“All we need is a miracle.”
Written/Directed by: Jared Callahan
Cast: Janey Callahan-Chin, Jeff Shewmaker, Roxanne Donnelly, Tom Thompson, Dick Swensson, Lorren Montgomery, Sean Makenzie, Kianna Machado
Swift shot: There’s an electricity, or even a magic spark, that always seems to keep community theatre productions alive. The sleepy American city of Rio Vista, California has been granted that magic in the form of the incredibly affable, enlivened cherub, Janey Callahan-Chin. With over 90 years on our planet, Janey’s written many plays for her friends and community. Director Jared Callahan, and crew, chronicle Janey and her determined denizens as they attempt to bring to life her eighteenth play! While the film focuses on Janey, this is really a tale about old fashioned American gumption and a lesson in the true meaning of community.
As we open the film, we are introduced to Janey and how she came to be in Rio Vista. She was a life-long dancer who helped cultivate The Lennon Sisters, the singing sensation, who were regulars on The Lawrence Welk Show for almost fifteen years. Janey got married to a military man, and a few years after the war, they ended up settling in Rio Vista where she was a beloved preschool teacher for decades. But, that’s just one aspect of this film, as I mentioned earlier, the real protagonist is Rio Vista, an American lady herself.
We are given a brief history of Rio Vista as we tour the town’s museum and learn about a few of the town’s traditions and how they have endured through the Great Depression and the Great Recession (barely). But, the bankers in the film were not made out to be villains. Janey’s play; however, did center around a con-man that is trying to convince the town’s banker to sell out the town and the community. There’s that word again, community, it really buzzes around in your head as you watch this film. It’s like a friendly reminder that we should all aspire to be a bigger part of our own communities.
The characters of the town are like something from a modern Norman Rockwell painting, each with their own struggles, mirrored by Rio Vista and, yes, America’s challenges to bounce back from a series of personal tragedies. It was eye-opening to hear people are still trying to put their lives back together following the horrific attacks of September 11th, 2001. And, as always with real life, pain seems to make an exception for no one. How Americans deal with that pain, I think, is what makes this film so much more than I was expecting.
Juxtaposed to Janey is her youthful lead cast, Sean Makenzie and Lorren Montgomery. Sean plays football and has a mischievous attitude about being in a play. While Lorren would rather starve on the stage than feast like a queen outside the theatre. [Swift aside: Believe me, Lorren, we’ve all been there. I am sure you will find the right balance.] Also featured in Janey Makes a Play is the quirky Kianna Machado, who delights in bringing weird into everyone’s life. The set-designer, producers, actors, lighting people, sound people, just everyone are genuinely committed to making the performance something special. As one of them puts it, “It all works, like magic.” And as Janey bluntly reminds us, this could be her last play, so she certainly doesn’t want it to flop!
Wonderfully shot and brilliantly edited and scored, Janey Makes a Play balances the cheerfulness and melancholy keeping the film from becoming boring and stagnant. That is always my biggest fear when reviewing documentaries . . . a lot of them bore me to tears. I am happy to report that Janey Makes a Play was never boring, because Janey is too interesting to ever be considered boring. Trust me! From her colorful attire, her commitment to still dance (after two significant knee surgeries), and her ability to pull everyone together when the show must go on, Janey is quite frankly entrancing. Rio Vista is lucky to have her.
With her infectious laugh, you can feel her smile through the screen. Janey is the kind of person you want to be around, to let her warm light inspire you to make something that people will enjoy. In the end, that’s what being in a community is all about. In the end, all we have is the love we leave behind, and there’s no doubt that people will remember Janey for years to come in Rio Vista. I’ve purposely left out some of the things that make Janey so awe-inspiring, because my hope is that you will see this film, and you will discover those things for yourself. And perhaps you will see a little spark of you, or your town, in Janey and her wonderful life.
