Broadway Damage

Last updated
Broadway Damage
Directed byVictor Mignatti
Written byVictor Mignatti
Produced byDavid Topel
Starring
CinematographyMichael Mayers [1]
Edited byVictor Mignatti
Music byElliot Sokolov
Distributed byJour de Fête Films
Wolfe Video [2]
Release date
  • August 26, 1997 (1997-08-26)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Broadway Damage is a 1997 gay-themed romantic comedy-drama directed by Victor Mignatti and starring Mara Hobel, Michael Lucas, Hugh Panaro and Aaron Williams. The sound editor was Rick Dior, who won an Oscar for Best Sound for the film Apollo 13 . [3] It was filmed in Greenwich Village. [4]

Contents

Plot

Cynthia (Hobel), Marc (Lucas) and Robert (Williams) are young friends in New York City and recent New York University graduates. Marc is a struggling actor, Robert is an actor/songwriter and Cynthia is desperately trying to attract the attention of Tina Brown to break into magazine publishing. Cynthia and Marc find an apartment together in Greenwich Village. Robert is secretly in love with Marc, who's oblivious.

Marc falls into a relationship with David (Panaro), an aspiring musician who lives with his boyfriend across the alley from Marc's apartment. David's boyfriend throws him out and David moves in with Marc.

Robert, trying to get over Marc, becomes interested in a man who works in a local card and gift shop (Marc and Robert refer to him as "Zola"). Taking Marc's advice to "make the grand gesture," he sends Cynthia in with a gift from him as a secret admirer. "Zola" turns down the gesture, and Robert is humiliated.

Marc and Robert discover that David supports himself as a hustler and Marc breaks up with him and throws him out. Robert makes "the grand gesture" for Marc by singing a song he's written for him. Before Marc can respond, Cynthia, whose attempts to get through to Tina Brown have become increasingly bizarre, has a nervous breakdown. She returns to her parents' home on Long Island.

In the end, Marc and Robert visit Cynthia on Long Island. Free from the drama of his relationship with David, Marc realizes that he has feelings for Robert. Cynthia gets a call from Tina Brown's assistant, setting up a meeting for the following day.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 29% based on reviews from 7 critics. [5]

David Noh from the Film Journal International said on 4 January 2007, "Has got to represent yet another low for the gay indie, New York Style". Michael Dequina from TheMovieReport.com said on 1 January 2000, "The terrible trio whine their way to a happy ending that is wholly undeserved".[ citation needed ] Dennis Harvey of Variety called the film "an anachronistic throwback" and "Lacking any hip edge or writing wit, pleasant but bland". [6] Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times said it was a "labored and insufferably cute film". [4] Jan Stuart of The Advocate magazine wrote a large negative review, stating it "trivializes their struggle in a cuddly wash of sitcom music and laugh track-less chatter, smelling suspiciously of Hollywood damage". [7]

Accolades

Home media

Broadway Damage was released on Region 1 DVD on 30 November 1999. [8]

Notes

  1. ↑ Credited as James Lecesne.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emlyn Williams</span> Welsh writer, dramatist and actor

George Emlyn Williams, CBE was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cynthia Nixon</span> American actress and politician (born 1966)

Cynthia Ellen Nixon is an American actress, activist, and theater director. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City (1998–2004), she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and reprised the role in the films Sex and the City (2008) and Sex and the City 2 (2010), as well as the television show And Just Like That... (2021–present).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey Fierstein</span> American actor and playwright

Harvey Forbes Fierstein is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter, known for his distinctive gravelly voice. He is best known for his theater work in Torch Song Trilogy and Hairspray and film roles in Mrs. Doubtfire, Independence Day, and as the voice of Yao in Mulan and Mulan II. Fierstein won two Tony Awards, Best Actor in a Play and Best Play, for Torch Song Trilogy. He received his third Tony Award, Best Book of a Musical, for the musical La Cage aux Folles and his fourth, the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, for playing Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, a role he revived in its live television event, Hairspray Live! Fierstein also wrote the books for the Tony Award-winning musicals Kinky Boots, Newsies, and Tony Award-nominated, Drama League Award-winner A Catered Affair. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2007.

<i>The Boys in the Band</i> (1970 film) 1970 film by William Friedkin

The Boys in the Band is a 1970 American drama film directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by Mart Crowley, based on Crowley's 1968 Off-Broadway play of the same name. It is among the early major American motion pictures to revolve around gay characters, often cited as a milestone in the history of gay cinema, and thought to be the first mainstream American film to use the swear word "cunt".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Shaiman</span> American composer (born 1959)

Marc Shaiman is an American composer and lyricist for films, television, and theatre, best known for his collaborations with lyricist and director Scott Wittman, actor Billy Crystal, and director Rob Reiner. Shaiman has received numerous accolades including two Grammy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. He has also received seven Academy Awards nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Lahti</span> American actress and director (born 1950)

Christine Ann Lahti is an American actress and filmmaker. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1984 film Swing Shift. Her other film roles include ...And Justice for All (1979), Housekeeping (1987), Running on Empty (1988), Leaving Normal (1992), and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019). For her directorial debut with the 1995 short film Lieberman in Love, she won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

<i>Thats Dancing!</i> 1985 film directed by Jack Haley Jr.

That's Dancing! is a 1985 American compilation film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that looked back at the history of dancing in film. Unlike the That's Entertainment! series, this film not only focuses specifically on MGM films, but also included films from other studios.

The Circle Repertory Company, originally named the Circle Theater Company, was a theatre company in New York City that ran from 1969 to 1996. It was founded on July 14, 1969, in Manhattan, in a second floor loft at Broadway and 83rd Street by director Marshall W. Mason, playwright Lanford Wilson, director Rob Thirkield, and actress Tanya Berezin, all of whom were veterans of the Caffe Cino. The plan was to establish a pool of artists — actors, directors, playwrights and designers — who would work together in the creation of plays. In 1974, The New York Times critic Mel Gussow acclaimed Circle Rep as the "chief provider of new American plays."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Arden</span> American actor

Michael Jerrod Moore, known professionally as Michael Arden, is an American actor, singer, musician, and theatre director. Arden won a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical in 2023 for the revival of the musical Parade.

Mara Hobel is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of young Christina Crawford in the film Mommie Dearest, starring Faye Dunaway. She garnered 2 Razzie nominations for her performance. She also portrayed the crazed tap-dancing daughter Gay in the legendary Broadway bomb, Moose Murders, which opened and closed on the same night in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Barone</span> American rock musician

Richard Barone is an American rock musician who first gained attention as frontman for the Bongos. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and record producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created concert events at Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, SXSW, and New York's Central Park. He teaches the course “Music + Revolution” at The New School's School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, has served on the Board of Governors of The Recording Academy (GRAMMYs), serves on the Advisory Board of Anthology Film Archives, and hosts the "Folk Radio" show on WBAI New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Daniels</span> British actor (born 1964)

Ben Daniels is an English actor. Initially a stage actor, Daniels was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for Never the Sinner (1991), the Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for 900 Oneonta (1994), Best Actor in the M.E.N. Theatre Awards for Martin Yesterday (1998), and won the 2001 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the Arthur Miller play All My Sons.

<i>Trevor</i> (film) 1994 film

Trevor is a 1994 American short film directed by Peggy Rajski, produced by Randy Stone and Peggy Rajski, and written by Celeste Lecesne. Set in 1981, the film follows what happens to 13-year-old Trevor, a Diana Ross fan, when his crush on a schoolmate named Pinky Faraday gets discovered.

<i>Sweet Adeline</i> (musical) Musical

Sweet Adeline is a musical with music by Jerome Kern, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and original orchestration by Robert Russell Bennett. It premiered on Broadway in 1929. The story, set in the Gay Nineties, concerns a Hoboken, New Jersey girl who, unlucky in love, becomes a Broadway star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert La Tourneaux</span> American actor (1940–1986)

Robert La Tourneaux was an American actor best known for his role of Cowboy, the good-natured but dim hustler hired as a birthday present for a gay man, in the original Off-Broadway production and 1970 film version of The Boys in the Band.

<i>Ghost Chasers</i> 1951 film by William Beaudine

Ghost Chasers is a 1951 comedy horror film, starring The Bowery Boys. The film was released on April 29, 1951 by Monogram Pictures and is the twenty-second film in the series.

Jean Loup Wolfman is an American actor, appearing in film, theater, television and commercials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celeste Lecesne</span>

James Celeste Lecesne is an American actor, author, screenwriter, and LGBT rights activist, best known for the Academy-award-winning short film Trevor. Lecesne has written several books including Absolute Brightness and Virgin Territory, and is also active in the entertainment industry as an actor and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucas Hedges</span> American actor (born 1996)

Lucas Hedges is an American actor. A son of filmmaker Peter Hedges, he studied theater at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Hedges began his acting career with a supporting role in Wes Anderson's comedy-drama Moonrise Kingdom (2012). He had his breakthrough in 2016 playing a sardonic teenager in Kenneth Lonergan's drama Manchester by the Sea, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, among other accolades. Hedges then starred as an aggressive youth in an off-Broadway production of Yen and had supporting roles in the coming-of-age film Lady Bird and the drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy O. Harris</span> American playwright and actor (born 1989)

Jeremy O. Harris is an American playwright, actor, and philanthropist. Harris gained prominence for his 2018 Slave Play, which received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Play. Harris is also known for his work in film and television. He produced and co-wrote the A24 film Zola (2021), for which he received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay. He acted in the HBO Max series Gossip Girl (2021), the Netflix series Emily in Paris (2022), and in the film The Sweet East (2023).

References

  1. ↑ "About The Filmmakers". www.sonyclassics.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Broadway Damage". Wolfe On Demand. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  3. ↑ Marty McGee Encyclopedia of Motion Picture Sound , p. 72, at Google Books
  4. 1 2 Van Gelder, Lawrence (29 May 1998). "'Broadway Damage': Mr. Right Finally Finds a True Love: Plain Dwayne". The New York Times . Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  5. ↑ "Broadway Damage". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  6. ↑ Harvey, Dennis (29 June 1997). "Broadway Damage". Variety . Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  7. ↑ The Advocate, 9 June 1998 , p. 42, at Google Books
  8. ↑ "Broadway Damage (DVD 1998), DVD Empire". www.dvdempire.com. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.