Barry Levinson has worn many hats during his career. He started as a TV writer then transitioned to writing movie scripts for Mel Brooks.
By the mid-80’s, Barry Levinson was a Hollywood A-Lister and had graduated to directing such films as “The Natural” and “Good Morning Vietnam.” He won an Academy Award for directing “Rain Man” which also won an Oscar for Best Picture.
But for many, Levinson’s first film “Diner” remains his most influential.
Set in Baltimore in 1959, “Diner”tells the story of a circle of male friends, now in their early twenties, who reunite for the wedding of one of their group. At their old haunt, the all night diner, the buddies relive old times as they stumble into adulthood. The film has become a pop culture touchstone cited by many as groundbreaking in its depiction of male friendship.
The movie studio that financed “Diner” wasn’t pleased with the film and barely released it. Its fortune changed after influential movie critic Pauline Kael saw the movie. She had a different opinion and called studio execs to urge them to get behind the movie and assured them she was going to write a glowing review.
The suits may have not got “Diner’s” dialogue driven script but fans of film very much did.
“It’s the human dilemma,” says Levinson. “It’s how do we talk to one another? When we have problems how do we address those problems? But generally we don’t want to focus on that. Generally we’re looking for stories which you might call high concept or action oriented and Diner was not that.”
And now the movie is being retooled for the theater.
“Diner” put Barry Levinson on the map as a filmmaker but his return to the story is his first venture into the world of musical theater. The show is now running at the Delaware Theatre Company in Wilmington and Levinson says fans shouldn’t expect a carbon copy of the original.
He recruited one his favorite female musicians to help craft the refocus of “Diner.” The show features music and lyrics by singer- songwriter Sheryl Crow and Levinson says the musician is well suited for the job.
“I thought she would be perfect for this,” he says. “I mean, she can really bring that music of that time without sort of being a slave to the sound of the fifties but it is still very much that sound. I think that made for a good collaboration.”
“Diner The Musical” is bound for Broadway. The first version of the show had a sold out run in 2014 in suburban Washington DC.
Levinson, now 73, says the venture has been a creative highpoint. The musical runs through December 27th. Ticket information is available at delawaretheatre.org
This piece is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
