One Man Show: A musical documentary

Director Ira Rosensweig / 2004 / USA

In 1999, John Falcon, a gay, unemployed performance artist, won $45 million in the New York state lottery. Since then John has set about fulfilling his dreams: owning an apartment in Trump Towers, cosmetic surgery on a whim and staging an off-Broadway vanity musical, A Short Puerto Rican Guy Sings Songs of Angst.

This alternately hilarious and mortifying documentary is conclusive proof that money can't buy happiness, but can buy you a $200,000 set of teeth that look like Scrabble tiles! Creepy friends and relatives, estranged for decades, crawl out of the woodwork for a sniff of the cash. John's own family can barely stand him, but smile politely as he hands over $10,000 cheques as Christmas presents.

"Falcon seems born for fame ('Don't you stop pointing that camera at me,' he admonishes), but interviews with jealous ex-friends and put-upon relatives reassure us that money can't erase a lonely, painful past. And his mom, a Gorgonian battle-axe whose kindest words regarding him are 'such a pain in the ass,' almost steals his moment in the limelight! Falcon gamely demurs, 'I'll drown my sorrows at Saks.'" - Village Voice


Ira Rosensweig and John Falcon will be attending the festival.

D/P Ira Rosensweig TD video/col/2004/74mins

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