Damon Cardasis has been on his plate a lot these days.
His musical adaptation of his 2017 film, “Saturday Church,” is in the midst of an off-Broadway run, but his produced Rebecca Miller’s Apple TV + docusary “Mr. Scorsese,” directed by Rebecca Miller, about Martin Scorsese, will premiere today at the New York Film Festival ahead of his streaming debut on October 17th.
“I write musicals, write musical lyrics, switch my brain and become the lead producer in Scorsese’s five-part documentary series,” Cardasis says in a Zoom interview from an apartment in New York City. “It’s crazy, but I think that’s what I love and what I’m thriving.”
He then laughs and adds, “I’m also paying attention to what you want.”
“Saturday Church,” which will be performing at the New York Theatre Workshop until October 24th, will be working on his gender and sexual identity as a New York City teenager becomes friends with a group of LGBTQ+ youth. Director Whitney White’s show features the music and lyrics of Cardasis and Pulitzer award-winning James Ijames (“Fat Ham”) and Sia.
How do you start producing Martin Scorsese’s docusaries?
How do you eat an elephant? Sip one at a time. It started out as a single film. “Arthur Miller: The Writer,” produced a film about Rebecca’s father. It was nominated for Emmy and we all reached out to people of all kinds of ideas. Rebecca was like, “Well, Marty would be incredible.” But we thought 1,000 people probably asked him to do it. Then we knew we were right. People always asked him to do a documentary about his life, but he always said no. It was like, “Let’s ask.” Rebecca has contacted Margaret Bourde, the producer partner of his documentary, to run his film foundation. She said, “I think that’s a good idea. Why don’t you write him a letter explaining why?” Rebecca did, and he said yes.
How was it like filming with him?
It started during the pandemic. He was so busy and he’s doing so much that it was kind of an advantage in the fact that everything was closed. It was possible to take advantage of the moment when he had a free slate in some way, as the film was not filmed. The interview began outside with minimal crew. As we were expanding it deeper, Rebecca came to me at one point and said, “This isn’t one movie.” At first I think, “Yeah, maybe that’s two parts.” But it grew into five parts. Thankfully, so many people wanted to be part of it because of who he is. It wasn’t just a celebrity talking. We got his family. We got his childhood friend, we got his closest collaborator. So I think it’s really a 3D portrait of him.
Was there a time when he asked me to stop filming because he didn’t talk?
No, never. Rebecca is also amazing. I’m not just saying that because I’m a partner and friend in her production, but it was his ability to keep up with his heart. He is very smart. Rebecca says, “Let’s talk about the 1960 Italian film” or “Oh, my god, did you see an opera of this?” She is so amazing that she can go all the way to her toes with him. Also, over time, I found it great to be in a room with only two cameras set up and booming. People will see him being very open in the document. He is very honest about things.
When did you decide to adapt “Saturday Church” to a stage musical?
When someone asked if I wanted to do it as a stage musical, it was one of the Q&As I did for the film and he called me and said, “Do you think about it?” It was like, “Yeah, that’s a dream.” And he asked who I wanted to play music if I could choose someone. She tweeted about it and knew that Shea had seen the film. She said, “Everyone goes to see ‘Saturday Church’. Well done, Damon Cardasis. “I told Kevin that Shea was my dream. He was like, “I ask.” Two weeks later he came back and said, “She’s going to do that.” That was seven years ago.
So, are you thinking about bringing the stage musical back to film?
I want to make this a big budget movie musical. My dream is to do a big movie musical like “Chicago.” I was talking to a big theatre producer known for her indirectness, and she said, “I’ve never seen such an audience on a show because I don’t know when.” She said it is the most diverse. You get a 70 year old white theatre guy, then a young strange young man and a straight man. She said, “This is going very well in a 200-seat theatre, but you can also play the arena.” Get a video of people dancing to the song in the nightclub. I think it’s a big movie, but I think it’s incredible.
When I first wrote “Saturday Church,” can you imagine how different it resonates today due to political attacks on the queer and trans community?
It’s scary that we’ve returned to this stage. All this hatred. It’s endless. That’s scary. But I also hope to pass this one. I hope that “Pause,” “Saturday Church,” and all the work done will have the back of the community, be a source of inspiration or love, and that the community will not feel alone and have a true alliance.
This Q&A was edited for length and clarity.
