“Stay All Night” Carnegie Hall Documentary Headed Into Pre-Production

Lippman film centers on Carnegie Hall performance
By Gordon Cox

Steven Lippman, the filmmaker who directs music shorts under the name Flip, is heading into pre-production on an indie docu about Judy Garland’s 1961 Carnegie Hall perf, “Stay All Night,” with exec producers including Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (“Howl,” “The Celluloid Closet”). Mary Wharton (“Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound”) also is aboard as producer of the film, which offers a look at Garland and her performance skills from the perspective of audience members who attended the Carnegie Hall concert.

The storied event yielded a well-known recording of the concert as well as subsequent tributes in various media, including Rufus Wainwright’s 2007 perf of the evening’s setlist at the same venue.

Score of the documentary will include audio from the concert recording as well as music composed by Joe Henry (“Jesus’ Son,” Motherhood”).

Lippman, who has been researching the Carnegie Hall perf for two years with producer and Garland expert John Fricke, will co-write “Stay All Night” with Ain Gordon.

Karen Bernstein co-produces in association with Jaimie Mayer Phinney.