"It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood..."
Fred Rogers, Pittsburgh 1928-2003
"In Pittsburgh...!?"
Oprah Winfrey responding to Carl Kurlander's claim that he found happiness in his hometown.
My Tale of Two Cities tells the affectionate, thought-provoking story of Pittsburgh, a once great
industrial giant which, like many cities around the world, is struggling to redefine itself in a new
age. It also tells the sometimes moving, sometimes humorous story of Carl Kurlander, who gave up a
successful career as a Hollywood screenwriter and television producer (St. Elmo's Fire; Saved By The
Bell) to search for a more meaningful life in his hometown - only to find that Pittsburgh was itself
experiencing a mid-life crisis.
They say you can't go home again, but that's what Carl did when he accepted a job offer to teach
college in his hometown of Pittsburgh. Things seemed to be working out better than he imagined, as
he and his wife Natalie found themselves as guests on The Oprah Winfrey Show, telling Oprah how
happy they were living in what was, quite literally, Mister Rogers Neighborhood. But shortly after
that, Fred Rogers died and Pittsburgh went bankrupt.
Can the city that built America with its steel, cured polio, and invented everything from Aluminum
to the Big Mac reinvent itself? To find out, Carl relentlessly pursues his neighbors - going shopping
with Teresa Heinz Kerry, tossing a football with Steelers legend Franco Harris, and eating breakfast
at a local diner with Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill - asking what could save their hometown? He
also talks to outsiders, like his best friend Louis Anderson, whose hometown of Minneapolis has
somehow become a "cool" place to live. But in trying to deal with Pittsburgh's future, Carl also
finds he has to deal with his own past, as he visits his old gym teacher, re-connects with the girl
who inspired St. Elmo's Fire, goes fishing with his brother as they catch (and eat!) a fish from the
former industrial sewer known as the Allegheny River, and confronts his mother about the decision
she made to dramatically leave Pittsburgh during Carl's childhood.
In the end, both Carl and Pittsburgh discover that sometimes your worst times lead to your best
times. In a surprising "feel good" crescendo, with Pittsburghers from Times Square to Beverly
Hills singing "Won't You Be My Neighbor?," the audience is reminded of what Fred Rogers had always
known - that there are good neighbors everywhere and together, we can all make a difference.
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