A Work of Art
A Wichitan makes his leap to the big screen after rubbing elbows with William H. Macy and Meg Ryan.
When Arthur Allen left Wichita for New York City in 1987, he knew one person—a friend of a friend from Kansas State University. His buddy’s roommate was a struggling actor who had landed a gig with the Atlantic Theater Company. By day, Allen cut his chops on selling insurance for New York Life. At night, he dashed across New York’s Chelsea neighborhood to a converted church to watch his friend perform.
Playwright David Mamet and movie star William H. Macy founded The Atlantic Theater Company in 1985. Allen, who grew up acting in musicals in Wichita’s small neighboring town Valley Center, became one of the group’s greatest supporters. He joined Atlantic’s board and over the next 16 years worked to beef up the theater’s budget and the scale of its productions.
Two years ago, the troupe premiered Spring Awakening, a provocative rock musical tracing the carnal trysts and tribulations of two pubescent lovers in 19th-century Germany. Broadway snatched up the play. It won eight Tony Awards, including best musical.
These successes on stage inspired Allen to break onto the big screen. By then, he had the connections, but he needed the right story. In 2006, Macy handed him a script for The Deal, a comedy based on a novel by L.A. writer Peter Lefcourt. In the script, a desperate movie producer (Macy) aims to revitalize his career by turning a dry biopic of former British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli into a blockbuster action film. He scams a Hollywood studio executive (Meg Ryan) into funding the brouhaha by casting in the lead a mega-star (LL Cool J) who’s recently converted to Judaism.
It was a complicated and quirky idea for a movie, but Allen was hooked. He signed on to be one of the producers. After raising $8 million to finance the film, Macy and the crew began shooting in Cape Town, South Africa, in the spring of 2007. “It was almost life-altering,” Allen says. “Just watching Bill and Meg working in front of the camera and knowing the madness of what was really going on was amazing.”
At one point during a faux-London scene, the crew maneuvered a crane to elevate a 40-by-20-foot rain apparatus that simulated a downpour. “It was this whole comedy of errors that went on until five in the morning,” he says. “It was a huge ordeal for a five-second shot.”
The Deal hit the film festival circuits this year, beginning with Sundance in January. Allen says the film, which pokes fun at Hollywood, has drawn warm responses from viewers and mixed reactions from critics.
At publication, Allen’s efforts to secure a theater release for the film were underway, making the movie’s appearance at the Tallgrass Film Festival uncertain. However, whether at Tallgrass or in theaters from L.A. to New York, viewers can still look forward to enjoying The Deal.
Allen, who still splits his time between Wichita and New York for work, says he plans to attend Tallgrass at this point. He’s also looking for his next project, perhaps a Wichita tale this time. “There are stories to be told here and a wealth of talent,” he says.
