The Palace Thief Experience continues...
Okay, where do I go from here? (Still thought processes.) The only thing I could
think of to do was ask the facilities rental director. She was the person
working most closely with the production crew. She would be able to find out,
I was sure of it! Not being a Webbie herself (but still a good person in her own
right so let’s not judge her too harshly), it took me a minute to explain to her
who I was talking about. I finally dragged her into my office and showed her the
picture I use as wallpaper on my computer! You know, the really sexy one from
the article in Venice. Of course, we all know that one!
The light then dawned. Yes, even she would like to know if Steven were coming
to town! She would find out for me! I fidgeted waiting for an answer. When I
finally got it I was literally crushed!!! Yes, Steven was in the movie but he
was not in the scenes that were being filmed on campus. His part took place, I
believe, on Long Island. My one chance at meeting Steven and it was not to be. (Sigh!)
Being a determined Webbie I wasn’t finished yet. I tried to bribe Wendy, the
assistant to the location manager Rose, with peppermint patties over the next
two weeks. Would she at least try to pass my card along to SC when production
moved downstate? She would see what she could do. I found out later that Wendy
had been moved to the production office in NYC after filming on campus was
complete. She would not be going to Long Island! There was no joy in Muddville;
mighty Casey had struck out!
But, there was still a production company coming to town to film a major motion
picture. That was still something! And while I wasn’t a die-hard Kevin Kline
fan, I did enjoy his work. My brother was the true fan and was very jealous of
my position since he lived in Seattle and couldn’t just stop by to see me.
(This will come back to haunt me later!) So, for the next month, I looked
forward to having an “up close and personal” view. When I left the campus on
Friday, all was business as usual. That business being the education of
high-school girls, grades 9-12. When I returned on Monday, the usually serene
campus had turned topsy-turvy and there were trucks, trailers, cranes, ladders,
movie cameras, golf carts, bicycles and generally people everywhere! All of the
local media turned out during the first few days to interview the stars, the
director and producer, our communications director and a few lucky employees of
the school who had received parts as extras. If they show a priest on the podium
during the graduation scene, that is our aquatics director!
That first day we were all very timid about how to get close to watch, take a
picture and generally not ruin a scene. By the second day, we were in full force
with our cameras. A few of us were standing outside watching Kevin Kline and Rob
Morrow rehearse. Their rehearsal brought them walking in our direction. When
they took a break, someone handed what seemed to be new lines to Kevin. He took
them and headed in the direction of his trailer, reading as he was walking. We
were ready, that brought him right in front of us! We were clicking away! He
looked up and said, “I’m sorry, was I walking too fast for you?” That was all we
needed. We got bolder and started snapping furiously! One of the group asked,
since he was there, would he mind having his picture taken with her? Of course
not. She handed me the camera and off she went. I then said, as long as he was
standing there would he mind if I had my picture taken with him also? As I
approached him I said, “This is for my brother, he is a really big fan!”
Okay, here is the part that comes back to haunt me! He looked at me and said
“Where as you could care less?” AAAHHH!!!!! Talk about putting your foot in your
mouth! I think both of my feet were in there!! A quick recovery and I say, no,
that isn’t what I meant or I wouldn’t want my picture taken with him. I’m not
sure he was totally convinced! Well, on second thought, maybe I wasn’t that
convincing since I was secretly wishing it was Steven standing next to me!
After all, I am a Webbie!!
Over the next two weeks we coexisted with the cast and crew very nicely. They
thoroughly enjoyed being on campus and tried to give back as much as they were
getting. On Wednesday they were filming later in the day so agreed to give a
morning assembly for all members of the EWS community. Michael Hoffman, Andy
Karsch, Emile Hirsch (cast as the lead student Sedgwick Bell) and Kevin Kline
attended this, prepared to answer questions put forth by the students. It was
standing room only! We learned that Kevin Kline’s passions are music and
painting; that Michael Hoffman’s favorite movie is Zefferelli’s “Romeo and
Juliet”; and when asked about his first impressions of the EWS campus, Emile
Hirsch thought, “Man, there must be a lot of girls here!” He practically brought
the house down! Later that week, assistant producer Lisa Bruce held an assembly
for those interested in discussing women in film.
But the best one, and the one I missed sad to say, was Kevin Kline attending a
freshman English class and reciting Shakespeare! “The Merchant of Venice” I
believe.
There have been many movies filmed in this area, Billy Bathgate, The Way We
Were, Ironweed, The Bostonians, The Time Machine (most recently) and The Age of
Innocence to name a few. I have never ventured forth to brave the crowds that
turn out for this. Having it come to me was truly exciting but at the same time
monotonous. I sat to watch a scene being filmed one evening after I finished
work. It was Kevin Kline and a woman I did not recognize walking down the path
talking. They only went about 30 to 40 feet. They were filming with the camera
on a rolling track to follow them. They tried having them walk out of the scene,
stop half way then continue walking, walk then stop just before they were out of
the scene. I didn’t realize how long I had been sitting there but when they
called “take 21” I knew it was time to go home!
We are told that “The Palace Thief” will come out in February 2002. When “Scent
of a Woman” premiered, the movie powers that be rented a local theater and
bussed everyone from the school to see it. I hope the same thing happens next
year but this film has a much lower budget. In fact, all the key players for
this movie were willing to work for much less than usual in order to produce
this movie because they truly believed in it.
I can’t wait to see it on the big screen. The school will look magnificent if
they did some wide-angle shots, I will sit there and say “I was right behind the
camera when they filmed that scene”, and I look forward to seeing Steven since
my contemplated road trip to Long Island never materialized!
For more photos and local newspaper/television coverage, go to
emma.troy.ny.us and click on News/Events.