The film documents the 2008 ceremony for the annual award program, which is held every year at the State Theatre, Easton, Pennsylvania.
Production
Most Valuable Players, a Canyonback Films production, is directed/produced by Matthew D. Kallis and written/produced by Christopher Lockhart. It was Lockhart's first documentary and, although Kallis had directed documentaries in the past, he had never done one to this scale. The film was conceived when Lockhart found a clip of the 2006 ceremony on YouTube while searching for something unrelated. Lockhart was impressed with the production values and performance caliber, and took the idea to Kallis, who agreed to partner with him for a documentary. Kallis and Lockhart acquired over 300 hours of source material over four months, starting with 2008 high school rehearsals all the way up to the State Theatre ceremony on May 22, 2008. In addition to the event itself, the footage includes filming behind-the-scenes at production meetings, interviews with students and teachers, rehearsals at participating high schools, and the announcement of Freddy Award nominations. Cinematographer Curt Apduhan, who won an Emmy for the 2003 documentary "Amargosa", served as Director of Photography. Ken King, winner of two Emmy Awards and nominated for a BAFTA for his work on the film Pulp Fiction, served as production sound mixer. 40 minutes of an original score was composed by Randy Miller. Most Valuable Players runs 95 minutes long. The original working title was Freddy Fever. Lockhart said the new title demonstrates an analogy between sports and arts, adding, "In a way this plays like a sports documentary." The film focuses primarily on three schools: Emmaus High School in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, Parkland High School in Allentown, and Freedom High School in Bethlehem. By coincidence, both Emmaus and Parkland were presenting the musical Les Misérables the year Most Valuable Players was filmed, and the competition that arose made for one of the film's main conflicts. The documentary originally included a ghosthunting sequence dealing with the urban legend of J. "Fred" Osterstock, for whom the Freddy Awards are named. Osterstock died in 1957, and the legend claims he still haunts the theater.
The documentary was met with generally positive reviews. called it, "...high-spirited, yet topical and poignant." , the Hollywood trade paper, referred to it as a "happy film." wrote the film "is an often moving account of talented teenagers striving for excellence." The was less enthused, calling the film "relentlessly peppy" and, while noting its "worthwhile intentions," criticized it for stoking "dreams of adulation too often at the expense of showing a creative end pursued for its own good." Upon its premiere on the Oprah Winfrey Network, Matt Roush of declared it "the Sleeper of the Week," calling it "charming and disarming." Roush further wrote, "The camaraderie among the theater kids is touching and funny, and the emotion is palpable...I can't remember when I last enjoyed a Tony broadcast this much. A genuine treat." rated it 3.5/4 stars. In a , Rosie O'Donnell called the documentary "amazing," adding "it made me cry...." It currently holds an 8.3 rating on .
