Such feelings aren't strictly limited to teenagers. People emerging from bouts of depression sometimes feel a rush of optimism at the mere hint that they could be enjoying a normal day. Others, who have lost someone (or something) precious, suddenly find themselves smiling or laughing out loud at a joke and realize how long it's been since they've felt that way. One need only remember Dolly Levi's words to recall how important that sense of excitement and exhilaration can be to one's well-being.
“Every night, I've put out the cat, made myself a rum toddy, and, before I went to bed, said a little prayer thanking God that I was independent, that no one else's life was mixed up with mine. Then, one night, an oak leaf fell out of my Bible. I placed it there when you asked me to marry you. A perfectly good oak leaf, but without color and without life. And I suddenly realized that I was like that leaf. For years I had not shed one tear, nor had I been filled with the wonderful hope that something or other would turn out well. And so I've decided to rejoin the human race.”I recently witnessed two characters go through a similar transformation under vastly different circumstances. One was a young man on a diplomatic mission who couldn't understand what he was feeling after meeting an attractive woman. Luckily for him, Irving Berlin was more than happy to put his emotions into their proper context.
The other was a young man trapped in a small seaside town who knew he was gay, but also understood that he needed to leave home if he was ever to blossom. With his parents' blessing, he grabbed onto the closest shooting star and took a gigantic risk. And no, the film I'm referring to is most definitely not Call Me By Your Name.
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Seen during the 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival, Dominique Choisy's wry comedy entitled My Life With James Dean features a cluster of intersecting relationships with more than a hint of craziness. Set in the tiny seaside town of Le Tréport on the coast of Normandy, its mischief and mayhem begin as gay filmmaker Géraud Champreux (Johnny Rasse) arrives in town on a bus to attend a screening of his film (also titled My Life With James Dean). As he rises from his seat to help an older woman reach her luggage, a little boy who has been staring at him reaches down and swipes Géraud's cell phone. A few minutes later, a car drives by with the boy leaning out the rear window and grinning triumphantly as he waves the stolen phone at Géraud (whose childhood imaginary friend was none other than James Dean). |
| Poster art for My Life With James Dean |
That seemingly insignificant incident is just the beginning of Géraud's problems. Upon registering at the Hotel de Calais, he is greeted by a strange bookworm named Gladys (Juliette Damiens), whose vague responses mask the fact that she is an aspiring actress obsessed with the role of Nina in Anton Chekhov's 1896 play, The Seagull. Trapped in the middle of nowhere while trying to pay for her acting classes by working as a receptionist, Gladys turns out to be full of surprises.
After wondering why no one met him at the bus station, Géraud finds his way to the casino which hosts the cinema. The theatre's house manager, Jimmy (Yannick Becquelin), warns the filmmaker not to expect a large crowd since local audiences only turn out for comedies and American action films. Although the sole ticket buyer is a plainly-dressed elderly woman, the strapping tall projectionist, Balthazar (Mickaël Pelissier), watches the film intently and ends up carrying the drunk filmmaker from the theatre back to his hotel where, with help from Gladys, he puts the sleeping Géraud to bed.
The next morning, Géraud (who is often called Jerome by mistake) finally meets the cinema's distraught owner, Sylvia van den Rood (Nathalie Richard), who has booked his "dangerous" film into three theatres along the coast. Sylvia failed to meet him the previous night because she was having an emotional meltdown and is still in a state of hysterics because her lesbian lover, Louise (Marie Vernalde), has suddenly broken up with her and gone back to her husband, Bertrand (Eric Goulouzelle).
Stranded in the middle of nowhere, Géraud tries using the hotel's phone to contact the star of his film, Ludwig (Tancredi Volpert), leaving messages promising that he'll find a gym to work on "this body that you love" while imploring his ex-boyfriend to drive to Le Tréport so they can spend some time together.
When Balthazar finally gets a chance to be alone with Géraud, he professes his undying love for the filmmaker (even though he has never told anyone he is gay and has never even had sex with another man). At the cinema that night, Balthazar is startled when his father, Maxence (Bertrand Belin), buys a ticket to see the film. When father and son join Gladys and Géraud for a post-screening drink at the casino, the good-natured Maxence toasts the filmmaker with the words "Here's to poofters!"
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| Balthazar, Maxence, Géraud, and Gladys enjoy a drink after a screening of My Life With James Dean |
The following morning Géraud is awakened by someone knocking on his door. Not only is Balthazar asleep on the floor in the hallway outside the filmmaker's room, Sylvia has a big problem on her hands. She's kidnapped Louise, drugged her, and left her tied to a chair in her living room with duct tape over her mouth. With the help of Balthazar, Gladys, and Géraud, Louise gets released from bondage as Sylvia cries "I kidnapped you and knocked you out because I can't imagine this home without you!" After the two women kiss and make up, Louise volunteers to drive the group to a screening in Crécy which draws a busload of 57 seniors.
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| Balthazar (Mickaël Pelissier), Sylvia van den Rood (Nathalie Richard), and Géraud Champreux (Johnny Rasse) in a scene from My Life With James Dean |
Gladys quickly warms to Tony (Julien Graux), the tall, kind man who runs the local retirement home. While waiting for the film to end, Balthazar receives a call from his father inviting everyone to brunch at their home the following day. Géraud asks Balthazar if he can borrow his cell phone to make a call and finally manages to connect with Ludwig. Soon after he finishes his call and hands the phone back to Balthazar, the projectionist presses the "redial" button and tells Ludwig that Géraud has met a young man, the two of them are very much in love, and Ludwig should leave his ex-boyfriend alone and just forget about him.
By the time the group returns to Le Tréport, a swarthy homeless man named Milad (Tajamul Faqiri-Choisy) -- who might be one of the many refugees in Calais -- has started cruising the filmmaker. Sylvia has continued trying to woo Louise back from her controlling husband. Gladys has fallen for Tony and, with the stubborn ardor of a teenager harboring a crush on an adult, Balthazar has fallen head over heels in love with the filmmaker. Géraud is just about to ask Balthazar if he has plans for that night when he spots Ludwig and instantly goes to greet him. The others start following the two men, curious to see if Géraud and Ludwig will spend the night together. Later that night, Géraud dreams that he is being seduced by the corpse-like ghost of James Dean.
The next morning, Géraud and Ludwig ride the funicular to the top of a local hill to say their goodbyes unaware that Balthazar is watching every move they make. After Ludwig gets into his wife's car and drives off, Géraud is surprised to encounter the young projectionist. Before they can kiss, the six-foot-tall Balthazar makes them change their positions on a flight of stairs so that he can be face-to-face with the smaller object of his desire.
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| Filmmaker Géraud Champreux (Johnny Basse) celebrates his newfound freedom in a scene from My Life With James Dean |
At brunch, Balthazar is beaming as he sits next to Géraud while his parents tease him about his fondness for coffee and shrimps. Then Maxence drops a bombshell, telling everyone that, starting Monday, his 15-year-old son (who grew more than 11 inches in five months) must return to middle school. The news that he is being chased by a giant child who is surprisingly mature for his age completely unnerves Géraud. Things only become worse when Maxence invites everyone to spend the afternoon on his fishing boat, where the filmmaker becomes seasick and starts hallucinating scenes from his next film.
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| Sylvia (Nathalie Richard) and Louise (Marie Vernalde) enjoy an afternoon on Maxence's boat in a scene from My Life With James Dean |
As the boat returns to its mooring, Sylvia and Louise spot Bertrand on the dock. Sensing trouble, Sylvia asks Gladys if she can drive Géraud to his film's final screening in Quend Plage. Crushed by rejection, Balthazar runs off in a huff. Before getting in the car, Gladys tells the projectionist's mother, Catherine (Sophie Matel), that she has an idea which might help.
Unfortunately, Gladys's car breaks down en route to Quend Plage and Géraud arrives just as the film is letting out. When he encounters the mysterious older woman who has attended each of his screenings, the audience discovers that she is Géraud’s estranged mother (Françoise Lebrun), whom he has not seen in nine years. After Gladys drives Géraud back to Le Tréport, she calls Catherine to let her know that they have returned to town. In a little while, Catherine arrives with Balthazar clutching a suitcase and gives him her blessing, promising to explain what has happened to Maxence. The projectionist goes up to Géraud's hotel room, and despite the older man's protestations, undresses and starts kissing the filmmaker, proving that he is definitely not a child.
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| Balthazar (Mickaël Pelissier) and Géraud Champreux (Johnny Basse) in a scene from My Life With James Dean |
The next morning, the two men are awakened by Sylvia, who once again is hysterical (Louise has gone back to Bertrand). As Géraud is about to follow Balthazar onto the bus to Lyons, Tony stops him, warmly embracing the filmmaker, and reminding him to make Balthazar's favorite breakfast dish (coffee and shrimps) for his son. At the last moment, Milad rushes onto the bus while fleeing the police. My Life with James Dean ends with a clip from Géraud's next film, a Bollywood-style musical called The Maharajah and the Seagulls.
Dominique Choisy's film is an intricate coming out/coming of age story which does a splendid job of mixing drama with farce. While it's easy to miss some of the cues and clues being laid down as the film unfolds, I found My Life With James Dean to be far more invigorating, intriguing, and fulfilling than the film adaptation of André Aciman's novel, Call Me By Your Name. Although no trailer is available at present, the film was sold to a distributor during the festival and should come out within a year.
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Founded in 1993 with the goal of revisiting "neglected" Broadway musicals from the past, 42nd Street Moon, has evolved from concert-style performances to fully-staged productions over the past 25 years. Having recently taken on the managerial responsibilities for the Gateway Theatre (its home for the past 15 years), the current leadership team of Daren A. C. Carollo and Daniel Thomas has decided to maximize the venue's usage. As the company's production values have grown increasingly ambitious, the two men have elected to fill the auditorium on certain "dark" nights with the same kind of concert performances that got the company started.The company recently offered two performances of Call Me Madam, Irving Berlin's 1950 musical that was inspired by Washington's Perle Mesta (who had been appointed as the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg). With Ethel Merman starring as the brassy Sally Adams, the show opened with "The Hostess With The Mostess." The musical's book (by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse) poked fun at Washington's fatuous combination of ignorance and financial generosity. Nearly 70 years after the show first opened at the Imperial Theatre on October 12, 1950, the script still features a clueless Congressman whose sole purpose is to remind people that he is a Republican and plenty of jokes about the political culture in the nation's capitol which show that nothing much has changed.
Berlin's scores offers plenty of appealing tunes (Call Me Madam was made into a 1953 movie musical starring Merman, George Sanders, Donald O'Connor, Billy DeWolfe, and Vera-Ellen). While the show was a perfect vehicle for a belter like Merman (whose understudy on Broadway was Elaine Stritch), not everyone had the vocal fortitude of the Merm (as evidenced in the following clip from a 1966 segment of The Andy Williams Show).
In September of 2009, 42nd Street Moon presented a semi-staged version of Call Me Madam starring Klea Blackhurst in the role created by Merman. Directed and choreographed by Cindy Goldfield (with Dave Dobrusky as music director), and starring Stephanie Prentice as Sally Adams, the company's recent performances featured Michael Patrick Gaffney (doubling as Henry Gibson and Grand Duke Otto), company co-founder Stephanie Rhoads as Grand Duchess Sophie, and Scott Maraj as the meddling Sebastian Sebastian. Andrew Mondello portrayed the lovesick Kenneth Gibson with Amanda Johnson revealing a lovely soprano as Princess Maria.
The performance included two delightful vocal surprises. As Cosmo Constantine, Will Giammona (who is frequently seen in productions at New Conservatory Theatre Center) had a chance to show off his beautiful baritone to much greater advantage than usual. Stephanie Prentice (who is not a belter in the Merman/Blackhurst style) delivered a much more tender and feminine portrayal of Sally Adams, which made the character seem a lot less ballsy and helped transform Sally into a more intuitive and sensitive woman.
Irving Berlin's score (which includes such oddities as "Washington Square Dance," "The Ocarina," "Can You Use Any Money Today?" and "They Like Ike") is also filled with romantic ballads such as "Marrying For Love and "The Best Thing For You (Would Be Me)." In addition to 'You're Just In Love," the other song from Call Me Madam which became a popular hit (back in the day when Broadway show tunes entered the popular culture through radio) is "It's A Lovely Day Today" -- a song which never fails to put a smile on a listener's face (note Irving Berlin's face on the sheet music Vera-Ellen holds in the following clip from the movie).
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