New Bea Arthur Documentary Will Screen at The New School

DancinDan Productions and Daryl Roth in Partnership with The School of Drama at The New School and the Ali Forney Center have just announced the NYC screening of Bea Arthur: The Documentary – “I’VE DONE EVERYTHING BUT PORN,” a new feature documentary offering an intimate and revealing portrait of the Emmy and Tony Award-winning performer Bea Arthur on Sunday, October 25th at 3pm at John L. Tishman Auditorium at The New School (63 Fifth Avenue, New York City)

At the heart of the documentary is a never-before-seen interview with Arthur, offering audiences a rare opportunity to hear the famously private star reflect on her life, work and extraordinary career in her own words. Her recollections are paired with new interviews with friends, colleagues and collaborators who knew and worked with her throughout the decades including Chita Rivera, Sheldon Harnick, Austin Pendleton, Adrienne Barbeau, Rosie O’Donnell and many more.

From her formative years at The New School and early work off-Broadway to Broadway, cabaret and television stardom, the film traces Arthur’s unconventional path to becoming one of entertainment’s most distinctive—and beloved—performers.

Daryl Roth stats: “I was honored when Bea asked me to produce her one woman show  “Bea Arthur on Broadway.”  It was a joy to see audiences overwhelmingly embrace her humor and heart and she loved every minute!

This documentary created with love and respect  offers a very personal look at Bea’s early career and how she became so beloved by so many!”

Bea Arthur: The Documentary – “I’VE DONE EVERYTHING BUT PORN” goes beyond the characters audiences thought they knew. The film reveals a more personal Bea Arthur: intensely private yet remarkably compassionate, wickedly funny, fiercely intelligent and deeply committed to causes she believed in. Among them was her longtime advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community, a relationship that made Arthur an enduring and beloved figure for generations of LGBTQ+ fans.

Watt says: “She was the tall, hilariously brassy woman people recognized from the stage and screen, yet she was also deeply sensitive, vulnerable and compassionate.  This film gives her the space to tell her own story while those who knew her best revealing the woman behind that commanding public persona.”

Audiences will revisit Arthur’s iconic roles as the outspoken, fiercely independent Maude Findlay in Maude, and the gloriously deadpan Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls. The documentary also explores Arthur’s celebrated stage career, including her Tony Award-winning performance as Vera Charles in Mame, and the one-woman shows that brought her back to the stage later in life.

The screening will be at The New School, where Bea began her career. 

Produced by 2024 Emmy Award–winner Dan Watt and Tony & Pulitzer Prize–winner Daryl Roth, the documentary celebrates an artist whose fearless comedy, commanding presence and uncompromising individuality made her an American icon.

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