Monday, December 31, 2018

Memories of 2018 - Under the Broadway Stage


Standing on a bona fide Broadway stage gives me an excited feeling, even though I’m just a visitor and not a cast member of the show.  Sitting below a Broadway stage while the show is in progress can be an even more exhilarating experience.

When Thom Hallock invited Mountain Lake Journal viewers this month to revisit the interview I conducted with opera singer Renée Fleming in 2011, it reminded me of some more recent experiences I had involving the soprano superstar over the summer. 

She was performing in her first Broadway musical, the 2018 revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, in the role of Nettie Fowler, the kind and insightful aunt.  Her vocals sounded light as a spring breeze during “June is Bustin’ Out All Over,” and profound and powerful during her solo, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Carousel happens to be my mother’s favorite Broadway musical.  For a birthday present, I took her to the show.  Afterwards, our good friend Kristina the violinist, who has made a career out of playing in Broadway orchestras, took us backstage and onstage.  Stepping onto that beautiful stage, I noticed something I hadn’t seen from my seat in the audience.  It had painted stars on it, thematic to the heavenly theme of the show. Viewers in the balcony and anyone looking down at the stage might notice the yellow stars, but no one in the auditorium looking up at the stage would have seen them. 


Standing on the stage of the Imperial Theatre made me reflect on who else stood on that very spot, entertaining a full house: theatre legend Mary Martin, Hollywood icon Montgomery Clift, Hugh Jackman, Matthew Broderick, and Danny Kaye, to name just a few.  Classics such as Oliver!,Fiddler on the Roof and Dreamgirls all made their Broadway debuts in the same historic venue.

A few weeks later, Kristina invited me to do something that had never once occurred to me to do, sit in the orchestra pit among the musicians during a performance.  I excitedly accepted the invitation.
I took my seat right near her in the string section.  It was a tiny space, and a viola player and I humorously worked it out so that I would not sit too close to her as to be hit by her bow.  

When the houselights went down, the audience fell silent, and the orchestra surrounded me with the first chord of the opening piece, The Carousel Waltz, I immediately knew this experience would   be even more incredible than I’d imagined.  Not only am I sitting in the middle of an orchestra, but the musicians are playing some of the most magical, beautiful music ever composed by theatre giants Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein.









Seated against the wall of the pit, not only did my eyes wander from musician to musician, but if I looked up, I could also catch glimpses of brilliant stagecraft if the performers came close to the edge of the stage, the twirl of a dress, a flash of brilliant choreography, big smiles on the faces of people who a realizing their dream of performing on the Broadway stage.  Then back my eyes would go to the musicians, whose captivating music drowned out the singing and the dialogue above.

One singer I did strain to hear was Renée Fleming, whose “You’ll Never Walk Alone” sounded amazing, even from the pit below the stage.

Before that enchanting number, however, I should have covered my ears.  I saw the conductor do it, and I ought to have followed his example.  After his hands went to his ears, a LOUD gunshot startled me.  I’d remembered it from having seen the show, but indeed it was louder from the orchestra pit.  I then noticed some of the musicians looking at me and smiling, as though they had been waiting for my surprised reaction to that moment, and I delivered one.

Doing a show eight times a week can feel repetitive for the musicians.  They keep themselves entertained with little games they play.  At one point when the music swells, they hilariously rise from their seats to the rhythm with the score.  One thing I did not expect, but I suppose I should have, is when musicians have a long stretch without playing anything, on go the smartphones.  Texts are sent, the web gets surfed, and restaurant reservations get booked, all while the show is in progress.  Some read books.  One violinist even texted a fellow musician to fill his spot for the evening performance, and succeeded in finding a sub, all during a few pauses in the music throughout the matinee


For the second act, I moved closer to the brass instruments and drums.  The percussionist joked with me a little during the show, as he and I are both fans of the TV series Hannibal.  He asked if I wanted to look through his Hannibal cookbook.  Normally I would, but I was having too much fun watching how all this exquisite music was being made to care much about how Hannibal the cannibal crafted his elaborately grotesque meals.

At one point, I had to stand up and step aside for two of the cast members who enter the orchestra pit to climb up on the stage.  One of them and I gave each other a big smile.  I am not sure whether he recognized me in the dim lighting, but I’d had the pleasure of interviewing him a few years earlier.
Sitting in the pit, I got to observe things I would never have known or even thought about as an audience member, such as the fact that the man playing the accordion also plays the twinkling notes on the celeste.  At two moments in the show, closing the two acts, all the lights went out in the auditorium and on stage.  This includes the orchestra pit.  Suddenly, the music stand lights go off and we’re sitting in pitch darkness for a few seconds.  Again, this makes sense to me now.  If all the lights go off except in the pit, people in the balcony would suddenly notice the lights on below the stage.

At the end of the musical, I could see the audience members in front rise for a standing ovation.  Seeing that kind of celebratory acknowledgement from a new perspective moved me in a way I hadn’t expected.  It was a day full of wonderful surprise. I am so grateful to my gifted friend Kristina for offering me a transcendent experience with this glorious music.

Memories of 2018 - On the Silver Screen

Even though I love going to the movies, I wasn't expecting 2018 to become SUCH a wonderful year for experiencing films on the big screen. In 2018, I saw many of my all-time favorite classic films on a large screen, thanks to a growing trend for releasing films as two-day events, such as the Fathom Events national screenings of "Rebel Without a Cause," and film festivals in general, which allowed me to see many of the Hammer Horror treasures from the 1950s, '60s and '70s. 

Festivals also allowed me to view a Vincent Price movie I'd been waiting for decades to see in a cinema, "Pit and the Pendulum." Canadian special events brought back "The Wizard of Oz" (retrofitted for 3D) and Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho." 


The new movies I saw were amazing too! "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Mary Poppins Returns," and the underrated "Welcome to Marwen" brought my movie-going year to a satisfying close. 

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Memories of 2018 - The Great American Read!

This PBS national initiative asked Americans to vote for their favorite books. I contributed footage to the nationally distributed tie-in program "Authors and their Hometowns," which featured stories about real locations and the books they inspired. I can get very excited about any program that encourages reading and a love of books, and it was an honor to be able to share portions of my interview with Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder from NBC's Little House on the Prairie) to this project. See the Dean Butler interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqNXrZnnxP0
You may enjoy "Authors and their Hometowns" here: https://mountainlake.org/authors-and-their-hometowns-online/ 


Memories of 2018 - Fulton Fryar visits the Adirondack Experience

North Carolina resident Fulton Fryar saw an Adirondack building he once slept in, separated from his peers because of his race, displayed for the first time as a museum exhibit this past summer. What an honor it was to present Mr. Fryar, his family, and the museum itself with a special video I made for the exhibit. Explore Fulton Fryar's story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grSz1GAugsA
Learn more about the museum presentation here: https://mountainlake.org/fulton-fryars-homecoming-features…/




Friday, December 28, 2018

Memories of 2018 - Literary Tourism: FRANKENSTEIN!

 I like to get close to the things I enjoy … and this year I got closer than ever before to the book Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, by looking at original pages from the manuscript in her handwriting. The Morgan Library and Museum in New York City enhanced my Halloween celebrations this year with the exhibition “It’s Alive! Frankenstein at 200.” Works gathered from all over the world included those manuscript pages, first editions of the book, paintings that inspired the young writer, and rare movie posters. You may read more about my experience at: https://mountainlake.org/face-to-face-with-frankenstein/


Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Memories of 2018 - Literary Tourism: PILGRIMAGE















What a pleasure it was to launch the new year, giving my presentation about literary sites for an actual group of people involved with a real literary site: The Almanzo Wilder Homestead near Malone, New York. Members of the Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder Association were a great audience!

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Funny Ben Stiller gets serious about prison series. INTERVIEW

Director Ben Stiller with Spotlight producer Paul Larson.  Photo by Will Houle
Paul Larson shines the Spotlight on the director of Escape at Dannemora.  He says he couldn’t have made this epic program without the help of his new friends in the Adirondacks.  He thanked the North County with a special advanced screening from the Showtime series, and shares his thoughts on exchanging comedy for drama, in this one-on-one interview.


SHOWTIME
“Spotlight” is made possible, in part, by the Glenn and Carol Pearsall Adirondack Foundation, dedicated to improving the quality of life for year-round residents of the Adirondack Park.  pearsallfoundation.org  “Spotlight” is also supported by Hill & Hollow Music. hillandhollowmusic.org







SHOWTIME

Friday, August 24, 2018

WONDER DOG!




Plattsburgh author Kate Messner says she will change a novel based on early reader feedback of her drafts, if she thinks it will improve a book.  This certainly happened after a New Orleans man told the children's book writer that he wanted much more help from her fictional time-traveling dog in the rescue efforts from Hurricane Katrina, even though twelve years had passed since the natural disaster.

Messner, author of many acclaimed books for kids, discusses her fictional golden retriever with Spotlight producer Paul Larson.  The dog has helped children facing such disasters as the Titanic sinking and the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco.  In addition to the "Ranger in Time" series of historical fiction for kids, Messner also talks about "Breakout," inspired by the 2015 prison break at Dannemora. 

See Messner's interview tonight at 8, and Saturday at 7pm.   The show also repeats Sunday at 5am and 10am, and next Thursday at 1pm.
 "Spotlight" is made possible, in part, by the Glenn and Carol Pearsall Adirondack Foundation, dedicated to improving the quality of life for year-round residents of the Adirondack Park. www.pearsallfoundation.org

Spotlight is also supported by Hill & Hollow Music.  hillandhollowmusic.org

Enjoy more "Author Visits" segments at mountainlake.org/authorvisits
 

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Fulton Fryar's Homecoming




Fulton Fryar now has some new memories of his old “Closet,” after having visited his former sleeping quarters for the first time in a museum setting. The Adirondack Experience, the Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, is the new home of Fryar’s Closet. It will serve to educate visitors as a relic of racial segregation in the Adirondacks during the 1950s. In 1957 and 1958, the young Fryar’s beautiful operatic voice landed him an invitation to sing and study at the prestigious Seagle Music Colony in Schroon Lake, New York.  As the first African-American at the colony, however, he had to stay in separate sleeping quarters, away from the dormitories where the other singers bunked, in an addition to the laundry building built especially for him. At the time, the teenage Fryar named his little sleeping room “the Closet.” After the laundry building was condemned as dangerous last year, his building addition moved to the Adirondack Experience.
 
Fryar says he hopes people can ponder racial issues, both old and current, by viewing his separate quarters up close. Helping tell the story of Fulton Fryar’s Closet is a video produced by Mountain Lake PBS. Producer Paul Larson introduced the video for its world premiere this week at the Adirondack Experience. About 70 Seagle Music Colony supporters and staff members, as well as administrators from the Adirondack Experience saw the brief video. It aims to give museum visitors context for Fryar’s Closet and features the former Seagle Colony resident’s story in his own words.


 “It was such an honor to present this video for the first time to the Seagle supporters visiting the museum,” Larson said. “I was very moved by the emotional reactions I saw from Fulton and his family, who were seated in the front row.”

Fryar and his wife were visiting the Adirondacks from New Jersey, along with two of his sons, his daughter, his grandson and his great-granddaughter. Events for “Fulton’s Homecoming” included his second recent visit to Seagle Music Colony, where he enjoyed a performance of the opera “The Great Gatsby,” plus the tour of the Adirondack Experience, complete with the video presentation. He also participated in a panel discussion as part of the program “The African-American Experience in the Adirondacks,” presented in collaboration with the Adirondack Diversity Initiative and Adirondack Diversity Solutions.

The visit to the Adirondack Museum gave Fryar, his family, and the Seagle supporters their first look at the Closet in the museum. The little shack currently sits in the Life in the Adirondacks exhibition.

Larson thanks Darren Woods of Seagle Music Colony, and Laura Rice and Ausra Angermann of the Adirondack Experience, for helping coordinate the premiere of the Mountain Lake PBS video. The video was edited from the arts segment “Spotlight,” which airs on “Mountain Lake Journal.” Watch this space for updates on ways the museum plans to use the video. For our complete coverage of Fulton Fryar’s Closet, head to mountainlake.org/fulton.


“Spotlight” is made possible, in part, by the Glenn and Carol Pearsall Adirondack Foundation, dedicated to improving the quality of life for year-round residents of the Adirondack Park. http://www.pearsallfoundation.org


Spotlight is also supported by Hill & Hollow Music. hillandhollowmusic.org













Saturday, June 30, 2018

Discover the Secrets of Fulton Fryar's Closet

This month, discover the secrets of Fulton Fryar's Closet.  

Mountain Lake Journal presents a Spotlight Special: Fulton Fryar’s Closet.  Guest-hosted by arts producer Paul Larson, this special tells a relatively unknown story of racial inequality in 1950s Adirondack culture, and how memories of it resurfaced recently when a building at Seagle Music Colony faced demolition.

The building housed a young singer named Fulton Fryar. He was the first African American singer to study at the colony in Schroon Lake, New York. In 1957 his sleeping quarters were kept separate from those of the other singers on the campus.

View the Fulton Fryar feature story here.



This special explores the reasons for the unequal treatment, even in a northern state, and the efforts to preserve Fryar’s sleeping quarters when the old building was about to be destroyed. Viewers will learn what role architectural experts, museum curators and concerned citizens are playing to make sure Fulton Fryar’s story will now be better known instead of completely forgotten.

For this program, Larson interviewed Artistic Director Darren Woods of Seagle Music Colony, Executive Director David Kahn of the Adirondack Experience, Executive Director Steven Engelhart of Adirondack Architectural Heritage, and Fulton Fryar himself.

This special Mountain Lake Journal airs tonight on Mountain Lake PBS at 7:00,  Sunday, July 1 at 5am and 10am, and Thursday, July 5 at 1pm.

Explore the Fulton Fryar's Closet webpage here.







Saturday, June 2, 2018

June is Bustin' Out all Over... on Mountain Lake Journal!

















Looking for ideas for you and your family as spring turns into summer?  Producer Paul Larson hosts Mountain Lake Journal this week, an episode that travels through the North Country in search of warm weather adventures.


High Falls Gorge 
This natural attraction in Willmington, New York, allows you close access to some fantastic waterfalls.  It lets you explore the wonders of the west branch of the AuSable River as it explodes into deep crevices in its journey through ancient granite cliffs formed over a billion years ago by the forces the of ice, water and wind.   Larson produced this piece for his Adirondack Journeys series. You may learn about amazing destinations at mountainlake.org/adkjourneys.

Kayaking and Paddleboard Yoga


Summer is a great time to get out and experience the region’s amazing water sports.  Kayakers of all experience levels can rent equipment and take classes out on the beautiful Ausable River at the Bagg’s Landing Paddlesports Center.  Classes and equipment are available all summer.  Our reporter Kevin Cooney went down to give kayaking and paddle board yoga a try.  For more info visit: http://kayak-shack.com/index.php/baggs-landing/

Author Interview: It’s the time of year to rediscover the pleasures of reading outdoors.  Glenn Pearsall discusses his first work of historical fiction, Leaves Torn Asunder. The novel follows the lives of people living in the Adirondack region, affected by the destruction of the American Civil War.  Pearsall is a history buff who lives in North Creek, New York.    Enjoy our many author visits at mountainlake.org/authorvisits.
 


Plattsburgh Blues and Jazz:  Many people are heading to clubs and venues in downtown Plattsburgh, to hear world class blues and jazz music performances.  The not-for-profit group Plattsburgh Blues and Jazz is inviting internationally renowned musicians and local acts in for an evening’s entertainment.   plattsburghbluesandjazz.com


Mountain Lake Journal airs tonight at 7, and Sunday at 5am & 10am.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Remember Officer Clemmons singing on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood?

As we celebrate the life and career of Mister Rogers on Mountain Lake PBS this week, with airings of "Mister Rogers:  It's You I Like," we've uncovered this gem from the Mountain Lake PBS archives.  Producer Paul Larson interviewed Francois Clemmons at Middlebury College, where the artist in residence would entertain with opera and spiritual songs. Clemmons retired in 2013. 


This archival segment from “Art Express” was produced in 2004.  “Mister Rogers:  It’s You I Like” airs on Mountain Lake PBS this Saturday, March 10 at 10am, and Sunday, March 11 at 6:30pm.


ADADEMY AWARD UPDATE: and the Oscar goes to ...

OSCAR WORTHY WORK from a Montreal Company 

Employees of a Montreal company are celebrating this week, after their work on a film paid off at the 90th Academy Awards March 4th.
 
Last week, Paul Larson took you inside the headquarters of Rodeo FX, the Montreal-based visual effects company.   For the first time in its eleven-year history, Rodeo FX worked on three of the films nominated for Best Visual Effects:  "Star Wars:  The Last Jedi," "Kong: Skull Island," and "Blade Runner 2049." Much to the delight of Rodeo FX president Sébastien Moreau and his team, one of these films won the Academy Award for Visual Effects.

See the Oscar moment here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4CUi8AoUDE

As the video shows, Visual Effects Supervisor John Nelson thanked Rodeo Art Director Deak Ferrand, and the entire Rodeo FX team.  Visual Effects Supervisor Richard Hoover also gave a nod to Rodeo FX and other Montreal companies who worked on the film. 

Rodeo FX has contributed its talents to several Oscar-winning films.  This marks the second time the company has worked on a film that won the Academy Award specifically for Best Visual Effects.

Enjoy Paul Larson's preview story, featuring Visual Effects Producer Adam O'Brien Locke, and Rodeo FX President Sébastien Moreau, here:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZGykjDN-e8


Sunday, March 4, 2018

OSCAR NIGHT: It's personal for an effects company in Montreal

Producer Paul Larson of Mountain Lake PBS and Visual Effects Producer Adam O'Brien Locke of Rodeo FX.

For the first time in its eleven-year history, the visual effects company Rodeo FX in Montreal worked on three of the films nominated for "Best Visual Effects" in the 90th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring films released in the year 2017.   Paul Larson met with Visual Effects Producer Adam O'Brien Locke, and Rodeo FX President Sébastien Moreau to discuss their company and the nominated films.

Enjoy the full story here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZGykjDN-e8

View bonus interview footage about the origins of Rodeo FX here:  https://youtu.be/LC9UKhfE6R0




Thursday, February 8, 2018

Re-live your Olympic Memories!

"Mountain Lake PBS Celebrates Lake Placid and the Winter Games," an hour-long special, examines the history and culture of the Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

For this presentation, Director of Programming Paul King searched the archives of Mountain Lake PBS to find programs the station has produced through the years, all remembering different facets of the Olympic Games in Lake Placid.



Viewers will get reacquainted with legendary figure skating coach Gustave Lussi, whose famous students included Dorothy Hamill and Dick Button.  They will also hear stories of Eric Heiden, who won five gold medals for speed skating, and the "Miracle on Ice," a surprise hockey victory for the United States against the former Soviet Union, the defending gold medalists.  Mountain Lake PBS producer Jack LaDuke will show the audience a permanent exhibit at the Lake Placid Olympic Center, commemorating Norwegian figure skater and movie star Sonja Henie.

Portions of the special come from a show produced by Tomeka Weatherspoon in 2014, which won a New York State Broadcasters Award that year in the "Outstanding Locally Produced Show" category.  These segments include an interview with the Communications Director for ORDA (New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority) Jon Lundin, and a look at the Memories and Memorabilia event at High Peaks Resort.

Throughout the special, Lake Placid residents, lawmakers, journalists and athletes relate their own personal memories of the 1980 Olympic Games.



Mountain Lake PBS producer Paul Larson hosts the special.  Donning ice skates for the occasion, Larson talks about the opportunity the public has to glide on Olympic ice at the Lake Placid Oval, to create one's own Olympic-sized memories.






 "Mountain Lake PBS Celebrates Lake Placid and the Winter Games" airs Saturday, February 10th at 4pm and Sunday the 11th at noon.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Whimsical lecture celebrates a literary treasure in upstate New York

After a journey through the blowing snow to Malone, New York, over the weekend, I found myself ready to address a group of 45 people about treks to sites made famous by children's literature.  This would be the second time I gave my "Pilgrimage" presentation, the first having been in an academic setting in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

What struck me this time was what a great match the audience was for the presentation, even outside of a university setting.  I'd been invited to the Malone Lodge of Elks to address board members, volunteers and other people who had a strong interest in the Wilder Homestead, a regional gem of literary heritage.  The Homestead is where Almanzo Wilder grew up in the 1860s, with his family who created a prosperous farm in Malone.  Almanzo not only married Laura Ingalls Wilder, who penned the "Little House" series of books, but his childhood also inspired the second book in the series, Farmer Boy (1933). The audience at the Elks was primed to hear stories from someone who enjoys visiting children's literary sites in Europe and in the Northeastern United States, because they are all interested in the success and growth of the Wilder farm as a tourist destination. 

Even though my prepared presentation had previously concluded with the Wilder farm, as an example of a literary site one can visit in the eastern United States, it was a pleasure for me to sprinkle in more facts about the lives of the Wilders, the Ingalls family, and the Wilder Homestead throughout the lecture.  When I am praising the authenticity of some German sites, versus others that are mere tourist traps, it was easy for me to add applause for the authenticity of the Wilder house, as it sits on its original foundation and is the actual house where Almanzo grew up and where many adventures in the book happen. 


It was a joy to hear laughter from the audience members as I related my quirky adventures of getting into private apartments once inhabited by famous authors, and making a Yorkshire hotel lobby so aware of its literary heritage that the architects credited my persistence when completely changing its decor to honor an author's work.  After the presentation, it was great to hear personal stories for audience members who spoke to me about travels they'd made to similar sites, such as the Prince Edward Island house associated with Anne of Green Gables, and the many homes of authors in Concord, Massachusetts.  

Ken Carre, president of the Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder Association, had invited me to the annual meeting of the association.  He reminded the group how in 2015, the Wilder Homestead was dedicated a Literary Landmark.  The site stands with pride as the first Literary Landmark in northern New York and the sixteenth in New York State.  It is the only “Little House” site to receive this recognition from United for Libraries. My thanks go to Ken and Karen Carre, and to everyone who listened and laughed with me at the Elks Lodge.

Photos courtesy of Rick Auger.