Indie Director John Putch Re-Premieres ROUTE 30, TOO for Totem Pole Playhouse

On July 2, Totem Pole Playhouse in Fayetteville, PA held its premiere of director John Putch's ROUTE 30, TOO, the second film in the independent director's "Route 30 Trilogy". Filming on the third film is scheduled to begin in the Fayetteville - Chambersburg PA area in August this year.

Although ROUTE 30, TOO was released in Franklin County, PA and placed on the film festival circuit in 2012, this was the first showing at Totem Pole, a theatre closely associated with Putch and with the trilogy - Putch is the son of Totem Pole's long-time producer-director Bill Putch, and members and associates of the Totem Pole staff worked both as cast and crew on the film, which is about the stretch of the Lincoln Highway that runs between Chambersburg and Gettysburg, PA, directly past the theatre. Putch has also produced and directed THIS IS MY FATHER, a retrospective of his father's work and legacy at Totem Pole Playhouse, which can be found online.

While the first film was a trilogy itself, three short, hilarious segments about life on Route 30, the sequel is an entire full-length adventure about a local ghost (involving the head of sister Pamela Putch), a visiting alien (Beth Behrs), and the revamping of a local Native-American-themed gentlemen's club run by Rotten Egg (Lee Wilkof). Rotten Egg hires Baltimore consultant Jackie Flat (Wil Love) to help him find a new image for the club, while he and his friends are also encountering The Woman in White, who is annoyed with the alien visiting her forest. How a giant metal elephant and a pair of mostly-white boots found in the forest fit into the picture is anyone's guess until explanations begin to arrive and a Native American elephant exorcism is performed.

The production was received well by the crowded audience, most of whom had seen the film at least once already.

After the showing, there was a question-and-answer period with cast and crew, shown in the photograph: from left to right, Kate Murphy (set design), Dan Poole, Ray Ficca, Alicia Fusting, and "Mr. Ed" (Ed Gotwalt, area celebrity and occasional actor), as well as with Putch.

Putch is also known for his work on the NBC remake of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and his work in the AMERICAN PIE saga as well as his directing of episodic television including COUGAR TOWN, UGLY BETTY, and BODY OF PROOF. His independent work has included Sundance Film Festival submission VALERIE FLAKE and cult favorite MOJAVE PHONE BOOTH. He has twice directed commercial theatre, both shows Neil Simon comedies.

The first two films are available as DVDs from www.route30trilogy.com, which also has information about the films. Information about Putch and his other independent and studio cinema can be found at www.putchfilms.com.

Photo credit: M. Rogers

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