Dylan Haviland – General Assignment Reporter
The audience members in the Lyman Theater at Southern Connecticut State University were eagerly sitting as close to the stage as possible, taking off their coats now that they were relieved of the winter air.
Shortly after, the audience, composed heartily of alumni and students applauded the entrance of Wally Lamb, a New York Times bestselling author and Connecticut resident. Lamb has written the noteworthy novels, “I Know This Much To Be True” and “The Hour I First Believed.”
On the cold December night, Lamb presented the film adaptation of his popular book, “Wishin’ and Hopin’” released this year. A holiday story that spoke of a simpler time and the joy of appreciating family and friends in life, no matter the trouble they appear to give you.
The film’s opening scene was set in the winter of 1964 Connecticut, giving a sense of nostalgia to the older viewers and alumni visiting. Felix Funicello, the protagonist of the movie called this particular season the, “winter of surprises.”
Featuring a star studded cast, with the talents of Molly Ringwald as the teacher Madame Frechette, Chevy Chase voicing the narrator, an older Felix, ‘Wishin’ and Hopin’’ held many familiar faces. The actor and musician Meat Loaf even made a hilarious appearance as the alcoholic and stern priest Monsignor Muldoon.
‘Wishin’ and Hopin’ renders a heartwarming tale of the young Felix who goes through the countless trails of adolescence all the during the holiday season. Felix’s hilarious endeavors portrayed in the film involve: surviving a Catholic School full of a strict nuns, terrifying nightmares from a horror movie and of course dealing with girls and “the talk.”
“I’ve read everything he has done so when it came out I bought it immediately, said Shana Hagan a graduate student of Fairfield University. “I love the way he can connect to the reader, he not only brings in a great element because I’m from Connecticut, but he talks about real life instances.”
Hagan mentioned that Lamb’s relevance in his writing keeps bringing her back to the stories.
“I work in education so when he had the story from “The Hour I First Believed” a direct relation to Columbine it really hit home, when he did “I Know This Much Is True” on the twin brothers who one had a disability that’s something that is very relevant,” said Hagan.
The novel and film contained many biographical references to Lamb’s life, including being terrified by a horror movie as a child and his father’s humorous discussion with him on sex.
“How much am I like Felix? I like to say that Felix is 65 percent me,” said Lamb, answering the audience’s questions, “Although my sisters have seen this movie and they say no it’s more like a 95 percent”
The film, which was shot entirely in Connecticut, showed the powerful connection Lamb maintains with his home state. Several audience members were touched by how Connecticut was being shown on the big screen.
“Traveling around the country with this book and the earlier books you see that people have a sort of stereotype of what Connecticut is,” said Lamb. “But I like to tell people that I come from east of the Connecticut River were we are more feisty than fashionable, we root for the Red Socks not the Yankees and we are more liverwurst than pâté.”
Photo Credit: Dylan Haviland
