In a warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain more than 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. Meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to the schoolchildren of this city.

The Last Repair Shop poster

The Last Repair Shop (2024)

★ 7.5/10 February 16, 2024 40 min

DocumentaryMusic

Director: Kris Bowers, Ben Proudfoot

In a warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain more than 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. Meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to the schoolchildren of this city.

Where to watch

Disney Plus Disney Plus

Trailer

Director

Kris Bowers Kris Bowers Ben Proudfoot Ben Proudfoot

Cast

Dana Atkinson Dana Atkinson Self Duane Michaels Duane Michaels Self Paty Moreno Paty Moreno Self Steve Bagmanyan Steve Bagmanyan Self Ken Burget Ken Burget Self - The Piano Tuner Vincent Womack Vincent Womack Self - L.A.U.S.D. Music Teacher Since 19987 Boris Karloff Boris Karloff The Monster (archive footage) (uncredited) Tom Parker Tom Parker Self (archive footage) (uncredited) Elvis Presley Elvis Presley Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

User Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
CinemaSerf March 22, 2024
★ 7/10

This is quite an engaging documentary that introduces us to four specialist technicians who maintain some of the musical instruments that are provided free to pupils in the Los Angeles school system. Prefaced by a few words from each of the children who benefit from the violins, tubas, pianos and saxophones to name but a few, we then meet four of the people - from a variety of interesting, sometimes quite traumatic, backgrounds - as they show us just how meticulously they work to keep these instruments alive and useful. To be honest, I could have been doing with just a little more performance from the would-be students, but these characters who put their heart and soul into preserving these musical tools come across as dedicated and passionate. The same can be said for the students - especially the young violinist at the start whose smile just about says it all. We end with a rousing sec…