I was inspired to write this script because there are few American films with a multi-dimensional middle-aged woman as the central character. This satirical comedy touches on themes of ambition and survival. Jackie, vibrant and sexy, rebels against the stereotype that aging women are invisible. Her comfortable lifestyle is a contradiction, which rests on shaky ground. When her married accountant boyfriend dumps her, this illusion is destroyed. What then is real in her life?
Second acts are the American way. Jackie finds hers with the rediscovery of a vocal talent ignored since her younger days. Her renewed passion as a performer allows her to discard those elements in her life that have diminished her; a lack of self-confidence and a reliance on an unfulfilling personal relationship. Though music, she connects to a new audience and to her authentic self. Her journey of self-discovery is mirrored in the Long Island City location of Hotel Bleu, set on the edge of a transforming industrial neighborhood.
From the Broadway glitz of Jim Caruso’s Cast Party at Birdland – to downtown Joe’s Pub, where edgier cabaret singers like Jackie Hoffman and Bridget Everett perform – to small clubs in the outer boroughs — the cabaret jazz scene has taken off. Like the characters in Harold and Maude, Jackie, about to hit sixty, — and Jay, not even thirty, form an unusual bond. They fuse an off-beat musical style all their own. Jackie’s “seen it all” wise cracks and Sophie Tucker renditions ignite Jay’s curiosity, while Jay’s sweet and playful nature wake Jackie to the magic of living in the moment and discovering herself as a singer.