Feeling Like Family At Sundance
My first dip into the pool that is Sundance was on Friday at the Eccles Center, our absolute gem of a state-of-the-art theater. It was noon and the place was packed. Twelve hundred people-full. I marvel to think that so many people can break out of their routines in the middle of the day like that. There was electric excitement in the crowd, and I felt so proud when Sundance staffers and members of the cast and crew got up to speak at the podium that our very own local artist John Helton designed and built years ago when the Eccles Center opened. The film was called "happythankyoumoreplease," written and directed by Josh Radnor, who stars in the television show "I Met Your Mother." Josh had a full team of family, friends and supporters sitting in the front rows, and it made the entire audience feel like we were part of his family, too. The film was warmly received with lots of laughter and applause in all the right places. Josh starred in the film as well, and then his handsomeness and the entire cast got up on stage afterward for a great Q & A session. It was a delightful movie, with one of the main story lines being that Sam (the main character, played by Radnor) rescues a lost young child on the subway, and instead of returning him to foster care, takes care of him at his lowly-writer's apartment until the police arrest him. The friendship that develops between Sam and the young boy, Rasheen, will warm your heart. Overall, the film portrays the lives of of six young New Yorkers finding their way in the world, with the central theme being to invite gratitude and allow joy in your life and then even dare to ask for more. I thought it was great.
Then it was onward to my first taste of the throngs on Main Street, with a gorgeous snow falling down making all of Park City look picture-perfect. The TV cameras broadcasting the Sundance experience all over the globe must be loving it. Talk about atmosphere. I head to the Music Café, located at the Stanfield Gallery this year (a much nicer location than the tent on lower Main Street last year). Even with a credential, I had to wait about 25 minutes to get in, but it was worth the wait to hear the beautiful voice of John Forté. Forté was a member of the band The Fugees back in the day, but then got a 14-year federal prison sentence for a "first-time, non-violent drug offense." If there's any good news to this story, it's that in 2008, former President "W" gave him a commutation, so Forté only served seven years in prison. He is working on a new album, "Water Light Sound," from which he played his favorite song, and writing his memoir. This man has some tales to tell, and all in a soft, sultry voice mixed with rap type rhythms and credos spoken like poetry.
Traffic leaving Main Street and getting to the outskirts of town was a Sundance adventure in itself … at no other time of year do you see taxi cabs and vans lining our streets like you do during Sundance, and the key word this week, people, is "PATIENCE." Just enjoy the scene. Stay tuned for more reports!
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Kristen Gould Case is editor of Park City Magazine and a freelance writer who publishes nationally. Weaned on the blue ice slopes of New England, she moved to Park City 23 years ago and hasn't looked back.
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