Exclusive: Theatre Connections Abound at the Sundance Film Festival

The final Sundance Film Festival held in Utah was surprisingly filled with connections to live theatre and stage or movie musicals, from films featuring Broadway stars like ONCE ON THIS ISLAND’s Isaac Powell in THE MOMENT (read an exclusive interview with him here) to panels and Q&As with performers and filmmakers who are connected to theatre, like HAMILTON’s Daveed Diggs at The Audible Listening Lodge, or who are just simply fans.

Even one of the main sponsors of Sundance, tequila brand Casamigos, which had a strong presence everywhere at the festival from premiere parties like THE INVITE with THE LION KING’s Seth Rogen to interview studios and more, was co-founded by a Broadway performer—GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK’s George Clooney.

In the Q&A at the premiere of the talk of the festival—the award-winning JOSEPHINE, featuring STEP UP’s Channing Tatum (who recently announced this fall’s NYC arrival of MAGIC MIKE LIVE) and YELLOW FACE’s Gemma Chan, young actress Mason Reeves said the genres of movies she hopes to make in the future include fantasy, action, something with animals in it, and a musical. 

CAROUSEL, starring INTO THE WOODS’ Chris Pine and MUPPET BABIES’ Jenny Slate, while not associated with the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, includes a scene where their characters talk about performing together in their high school production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF as Motel and Yente.

And in the Q&A at the premiere of Diggs’ film IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, streaming February 27 on Hulu, screenwriter Colby Day said that the first iteration of the movie was actually a stage play about time. 

Stars of two theatre-themed films that premiered at Sundance, DROP DEAD DIVA’s Margaret Cho of RUN AMOK and PARKS AND RECREATION’s Rob Lowe of THE MUSICAL, exclusively discussed their love of Broadway with BroadwayWorld.  (You can read more from those carpets here.) Cho said she’s a big fan of musicals, with HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH being her seminal favorite, followed by RENT, ANNIE, and WICKED.  “There's nothing like them,” Lowe said.  “I mean, I love, love, love, love, love, love musicals.” He said he was “really blessed” to have seen the original productions of A CHORUS LINE, THE WIZ, ONCE, and SPRING AWAKENING.

BroadwayWorld also spoke exclusively to cast members of CHASING SUMMER, featuring YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN’s Megan Mullally and THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY’s Lola Tung, at its world premiere. SMALLVILLE’s Tom Welling said, “It’s certainly about identity, and it’s about looking back on your life reflecting on a version of your life that is no longer going to happen again and how to move forward.” THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES’ Iliza Shlesinger, who wrote the film, called it “a millennial coming of middle age story” and said, “You’re going to feel good, which I think we all could use, so that’s my pitch—you’re going to feel great.”

Their co-star, MANIFEST’s Garrett Wareing, mentioned Tung’s recent stint as Euridyce in HADESTOWN, which he called “one of my favorite shows ever,” adding that he saw it three times on Broadway and FROZEN 13 times (he had a friend in the cast).

“To be able to experience live theatre and live performance in a world that is so digital and so kind of removed, I think is such a rare experience,” he said. “But the live performance brings us back to what it always has been, right? The connection with somebody else and the connection with art.  So to sit in that theatre with my knees up to my chest because the Broadway seats are so close together, it moves me.  And to be moved every time, I feel riveted by what I’m watching, whether it be HAMILTON, whether it be WICKED, whether it be—I mean, I saw Jake Gyllenhaal in SEA WALL/A LIFE. I just love it.”

Wareing said he “desperately” wants to perform on Broadway himself and sang a bit of “For Forever” from DEAR EVAN HANSEN.  “I don’t know in what capacity I’d be able to manage that, but an ensemble member for sure,” he said. “I don’t know if I could manage Orpheus in HADESTOWN, but believe me, that is my dream role.  I’ve actually never been on stage, which is why I think I long for it so badly. I’ve only done TV and film.  I feel very fortunate, but I do hope to transition into—whether it be straight plays or musicals.  I’d love to get back and live in New York again. We shot MANIFEST in New York, so I went to a lot of shows out there. Yeah, I’d like that.”

The invite-only Elvis Mitchell Suite featured conversations between critic Elvis Mitchell and actors like Diggs, Cho, BLUE MOON’s Ethan Hawke, THE COLOR PURPLE’s Danielle Brooks, and ALL OUT’s current star Nicholas Braun, as well as many filmmakers. 

SUPER TROOPERS director Jay Chandrasekhar, who also directed an episode of CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND, talked about starting his career by performing in stage productions of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, DEATH OF A SALESMAN, and as Tony in WEST SIDE STORY.

SINNERS director Ryan Coogler said, “I feel my craft people and cast did their finest work on SINNERS. We’re like a theatre troupe at this point. We keep working together.”

HAMNET director Chloe Zhao said, “The four seasons—there is always a cycle, something bad and something born, always cycling, and the creative process is the same. Our own journey in life is the same.”

On a panel at the Adobe House, LOVE, VICTOR’s Mason Gooding couldn’t resist telling his co-panelist Hannah McMechan, screenwriter of K-POP DEMON HUNTERS, how much the animated musical impacted him. “You mentioned the nature of being a kid’s movie, and I want you to recognize, if you haven't already, how resonant the messaging of the film ended up being,” he said, “and how you can tell a story broadly that ends up responding so succinctly with the people watching it, because of something they could grasp in a way that, at least for me, who's not a child—at least not externally—was able to appreciate the showcasing of redemption or the idea of heritage and how you engage with that as an adult. So yes, you might have written it one way, but the way an audience or fandom engages with it was so heartwarming and exciting.”

30 ROCK’s Alec Baldwin, a Tony nominee for A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, promoted two projects in Park City. The in-production docuseries A ROAD MAP TO HAPPINESS, which features multiple celebrities including CULT OF LOVE’s Shailene Woodley, held a preview event at The World of Hyatt House with Baldwin and HAPPY FEET’s Elijah Wood. “These are ways of living that we can also adopt and bring into our lives, and allow us to find our own contentedness,” said Wood about the series’ exploration of universal keys to happiness. “It was such a joy to do this,” added Baldwin. “It was a real pleasure.”

The following day, he played an entertaining game of chess against blindfolded Chess Grandmaster Judit Polgár, the subject of the new Netflix documentary QUEEN OF CHESS, now streaming. The greatest female player in history would clearly be the winner, but Baldwin played hard with a twinkle in his eye.

Alas, no tunes from CHESS made an appearance, but there wasn’t a lack of musical performances at the festival.  In fact, earlier that evening, Emily Bear—Grammy-winning co-composer of THE UNOFFICIAL BRIDGERTON MUSICAL and MOANA 2—played a set for an adoring audience at the ASCAP Music Café at Acura’s House of Energy (read an exclusive interview with her here). “It is chaos,” she told BroadwayWorld exclusively when asked how she liked Sundance. “I mean, the energy is amazing. It's like, infectious, but, oh my God, there's so much going on and so much to see. I'm, like, overwhelmed by choice, but it's really fun. I don’t know, there's a je ne sais quoi here. Yeah, it's great.”

Photo Credit: L-R Gemma Chan, Channing Tatum, and Mason Reeves attend the Q&A for JOSEPHINE. Courtesy of Sundance Institute. Photo by Jemal Countess.