Queens Gazette

‘Last Play At Shea’ Documentary Premieres At Citi Field





More than 10,000 music, baseball and nostalgia fans came to Citi Field for an evening premiere of the documentary, “The Last Play At Shea”. The film, advertised as the largest outdoor movie presentation since 1919, chronicled the three-night, sold-out performance of Billy Joel’s concert at Shea Stadium in July 2008 before a combined 110,000 fans. The film covers the life of Joel set against the historical backdrop of the New York Mets and Shea Stadium.  Photo Jason D. Antos

More than 10,000 music, baseball and nostalgia fans came to Citi Field for an evening premiere of the documentary, “The Last Play At Shea”. The film, advertised as the largest outdoor movie presentation since 1919, chronicled the three-night, sold-out performance of Billy Joel’s concert at Shea Stadium in July 2008 before a combined 110,000 fans. The film covers the life of Joel set against the historical backdrop of the New York Mets and Shea Stadium. Photo Jason D. Antos

On August 21, fans came to Citi Field for an evening premiere of the documentary, “The Last Play At Shea”. The film, advertised as the largest outdoor movie presentation since 1919, chronicled the three-night, sold-out performance of Billy Joel’s concert at Shea Stadium in July  2008 before a combined 110,000 fans.

“The Last Play At Shea”, produced by Steve Cohen and Nigel Sinclair, in conjunction with Joel’s Maritime Pictures and Spitfire Films, examines the intersecting histories of Shea Stadium, the New York Mets and the personal and professional life of Joel himself. The plot, seamlessly woven around concert footage from the Shea Stadium event took viewers on a nostalgic journey through time with rare film and video footage chronicling Joel’s rise to fame while providing an in depth look at how the artist, known as “Piano Man”, was influenced by his local upbringing and by the years of success and failures of the Mets ball club and Shea Stadium, affectionately called by many fans “the dump”.

Joel, who was born in Brooklyn, moved to Levittown, Nassau County in 1958, the same year that the Dodgers moved west to Los Angeles. It was also the same year that Joel’s father abandoned  the family.

While New York City tried to fill the void after losing their beloved  “Bums” and the New York Giants ball club, Joel was looking for a way to find meaning to his life and to fill the void left by his father.     

One of his earliest memories Joel had of Shea Stadium was attending the Beatles concert in 1965. This experience  inspired the native New Yorker to become a professional musician and performer.    

The Mets and Shea Stadium are used throughout the film as symbols of Joel and New York City’s roller coaster ride of fame and misfortune in the national spotlight over the past five decades. Also analyzed are the stories of how Shea Stadium affected those who performed there. Sir Paul McCartney recollected how the Beatles’ famous debut changed his life.       

“We had never played in front of a large audience before, like the one in Shea Stadium,” McCartney recollected. “It was exhilarating, especially because there were so many screaming people [that] it was absolutely deafening.”   

The film is also about destiny. One memorable story line is the saga of Pete Flynn, who worked as head groundskeeper for Shea Stadium’s entire existence. After the Beatles concert in ‘65, Flynn drove the “Fab Four” off the field in a white station wagon. When McCartney made a surprise entrance at the end of the now legendary final concert at Shea, Flynn again drove him out on stage. Flynn, the Beatles and Shea Stadium had come full circle.

“‘The Last Play At Shea’ was one of the most memorable concerts I have ever performed,” Joel said. “I’m proud to experience that history with this film, participating in a musical legacy which started at Shea and continues on at Citi Field.”   

With a two-hour runtime, the documentary also includes interviews with Roger Daltrey, Steven Tyler, Garth Brooks, Tony Bennett, Mike Piazza, Keith Hernandez and Tom Seaver.           

“The Last Play At Shea” debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 25. Plans for a feature wide release are currently under way.                

With more than 10,000 people in attendance, the event was the biggest outdoor movie presentation since “Motion Picture Day” July 4, 1919, in Columbus, Ohio. The studios of D.W. Griffith, Paramount Pictures and Famous Players-Lasky, now Kaufman-Astoria Studios in Astoria, showed many of the films starring the most popular silent film actors of the time including Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.               

Director Paul Crowder and Screenwriter Mark Monroe draw on a wealth of historical footage as well as personal interviews with Joel to provide an intimate look at the intersecting histories of a stadium, a team, and a music legend. Set to the soundtrack of Joel’s final Shea performance and featuring exclusive concert footage, the documentary pays tribute to what was one of New York City’s most historic venues for both music and sports.
 


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