Category: Filmed Performance

Thirty years after recording the iconic She’s So Unusual album, Cyndi Lauper celebrated by performing the entire album from start to finish for the first time at New York City’s Highline Ballroom. While certainly not the best concert film I’ve ever seen, it’s still a great chance to see Cyndi performing all of the well-known songs off of the album. She obviously has an incredible amount of talent and I’d love to see her in a bigger, more extravagant production.  

A filmed presentation of the stage musical based on the Oscar nominated film, this tells the story of a young working class boy growing up during the 1980s mining strike who discovers a love and talent for dance. The music is well thought out and the dancing is phenomenal, but it didn’t resonate with me as strongly as the original film. The staging is rather bare bones and the story requires a greater knowledge and interest in the British class system and economical history. I have to imagine it’s the case for all of the young actors in the role, but Elliott Hanna is obviously extremely talented and provides a strong foundation for the entire production.  

If Spike Lee hadn’t directed this filmed version of Stew’s semi-autobiographical musical, I would have never come across it and that would have been a shame. It explores a young middle-class Black American’s artistic journey from early discoveries at home to further travels through late 1980s Europe, along the way touching on themes of art, growth, love, expectations, and looking back. The music is excellent. The acting, especially Daniel Breaker in the lead, is incredible. I dig how most of the actors take on multiple roles, emphasizing the continuity through various stages of life. I liked Lee’s stage filming better in American Utopia, but this still provides a great up close view into the production.