ON BROADWAY  2019  82 minutes

Released just before the pandemic shut public venues down for over a year, this buoyant documentary by Oren Jacoby offers an overview of Broadway from its nadir in the late 60s to the present. With interviews from a range of luminaries such as Alec Baldwin, August Wilson, Helen Mirren, Christine Baranski, and Tommy Tune, the film makes a point to show how art and commerce went hand in hand as various shows revived the theatre experience while larger trends co-opted the culture––as seen in the parallel fortunes of Times Square, which went from a red-light district to a tourist magnet.

BE ADVISED: This film depicts New York in all its glamour and grit, involving urban violence, profanity, sexuality, corporate and municipal avarice––as well as some singing and dancing.