The Last Play at Shea
Film poster
Directed byPaul Crowder
Written byMark Monroe
Produced bySteve Cohen
Nigel Sinclair
Narrated byAlec Baldwin
CinematographyRoderick A. Santiano
Edited byPaul Crowder
Mike J. Nichols
Production
companies
Wrekin Hill Entertainment
Spitfire Pictures
Maritime Pictures
Distributed byNewmarket Films
Release dates
  • April 26, 2010 (2010-04-26) (Tribeca)
  • October 21, 2010 (2010-10-21) (United States)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Last Play at Shea is a 2010 American documentary film written by Mark Monroe, directed by Paul Crowder, produced by Steve Cohen and Nigel Sinclair, in conjunction with Billy Joel's Maritime Pictures and Spitfire Films.[1] The film is centered on Billy Joel's 2008 concerts of the same name that occurred at Shea Stadium. The shows were staged on July 16 and 18, 2008, before a combined 110,000 fans, and were the last performances ever to play the historic stadium before it was demolished.[1] The film debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 26, 2010. The film was released on DVD on February 8, 2011. The CD and DVD from the show were released on March 8, 2011, by Sony.[2]

The film premiered on August 21, 2010, at Citi Field, Shea Stadium's successor, in front of around 20,000 moviegoers.[3][4] Earlier that day, Joel watched it himself, and there was an announcement from him that he liked it and said: "I haven't puked from it," which was shown right before the film's premiere.[5][6][7]

Synopsis

The 90-minute film uses historical footage and animation. It uses the concerts to tell a broader story of Shea Stadium's history and how that related to changes that occurred in American suburban life and how they affected Long Island and Billy Joel. The film reveals several previously unknown facts.

Pete Flynn was a Shea groundskeeper who did the improbable by driving the Beatles from the stage to a centerfield gate in 1965, and then driving Paul McCartney from the stadium's rear entrance to the stage to perform at Billy Joel's "Last Play at Shea" concert 43 years later in 2008.[8]

Musicians

Songs

  1. "Prelude/Angry Young Man"
  2. "My Life"
  3. "Summer, Highland Falls"
  4. "Everybody Loves You Now"
  5. "Zanzibar"
  6. "New York State of Mind" (with Tony Bennett)
  7. "Allentown"
  8. "The Ballad of Billy the Kid"
  9. "She's Always a Woman"
  10. "Goodnight Saigon"
  11. "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)"
  12. "Shameless" (with Garth Brooks)
  13. "This Is the Time" (with John Mayer)
  14. "Keeping the Faith"
  15. "Captain Jack"
  16. "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)"
  17. "The River of Dreams"/"A Hard Day's Night"
  18. "We Didn't Start the Fire"
  19. "You May Be Right"
  20. "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"
  21. "Only the Good Die Young"
  22. "I Saw Her Standing There" (with Paul McCartney)
  23. "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"
  24. "Piano Man"
  25. "Let It Be" (with Paul McCartney)

References

  1. ^ a b "Last Play At Shea: World Premiere". Billyjoel.com. March 17, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  2. ^ "Live at Shea Stadium (2 CD /1 DVD): Billy Joel: Music". Retrieved August 8, 2011 – via Amazon.
  3. ^ "Billy Joels First Play at Citi is Last Play at Shea". WCBS-FM. August 23, 2010. Archived from the original on February 17, 2013.
  4. ^ Brand, Dana (August 23, 2010). "The Citi Field Premiere of Billy Joel's "Last Play at Shea"". Billyjoel.com. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  5. ^ Thousands at 'Shea' to screen Joel documentary. Newsday. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
  6. ^ Gamboa, Glenn (July 27, 2010). "'Last Play at Shea' documentary tells stadium's story". Newsday. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  7. ^ Gamboa, Glenn (July 27, 2010). "Billy Joel documentary on Shea concert gets August date". Newsday. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  8. ^ "Pete Flynn, Mets groundskeeper for almost 50 years, dies at 79". The New York Times. June 22, 2017.

External links

Billy Joel
Categories