***************** *
STAR
DELI
FREAKS AND GEEKS
from page 58
manipulative and narcissistic, which
I'm not particularly proud of."
Another way Camp reflects
Stagedoor: The fictional campers put
on shows that are "ridiculously inap-
propriate for children," Graff said.
"For example, when I was cast in
Cabaret in the newly created role of
Emcee's Boy, I wore a collar and leash,
and was led around by my 'master' for
the entire show, except when I performed
the Act II kickline number in full drag."
Other Stagedoor shows carried
color-blind casting to an extreme,
which Camp spoofs in one scene.
When black actors in Fiddler on the
Roof costumes complain, "Do we look
Jewish?" the camp director cheerily
replies, "You could be Sephardic."
Studio executives were less enthusi-
astic when Graff began shopping his
unorthodox script around town in the
late 1990s. Many thought the story
was too dark and had too many gay
characters. Graff's favorite executive:
The one who asked, "Can't we just
turn the drag queens into Trekkies?"
Graff didn't think so, which is why
he signed when the offer came from
the producers of well-received inde-
pendent films such as Todd Haynes'
`A FAMILY AFFAIR' from page 59
Israel for what turned out to be a piv-
otal third year of schooling.
Three weeks after her arrival, Iraq
invaded Kuwait and the Gulf War began.
"It was a very powerful time for me, and
I decided to stay in Israel. The program
required I return to New York City, and
I tried to stay, but it didn't work out.
"So I left the program and became an
Israeli citizen," she says.
Unable to find a seminary program in
Israel that would take her, Lesnick
returned to her acting roots, finding work
on Israeli television and on the stage. But
eventually that petered out along with the
Israeli economy, and she made the deci-
sion to return to the United States.
Once back on American soil, Lesnick
made the big move from New York to
California, where she put on a one-
woman show she had originally produced
in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. "That was my
first foray into writing something that
length. l'here's a certain sense when you're
an actor that you don't really have any
kind of artistic control," Lesnick says.
She spent the next four months writ-
ing A Family Affair, which she always
envisioned as both a directing and acting
vehicle for herself.
True to her belief that trust and family
Far From Heaven.
To cast the movie,
he auditioned non-
professional child
actors "because I
wanted them to be
in close touch with
what the characters
were °Dino- b through." Todd Graff
One such actress,
Chilcoat, 17, said
she thoroughly identified with her tal-
ented-nerd character, Ellen.
"Ellen is [gifted], pretty and smart,
but she doesn't believe she is," the
fresh-faced Chilcoat said.
"That was me during my freshman
and sophomore years of high school.
Actually, doing this film helped me boost
my self-esteem and grow up a little."
For Graff, the 2002 production was
equally memorable. During the 23-day
shoot at Stagedoor Manor, he felt that
"art was imitating life imitating art.
"There I'd be in a room I'd stayed in
as a teenager, directing a boy who was
supposed to be me. Ultimately, it
reminded me of how far I have come." ❑
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Camp, rated PG 13, opens
Friday, Aug. 15.
-
go hand in hand, Lesnick's producer is
her partner of nearly four years, Valerie
Pichney. The two are expecting a baby in
the fall — Lesnick is pregnant — and are
collaborating on another film, this time a
drama titled Inescapable, which Lesnick
wrote and will direct but not star in.
"They're going to wheel me around
the set," she jokes. "We actually wanted
to do it much earlier because of the
pregnancy, but it didn't work out."
If anything, Lesnick welcomes the
challenge, having already risen to the
indie film occasion with A Family Affair.
"Everyone told us along the way that
we wouldn't succeed, that we wouldn't get
any festivals. We've been in 60. They told
us that we wouldn't win any awards, and
we've won five best film awards now They
told us that we wouldn't get distribution,
and we have distribution," she says.
"I think if you don't know what you're
not supposed to be able to do, it really
helps." I I
A Family Affair becomes available
on DVD ($24.95 retail) and
VHS ($39.95 retail) on Aug. 19.
To order at a discounted price,
go to the Web site at
vvvv-w.Wo IfeVideo . co m.
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2003
61