3 Minutes From Broadway

Filmmaker Lyn Greene's feel-good film about inner-city kids in the 52nd Street Project--a free theater for the neighborhood--takes its title from the fact that only a few blocks away are the bright lights of Broadway theatre. While the lights may not be quite as bright, nor the props as elaborate, the 52nd Street Project is doing wonders for the heart. Winner of a Silver Star award at the Sacramento International Film & Video Festival, 3 Minutes From Broadway visits with the kids (who often write and star in their own productions), dedicated actors such as Peter MacNicol and Frances McDormand who work with the kids, and directors' Willie Reale and Marsue Cumming--the driving forces behind the project. The film includes tantalizing snippets of performances (including one very funny encounter between a pacifist wolf and a sheep) featuring kids who--regardless of what their home lives are like--are surprisingly adept and mature thespians on stage. a fun, inspiring look at a successful project in the inner city. Recommended. (R. Pitman)