“Banded Together: The Boys From Glen Rock High” had its world premiere at the Montclair Film Festival #MFF22 on Saturday, October 29th at the Clairidge Cinema, and it was spectacular!!! There was a packed house and the reception was everything a filmmaker could want: people laughing hysterically, sighing emotionally, and cheering enthusiastically. It was great to reconnect with old friends from Glen Rock as well as meeting new ones. So many amazing audience members were friends of the band and of Glen Rock High School.
Teacher and mentor Joe Sielski attended the premiere with his wife Carolyn, enjoying the festivities along with band members Jimmy Vivino, Doug Romoff, John Feeney, Jerry Vivino and Jeff Venho. After the screening, Montclair Festival Artistic Director Tom Hall – who is a big fan of the film – led a Q&A session with many of The Boys and myself, director Barry Rubinow.
The 2nd screening of “Banded Together” occurred on Sunday, October 30th at a larger venue, so the crowd was even bigger and more raucous and appreciative. The entire band made it on Sunday, including Uncle Floyd Vivino, Lee Shapiro and Frank Pagano. Chaos reigned on stage after the screening as Uncle Floyd immediately grabbed the mic and went into his hilarious stand-up routine. As various band members had to physically wrest the mic away from Floyd so others could speak, the audience thought this was all part of the act and roared even louder. It made for a great photo op, as you can see from the new photos added to the gallery page.
I’m so glad everyone had such a good time. My thanks to Tom Hall and the festival for their support of my film and the story of The Boys who made good. What a great weekend!!!
