Look for an actor playing Mark Blitzstein in the current feature film “Me and Orson Welles.” The movie is about the final week or so of production leading up to the opening night of the Mercury Theatre’s 1937 production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” which Welles directed and for which Blitzstein wrote music.
Early on in the film a playbill for “Caesar” has the clear statement “Music by Marc Blitzstein” and later the leader of the pit band (never addressed as Marc, but presumably the composer) gets into a brief shouting match with Wells as does just about every other character in the movie, except when they’re kissing his talented brilliant ass.
It’s a sweet film, with lots of period detail that reminded me a bit of the brilliant 1999 adaptation of “The Cradle Will Rock,” but without the political messages, just the feel of the Manhattan arts scene during the Depression.
Cute Zac Efron plays a naive youth hoping he can make it in the theatre while also standing up to the boss. (Don’t count on it kid.) It’s the first Zac Efron film I’ve seen and it says something that I wasn’t always thinking, “Oh, that’s Zac Efron.”
The producers of the film didn’t go to the effort of finding Blitzstein’s own original score for the Welles production. Even if it survives it’s probably only some fanfares, drum rolls and sundry entr’actes. The film’s suitable but not memorable soundtrack is by Michael J. McEvoy.
According to Internet Movie Database, the bandleader in the film is played by Jools Holland. While the actor in the film didn’t exactly resemble photos of Blitzstein, other than the pencil moustache, I don’t think he much resembled the Jools Holland who’s a band leader with a show on USA. But I’ve never seen that show, so I am now out of my league.
Still, it was a nice touch including Blitzstein’s name on one of the film’s properties.
