EPISODE ONE - “WELCOME TO BROADWAY BIZ!”
Welcome to Broadway Biz hosted by Hal Luftig! In Hal's very first episode, he chats with his good friend Dori Berinstein, producer extraordinaire and the Co-Founder and CEO of the Broadway Podcast Network. In this episode, Hal and Dori discuss Dori's path to producing, how she navigates Broadway budgets, and why she loves podcasts.
Dori is a four-time Tony-winning Broadway producer (“Fool Moon”, “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Next”, “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and “Virginia Woolf”), an Olivier winner (Legally Blonde) and an Emmy-award-winning director, producer and writer of film and television. Dori most recently was Lead Producer on “The PROM” for Broadway, and is the host of her very own podcast "Deep Dive Broadway".
For all things Broadway Biz, visit our Instagram @BroadwayBizPodcast. Have a question for Hal or a topic you'd like him to explore? Send Hal an email at broadwaybiz@halluftig.com.
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transcript below!
Hal Luftig - Host:
Hi everyone. This is Hal Luftig with my Broadway Podcast Network show, Broadway Biz, where every episode I will chat with my friends, some of the top theater professionals in the business, about the business of Broadway.
Hal Luftig - Host:
(singing).
Hal Luftig - Host:
We happen to be recording our first few episodes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I couldn't begin the program without taking a moment to acknowledge everyone who works so incredibly hard to make the curtain go up every single day. The actors, the stage hands, everyone on the backstage crew, the stage managers, the box office, the ushers, the porters, these are just to name a few. I know that this is an uncertain time for all of us, but please, stay healthy and stay safe because Broadway will be back.
Hal Luftig - Host:
My first guest to Broadway Biz is my dear friend Dori Berinstein. Dori is a Tony Award winning producer and the co-founder and CEO of Broadway Podcast Network. I am so excited for Dori to be my very first guest on Broadway Biz.
Dori Berinstein:
Thank you, Hal, thank you. I am so honored to be your first guest, it means the world to me. Even more, I'm just so thrilled you're doing a podcast, because I looked to you for decades, literally, on insight having to do with the business of Broadway and you're the guy that, I need your point of view. So you're the right person to be doing this podcast and I will be tuning in every episode.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Oh, you are the sweet ... See why I love this woman? How could you not? You are the sweetest thing. When I was thinking about having you as my first guest, I couldn't help but go back 20 years, 20 years since you did Thoroughly Modern Millie. Can you believe that?
Dori Berinstein:
No. It really feels like yesterday, maybe the day before yesterday but it does feel ... Yes.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Yeah, it does. It does.
Dori Berinstein:
Yeah, it does.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Except I was thinking, when we did Millie, Noah and Sammi were children, and now Noah's in college and Sammie is this would-be force director of Broadway. Her name is Sammi Cannold, to my listeners, and you should watch out for her because I'm telling you, she is going to be a force in theater of her own right. I've seen a couple of her productions, including most recent Evita at City Center, and I look at her and I'm stunned. What happened to the child who was running around the Marquee Theater during tech?
Dori Berinstein:
Yes, but you see, that was it, she was running around the ... She wasn't running the Marquee Theater. She was perched in one of the boxes watching as a tiny little kid, just staring down at Michael Mayer, watching everything and taking it all in. Then later on watching Jerry Mitchell in that same spot, different theater, prep Legally Blonde. So she has been studying, basically, theater directing for a very long time. She got a nice headstart, I have to say. And she had these incredible role models that ... How can you make it better than that?
Hal Luftig - Host:
Well, you should be very proud. In fact, tying this into the show, as I mentioned, I did see her at Evita at City Center, and at intermission, I saw her, like most directors, hunched against the back wall. And I went up to her, A, to tell her how freaking wonderful this production was and how proud I am. But I also asked her how she came up with this concept for Evita, because the set design, the costume design, the whole show had a different aura than we usually are familiar with when we see Evita.
Hal Luftig - Host:
She said, "Well, obviously we have a much smaller budget here than Broadway does, and I had to figure out how to deliver the magnitude of Eva Peron with very little money basically." That's part of what this program is going to talk about, things like that. I just have to say, once again, I was so proud of her, she's an amazing force.
Dori Berinstein:
You've been an inspiration to Sammi from day one, you really have. I mean, all the way along. She fell in love with Evita after watching your production of Evita.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Yeah. Yeah.
Dori Berinstein:
You've had a massive impact on her life. So thank you.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Thank you. Thank you. And I'm telling you, listeners, she's going to have a major impact on the face of theater for many, many years. So keep an eye out.
Hal Luftig - Host:
So Dori, I couldn't begin without asking, how is COVID-19 in your opinion affecting the work that you're doing, Broadway in general, theater? What do you think?
Dori Berinstein:
Well, Broadway is all about connectivity, and bringing people together. And I am just in awe of our entire community about how so quickly, everybody has come together in a new way. They found a way to communicate, they found a way to be together, and to support each other. Now the creativity that's happening online is mind boggling. It's overwhelming. So theater lives. Theater lives. It just is taking a different shape right now. And the live aspect of it will be back. Live in person will be back. But live remote is going full on. There's so much happening out there, and I really think, at the end of the day, this period of time we're living through is going to change entertainment and how we're all consuming entertainment forever. This will impact the intimacy in a lot of ways. Even though we're not together, I think that there is such an exciting intimacy that's happening with performers, with producers, with all sorts of people in the community in talking with people about the creative process, about storytelling, and about creating new forms of entertainment.
Dori Berinstein:
Looking at the bright side, which I really love to do, I think that this is adding a whole other dimension to our community and to theater. I think that there's a silver lining, as horrific as everything is, there's a lot of exciting creative work that's being generated now.
Hal Luftig - Host:
I agree, I agree. I also think all of what is being devised now, because we can't be in the same room or building together, but eventually we will, this is not going to be forever. And I couldn't help but thinking while I've watched all this creativity that's coming out on the internet now, and all the love and support, people giving up their time and their talent just to make sure that we're all inter chained, and remember the importance of theater. It reminds me, when I do see this, how important that human connection that only live theater can give you, when we're all in the same theater, and I know that's going to take a different form or shape, hopefully not forever. But when we all sit there together, and in the dark, we all laugh at the same jokes or clap at the same songs, or get excited by the same things, it's palpable. It's something I so, so miss when I watch all these brilliant current programming that's on because Broadway is shut down and all theaters are shut down.
Hal Luftig - Host:
But I think you just reminded me of that. For years, we've heard that Broadway, the fabulous invalid, was going to die at some point. First there was the talkies, and then there was television, and then there was the internet, and all these things, and all these things were to kill the form of entertainment we know as live theater. And it hasn't. I mean, right? You got to look at [crosstalk 00:09:29]
Dori Berinstein:
It hasn't, and it's not going to.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Yeah, yeah.
Dori Berinstein:
It's absolutely not going to. And I think that everyone is going to be so hungry to be back together, and hungry for live entertainment, and when that ramp up to getting back to live performance happens, I think that the whole community is going to turn out and beyond, and it will be a very exciting time.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Yeah, I agree, I agree. Well thank you for saying that. Here's a question, Dori, that is asked to me every single time I'm on any program or panel or X, Y, and Z. When and what made you want to be a producer?
Dori Berinstein:
Yeah.
Hal Luftig - Host:
I know. That's not easy, huh?
Dori Berinstein:
Well, growing up in Los Angeles, I was very fortunate, even though I wasn't able to experience Broadway, my parents took me to theater all the time, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and the [Elmonson 00:10:37], and puppet theater. I grew up very ... I was so fortunate to have a lot of exposure at a very young age to theater. And fell in love with it big time. I just knew that it had to be part of my life.
Dori Berinstein:
Unfortunately, I had zero talent. None. I broke windows at a very early age. It was tragic. And wanted so badly to be part of it. But in school, they didn't have the tech crew, they didn't have any way to be part of it unless you were performing. I kept auditioning. I did. And in fact, there was, in third grade, this was so traumatizing and I know has shaped my life forever. But they cast everyone in the class except for me.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Oh my gosh.
Dori Berinstein:
In hindsight that was probably better than being told, "Okay, we're casting you but just stand there, don't open your mouth." [crosstalk 00:11:39] It gave me the opportunity to develop other skills. But it was not pretty. But it probably, those experiences made me feel that much more ... No one is going to stop me from doing this. Made my drive and love for theater even stronger, and figuring out how to be part of the world. And I became very, very focused on the behind the scenes, and how these shows came to life, and what happened, I'm seeing everything on stage, I'm loving it, I'm lost to it. But how long did it take to get there, and how did everything come together?
Dori Berinstein:
I loved that aspect of it so much. I knew that this was going to be a big part of my life. I ended up in film for awhile before then, and also investment banking. It took awhile to find my way to Broadway, because I didn't know anybody and had barely been to New York, and it took awhile to get there. But it was something deep inside that had captured me when I was really young, particularly watching Carol Channing do Hello, Dolly at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion when I think I was five or something like that. That was it. I was there.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Wow. I actually forgot to mention that you are a documentary maker too, and made some of my favorite theatrical documentaries. The one on Carol Channing. The one that you turned into Half Time.
Dori Berinstein:
Gotta Dance, yeah.
Hal Luftig - Host:
And the one that was particularly heartfelt by me is the ...
Dori Berinstein:
Show Business.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Yes, yes.
Dori Berinstein:
[crosstalk 00:13:37]
Hal Luftig - Host:
I had a show running that season. It was part of the whole, what could go wrong? Let's let this be documentarized. And that was ... It was like what could go wrong? Everything did go wrong. But it was fun, because it had Carol Burnett in it of Moon Over Buffalo, if you remember. And looking back on that now, it's still traumatizing [inaudible 00:14:04], but it's funny to me too. Yeah. Yeah.
Dori Berinstein:
Well that film was meant to celebrate our community, and also for the business of Broadway, just really reveal how difficult it is, how high risk it is, how it takes a whole group of talented people working together, and how to get everybody on the same page to create theater. It's not easy, and I wanted to make sure that came through in the film.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Yeah. Well you did, you did a wonderful job. And I'm so glad you have found your way to live theater, because working with you has been nothing but a total joy. It's one of the highlights of my career. So thank you for that, thank you for that.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Let me ask you, when you talk about producing and things like ... What does it mean to you to be a producer? If I had to ask you what does a producer do, what would your answer be?
Dori Berinstein:
Particularly because this is the business of Broadway, I think the answer to that question for me is really that you are the CEO of that company. That you are really responsible for every moving part of it, but you will need to manage it in a way that is empowering all the people that are involved to do their best work, and to help them, support them, and to give them the opportunity to fly. Of course there's the, you have to raise the financing for it, you have to get the theater for it, you have to make sure, most importantly, that everybody is on the same page. Because if half of the group is off making this show and the other half is making that show it's just going to be a nightmare, we've all been there.
Dori Berinstein:
I think the role of the producer really is to be that ballast, to be the help, to keep everybody together, to keep everybody on the same page, and also to keep things moving forward in a way that everybody continues to be motivated and passionate and committed, because it takes a long time to put these shows together. And everybody these days, not like how it used to be, but everybody these days is working on many projects at the same time, and I sometimes feel that when you get everybody together and they work, you end up taking three steps back after a hiatus, and then you have to catch up and then move forward. So it's like how do you keep everybody focused, and the vision to continue to evolve and take shape, but to have everybody with that same vision, and to take it all the way. Where we left off on Broadway, getting a theater is a gigantic challenge. Helping to get to opening night in any way, every way possible.
Dori Berinstein:
There's so many moving parts, and that's something that I actually adore about producing. It does require working with everybody, collaborating, teamwork, and also really being fully focused and figuring out the best path. Every show is different, and that to me is exciting too, because what the right path is and the right team for one show is completely different for another show. So it's always new and exciting.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Yeah. That's true, and is. In fact, as I said in part of my intro, you and I should probably have our own show dedicated to the trials and tribulations of both Blonde and Millie.
Dori Berinstein:
Let's do it. I'd love that.
Hal Luftig - Host:
We could spend, talk hours about all of these things.
Dori Berinstein:
[crosstalk 00:18:31]. Yeah.
Hal Luftig - Host:
But Dori when you think about, when you hear about a project or you think about a project or you get excited about an idea of a project, how does, for you as a producer, how does the financial picture of that project impact, and how do you think about the impact when you set out to get something to the stage?
Dori Berinstein:
Such a good question. I think that my thinking about it has evolved over the years, and I think as Broadway has continued to change, and as the focus on what is greenlit has changed, and what the audience gravitates towards, I am driven very much by what I am passionate about. The stories that I want to tell, the films I want to make. So sometimes that can take me down a very commercial path, a la Legally Blonde, for example. And other times it can be something that is very, very challenging, like The Prom. That was a controversial subject matter that didn't have any movie star names attached. Amazing, through the roof cast that ended up getting involved. It was a blank page when we started.
Dori Berinstein:
To go down a path that you know was going to be very challenging, and for so many reasons, financially, raising the money, getting a theater, it's not a no brainer. I wish that I could say that I put responsible financial thinking first, and maybe go a different direction and do something that's pre-promoted. But I get so deeply committed to a story I want to tell. And The Prom is the perfect example of something that meant the world to me to get that story out there, to work with these specific artists. And it was basically going to be whatever it took. Whatever it took, we were going to make it happen.
Dori Berinstein:
Being very aware, because I had been doing it for long enough at that point, eyes wide open of what the risks and challenges were going to be along the way financially, and putting the show together, that there certainly were many moments, like is this something that we should be doing right now, is this something that we should say, "Okay, that was great, but this isn't going to work."
Dori Berinstein:
I think in that instance the commitment to the story we were telling and wanting to make the world a better place and believing that we could get there, and that's not just me as a producer and my partner, Bill Damaschke on that show, it was the entire company, the entire team of people that were so deeply committed, and that we were all in this together.
Dori Berinstein:
That was a very different experience from a business vantage point than some of the other shows that you and I have done together, and that are both, in terms of whether it was pre-promoted and people knew the title and it just sang right off the bat, we knew that it would be a great musical, or even that Broadway was a different place when we were doing Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Legally Blonde.
Dori Berinstein:
I have a show right now that we were looking to move when this, the COVID pandemic began that obviously we put a pin in that is a very different financial picture. It's a tiny little show that was at the Vineyard called Is This A Room. And it was almost like I'm so passionate equally with that show because it tells a story about a whistleblower, Reality Winner, who was imprisoned for trying to protect the truth, and trying to be a good citizen. It is such a powerful, epic show told by four people that, without much of a set or costumes or anything, and it's so powerful. The same time, I have to say, given a lot of the big musicals that I've done, there was definitely a moment in time where it's like yes, this is a tiny little show, it's not going to completely ... I'm not putting my family and house and everything at risk to take this on. But I had the same passion, and it was a nice thing to do a show that maybe is financially more, certainly more doable.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Yeah. I agree. No, I agree. I love and completely agree that things that you're passionate about, the dollar amount, the higher that goes to bring that to fruition, it does weigh on you. There's a big difference between a million and a 20 million or a $15 million show.
Hal Luftig - Host:
We, coming up the ranks together you and I, we have been in situations where directors or designers or some part of the artistic team has made an impassioned plea for enhancing the set or enhancing the lights or enhancing the props. I know, just from our own stories, we've had incidences where we've acquiesced, we've said okay, and one show was an elevator needed to be built, the other show we had to have a party bike built, remember [crosstalk 00:24:46]
Dori Berinstein:
Oh, I remember, yeah.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Right, $20,000 that lasted less than one performance. How do you, because I think we all come to this at some point, how do you specifically, when you have to have that, I like to call it the come to Jesus moment where you have to sit down with your team and say, "Guys, we can't have this because ..." And how do you explain, because it's not you being big bad producer wanting to deny the creative team what they think they want, but rather than it is because the overall picture that you as a producer see about cost. How do you get, when that comes up, the team on your side?
Dori Berinstein:
Well, I think that, and Hal, I'm so interested in your point of view on this too, but I think that as people grow up in this business and have many experiences that are difficult and that require a lot of hard, tough decisions along the way, and you also collect experiences, and you look back and you think why did we spend money on this? If only we had that money today. As you continue to go along your way in producing, you see things in a different way, and I think it's clearer what is essential for the storytelling and what is not, and if this aspect of, if this light fixture or this set piece or this additional cast member or whatever wasn't there, is it going to change your storytelling, is it going to really ... Is it going to make a difference at the end of the day?
Dori Berinstein:
I think that certainly, as I have matured as a person and as a producer, I think that the clarity of that and the ability to say, "You know guys, we have to rethink this, and maybe, I understand where you're going creatively, but let's think of ways we can get there that would be more cost efficient, and there might be another way to do something that is just as effective for what you're going for."
Dori Berinstein:
I also think that it's not just the producers that are involved in thinking that way. I think it's certainly the directors and the designers that also are thinking more fiscally responsibly now. Because I can tell you that the directors that I've been working with lately, and I know you've been working with lately, it's a very different mindset than it was 20 years ago. It's like how can we tell this story in a way that's lean and mean and doesn't take away from the audience experience, but that is smart and responsible and at the end of the day it's going to help us get to recoupment and profitability much faster. Because when I think about the operating expenses of some of the shows from long ago and what we could have done to get those costs down, easy decisions today, but at the time, I think it was just figuring it all out and figuring out what was important.
Dori Berinstein:
What about you?
Hal Luftig - Host:
Well, I always ... I bring this up every time I give a backstage tour of one of my shows or someone else's, the thing you hear today from the crew or directors is there's no room backstage. Some theaters actually have, literally, zero room in the wing, or there is not backstage crossover space, things like that. I remind people when I'm doing these things that years and years and years ago, the set consisted of painted drops, just the little drop that went up and down. So there wasn't this need for all this room when these theaters were built in the early 1900s, there wasn't this need for all this room because it was just a painted drop that went up and down.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Now, we have things that come up from the floor, and down from the ceiling and all that kind of stuff. It is one of the things that I think, as you mentioned, have changed in the business of show business is that nowadays, anything you do, any set change or anything coming up from the floor, or in from the wings, these spectacular things, impact the cost of the show, not only to producer it, but more importantly, what it costs to run every week.
Hal Luftig - Host:
I've learned over the years that sometimes, as you said, teams have become more sensitive to that, which I agree with. But I always find I run up against, at some point, some designer or director who doesn't understand the impact of a certain piece of scenery or movement or scene changes or costume changes that it may require two or three more crew members to do that. Or it may require a person to just stand and make sure, like when somebody comes up from the floor that they're safely, the actor is safely on that platform. And that adds to your weekly costs.
Hal Luftig - Host:
I think that that is, I agree with you and I'm so glad you said that about people being more aware and sensitive of that. I do think that it is something audiences don't really perhaps understand, which is one of the reasons that I hope this show can demystify and enlighten and make people realize just what exactly it takes to get a show moving night to night. So it is something I personally am very aware of, because I think you and I have been on shows together where we did not realize that, and oh, let's put in an elevator without realizing, wow, that's going to take six additional stagehands every night to just move that one little piece.
Dori Berinstein:
But it was a great elevator. It was awesome. it was really [crosstalk 00:31:39]
Hal Luftig - Host:
Well you know what, I think we need to save that to the Millie and Blonde episode where we just talk about that.
Dori Berinstein:
But it's interesting because when you think ... We've had this experience too on shows where when you ramp up to do the tour, you have to completely rethink the show, or I think as musicals are being made now people are really thinking ahead and thinking about how can we ... [inaudible 00:32:11] now that we'll simplify our transition to a tour. But you are putting together a tour that it's a fraction of the cost of the Broadway production, but you need it to be just as impactful and just as ... You're playing to even much larger theaters than you are on the road than you would be at a Broadway house. How can you do as much for less? You make these discoveries when you're ramping up the tour. It's like why didn't we do this on Broadway? Save all this money.
Dori Berinstein:
It's a different mindset, but obviously there are so many tours out there that are wildly successful that really are pleasing audiences, and they cost much less. I'm not talking about Broadway union expenses, I'm talking about physical production and all that. They're a lot less expensive.
Hal Luftig - Host:
And you also have the added bonus when you're on tour that whatever your set and costumes and props and lights and all those things are, they have to be able to be loaded into the theater you're going into within 16 hours, and out of the theater in eight hours or less, right, because you have to be on the way to your next city.
Dori Berinstein:
And fit into a certain number of trucks, too.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Right, right, right. So you're right, I've had that experience myself. Like, why didn't we think of this on Broadway? Or you realize on a tour, wow, we can't have that set piece, because that takes eight of your 16 hours to get off the truck and loaded into the theater. You have to think in a whole different mindset of economics, not just dollar monetarily, but time economics, which I think is very interesting.
Hal Luftig - Host:
I just want to switch, because I'm always amazed at the stuff you do. Just like you're a renaissance woman. You can go from film to theater to ... Including devising this Broadway Podcast Network. I wanted to ask you, since I'm a newbie here in your podcast family, how did you come up with the idea of making the network, and what was the impetus, and how did you go about it?
Dori Berinstein:
Well, for starters, I love podcasts. I love the intimacy of conversation and I think in the world that we've been living in, the art of conversation has disappeared a little bit. Everybody is so busy on their phones, tweeting a few sentences and all that, and theater is a place for incredible communication and storytelling. But podcasts give you an opportunity to go deeper, and really, whether it's storytelling or interviews or all different kinds of podcasts, just lose yourself to things you might not otherwise experience or go deeper, and behind the curtain for things having to do with Broadway that you might not know otherwise.
Dori Berinstein:
I commute up to Westchester, or I did commute up to Westchester for years and years and years and became really excited about so many different podcasts to the point that I'd be sitting in my driveway at 1:00 in the morning, not moving because I was in the middle of a podcast and I couldn't leave my car until it was over. That happened over and over again, so I was obviously ... It was a serious ... I was deeply obsessed with it.
Dori Berinstein:
And then I met Alan Seales, who was running Google Talks, and he interviewed me for his podcast, and we afterward just started talking about our love for podcasts, and about our frustration actually that there was no real place to find theater related podcasts. That they were out there, we knew about some of them, but there was no there there. And how do you find them, and how do you search. And we just felt that there had to be many more people out there like us, and that there were many people that were just starting to discover podcasts, because podcasting is just exploding now.
Dori Berinstein:
We decided, literally, sitting right there, let's do this, let's build a podcast network so that we can provide a home for great podcasts and make it easy for audiences out there to find ... They know where to go to find theater related podcasts. And we dove right in, and we started to create it. It took around ... From day one it took around 10 months until we launched, and we launched last October. We launched with probably around 15 podcasts, and now we have over 55 podcasts.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Wow.
Dori Berinstein:
Yeah. And there's such a wide range of incredible storytelling and interview shows, activists that are so articulate and fascinating with amazing guests. We're getting into musical podcasts, musical plays, parodies. It's just an amazing place for storytelling. What I love about it probably most of all is this amazing community that has come together of great theater artists and storytellers, and everybody, it really feels like a family, and creating content together, and figuring out different ways to use this medium to communicate. And making sure that we have the broadest possible representation and different voices. How you're coming on board with Broadway Biz, so exciting, because that's adding a whole other important area to focus on. And also the connections that we have with theater organizations around the community. We really, our goal at the very beginning was to bring the community together and really have a place for everyone.
Dori Berinstein:
It's just been a thrilling experience, and we are very deep into figuring out all sorts of innovative ways to help people through this difficult time as far as creating content that will entertain and distract as well as inform. There's so much new work that is going to be launched in the next few weeks by our podcast family that I think will mean a lot to everybody out there.
Hal Luftig - Host:
That's fantastic. It really is. So Dori, tell me, maybe I'm asking this for a little hint for myself, but in your opinion, what does make a great podcast?
Dori Berinstein:
I think that we have a high bar for having podcasts join the BPN family. I think that what we think about when we're evaluating whether or not to bring a podcast to the family is what is the voice, where is this, what is the person who is going to be hosting or putting this together, is it an area that they're passionate about, are they deeply committed to this, do they have a vision for how to put this together? It's a podcast that will engage, that will excite people and move people, and that people can get lost in. I think that we we have so many different podcasts. But each one is a very high quality, both as far as content goes and as far as audio goes with a little forgiveness during these remote captures that we're doing right now.
Dori Berinstein:
But I think it's a blend of all those different things, and it's not like every podcast has to appeal to everyone. There are podcasts that you're going to be obsessed with and other ones that will be fun to listen to now and then. But I think what we're excited about is when you come to the Broadway Podcast Network, because you already are following one podcast, are naturally going to discover all these other stories and podcasts that you're going to find interest in.
Dori Berinstein:
In terms of, and in answer to your question, to make sure that we have basically a portfolio of podcast options that appeal to everyone. Something that is inviting and accessible and engaging and with a strong voice, which you have, Hal. So we are so excited to have you as a new podcaster on BPN.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Well, thank you Dori. I hope to do you proud. And this has been so much fun. But like all good things, it has to come to an end. But I could talk to you forever and ever. But to finish, and you're not off the hook yet, to finish I'm going to ask you three rapid fire questions that I'll be asking to every guest that I have on my show. What I want you to do is I'm going to ask the question, and I want you to give me the first answer that pops into your head. This is spontaneous. And I don't want you to think much about it. Don't overthink, just answer, okay?
Dori Berinstein:
Okay.
Hal Luftig - Host:
What is your favorite musical? I know.
Dori Berinstein:
It's a blend. It starts out with Thoroughly Modern Millie and it flows into Legally Blonde, and then at the end of it is The Prom. I would watch that musical over and over and over again.
Hal Luftig - Host:
That was a really well crafted answer, I must say. I just wanted to add to that, I could watch The Prom every day for the rest of my life. It was one of the most fun evenings in the theater that I had in a long time. Okay, next one. What is the wackiest moment you've experienced in the theater?
Dori Berinstein:
There are so many. But the wackiest moment that I have experienced in the theater is when I had ... How do I say this? There was a producer on a show, a limited partner producer on a show that felt very strongly that a scene that we had in the show, it would just elevate the whole thing if we were to have an animal in the scene. And Hal, I think you know what I'm talking about. I'm not going to be more specific than that. But it was a very long, arduous, challenging discussion. Because when you think about it from the business of Broadway perspective, bringing an animal into a scene that would require a trainer, that would require food, that would require where do you put the animal, and does the animal have an understudy. And all the different ramifications of bringing an animal into a scene, and how we had to talk this wonderful partner off of this idea. That was a very wacky and challenging thing, and they were coming from such a good, positive place, and I totally respect the idea. But wearing a business hat, I'm not sure this fell in the category that it would have made the musical, if you know what I mean.
Hal Luftig - Host:
That's a great, great answer. My final one for you, taking what you just told about the animal, which I think is hilarious, the question is, and the lesson learned from this was ...
Dori Berinstein:
The lesson is, stop and think and be a responsible producer, and you might get swept up in an idea, like yes, bringing an animal into the scene could make it really cool and fabulous, but is it the right thing to do? Is it fiscally responsible, just really try to be wise and thoughtful and look out for the bottom line of your show, because while doing that you're looking out for all of your producers, co-producers, you're looking out for your investors, and that in turn will be taking good care of your audience when you do that.
Hal Luftig - Host:
[inaudible 00:45:37] That was great. Well thank you so much, Dori, for being my first guest. This has been so much fun.
Dori Berinstein:
Thank you Hal. And good luck with your podcast. You're going to kill it. It's going to be amazing.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Thank you. Big kiss.
Hal Luftig - Host:
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Broadway Biz. If you have any questions about today's episode or the business of Broadway in general, let me know on Instagram @broadwaybizpodcast, or be email at broadwaybiz@halluftig.com. Be sure to follow me @broadwaybizpodcast for updates on everything Broadway Biz, the business of Broadway. Broadway Biz is part of the Broadway Podcast Network. Huge thanks to Dori Berinstein, Alan Seales, and Britney Bigelow. This has been produced by Dylan Marie Parent and Kevin Connor and edited by Derek Gunther. Our fabulous theme music is by [Annelle 00:46:41] Benjamin and Laurence O'Keefe.
Hal Luftig - Host:
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