On The Road — Page 2

My Little Road Trip

August 29, 2022 at 8:29 am by Claudia

The milkweed pods are opening. I grabbed a quick picture as I was just about to get in the car to go to Rochester.

The trip? Let’s just say ‘tedious.’ The drive was long; starting off by going west through the Catskills for a few hours, then north, then west again. It was pretty and for several miles I was driving alongside the Delaware River. Shockingly low. Drought. Drove through the Finger Lakes area, past Ithaca, through Syracuse and Skaneateles Lake – lots of mountains and farms and beautiful scenery. Crossed the Erie Canal. I made it to Rochester and went directly to the theater with a half hour to spare before rehearsal was to start.

It was great seeing Elizabeth, formerly Associate Artistic Director at Hartford Stage, and the adapter of the script, as well as the director of Jane Eyre. And Fiona, who was an intern at Hartford and is now a dramaturg for Geva Theater. We spent 20 minutes or so catching up with each other while I took my covid test and sent a picture of the results to company management. Negative. Good friends and colleagues that I’m always happy to see.

The run through went quite well. I took notes and could only quickly pass them out to the actors at the end of the day because we were out of time.

And then I left and checked into the hotel, which was nice – room decorated in a symphony of browns. But it was a suite with a separate bedroom, a nice kitchenette – quite spacious!

The recurring problem with the whole trip was finding food. I was always hungry. Don made a sandwich for me before I left and I ate that in the car as I was driving. I had a box of wheat thins. And water. By the time I checked in at the hotel and looked at a list of local restaurants, I was so tired that I opted for a frozen Stouffer’s fettucine alfredo that was in the freezer in what was called The Pantry at the hotel.

It was awful. I couldn’t even finish it! Same thing the next day. I had a sort of breakfast – the kind that you often find in motels – in the morning. Grabbed a banana for the road. And then I just snacked on wheat thins on the way home. By the time I pulled in the driveway, I was starving, so I had some soup.

The rest stops had, typically, a McDonalds or something of that sort. Other than fries – there was nothing I could or would eat.

After taking a bath, I went to bed and conked out for the night. I slept well.

I should have known, knowing me, that I would have no desire to go see Lake Ontario on Sunday. I just wanted to get back home and I knew I had another long journey ahead.

It’s a lot of driving for a three hour rehearsal! I’ll have to do the same thing next Sunday/Monday. Yes, I drive home on Labor Day, a bit of information I didn’t grasp until after I committed to that date. Ah, well.

Positive things: beautiful scenery, summer (not winter!) – a nice little tour of New York state. It was much greener in Rochester and one of the actors told me it had been quite rainy there recently.

I have to figure out something better in terms of trip food before Sunday.

Don, as you know, has the farmers market on Sunday, so he couldn’t go along. But he was really helpful with trip prep, bless his heart.

It was great to see old friends, meet the cast in person, see a bit of the theater. It’s right downtown, housed in a converted arsenal. I didn’t get a photo of the exterior, but I’ll try to do that next weekend.

I have to coach Jim today, another actress in the musical tomorrow (and maybe Jim, as well.) And so it will go this week. Jim’s show starts rehearsals the day after Labor Day, so we have a lot to do before then.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

The Tree and Some Thoughts on Movie Making

December 16, 2021 at 9:20 am by Claudia

The tree. Finished. We hung the ornaments in the late morning hours yesterday and then hauled all the bins back to the storage facility. It’s really a perfectly shaped tree – if I didn’t know better, I’d be inclined to think it was artificial. It’s also the perfect size for this little area in front of the french doors. This is a small house and every bit of it is used, so finding a place for the tree is always a challenge. We used to put it in the corner of the den, but that space is now taken up with my first dollhouse – Hummingbird Cottage.

And that’s all I’m doing for several days – except to clean up the outdoor pots and put some of the furniture on the porch. I’ll probably do that tomorrow.

The hardest part of working on the film was the long hours. I was routinely gone for at least 15 hours. 12 hour workdays on the set are the norm, and there are times we worked 13 or 14 hours. Add in time to get ready in the morning, a commute of an hour – minimum – from and to Brooklyn, sometimes having to grab an Uber at 1 am because the trains didn’t stop at my local station after 11:30 (they were doing track maintenance,) and you can see the kind of days I had every week. I don’t know how the crew members who routinely do this kind of work manage to do it day in and day out. Of course, I’m much older than most of them, so there’s that. Believe me, Don, who understands, had to be a listening ear to my constant tales of exhaustion. He was great. So was Annie. They both said “You can do it!!!” in texts and on the phone. They were my cheerleaders.

It was so hard. And I feel the effects of it now. My body is slowly letting go of the past six weeks and it now craves rest and sleep. I nod off in the afternoon. I constantly nod off in the evening. That’s okay. I need to rest.

I don’t know how I did it, but I did, and I’m really, really proud of myself. I don’t think I’d want to do it again, but who knows? What made this all worth it was getting the chance to work with Jim and Ben. It was personal for me and that somehow kept me going.

Of course, getting to work with Sally Field and Bill Irwin was pretty darned wonderful as well. I can’t imagine two nicer or more talented people.

All my plans for exploring Manhattan and Brooklyn had to be whittled down to one day a week because by the time I reached Saturday, my first day off, all I could do was sit around the apartment. I was incapable of doing more.

I’ve never had a baby, but I imagine this is much like that experience in that you forget about the labor pains once you hold your child in your hands. I am slowly forgetting about the hours and the exhaustion and, in fact, didn’t feel any of that on the last day of filming because there was such a feeling of celebration amongst us. Job well done by all!

The people I met and worked with, the kindness shown to me by everyone, the privilege of watching each scene being filmed on our monitors, running on the set to give Ben a note, joking around with Jim and Ben, laughing constantly with Michael Ausiello, the author of the book the movie is based on, watching Michael Showalter, the director, work, watching the incredible crew members do their magic, watching Sally and Bill – so amazing, seeing Jim and Ben doing brave and brilliant work – those are the memories I will hold close to my heart.

One more thing:

The girls put up their own Christmas tree. They’ve been busy!

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Back Home

December 12, 2021 at 8:29 am by Claudia

I’m home.

After an amazing, emotional, and powerful final day of filming, we wrapped at about 12:30 am Friday. Well, I guess it was technically Saturday morning. I felt strong emotions coming on during Thursday’s filming and knew right then that Friday was going to be quite a day.

It was.

It will take a day or so – maybe longer – to process everything I’ve been through for the past six weeks, but I’ll share more of that with you as the week progresses. Short version: I am profoundly grateful. My heart is full.

This is dear Annie, my former student and dear friend, who rented her top floor AirBnB to me during my stay. I adore her. We took a long walk together (along with her adorable dog) last Sunday and ended up in gorgeous Prospect Park. She has written a play that is going to be performed very soon and I couldn’t be prouder of her and her work as an artist and educator – not to mention a mom of three wonderful kids.

Part of the Video Village gang on wrap day. One of the producers left early, but this is basically the gang I sat with day after day as we watched everything that was filmed on the monitors. Second from the left in the back row is Todd, who is Jim’s husband and one of the producers. And that’s Michael Ausiello next to me, the author of the book this movie is based on. It’s his story and Jim is playing him on screen. We became very good pals during this adventure and I adore him.

Jim, me, and Ben on wrap day. Ben is the actor I’ve been coaching for over three months. I adore him. I adore Jim. My heart is so full of love for these two guys. Ben wrote the most beautiful note to me and surprised me with a bag full of miniatures from Tiny Doll House in NYC! I couldn’t believe it! I spent some time back behind one of the sets just talking to these two as the final scene was being filmed – a special moment with just the three of us. I’ll miss them so much, especially Ben because he’ll soon be back in England. At least I can see Jim and Todd as they’re just a hop, skip, and a jump away.

And finally, I came home to this addition to my ‘family.’ Say hello to Zoe, who looks a little bewildered.

She was made by Tiny Blythe Things and she came all the way from Moscow. There’s a story behind her, which I’ll share with you later. As Don repeatedly says: “They’re works of art!”

Isn’t she adorable?

Okay. I’m really, really tired but I hope to get our Christmas tree today. We’ll see.

Back to regular blogging!

More later.

Stay safe..

Happy Sunday.

My Little Road Trip

The Tree and Some Thoughts on Movie Making

Back Home

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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