Taking place every year in October, the HIFF is among the biggest events in the film industry. This year, there seems to be a familiar rhythm of narratives about Manhattan, especially in the New York theater industry. The footage from Time Square during the 1970s and late ‘60s would be a great place to start, showing the rats and garbage-filled streets with sex worker promenading in peep shows marquees.

In “On Broadway”, his richly illustrated documentary, Oren Jacoby shows the ups and hard moments of modern Broadway. The documentary is well put together in a story showing renaissance, cleaned-up midtown, and the booming tourist trade. Its conclusion shows Broadway’s current state – a gaudy of endless circus of consumer branding with a bit of perfunctory displeasure over losing its grit.

The documentary titled “On Broadway” was unveiled at the Hamptons International Film Festival this year. This film is thoroughly fun with fairly thin cheerleading, though it boasts of ravishing footage. Theoretically, “On Broadway” was created as a two-hander, showing both the early life in the city and also the current situation.

In the main storyline, you get a rundown of the city’s history from 1969 to date, as told by theater experts like directors George C.Wolfe and Daniel Sullivan. Several A-list performers like Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen, and Hugh Jackman were part of the documentary, while odd journalist Michael Riedel was thrown in to create a broader context.

To demonstrate to the viewers how the show is made in Broadway, Jacoby occasionally cuts back to behind-the-scenes footage. This footage was shot during the premiere of “The Nap” – a 2018 Richard Bean Comedy – and also during the rehearsals. However, history takes a major part of the running time and also the viewer’s attention. That is mostly due to Jacoby’s skillful use of anecdotes and archival footage that illustrate different signposts along the way.

In general, the documentary is at its best when delivering theatrical lore, especially those that involve surprise discoveries. Some facts are fairly known, like how Lin-Manuel Miranda unveiled his first number in the Hamilton before it was a play at an event in the White House. This story is worth retelling for its curious immediacy and also the laughter that greets Miranda after informing the audience that he’s been working on the rap about Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton.

As part of the storytelling, this documentary occasionally references tensions from the rah-rah narrative of the city’s return from the dead. A part of that comes from protests that too many shows based on a movie were either jukebox musicals or imported from London.  A lot of people raised concerns about some of the changes, citing they were threatening to transform a vibrant community to a theme park.

Jacoby’s movie is like an advertisement on the glories of Broadway, which the New York tourism board can use to entice people all over the world to see. However, it doesn’t dig deeply into a lot of issues that Jacoby references, especially the way the audience has changed from the locals to tourists and the inflationary rise of ticket prices. Nonetheless, what the film lacks in art is well compensated in the razzle-dazzle.