''Stage Fright'' is a 1989

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

produced and directed by Brad Mays and written by Stanley Keyes. It was director Mays' debut film, and it had its premiere screening at the 1989

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

under the auspices of the

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

. It is a fictionalized account of the trials and tribulations of a

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

-based

experimental theatre Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Richard Wagner, Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu Roi, Ubu plays as a rejection of bot ...

company called Storefront Theatre, loosely fashioned after the now-defunct

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

theatre company Corner Theatre ETC.

Background

Playwright Stanley Keyes, who had once been associated with

's Corner Theatre ETC and was now living and working in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, approached his friend and fellow Baltimore transplant, director Brad Mays, about working on a film together. The two threw around a number of ideas, finally settling in 1986 on the notion of co-writing a farcical script based on their mutual experiences at Corner Theatre, during the late sixties and early seventies. Corner Theatre ETC was an experimental company, where the offbeat and untried was encouraged, thus attracting a good number of offbeat individuals who were, as often as not, as much interested in kicks as in creating interesting theatre. Keyes and Mays made a list of the various artists from their past who might be successfully fictionalized into a story centered on a new play that is experiencing the sort of difficulties they had both experienced back in their Corner Theatre days. By early 1987, a shooting script had been produced.

Plot

The story revolves around notorious playwright Grayson Osterman (Rick Hammontree), who after a long hiatus, has returned with a shocking new play, ''Malaise'', based a somewhat degenerate reading of ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a 1900 children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the ma ...

''.The company's director, Broderick Kands (Greg McClure), is based on the director of the film itself, who makes a brief appearance in the opening scene. When one of the play's leading actors has a complete nervous breakdown just three days before opening, the group must recast the role and work around the clock to get the play ready for a much-heralded premiere.

Cast

* Rick Hammontree as Grayson Osterman * Susan Rome as Laurie Glenn * Gregory McClure as Broderick Kands (as Greg McClure) * Marcy Emmer as Frannie Goodman * David Caltrider as Chuck Pines * Lisa Green as Janice * Derek Neal as Skip Scriven * Arthur Laupus as Crazy Otto * Nina Ruttlage as Beth * Aaron Marcus as Jeff * Martha Saunders as Nurse * Donna Sherman as Shelly * James D'Angelo as Dick Rosenbloom

Misc

* "American Independents in Berlin" - The Edge ''Berlin's Largest English Language Newspaper,'' Issue 8, February 16-March 1 * American Independents - 1989 Berlin Film Festival - Festival Brochure - Copyright 1989 - page 25

References

External links

* * {{tcmdb title, 501904, Stage Fright 1989 films American independent films Films directed by Brad Mays 1980s English-language films 1980s American films