68 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • OCTOBER 4, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
buzz
Queens fi lmmaker returns home to premiere
new movie at Whitestone viewing party
Photo courtesy of Gino Cafarelli
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
Flushing native Gino Cafarelli
came home to premiere his new
movie ‘Cruise’, which he described
as ‘American Graffi ti’ set in the
1980’s.
On Friday, Sept. 28, the fi lmmaker
showed ‘Cruise’ at a soldout
fi lm release party at Th e
BLVD Restaurant (19-11-Francis
Lewis Blvd.) Set in the summer of
1987, the fi lm is loosely based on
Cafarelli’s teenage years hanging
out and driving on Francis Lewis
Boulevard in Whitestone.
Th e event featured a rare performance
by Alisha, who rose to fame
in the ’80’s and 90’s dance music
scene. Th e singer performed her
smash hits featured in the movie,
including ‘All Night Passion’,
‘Too Turned On’ and ‘Baby Talk’.
‘Cruise’ is now available to watch
on demand and in 10 select theaters
across the country, including Kew
Gardens Cinemas in Queens.
Cafarelli began conceptualizing
the story for ‘Cruise’ over 10 years
ago aft er getting advice from a friend
to “write about what you know.”
He collaborated with Robert Siegel,
writer of the Academy Award nominated
fi lm ‘Th e Wrestler’, in the
creation of the fi lm.
Th e movie’s cast includes Spencer
Boldman, Emily Ratajkowski,
Kathrine Narducci, Sebastian
Maniscalco and Cafarelli, who
play’s the main character’s father.
Following the movie’s premiere
in Cafarelli’s new home of Los
Angeles, he felt it was only natural
to bring ‘Cruise’ back to the place
where it all started. He mentioned
that his classmates from Holy Cross
High School would be at the event
on Friday.
“It puts a lump in my throat and
makes me feel good that for one
night, people will see the culture
of how we grew up,” said Cafarelli.
For more information on ‘Cruise’
visit @CruiseTheMovie or @
icruisedfrannylew on Facebook.
Check out Cafarelli on Instagram @
ginocafarelli.
Play by William Jackson Harper from
“The Good Place” stars Queens resident
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
adomenech@qns.com
@AODNewz
Actor and Queens resident Bjorn
DuPaty will star in “Travisville,” a new
play written by actor and playwright
William Jackson Harper, who fans of the
NBC series “Th e Good Place” will recognize
as the bespectacled Nigerian ethics
professor, Chidi Anagonye.
“Travisville” depicts how a group of
black ministers grapple with the best way
to fi ght for their parishioners as they run
the risk of being forced out of their neighborhood
by white politicians. Th ey are
being viewed as a detriment to the town’s
entertainment value.
An outsider and activist comes to
encourage property owners. Residents of
Travisville will debate whether equality
is something that is taken by force or is
achieved slowly over time—a timeless and
timely question.
Although a new play, the story of
“Travisville” is really a recap of history.
New York audiences will travel down
to the South and back to the 1960s Civil
Rights Movement and watch a story that
parallels the history of Dallas, TX.
When the Civil Rights Act was passed
in 1964, news of it was received with
eruptions of violences in towns across the
United States, particularly in the South.
But the city of Dallas prided
itself on having more peaceful
race relations than other
cities.
Bombings had rocked the
city a decade earlier, but local
black ministers came to a truce
with the white politicians in
power. Th e city remained segregated,
and black citizens
didn’t need to fear for their
lives. When a plan to expand
the city’s historic fairgrounds
required the displacement of
the mostly black neighborhood
around it, residents had
to choose between going quietly
and preserving the peace,
or protect their neighborhood
and risk violence.
Bjorn, a resident of Queens,
but Chicago native has been
acting on television and on
the New York stage for the
past decade and has received
acclaim for his role the title
character in “Julius Caesar.”
Tickets for “Travisville” are now
on sale for $30, with tickets for students
and seniors available for $25.
Th e performance schedule is as follows:
Wednesday – Saturday at 7pm, Saturday
at 2pm, and Sunday at 5pm. Tickets can
be purchased at www.ensemblestudiotheatre.
org.
/www.ensemblestudio-theatre.org
link
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/www.ensemblestudio-theatre.org
/www.ensemblestudio-theatre.org
