This week marks the opening of “The Prom," the feature film based on the hit Broadway musical. The casting of Hollywood A-listers Meryl Streep, James Corden and Nicole Kidman, among others, stirred up some controversy in the Broadway community.
I spoke with Dori Berinstein, one of the lead producers of both the stage and film productions and we discussed the challenges and triumphs of mounting the show. Its timely message of hope and inclusion in these polarized times provides a high note as we end this very difficult year.
She’s managed to keep very busy in the pandemic, writing, directing and producing a number of projects. Among them “The Broadway Podcast Network” which she presciently created in October last year, just three months before the pandemic. And since then, the venture has become extremely successful.
She’s also the brainchild behind ”As The Curtain Rises," billed as the first digital soap opera featuring Broadway greats Alex Brightman, Lillias White, James Monroe Iglehart, Ashley Park, Michael Urie, Ilana Levine and Ramin Karimloo, among so many others. It’s a hysterical sendup of the genre taking a behind the scenes look at the industry with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Here’s a slightly abridged version of our chat.
Roma: I'm very impressed that you're able to juggle all of these different ventures and they're all coming out so successfully.
Dori: Thank you. I feel so fortunate to be able to continue to create and work with colleagues. It doesn’t replace theatre, but it helps keep theatre alive. So, I feel really lucky - I don't think Broadway has ever encountered such a disastrous period. Even after 9/11 it was Broadway that made us feel good again. We came right back. And this time it's Broadway that's going to be the last to come back. But it's still happening around the world, in different places. So you know, that gives us all hope.
Roma: Well, you're giving us a lot of laughter too. I've been catching upon your episodes of “As The Curtain Rises” and so enjoying it. You guys are billing it as Broadway’s first digital soap opera. How did you come up with idea?
Dori: The idea of keeping theater alive during this time was part of it. And then also it's just so much fun and crazy behind the curtain, and sometimes there's more drama behind the curtain than there is on stage. And just felt it would be fun to tell that story. And Mark Peikert and I both loved the idea of putting in a kind of a soap opera rollout where there are cliffhangers and little things happen because that really is the pain it feels on Broadway. Are we going to get a theater? Are we not going to get the theater? You know, it's just we're holding our breath most of the time.
Roma: And you have you've managed to wrangle a wonderful group of A-list talent and I don't know how easy it would have been to get all these folks together but obviously there's not too much work out there to keep them occupied. So I mean, Michael Urie and Ashley Park and James Monroe Iglehart and Alex Brightman. How did you get all these folks on board?
Dori: I love this group of performers. I asked, and they all said yes. It was wonderful. I think that they do have a little bit more time right now. But I think that they also love the idea of keeping theater alive. And even though we all can't be really working on our Broadway shows right now...This is an imaginary Broadway show that's in the works, and a group of people interacting with real people in our community to put on a show, so it's almost real, but not quite. And I think that they love that idea.
Roma: It really is a throwback to the old radio days where you'd have these episodes and then there was a cliffhanger at the end. You even have the melodramatic music and you've got Brightman narrating and it's just very tongue in cheek and so much fun. Those of us who are intimately involved in the world of Broadway and professional theatre are really going to eat this up. The whole premise is based on a group of Broadway creators involved in Avatar The Musical, and then you have all these great cameos, with Jordan Roth and David Korins and Lynn Nottage.
Dori: I'm finding that, you know, the integration of actual real life Broadway Tony-winning designers and playwrights and press agents and on and on. They’re really good actors. Yeah. And directing them is is a hoot. You know, having collaborated with them in a completely different capacity for so many years, working directly with them now as actors is really fun.
Roma: We have to point out this is all part of your Broadway Podcast Network. Tell me about that.
Dori: Alan Seales and I created the Broadway Podcast Network. We launched in October of last year pre-pandemic, certainly not seeing that on the horizon. And things really just exploded when the pandemic hit because our community was so hungry for connectivity and theater stories and to hear about the behind the curtain magic - and also plays and musicals, and audio dramas.
And so we now have over 100 podcasts. It's really become a tremendous destination for anyone who loves theater and the podcasts are so far reaching. Sir Tim Rice has an amazing podcast called "Get Onto My Cloud," which is all about his whole history creating iconic theater masterpieces, to "Mama's Talking Loud," which is about being a mom in the theatre community, and it goes on and on.
There’s really something for everyone. And we're just really, really proud that we're able to give a platform to so many people in our community who have important things to say.
Roma: And how prescient of you to come up with something three months before a pandemic puts us all at home and away from the live theater.
Dori: Well, that was not intentional. ‘Oh, there's going to be a pandemic. This is a great opportunity for it.’ No, it wasn't it was not like that. I think podcasting is really coming into its own now. And there is a huge audience out there that has embraced podcasting. And so I think our timing is very much tied to that. And it's interesting because podcasting overall, went down, because people weren't commuting. But our podcast experience was radically different. We just shot up by at least 35% a month and that continues now because I think our community is so special and they really want to be connected. You know, because we were just so wiped out by this pandemic, it became that much more important.
Roma: Now let's talk about “The Prom," I was a big fan of the musical. I had my daughter go with her girlfriend and we can all relate to it on so many levels. I remember thinking you had the perfect cast with Beth Leavel, Brooks Ashmanskas and Christopher Sieber. And now, the film version. You've got Meryl Streep and James Corden. What was it like having to break the news to your Broadway stars?
Dori: It was the worst because we couldn't love or believe in our Broadway cast more. They hit it out of the park, the best we could ever have imagined. When Ryan Murphy decided that he had to take our Broadway musical and turn it into a feature film, he was committed to getting this message out there of tolerance and acceptance and love in the biggest way possible. And his vision for the adaptation was very big and lush, and expensive. And he wanted to reach all the people who would not be inclined to embrace the issues that our show puts out there. And you know, we certainly encountered problems along the way and people who are very resistant to the subject matter of "The Prom." And to get the project greenlit by Netflix, they demanded that there be a lead cast with established live actors.
Of course, we would love to have our Broadway actors step into those roles. But we also understood this was a great opportunity for this story to be told in this big, magnificent way. And so we certainly couldn’t stand in the way of that. Our amazing Broadway actors are not established in the film world in the same way. Of course, that's hard. And it was very hard for us to talk with him about this. But I think everybody understands this is bigger than all of us, and everybody wants to make the world a better place.
Roma: And the message is very important, although I do have to put it out there. I know, there was some backlash casting James Corden in the role of a gay man. He’s not gay. How did you how did you get around that?
Dori: You know, that was very much Ryan's point of view. And he has a long history of casting people in all sorts of roles that don't necessarily align with their real life. I know Darren Criss played a gay high school student in “Glee” And I have to defer to his expertise in that. He felt that James was perfect for the role and I think he hit it out of the park. I think he did an amazing job. And he couldn't care more about wanting this message out there as well.
Roma: You were the lead producer, as I understand it in the Broadway production. So how wonderful that you were able to get it off the ground. It’s amazing to consider that 15, 20 years ago, that would have been a difficult project to greenlight wouldn’t you say?
Dori: My partner on the Broadway production, Bill Damaschke and then Jack Lane joined us later on. It was excruciatingly hard. It was the hardest show that any of us had ever done by far because of the subject matter. And because it was an entirely original musical. I think there's a whole other level of comfort when there's some free promotability and you have something to hang your hat on.
Bill, and I laugh a lot, because if someone had told us during those very tough moments that there was going to be a major motion picture based on our musical starring Meryl Streep for heaven's sakes, we would have probably powered through those really difficult moments with far more grace. I have amazing collaborators that have worked so hard to make all this happen. So I’m just very fortunate and love our community so much. And it's just exciting to know that we're going to be coming back hopefully soon. And get back to live theater.
“The Prom” is available on Netflix December 11. Find out more information about the Broadway Podcast Network here.
Today in Theater History
December 10th, 2006: “Spring Awakening” opens on Broadway.
This boundary-pushing musical was chock-full of little known actors who went on to become big names - including Lea Michele, Jonathan Groff, John Gallagher Jr., and Pitch Perfect’s Skylar Astin. It won eight Tony Awards and closed in 2009 after more than 900 performances.
Broadway at Home - This week’s theater events, available right on your computer and TV
December 10th at 8pm EST on NBC: One Night Only: The Best of Broadway with Tina Fey
Cast members from several Broadway productions will perform in this two hour special, benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The money will help provide groceries, medication, healthcare and financial assistance to those in the Broadway community struggling during the pandemic. There will also be a sneak peak of upcoming shows.
December 10th at 7pm EST: Broadway Bee Celebrates Five Years
Broadway Bound Kids is partnering with the creators of “The 15th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” to present the virtual edition of the 5th Annual Broadway Bee. The cast includes Seth Rudetsky, Sasha Hutchings from "Hamilton," Paige Davis from “Chicago," and more. During the show, you can donate to arts education to give your team a “lifeline.”
You can watch the event for free here.
December 12th at 8pm EST: Jagged Live Broadway Reunion Concert
Elizabeth Stanely, Celia Rose Gooding, Derek Klena, and other cast members of the Tony nominated show “Jagged Little Pill” will reunite on stage for the first time in 10 months for this event, filmed at Shubert Studios. The concert will stream on new platform Stellar.
Tickets are available here.
December 15th at 7:30pm EST: Road to the North Country: Interpreting Dylan
This one hour panel discussion presented by the Bob Dylan Center will feature cast members from the Dylan inspired musical “Girl From the North Country,” moderated by theater and music journalist Elysa Garder. The group will discuss the process of interpreting Dylan’s words and music and share videos of the cast performing songs from the show.
You can stream the event for free on the Bob Dylan Center’s Facebook page.
December 16th at 7pm EST: New York Theater Workshop’s Holiday Follies
The holiday variety show will feature appearances by Annaleigh Ashford, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Michael Urie, Michael Cerveris and many many more. It will include “festive holiday classics, dance - both nice and naughty! - and some Follies fun to bring folks together for some laughs this season.”
Tickets are available here.
Cryptic Playbill
Can you identify the Broadway show from this tiny piece of its Playbill? Check out next week’s Intermission for the answer.
Last week’s Cryptic Playbill was “Priscilla: Queen of the Desert.” The musical adaption of the 1994 Oscar-winning film opened March 20, 2011 and closed in June 2012. Portraying three drag queens on their journey across the Australian outback, the original cast included Will Swenson, Tony Sheldon and Nick Adams, as well as Keala Settle.
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Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article misspelled the names of lead producer, Dori Berinstein as Berenstein, and Playbill’s editor in chief, Mark Peikert as Picard. The correct spelling is Berinstein and Peikert, respectively.