I saw Show Stopper last night. It was a pretty good documentary, but I think more suited to TV than theatrical presentation.
The film focused on his rise in business, which included pretty much creating the multiplex concept for movie theatres and the development of the Cineplex chain. His fall from grace at Cineplex (and development of enemies) and development of Livent, a vertically integrated company that not only produced shows, but owned theatres and built sets, and so on (and new enemies created).
He spent wildly, over-leveraged, but did seem to do so in order to create a quality product--whether it be a first-class movie theatre (with real butter for the popcorn!), or developing quality theatre (Ragtime, Parade, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Show Boat revival). But these productions couldn't possibly make money. He cooked the books for years in order to keep the business afloat.
His defenders would say that his fraud was at least noble: it wasn't that he was trying to steal money for his own benefit, but so that he could continue to produce quality shows.
Elaine Stritch was a surprise guest at the screening--she appears in the film as a Drabinsky defender. Chita River and Diahann Carroll have positive things to say. Michael Riedel provides some of the dirt--although also speculates that Drabinsky had bad luck (for example, opening Ragtime in the same season as The Lion King, when it might have opened the previous year against lesser competition (Titanic)).
Edit: > They'd better interview the "under house parlour maids" to get the real story or at least a balanced picture, not just the lords and ladies upstairs.
The film doesn't really concern itself with the "little people" who were stepped on underfoot. But I don't think this is a flaw of the film. There's only so much time, and the film really wants to show how Drabinsky (an enterprising Torontonian) repeatedly built up businesses (often tangling with big wigs in Canada, Hollywood and Broadway) only to see them collapse.
Updated On: 9/12/12 at 10:42 PMThe film focused on his rise in business, which included pretty much creating the multiplex concept for movie theatres and the development of the Cineplex chain. His fall from grace at Cineplex (and development of enemies) and development of Livent, a vertically integrated company that not only produced shows, but owned theatres and built sets, and so on (and new enemies created).
He spent wildly, over-leveraged, but did seem to do so in order to create a quality product--whether it be a first-class movie theatre (with real butter for the popcorn!), or developing quality theatre (Ragtime, Parade, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Show Boat revival). But these productions couldn't possibly make money. He cooked the books for years in order to keep the business afloat.
His defenders would say that his fraud was at least noble: it wasn't that he was trying to steal money for his own benefit, but so that he could continue to produce quality shows.
Elaine Stritch was a surprise guest at the screening--she appears in the film as a Drabinsky defender. Chita River and Diahann Carroll have positive things to say. Michael Riedel provides some of the dirt--although also speculates that Drabinsky had bad luck (for example, opening Ragtime in the same season as The Lion King, when it might have opened the previous year against lesser competition (Titanic)).
Edit: > They'd better interview the "under house parlour maids" to get the real story or at least a balanced picture, not just the lords and ladies upstairs.
The film doesn't really concern itself with the "little people" who were stepped on underfoot. But I don't think this is a flaw of the film. There's only so much time, and the film really wants to show how Drabinsky (an enterprising Torontonian) repeatedly built up businesses (often tangling with big wigs in Canada, Hollywood and Broadway) only to see them collapse.
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joined:3/8/05
Posted: 9/13/11 at 02:22pm