Talking about Broadway comes easy to Dori Berinstein, producer-director of ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway, an in-depth documentary about the 2003-2004 New York theater season. “I’ve been fascinated with Broadway so long and had such a joyous career, I wanted to give something back to excite people about that world,” she declared in a recent telephone interview.

The energetic winner of three Tony Awards (for Thoroughly Modern Millie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Fool Moon) hopes ShowBusiness causes even more people to fall in love with live theater. “It makes us laugh, think and cry,” she said. “It’s a great art that anybody can enjoy.”

Berinstein’s upcoming documentary follows four musicals as they journey toward -- and compete for -- the coveted Tony Award for “Best Musical” of the year. “These productions -- Wicked, Avenue Q, Taboo and Caroline, or Change -- are all so different,” she explained.

While working on the film, Berinstein compiled over 400 interviews and had extensive access to the people involved in each musical. “It was fantasy fulfilling for me to be behind the scenes and to be with the performers in their most intimate moments before going on stage,” she said.

With so many interviews and about 250 hours captured on camera, how did Berinstein decide what to include and what to exclude? “It was really challenging,” she replied. “But I had an extraordinary editor, Richard Hankin. I admire his storytelling ability, and he could be far more brutal than me. We had a story to tell and great footage but not all of it contributed to the story. For example, my co-producer Alan Cumming was originally scheduled to narrate the documentary with his witty commentary, but we felt it would be better for the story to tell itself, so Alan put on his producer’s hat and agreed.”

Berinstein describes making ShowBusiness as a labor of love. “I didn’t think of it as work, it was a joy and a gift, and I loved every second of it. Overall, I took away the intense passion people had for their shows. One of the special highlights for me was being able to witness the Gypsy Robe Ceremony, which is such a historic tradition for musicals.” (This ritual takes place an hour before the opening of a new Broadway musical that features a chorus, or “gypsies,” and involves Actors Equity reps and the previous recipient of the robe crowning the King and Queen of the Gypsies and passing on the robe to them.)

What’s next for Berinstein? She’s been working for five years on the musical version of Legally Blonde, her eleventh  Broadway show. “It’s had a run in San Francisco and surpassed our expectations. New York previews begin April 3, and opening night on Broadway is April 29. Laura Bell Bundy, Kristin Chenoweth’s understudy in Wicked, plays Elle Woods. She’s terrific -- a real triple-threat performer.”

Growing up in Los Angeles, Berinstein was fortunate to see great live theater productions which served as her motivation  to produce and direct Broadway shows -- even though she’d never actually seen one. Fortunately for everyone who enjoys this art form, Berinstein managed to make her childhood dream come true. 

Celebrating the Broadway Berinstein loves so much, ShowBusiness emerges as a tribute to all the hard work, dedication, collaboration, passion and talent required to put on a stage production.

ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway opens in New York on May 11 and in Los Angeles on June 1.

(Photo: Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel in Wicked. From Regent Releasing and Liberation Entertainment’s ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway.)