Interview: Matthew D. Kallis of “Most Valuable Players”

Posted on March 2, 2012 at 3:55 pm

Producer/Director Matthew D. Kallis answered my questions about Most Valuable Players, the marvelous documentary about three high school teams competing for the Freddy Awards, given for the best high school musical productions. I asked him about his favorite musicals and what kids learn from putting on a show.

How did you decide to make this film?

I grew up in an environment where the arts were held in high esteem, and I was on the stage crew when I was in school. So this subject matter was a good fit for me. When I learned about the Freddy Awards, I was very impressed that this region of America, that’s so very sports-centric, would devote these kinds of resources and support to the arts. It was a story I felt needed to be told.

What impact did the creation of the Freddy awards have on Pennsylvania theater programs and why?

It has increased awareness of high school performingarts. Because the Freddy Awards is televised live, residents of the area flock to see all the shows, so they can judge the competition for themselves. The schools are seeing an increased interest and more revenue as a result. Like any trophy, the Freddy Award brings about a certain amount of respect for the winning schools. Easton Area High School, for instance, was facing a budget cut that would have wiped out their performing arts program. But when the school won the Freddy for Best Overall Musical (for RAGTIME), the school board reversed its decision. The Freddys have had a real, tangible impact on the arts.

Do you have a favorite musical?

This is a really tough question since there are so many musicals that I love for different reasons. Although many newer musicals are superb, like THE DROWSY CHAPERONE and SPRING AWAKENING, I am still quite nostalgic about the classics. The first opportunity I had to see musicals was in films like CAMELOT, FUNNY GIRL and THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Later, my parents took me to New York where I saw great Broadway productions of MAN OF LA MANCHA, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF andmore. I was hooked. As a teenager, I saw THE WHO performing TOMMY, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR at the Hollywood Bowl, Tim Curry in THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW at the Roxy on Sunset Boulevard, and A CHORUS LINE on Broadway. I just don’t know how to pick a favorite from the list.

However, if I must select a one, I guess it will have to be OKLAHOMA! Of course, it is a great musical, but that is not the main reason. When I was still in elementary school, my brother and sister allowed me to tag along with them to see a performance of OKLAHOMA! at Beverly Hills High School. I was so impressed with the amazing production values and all the talented kids. Everything seemed so dazzlingly professional. I knew I wanted to part of it, and that is why I joined the stage crew. The experience was fantastic. Making MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS allowed me to relive those wonderful times vicariously through the kids that participate in the Freddy Awards program.

While most teens are listening to hip-hop and pop, what keeps drawing some kids to traditional Broadway show tunes?

Kids today are being brought up on different kinds of showtunes. AMERICAN IDIOT, NEXT TO NORMAL, IN THE HEIGHTS or even THE BOOK OF MORMON, as examples, all have a cool, modern vibe to them with all sorts of influences. As a result, these musical scores might pique their interest in other, more classic, Broadway shows.

What are the most important lessons high schoolers learn from putting on musical shows?

There are lots of important lessons. They learn about responsibility and deadlines. They learn about cooperation and teamwork. Also, high school students can apply many of their reading, writing and arithmetic skills. For instance, building sets takes an understanding of math and physics. Scripts have to be read, analyzed and interpreted. There are all different skills being used in the theater, so the list of educational benefits goes on and on.

What is the biggest challenge for school performing arts programs?

The biggest challenge remains staying alive. Arts programs are always at the top of any “cut list” come budget crunch time. It’s important that school boards and administrators understand that there’s more to the musical than just song and dance. Yet arts programs must also learn to be more self-sufficient if they plan to survive. Many of the schools featured in MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS get no money from their schools. They raise all the funds on their own, which puts them in a more powerful position.

Undefeated

Posted on March 1, 2012 at 6:30 pm

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for some language
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	References to substance abuse
Violence/ Scariness:	Sports injuries, references to violence
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	March 2, 2012
Amazon.com ASIN:	B005S9EITC

Bill Courtney, a successful white businessman, coaches an underdog football team at an inner city high school in an Oscar-winning documentary that quickly transcends the risks of sports cliché and racially treacherous noblesse oblige. Like the wonderful “The Heart of the Game” it is a powerful reminder of the difference one person can make — and of the consequences when no one is willing to make that difference.

Manassas High School in North Memphis has never made the play-offs since it was founded in 1899. Neither the school nor its students have the resources of their opposing teams. Courtney sums up his situation to his players: Two have been shot and are no longer in school. Two others were fighting and another was arrested for shooting someone. “For most coaches, that would be a career’s worth of crap,” he says. “I think that sums up the last two weeks for me.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckku5qEt-vA

Courtney volunteers his time and an even more precious gift — he truly gives his heart to his players. He has a lot to teach them about practice and plays and teamwork, but the most important lessons come from his own example of indefatigable dedication to his team. He is fully present for them in a way that is infinitely touching. They can never give less than their best because they see him giving his every day.

The movie focuses on three players. One is returning to the team after some time in juvie for problems caused because he cannot control his rage and seems to have no inclination to try. Another is a strong player who will need to get his grades up if he wants to qualify for a college scholarship. And the third is an honor student who wants a football scholarship but is sidelined with an injury just as he needs to show the scouts he can play. Courtney’s passionate commitment makes the difference, sometimes by just being there, sometimes by bringing in some extra help. When he has some good news for one of his players, there is not a dry eye on the field — or in the audience.

“You think football builds character,” he tells the team. “It does not. It reveals character.” That is true of the players and the coach as well.

Parents should know that this film has some strong language and some sad situations including the loss of a parent and a sports injury, as well as references to substance abuse and violence.

Family discussion: Do you agree with Courtney’s decision at the end of the season? What was the most important lesson his team learned from him and what is the most important lesson he learned from them? What can Courtney’s example inspire you to do?

If you like this, try: The Heart of the Game

Interview: Katie Wexler of MVP

Posted on March 1, 2012 at 8:00 am

Katie Wexler is one of the stars of Most Valuable Players, a sensational new documentary about three high school teams competing to win the Freddy Awards for theatrical productions. The Freddys are like the high school version of the Tony Awards. The movie shows that musical theater can be as thrillingly suspenseful and wildly entertaining backstage as it is from a front-row seat. Katie answered my questions about her dream role, her biggest challenge, and the best advice she ever got about performing.

What’s your favorite role that you’ve played and what’s one you wish you could play?

Picking a favorite role is tough! I always equate working on a show to gaining a best friend in the character you’re playing, and then never getting to spend time with them once the show closes. It sounds mildly morbid I guess, but that’s the kind of bond I form with the leading ladies I’ve played. I think I’d have to say I had the most fun playing Dot in Sunday in the Park with George. She is fiesty and hilarious and the range of growth she experiences throughout the show is tremendous, challenging, and an incredible ride for the actress on board. I am getting ready to work on Reno inAnything Goes in the spring time and she may give Dot a run for her money in the feisty department, so we’ll see how I feel come April!

Now dream role? Well, that’s every actor’s favorite question! No brainer. Eva Peron in Evita. And not the movie-Madonna-stuff…I mean Patti LuPone-Tony-Award-winning stuff!

Do you have a favorite musical?

I pace back and forth on the favorite musical spectrum between Sweeney Todd and1776. So, either a vengeful-murdering-singing-barber or singing-dancing-founding fathers. See? How can you not love musical theatre?!

What surprised you when you first began to learn about Broadway musical theater?

Hmm. “Broadway” musical theatre is such a teensy tiny microcosm of the art form ‘musical theatre’. There are brilliant musical theatre productions both old and new being mounted all over the United States in regional theatres, even some that tour through it! Broadway is only the tip of this wonderful iceberg. The regional theatres that adapt, engineer, and re-engineer timeless favorites, as well as invent new pieces that may make their way to Broadway, all over the country are the unsung heroes of the musical theatre world, I think.

What has been your biggest challenge as a performer?

Letting go. And whatever ‘letting go’ means on that day; whether it’s leaving behind stress, a terrible day, letting go of preconceived notions of what is ‘silly’ or feels uncomfortable. Letting go of insecurities and trusting yourself, fellow actors, and directors is so important. There’s really no room once you’re in the rehearsal space for anything else but letting go to the show or the piece and letting the work have an untainted life of its own.

What’s the best advice you ever got about performing?

Embrace your own uniqueness. The sooner a performer is ok with who they are; I mean fully come to terms with flaws, insecurities, weaknesses, strengths, and skills, and like it. Love it! Our job is to honestly portray humans on stage and what a better well to draw inspiration from than the life you know best—your own!

Do the Freddy Awards create too much pressure or do they inspire kids to do their best?

As far as my experiences have informed me, there are no negative consequences of the Freddy Awards. Of course some people will take competitive situations to the next level, but that’s any situation in life. It’s no different from kid’s pitting rival sports teams against each other in high school, it’s another way we motivate ourselves to do better. I know concerns had been expressed that theatre was such a different medium than sports that to “judge” and “win” were somehow bad words to qualify an art form, but from my experiences in the theatre both at the college level and professionally, it is painfully competitive out there just as much for actors as it is for professional athletes. High school thespians deserve their moment in the limelight for all the heart and time those kids put into the productions, and the Freddy’s has done a great job at giving it to them. If a little competition brings the community into the process and pushes these young artists to work harder, I say no harm no foul!

Tomorrow: An interview with Producer/Director Matthew Kallis.

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Documentary

The Loving Story

Posted on February 14, 2012 at 12:48 pm

Tonight HBO premieres a new documentary about one of the most important marriages in American history. And their name was Loving.

They should have been able to have the quiet life they hoped for. Mildred and Richard Loving were residents of Virginia who were married in the District of Columbia in 1958. The law of their home state prohibited marriage between people of different races. Mildred was black and Native American and Richard was white.

Police broke into their Virginia home while they were asleep in bed and accused them of the crime of sex outside of marriage. Mrs. Loving pointed to their marriage certificate on the wall in their defense, but that constituted another crime, the crime of miscegenation, a felony punishable with up to five years in prison. They were sentenced to a year in prison, suspended on the condition that they leave the state.

The case filed by the ACLU went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in 1967 that miscegenation laws violated the United States Constitution.

Marriage is one of the “basic civil rights of man,” fundamental to our very existence and survival…. To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State’s citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discrimination. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.

They were together until Mr. Loving was killed in an automobile accident in 1975. Mrs. Loving made a rare public statement in 2007 in support of extending the same right granted to her by the Supreme Court to gay couples. She died the following year.

Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.

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Documentary Television

Martin Luther King: Movies to Celebrate His Legacy

Posted on January 15, 2012 at 8:00 am

Today we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King and every family should take time to talk about this great American leader and hero of the Civil Rights Movement. There are outstanding films and other resources for all ages.

Every family should watch the magnificent movie Boycott, starring Jeffrey Wright as Dr. King. And every family should study the history of the Montgomery bus boycott that changed the world.

It is important to note that he was not asking for complete desegregation; that seemed too unrealistic a goal. This website has video interviews with the people who were there. This newspaper article describes Dr. King’s meeting with the bus line officials. And excellent teaching materials about the Montgomery bus boycott are available, including the modest and deeply moving reminder to the boycotters once segregation had been ruled unconstitutional that they should “demonstrate calm dignity,” “pray for guidance,” and refrain from boasting or bragging.

Families should also read They Walked To Freedom 1955-1956: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Paul Winfield has the lead in King, a brilliant and meticulously researched NBC miniseries co-starring Cecily Tyson that covers Dr. King’s entire career.

The Long Walk Home, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Sissy Spacek, makes clear that the boycott was a reminder to black and white women of their rights and opportunities — and risk of change.

Citizen King is a PBS documentary with archival footage of Dr. King and his colleagues. Martin Luther King Jr. – I Have a Dream has his famous speech in full, still one of the most powerful moments in the history of oratory and one of the most meaningful moments in the history of freedom.

For children, Our Friend, Martin and Martin’s Big Words are a good introduction to Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement.