Director Christopher Ashley has perfect timing in handling the humor and the seriousness. His punch-lines always zing and the comedy almost never misses the mark. In the hands of a lesser talent, this could be a horrible failure. He also serves the more serious notes of the piece well by never allowing them to fall into sentimentality. We never get a real tear here because the piece is a celebration of life and love.
Tears here are for joy.
Also in his favor, Ashley is adept at mixing stock footage and new shots. Several scenes are large establishing shots of Stonewall 25, the gay pride celebration of 1994. Ashley mixes new scenes of close-ups of the characters in with this and never once draws our minds away from the action. It blends easily. Ashley, it must be said, hardly ever fails us during the entire piece.