Escape from New York (or St. Louis?)

St. Louis has never been known as a popular destination for moviemaking. As such, us St. Louisans cherish the moments when we do get a little attention from Hollywood. The crew of Up In The Air, an upcoming George Clooney flick, was here a few months ago to film some scenes...some of which took place in a church right here in Maplewood! Also utilized: some downtown buildings, the Cheshire Inn and the now-unused C-concourse at Lambert Airport.

However, no matter how successful Up in the Air may be, the circumstances of its filming in our fair city may never top that of the wildly popular 1981 cult classic Escape from New York. The premise of this John Carpenter film borders on the ridiculous: in 1988 the crime rate in America spiked 400% and as a result, all of Manhattan island has been turned into a maximum security prison walled off from the outside world...once you go in, you never leave (or you can opt to "terminate" yourself before entering the prison for good). Now, in 1997, Air Force One has crashed into NYC, and it's up to a new convict (Kurt Russell) to rescue the president from the roving gangs within the prison.

The story goes that John Carpenter needed to create a destroyed, post-apocalyptic New York City on a shoestring budget. After some location scouting, Carpenter settled on East St. Louis and St. Louis, both of which had been in a state of abject decay. The filming took place in the summers of 1979 and 1980. I assume that East St. Louis (which was far worse off than St. Louis) was used in a lot of driving shots. However, some St. Louis landmarks were used in the film.

Last night, I sat down to watch the film for the first time. I was able to spot the following places quite easily:

1. FOX Theatre

The FOX's facade was used as a dilapidated theatre where Kurt Russell character tracks down a homing device presumably shackled to the president. (Appropriately enough, 1979/80 was a period in which the FOX had been closed due to its failure as a movie theatre. It would be renovated into a live venue a few years later.) There's a blatant wide-angle shot of the theatre's facade. Boy, did that place look sad. I don't believe the interior was used, as the theatre interiors in the film look nothing like the FOX's architecture. The film crew makes the FOX appear to be an old Broadway theatre, but if one looks closely, there is some graffiti that clearly says "FOX THEATRE" right by the ticket booth.

2. Grand Hall, Union Station

Just like the FOX, this location was also dilapidated but would later be renovated. Carpenter uses the Grand Hall to represent Madison Square Garden for a gladiator-style fight. My uncle was one of the extras in this scene...though I cannot spot him at all. :)

3. Old Chain of Rocks Bridge

This old bridge--functioning as the "69th Street Bridge" during a climactic getaway sequence--was bought from the government for $1--for liability protection--then sold back.

Places I didn't spot in the film, but read about later:

• 21st & Locust -- site of Air Force One wreckage


• Civil Courts Building -- site of a minor character's hideout


• Masonic Temple on Lindell....which I assume is now the Moolah Theater??

And now for something zany! At the very end of the credits, there is a list of organizations to be thanked, and it looked just this:

The Crew Would Like To Thank:
THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS
THE CITY OF NEW YORK
THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES
THE MISSOURI COAST GUARD
PT's -- CENTREVILLE

I laughed out loud at that last one. For those not in the know, PT's is an infamous strip joint on the "East Side" that, according to one of the bartenders at Dressel's Pub, the film crew frequented to "blow off steam" and pay the strippers for more than just a strip show, if you get my drift.

Am I a dork to want to rent the version that has a director's commentary track????

Goodbye 'Trovatore' ... Hello 'Witwe'

Opera season leaves me with so few days off...and today I'm free from rehearsals and performances.

No sooner than Trovatore finished, I went right into rehearsals for Merry Widow. Sunday and Monday evening were all about getting the music solidified with the chorus, then chorus + principals. Got to meet the principals on Monday. All the principals but one (Tommy Wazelle, our Camille) have worked with UAO before, but I'd not previously known Sylvia, our Hanna (the title character). She's got the looks and the voice for this role, and she's so wonderful to watch onstage. Ian, the Danilo, is also very engaging in his role. He is definitely going to be the matinee-idol for the audiences. It's also very fun to have a lot of old friends come back to town for the show: Scott Levin, James Harr, David Dillard, Ann Hoyt. It's like a homecoming...or something equally sentimental. John, my voice teacher, is even involved as Njegus, a speaking role. His german is a model for us all!

Tuesday, we had a concept talk amongst the cast. It seemed, at first, like it would be a waste of time, but I will admit that I did learn a lot about the characters and have been able to develop my character a lot better...even if I'm dialogue-less. :( That night, the men of the chorus gathered to work on our opening scene with Hanna...which ought to look pretty cool...almost like Ziegfield Follies-meets-Moulin Rouge.

Thursday, the men of the Marsch Septett in Act Two gathered to block that scene. Expect to see us doing a lot of high kicks...for an extended period... I thank Lehár so much for giving most of the men in that scene a chance to breathe (and for me to get all the sweat off my brow) for at least ten minutes before the next entrance.

Friday night was a night off from Widow, but not for us in Trovatore. As with all returns to a show after a six-day hiatus at UAO, things got a little hairy getting back into the groove...but according to maestro Schoonover, it went a lot better than usual.

Yesterday, I had my costume fitting. Let me just say that Teresa, our costume designer never fails to find and build kick-ass costumes. My Trovatore duds were really cool, and no matter what people think, I loved my gypsy costume which included a vest/coat that made me look like the mysterious man in Into the Woods...or Old Deuteronomy in CATS...those of you who came to the show may be the judge. My doublet and "poofy pants" (as Teresa likes to call them) weren't too shabby neither. Well, now that she's working on Merry Widow wardrobe, I got to see and try on my Bogdanowitsch duds. For Acts One and two, I'm wearing a creme-colored military snap-up coat with black accents. Teresa told me that my costume was recently worn in a San Francisco Opera production of Widow which I've already seen on DVD. Now I'll have to rent it again! (Apparently, I'll have to look for it worn by the Baron Zeta.) You'll see me in tails for Act Three, which takes place in a cabaret setting.

Oh, and did I mention that there's a TON of dancing in this show? Expect the obligatory champagne-operetta waltzes, the famous Act Three can-can, a polonaise, a ballet, a mazurka and my personal favorite (cuz it's clinically simple): the polka!

Saturday afternoon was spent blocking the Act Two finale and running all of Act One...which really flies by even though we had to stop after some minor trainwrecks. I went home in the afternoon to take a nap before I had to get back up for the evening... ...which brings me to the end of Trovatore. I think our final performance really was at the same energy level as last week...and that's a great way to go out. I'll miss the superstition scene, the anvil chorus, the raucous end of "Di quella pira", and the haunting miserere (which I am dying to have heard in the house!).

Now, I can focus my energy completely on Widow...and try to enjoy this lovely mild weather before August comes to screw us all!

Trovatore & its review

Well, Trovatore opened Friday night. Seemed to be an audience pleaser, as there were some arias that got extended applause. The Anvil Chorus seemed to go over ok, even if there were some shaky spots (imo) where the conductor worked to rein us in a bit.


Sarah Bryan Miller's review in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is out there...and it seems like a hot/cold review that was neither a complete, utter trashing like Carmen last year (when she compared the chorus people to refugees from a Viennese operetta) nor a highly favorable write-up, like last season's Elixir. For those of you who don't know, I am sometimes critical of her write-ups....and so I'm going to offer some thoughts on some of the most egregious bits (her words in block quotes):

In reference to a couple singers' acting:

Neither man will win any awards for acting.

Ok, so you obviously weren't impressed with the acting from these singers. You have the right to that opinion, but can you flesh out WHY they presumably weren't up to par? Sometimes, the readers (not to mention the singers themselves) would like to know something that brought you to that conclusion... Otherwise, your one-sentence, drive-by critique comes off as very snide. [This is one of her repeat offenses.]

On the chorus:

The tiny chorus — just 16 people for Verdi’s big do — sang heroically and well, but it was a little too much to ask, especially in the Anvil Chorus.

As a chorister, I appreciate knowing that we sang well. Trovatore is a taxing sing if you want to do it right. But please... There have been "tiny" choruses (some even tinier) at UAO for season after season. At some point one must accept that the company must spend its performance-fee funds wisely...and the chorus, though small, will work hard to fill the space.

The new "scrappy"?

"Trovatore" doesn’t really work with a chamber orchestra...

That part is my biggest beef of the entire review. Does SBM not realize that a great number of shows done at UAO (the Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti...even the Mozart) are performed with an orchestral reduction? Furthermore, is she completely ignorant that OTSL does the same thing? Their recent Salome was a standard orchestral reduction (60-pieces) from Strauss's original 90-piece orchestration performed only by some of the biggest houses (Met, Lyric, SFO, Houston). How about the fact that John Corigliano himself created a shrunken performance version of Ghosts of Versailles for OTSL and other similarly sized houses? You cannot tell me that the pit at OTSL could accomodate the players in a full orchestration of La Bohème.

Honestly, a larger number of players may have proven too much for the space. From what I listened to in the house during the sitzprobe and some rehearsals, the reduction filled the acoustic space, yet never covered the singers. That is what you want. UAO is a small house...and why SBM cannot accept small-house limitations (no matter how many times she feigns sympathy for them) is beyond me. Did she just now start to care that Trovatore was reduced...or is this just a clever new way of saying that the orchestra was "scrappy"?

Credit, where it's due...

I will give her credit that she was favorable to the conductor, half the singers and the director's approach to the presentation of this dramatically-challenged opera. This time around, she mercifully abandoned the following conventions:

• like, omg, those wigs/supertitles like totally blew!!1!
• i know it's not as cool the Met or even OTSL....but gawd can't it be?!?
• i'm just so flummoxed that they repeatedly ignore my pearls of wisdom, and they won't improve until they do.

Could it be that she's realized that UAO is going to continue what it does best? I know I'm somewhat of a shill, but I think even she sees the writing on the wall. But I can be (and have been) wrong.

ignunce & fireworks

These past four weeks have been a blur of rehearse, rehearse, dressels, work-during-the-day, rehearse, rehearse, ignunce*, rehearse....et cetera!

*Ignunce cannot be described; only experienced! Suffice it to say that when Mark Meier's in town, I stay out waaaaay too late and have waaaaay too much fun ;)

I'm currently singing in the chorus of Il Trovatore with Union Avenue Opera. Two weeks ago, we met to solidify the music and block the entire show. One great aspect of working with our director, Mark, is that his directorial philosophy goes like this: "Mama runs a tight ship." His approach allows us to get all the housecleaning out of the way as quickly/efficently as possible, then take the rest of the time to work in the dramatic elements. The past week was spent running acts and eventually running the entire show...which is incredibly tight and FLYS BY...and that's saying something for Verdi. Today, we meet with the orchestra for the first time to do the Sitzprobe...then the next few days are all Dress Rehearsals before Friday's opening night. Tonight, I will finally have my costume fitting and figure out what she wants to do with my beard...which is quite pitiful. Not gonna lie.

Overall, this has been a great cast to work with. The chorus people are mostly UAO veterans (Nate, Jonathan, Alan, Clark, Jon) with some new blood joining our company (Tom & Anthony). I have a lot of interaction onstage with Jonathan Brader, whose talent for chattering in Italian (whenever we're not singing) is impeccable and amusing. I chuckle at what he'd sound like in a russian piece. The atmosphere backstage is collegial and quite humorous at times...what a great place to to work. I've almost forgot the principals, too. Alexandra, our Leonora, tears. it. UP. in Act IV...and anyone undecided on coming to see Trovatore should keep this in mind. Patrick, our Ferrando, is a vocal powerhouse...one of those "could listen to him sing the phonebook" voices! Veronica, our Azucena, plays the old, crazy gypsy-witch to the hilt...yet another reason to come, y'all. Go to this website and get your tickets: http://www.unionavenueopera.org/

How did you spend your Fourth of July holiday?? I was originally supposed to join my immediate family members down at the Lake of the Ozarks for all of Saturday and then head back today, but circumstances kept us all here. My parents and I spent the afternoon with the Rhymer-side of the family--specifically at the place of my cousin Dave and his wife Amy. I never pass up a chance to schmooze with my Aunt Kathy, plus it was a great way to see some family I see rather infrequently. As dark approached, I drove to good old Freeburg to join my sis, bro-in-law, niece and nephew for a fireworks show at Freeburg Recreation Park. *cue sappy music here* I felt a lot of nostalgia to be honest. This was where my sister and I grew up going to the pool, playing on the swings, playing little league, riding the rides at the homecoming festival (ROCK-O-PLANE!!!), and many other small-town joys. Now, my little niece and nephew were playing there... *end sappy music here* Being in a small town, we weren't expecting a show on par with Fair St. Louis, but the Freeburg Chamber of Commerce (or whatever org) exceeded my expectations! 30 minutes of balls-to-the-wall fireworks...was mightily impressed with what they brought to the table. It was a delightful way to cap off the Fourth of July. All that was missing was a soundtrack of Neil Diamond and Irving Berlin!!