Fans of the Fox TV Show Glee will find the warmhearted musical documentary, Most Valuable Players, equally infectious. Enthusiastic and talented students, from three regional high school theater troupes in Pennsylvania, are followed as they rehearse their roles, and, until they perform on opening night. Ultimately, each school will compete against each other for an end of the year Tony-like award ceremony, called the FREDDYS.
Matthew D. Kallis’ first documentary feature, Most Valuable Players, conveys his personal passion for school-based art programs. The filmmaker laments, that “when school budgets shrink, the first thing that gets cut is the arts.”
Kallis points out the valuable life skills gained from school-sponsored sports, such as goal-setting and self-esteem building, are also developed in performing arts programs. He further adds “the arts are the perfect way to help apply the more basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic.”
Most Valuable Players is premiering at the IDA’s 14th Annual DocuWeeks™ Theatrical Documentary Showcase. The documentary will screen August 6 through 12 at the IFC Center in New York City, and August 13 through 19 at the Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles.
The F Word
Pennsylvania’s high school sports-obsessed LeHigh Valley has become the epic center of competitive high school musical theater productions. Out of 27 regional high schools that compete for the annual Freddy Award nominations, the journey of three are randomly spotlighted, -Emmus, Parkland and Freedom.
Shelley Brown, former local television on-air talent, was the first to recognize the impressive school productions that, thanks to the community’s all-consuming appetite for high school sports, were left unnoticed. After joining the board of The State Theatre Center for the Arts, Brown conceived an awards ceremony to increase community awareness and grant recognition to the area’s high school musical productions, especially their student cast members.
Brown, now the CEO of the local historical venue, named the awards after State Theatre’s former manager from the 40’s, Fred J. Osterstock, whose ghost said to look after the theater’s cast and crew. Each May, since 2003, the Freddy Awards have been aired live on local television and streamed on the internet to eager audiences.
Theater Is A Team Sport
At Freedom High School, drama teacher and theater director, Jennifer Wescoe works with her student cast and crew for the 60’s Broadway-premiered musical, Bye Bye Birdie. The school’s long-standing soccer star and drama student newbie, John Andreadis has the leading role. While, the shy Amanda Kostalis, Freedom’s veteran actress for all her four years, lights up the stage as his leading lady.
Both Parkland and Emmus are staging Les Misérables, as well as performing the musical on the same weekend. While perhaps unintentional, these parallel productions heat up the already intense rivalry between the two high schools. Nevertheless, competing theater directors, Mark Stutz and Jill Kuebler, prepare their troupes.
In the end, all three high schools receive 16 nominations each. Now the students combine their singing and dancing talents for the musical performances designed for the awards show. Despite their competition for individual awards as well as for best overall production, the students rally together in the camaraderie so encouraged by their arts education.
The Cast and Crew of Most Valuable Players
Most Valuable Players features Rita Cortez, Vic Kumma, Amanda Kostalis, Jennifer Wescoe, Ali Mosser, Katie Wexler, Shelley Brown, Jill Kuebler, Zachary Gibson, Frank Anonia, Mark Stutz and John Andreadis.
Directed by Matthew D. Kallis. Written by Christopher Lockhart. Cinematography by Curt Apduhan. Editing by Zack Braff. Original music by Randy Miller. Sound production by Ken King. Produced by Matthew D. Kallis and Christopher Lockhart, (Canyonback Films).
(Running Time: 96 min)
(Not Rated.)
