''Stage Mother'' is a 2020 Canadian

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film directed by

Thom Fitzgerald Thomas "Thom" Fitzgerald (born July 8, 1968) is an American-Canadian film and theatre director, screenwriter, playwright and producer. Life Fitzgerald was born and raised in New Rochelle, New York. His parents divorced when he was five years ol ...

, from a screenplay by Brad Hennig. The film stars

Jacki Weaver Jacqueline Ruth Weaver (born 25 May 1947) is an Australian theatre, film, and television actress. Her accolades include five AACTA Awards (including the Longford Lyell Award) and a National Board of Review Award, in addition to nominations ...

Lucy Liu Lucy Alexis Liu (; born December 2, 1968) is an American actress, producer, and artist. Widely regarded as a trailblazer for Asian Americans in arts and entertainment, Asian American representation in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, she is t ...

Adrian Grenier Adrian Sean Grenier (born July 10, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Vincent Chase in the television series '' Entourage'' (2004–2011). He has appeared in films such as '' Drive Me Crazy'' (1999), '' The Devil ...

, Mya Taylor, Allister MacDonald, Oscar Moreno and

Jackie Beat Jackie Beat (born July 24, 1963) is the drag persona of actor, singer, songwriter and screenwriter Kent Fuher. Beat has appeared in a number of independent feature films both in and out of drag, including '' Wigstock: The Movie'', '' Flawless'', ...

. ''Stage Mother'' had its world premiere at the

Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 19 ...

on January 4, 2020 and was released in the United States on August 21, 2020 by

Momentum Pictures Momentum Pictures was a film distributor owned by Entertainment One, a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios. Prior to 2013, it was a brand of Canadian distributor Alliance Films used for its releases in the United Kingdom, and was one of the leading ...

Premise

The story follows a conservative

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

choir director who inherits a drag club in San Francisco started by her deceased son, from whom she was estranged after he

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

as gay.

Cast

as Maybelline Metcalf ** Sofia Banzhaf as young Maybelline Metcalf *

as Sienna *

as Nathan * Mya Taylor as Cherry Poppins * Allister MacDonald as Joan of Arkansas * Oscar Moreno as Tequila Mockingbird *

as Dusty Muffin *

Lenore Zann Lenore Zann (born November 22, 1959) is a Canadian actress and politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Cumberland—Colchester in the House of Commons of Canada as a member of the Liberal Party. Before ent ...

as Bevette *

Anthony Skordi Anthony George Skordi is a British-American actor. He is best known for his roles as Admiral Garrick Versio in ''Star Wars Battlefront II (2017 video game), Star Wars Battlefront II'', and The Dealer in the ''Hand of Fate (video game), Hand of F ...

as August * Hugh Thompson as Jeb Metcalf * Eldon Thiele as Ricky Metcalf * Callum Dunphy as Chappy

Production

In May 2018, it was announced that

, and

Taye Diggs Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs (né Berry; born January 2, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the Broadway musicals '' Rent'' and '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'', the TV series '' Private Practice'' (2007–2013), '' Murder in ...

had signed on to appear in the film, with filming set to take place in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, Canada. However, Diggs had to drop out of the production due to scheduling conflicts. Filming took place in late 2018.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

on January 4, 2020. Shortly after,

acquired distribution rights to the film, and set it for an August 21, 2020, release.

References

External links

* {{Thom Fitzgerald 2020 films 2020 LGBTQ-related films 2020 comedy-drama films Canadian comedy-drama films Cross-dressing in Canadian films Drag (entertainment)-related films Films set in San Francisco Films set in Texas LGBTQ-related comedy-drama films English-language Canadian films Films directed by Thom Fitzgerald Films shot in Halifax, Nova Scotia 2020s English-language films 2020s Canadian films English-language comedy-drama films