that nobody would be interested in
the story of an unknown musician.
Some thought the film should be
about several people who were on
the plane and passengers of note.
Gerry Niewood, Coley’s bandmate
in the Chuck Mangione Band also
perished. As did Beverly Eckert, a
co-chair of the 9/11 Family Steer-
ing Committee and a leader of
Voices of September 11; Susan
Whele, the first American female
Jewish Renewal cantor; and Alison
Des Forges, a human rights inves-
tigator and expert on the Rwandan
genocide. But Jeanie stuck to her
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 59
plan. The end result was definitely
the right one.
Even if you never knew of Cole-
man Mellett before watching the
film you learn at the very begin-
ning that he died in the plane
crash, but the film quickly moves
towards who he was as a musi-
cian and then to the making of the
album. Nevertheless, the viewer
can’t help but watch the film with
the thought that Coley is gone.
The crash did not need to be em-
phasized because it’s one part of
the story and the music left behind
is the other.
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