READ OUR 2024 MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL COVERAGE
When Cyndi Lauper earned a best new artist Grammy following the meteoric success of her 1983 debut album “She’s So Unusual,” many were quick to refer to her as an overnight success.
Let the Canary Sing, a documentary that serves as a nostalgic exploration of the life and career of Brooklyn-born Lauper, reveals that her rise to fame was anything but sudden and was, in fact, a struggle-filled period more than a decade in the making that left her past the age of 30 when she finally made it big.
“I didn’t want anyone to tell me what I could and couldn’t do,” Lauper proclaims in the film in her thick and distinctive accent.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Directed by Alison Ellwood, Let the Canary Sing offers tantalizing insight into Lauper’s journey in her music career and other wide-ranging aspects of the far from ordinary life of the now 70-year-old, who narrates it all. There’s never-before-seen footage and candid interviews with the likes of Boy George, Patti LaBelle and other musicians, along with Lauper’s family, friends, business associates, romantic interests and a host of others.
The film at first offers moviegoers a window into Lauper’s hardscrabble upbringing in a spirited Sicilian family. There is wonderful archival footage from Lauper’s early childhood living in a cold water flat in Brooklyn before a move to Queens following the divorce of her parents. It also delves into Lauper’s loving relationship with her sister, Ellen, who appears throughout the film.
One of the more intriguing parts for me came in an extended portion of the film that focused on Lauper’s time with the Blondie-like band Blue Angel in the early 1980s. Admittedly, I was previously unaware of Lauper’s early music career and found the footage of her and the band to be mesmerizing. It’s especially mind-blowing to witness Lauper’s fiercely enthusiastic stage presence and extraordinary voice at a young age. Rare old concert footage shows Lauper twisting and twirling across the stage with her blonde hair pulled into a ponytail that sways to the rhythm of the music.
It all seemed like a sure-fire recipe for success for the band.
But outside of limited popularity on the New York City Club scene, Blue Angel never took off and Lauper and her outsized talent left the group – a difficult decision due to her fierce loyalty – to embark on what would eventually become a remarkable solo career.
At one point, Lauper is sued by a previous manager. That matter ended up in court and with Lauper finally free from the matter, the judge proclaimed: “Let the canary sing.”
Another highly intriguing aspect of the film is the painstaking process surrounding the song “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” which would become Lauper’s first single and a major hit, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1984.
Producer Rick Chertoff came to Lauper with what he thought would be a perfect song for her – “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” a tune written and recorded by Philadelphia rocker Robert Hazard in 1979.
She initially balked at doing the song because of its male-centric lyrics. But the lyrics, chords and melody were all changed after considerable reworking and with the addition of Lauper’s one-of-a-kind voice it would eventually become a huge hit and a feminist anthem, of sorts.
The song, however, didn’t gain much traction at first and was in danger of being shelved so that another, slower single, “Time After Time,” could be released. Lauper fought the push to move on from “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and used her connection with a wrestler known as Captain Lou Albano, who appeared as her father in the video for the song, to thrust herself into the world of professional wrestling and its booming popularity.
The unorthodox move succeeded and “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” went on to become a massive hit.
The second half of Let the Canary Sing shifts to a more cursory focus on Lauper’s life beyond music. She’s remained an outspoken feminist while also drawing attention to issues such as emancipation, abortion, racism and gender discrimination. She advocates for gay and transgender rights and testified at a Senate subcommittee hearing about youth homelessness.
She’s remained an activist for LGBTQ issues, inspired early on by her sister, who is a lesbian. Lauper discusses in the film about how her hit “True Colors” deepened her connection to the LGBTQ community.
Lauper won multiple Tony Awards for her first Broadway musical, “Kinky Boots,” an adaptation of a British film about a struggling shoe factory reinventing itself by making boots for drag queens, an accomplishment touched on in the film.
Let the Canary Sing is entertaining and informative with captivating footage and interviews. There are also many poignant moments centered around family issues, failed relationships and the death of one of her closest friends to AIDS. There are also many moments of hard-fought triumph and even light-hearted controversy over her sexually suggestive song “She Bop.”
Let the Canary Sing offers an intriguing and wide-ranging look into the world of one of pop music’s most unique and entertaining performers that will leave you laughing at one moment and tearful the next. From her childhood to pop stardom and full life beyond, Lauper remains an intriguing figure whose story is still being written with chapters that extend beyond the world of music.
SEE IT YOURSELF: You can catch the Milwaukee Film Festival’s showing of Let the Canary Sing at the Avalon Theater on Thursday, April 25 at 6 p.m.
