This is a balanced, well done, informative documentary on the life of impresario Garth Drabinski. It was especially interesting to me because I knew Drabinski, covered many of his media events, interviewed his stars and reviewed his shows. The program moves along briskly with many clips of Drabinski, his allies and his foes, old newsclips and snippets of his big shows. It is balanced and fair. Oddly, I covered Drabinski in Toronto and now live ten minutes from the prison where he is doing his time. (I wondered if he might be watching it and what he may have thought about it. But since Corrections Canada has cut out the premium cable channels in the prison system, he probably was not.) There are some gaps, presumably because people did not want to be interviewed. Where was Rebecca Caine, the first Christine in Phantom, Colm Wilkinson, Mel Lastman who as mayor of North York worked closely with Drabinski in constructing the theatre where ShowBoat and Ragtime played and Drabinski's long time companion and publicist Linda Friendly. The program is neatly divided into four sections: Drabinski's beginnings, the Cineplex years, the Livent years and the trial and sentence. There also is an effective denouement with clips, pro and con, from many of those involved. This is an interesting and well produced doc for anybody. But it is especially compelling for those of us who lived and/or worked in Toronto media during the spectacular Drabinski decade. Well worth watching and an important contribution to the historical record!
