Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Movie 'Love Chronicles (of the Cape)' premieres at Southeast's Rose Theatre

Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Co-stars Jessica Ambuehl and Chris Murphy arrive on the red carpet for the April 17 premiere of "Love Chronicles (of the Cape)." Photo by Logan Young

When Dan Steadman's mother accompanied him last Friday for the red carpet premiere of his most recent project "Love Chronicles (of the Cape)," she said there was never any doubt in her mind her son would somehow end up in the movie business. The childhood nickname "Steven Spielberg" seemed to stick.

Steadman's independent film, produced by Circa 87, was shown at 7:30 p.m. in Southeast Missouri State University's Rose Theatre.

According to Steadman, film professor Dr. Jim Dufek played a key role in the premiere's location.

"Obviously he knows the world of independent filmmaking because that's what he teaches," Steadman said. "It was his spirit. You're always looking for people who kind of believe in what you're doing and get on board and support it like that."

He added that it seemed to be the perfect spot to host a "flashy red carpet," not to mention close to half of the 108 speaking roles in the movie were Southeast students.

Both written and directed by Steadman, the "Love Chronicles (of the Cape)" is composed in vignettes similar to "When Harry Met Sally."

The storyline follows a nameless female documentarian, played by Jessica Ambuehl, who travels to Cape Girardeau to record people's different connotations of love. She's inspired by the passage from 1 Corinthians 13 -- love is patient, love is kind, etcetera.

The red carpet buzzed with excitement as local actors and actresses arrived "dressed to the nines" in vintage cars.

Some walked together as husband and wife; others came as full families debuted in the film.

Outside of the film itself, various expressions of love showed up on the red carpet as well.

Taylor Asberry is a Southeast student and wanted to add to her experience as a theater major. She played the part of Charlotte Brummels who she described as the "psycho girl." Brummels believes that love isn't needed to attain happiness and the only thing she needs is herself, but nonetheless, Asberry said she enjoyed the opportunity to play the role.

She, along with many others, highlighted the January weekend during which the film was shot.

"It was like 9 o'clock in the morning [and] freezing," Asberry said. "But the excitement of it all kept me warm."

Casey Lamely is a freshman film major at Southeast and, like Asberry, wanted the experience of working on a larger scale production compared to one that was student-run. He said Steadman liked his enthusiasm, and even without a monologue he landed a speaking role.

"It was a lot cleaner. It was a lot smoother," Lamely said, referring to the filming process. "I liked it. It was very great. It's what I've been looking forward to. It's actually what I thought it was going to be."

Co-stars Ambuehl and Chris Murphy, followed by Steadman, finished out the red carpet. One of the quickest takes either had done in their careers, Ambuehl and Murphy said the three-day filming process contributed to capturing the raw beauty of love.

"Love can be such a clichéd word, but it was so nuance because everybody that was interviewed, whether from a characters standpoint, had a different viewpoint on what love was," Murphy said. "So it was really neat to see how funny some definitions of love are or how serious and how heartfelt some are; it was really cool, really cool process."

Steadman called those with a speaking role up to Rose Theatre's stage for a Q&A session following the showing. One by one Steadman or an audience member posed a question for each actor or actress.

A cast is often referred to as a family. Despite the size and a relatively short production process for "Love Chronicles (of the Cape)," a sense of harmony hung in the theater hall.

Steadman said extras are often referred to as "props that eat" in Hollywood. Maybe it's his Midwestern roots or Martin Sheen's friendliness on the set of "The West Wing," but Steadman doesn't direct that way. He cares about his cast and his cast cares about him.

"I was getting food and I heard like, 'Hey, how ya doin'?' and I turned around and it was Martin Sheen," Steadman said. "And he goes, 'Marty,' and I'm like, 'Hi,' and he goes, 'You've been with us before, haven't you?' I said, 'No, this is my first day here.' He goes, 'Well, welcome, welcome to "The West Wing." It's so great to have you a part of our family.' ... That really taught me the way you can treat people. I mean, if President Bartlet, the president of this country, the fictional president of this country can treat little, lowly, $50-a-day-extra-me like that, then I can treat people with respect, too."

Murphy summed it up for the cast.

"As you can see, this is a labor of love," Murphy said as the Q&A session came to a close. "It takes a lot of man power and people power, and it takes a great leader as well. So I just wanted to recognize Dan. Thank you for all that you do."

An after party was held at Broadway Biergarten. Subsequent screenings of "Love Chronicles (of the Cape)" will be at 7:30 p.m. April 24 and 25 in Rose Theatre.

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