COM Alum directs Documentary about Broadway Legend

A born raconteur with flawless timing, Elaine Stritch proved an irresistible subject for filmmaker Chiemi Karasawa ('90), who spent 18 months following—and recording—her as Stritch completed a national tour of the show, rehearsed and performed a new show of Sondheim songs in New York and prepared to move to Michigan to be closer to family.

Karasawa’s documentary, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, earned critical plaudits when it opened in 2014. Reviewing the film in the New York Times, critic Stephen Holden praised it for its “unflinchingly honest examination of a woman who is aware that the end is approaching.” Karasawa screened documentary as part of the Cinematheque series, a College of Communication program that brings accomplished filmmakers to campus to screen and discuss their work.

The filmmaker first met Stritch when she was working as a script supervisor on the set of John Turturro’s film Romance and Cigarettes in 2005. Stritch had been cast as James Gandolfini’s mother, and Karasawa says she was immediately taken with her energy and charisma. “It was like a tornado blew through town,” she recalls.