much is lavished on co-star Kristin Chenoweth or the other creative forces behind the show. Intriguingly, the near-legendary backstage turmoil behind "Taboo" is mentioned, but very little of that tension is evident in the rehearsal scenes or the interviews with producer Rosie O'Donnell, Boy George or stars Euan Morton and Raúl Esparza.

Even though it is not remotely a warts-and-all type of film, there are refreshingly candid comments from O' Donnell and Boy George about the unfair press coverage "Taboo" received from the New York Post's smarmy Michael Riedel. There are also moments that are surprisingly poignant like "Caroline, or Change" star Tonya Pinkins recounting her grief-filled back story and Morton near tears as he talks about his post-close struggles. Easily the most amusing scenes spotlight the young, precocious composers of "Avenue Q", Jeff Marx and Bobby Perez, who seem to have accidentally backed into their show idea and ironically came out the season's true victors. The interviews with Marx's proud but dumbfounded father are especially hilarious. As a Broadway aficionado, I couldn't help but wish there were more musical moments included beyond the snippets shown, in particular, more of Pinkins' stirring turn in her show or the wildly talented Esparza's cross-dressing turn in "Taboo". But otherwise, this all-access peek into the Broadway theater scene is genuinely insightful and wonderfully entertaining.