Every Picture Tells a Story...

L to R: Norman Rockwell models Ed Locke ("The Runaway"),
Mary Whalen Leonard ("Girl at Mirror"), and Wray Gunn
("New Kids in the Neighborhood"). Photo by Jeremy Clowe
for Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.

The June issue of Berkshire Magazine came out last week, and features a nice article about Norman Rockwell's models ("Worth a Thousand Words"), written by my friend/journalist Nichole Dupont. I was interviewed at length for the article, which ties in to the upcoming Models Reunion we are holding at Norman Rockwell Museum on Saturday, July 6, 2013. Once again, the Museum will attempt to gather as many living reference models who worked for the artist as possible... and considering their advancing ages, there's no time like the present!

Since starting at the Museum in 2001, I have initiated videotaped oral histories with the models, which has been one of the more enjoyable parts of my job, and useful in terms of learning more about the artist's process. The seed was really planted during the first models reunion I helped out with back in the summer of 2001. As I mention in the article, "I set up a little corner of the archives room, and people came in and told their stories. Rockwell, in a way, has given a gift to many of these models, and their story continued on after the artwork." The article has a nice plug for the collection of interviews I have posted on the Museum's YouTube page, as well as an interview with model Mary Keefe ("Rosie The Riveter"), who I have interviewed on a couple of occasions.

Actress Stefanie Powers posing with
her portrait created by Norman
Rockwell for the movie Stagecoach.
Photo by Jeremy Clowe for Norman
Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.

On a related and interesting note, a couple weeks back I received a surprise call from the production staff of the touring show, Looped, which was playing at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut. The lead of the show, actress Stefanie Powers (Hart to Hart) wanted to stop by the Museum and view the portrait Norman Rockwell created of her back in the 1960s for the movie Stagecoach. Accompanied by members of our curatorial staff, I toured her around the Museum and showed her one of the reference paintings as well as dozens of photographs that Rockwell took of Powers and her fellow actors to create separate paintings of the cast, which eventually ended up on the movie poster. While visiting, Powers even agreed to do a videotaped interview with me regarding her experience posing for Norman Rockwell, and her memories of working on the film. She was very gracious... even invited me to see her show in Hartford. Anyway, never know who you will meet at the Museum... I hope to post the interview online sometime soon.


At the moment I am preparing for next week's opening of our exhibition on the art of Walt Disney's Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. I'm busy transcribing my interview with another model: dancer Marge Champion, who served as the live action reference for Snow White's movements. She is being honored with the Fred Astaire Award this upcoming Monday for her achievements in dance... congratulations, Marge!

Related Links:

www.nrm.org

www.youtube.com/normanrockwellmuseum

www.stefaniepowersonline.com

Spring Awakening

©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

Hi there. I know... I've been away from this blog for awhile. My bad. Things have gotten busy, but I hope to find more time to update you on my latest projects... even if it's just a quick note. Still have an eye on the big prize, which is what this blog is really all about.

Today I took the day off for some spring cleaning. Continuing the move from the Hudson Valley to our new digs in Schenectady... still a lot to be sorted, but things are coming along. 

In my last post I talked about my improv group, and how things were in a bit of transitionary period. Well, I'm happy to announce that we've gained surprising momentum, with some relatively new members adding to the enjoyment of carrying the group on... I mean, three straight weeks of rehearsals... imagine that! We're trying out some new things, and it is feeling good. 

This Thursday, May 16, we will try something entirely new− an event called PechaKucha, which is being held at The Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. For those not familiar, PechaKucha was started in Japan in the 2000s and is basically a presentation of 20 slides, shown for 20 seconds each (six minutes 40 seconds in total... a Powerpoint rep's dream!). The Royal Berkshire Improv Troupe has been invited to try its hand at some improv using the format... here's the catch: we won't know what slides are coming up, so it will be true improv. Of course I appreciate the visual end of things, and know from my experience creating media design over the past few years that there are a lot of crazy images out there! Show starts at 7 p.m., and there will be free adult beverages... so you can't lose.

RBIT rocks the Berkshires, 2013! Photo by Dan McManmon.
Courtesy Spectrum Playhouse. All rights reserved.

The next evening, May 17, I will return with RBIT to the Spectrum Playhouse for our monthly show, starting at 7:30 p.m. I have to give big props to the Spectrum for being most accommodating for us... the space has been great for shows and rehearsals, and they like us so much they already have us on tap for June and into the fall... it's funny... Lee, Massachusetts was never quite that exciting when I lived in the area, but cool to see the progression all the same.

Anyway, nice to have the outlet. Apart from that, I've been taking a lot of cool photos lately, and hope to share some of those with you soon. Ok, back to cleaning... and I promise I'll return here soon... xo

Related Links:

RBIT's Triple Crown Weekend, www.berkshireimprov.com

The Best Medicine?

What a difference a week makes. Last Monday morning who could have predicted the events that would transpire in the days ahead? The Boston Marathon bombing... Senate vote on gun control... the Texas fertilizer plant explosion... oy. Hard to find much to laugh about, yet last week also marked my return to performing with the Royal Berkshire Improv Troupe, and we had our first rehearsal on the same day we all learned about the bombing.

The Berkshires are not that far from Boston, and over the last ten years I have made frequent trips to Beantown... I have some truly fond memories, both personal and professional, and would certainly count it as one of my favorite cities. So it was unnerving to learn about this attack on a city with such charm and history, during a public event that has come to symbolize such good will.



As an event, the Marathon is also about endurance and triumphing over adversity. Keeping this theme in mind, the city of Boston certainly honored the victims of this tragedy. Last Friday was surreal, as I drove to work and heard news about the manhunt for the bombing suspects and subsequent lockdown of the area. All day long we were glued to the internet or TV trying to keep up on the latest of this very tense ordeal...

Photo courtesy and © Spectrum Playhouse. All rights reserved.

So as the evening rolled around, it was something of a release to join my improv comrades for our show at Lee's Spectrum Playhouse. It's odd... I remember starting RBIT over twelve years ago, right after September 11th, and there was something similarly poignant back then about being able to soldier on in the midst of darkened skies...


I haven't been to a RBIT rehearsal or gig in a few months, and there were a few changes. First, our friend and co-founder Frank La Frazia has moved to Brooklyn to further pursue his career. This meant filling the leadership role which he had provided for most of the last decade. I decided to step up and host the show, which was a new experience... not something I have done too often in this context, but it felt good. We had a meeting this past weekend to talk about the future of the group and it seems there is a desire to keep moving forward.

Waving goodbye to our friend Frank. Photo courtesy and
©Spectrum Playhouse. All rights reserved.

At this point, if I am to remain active with the group, I need to be able to take it to the next level as a performer. I have been checking out some performances recently with Schenectady's resident improv group, The Mop & Bucket Company— these guys certainly know their stuff... dipping into long-form improv, and benefitting from a fairly seamless presentation of their performances. 


My fellow improv buddy Paul and I decided to take one of their open drop-in classes, and it was nice to get some outside feedback on how to strengthen our improvisational skills. The best piece of advice: jump into scenes without knowing what you're going to do. I tend to want to come up with the most clever lines, but that's not what this is about... it's more about being instinctual and truthful, which I understand... it is challenging, but most definitely funny seeing actors react in the moment and try to figure it all out.

Courtesy and ©Spectrum Playhouse.
All rights reserved.

So in the midst of all this uncertainty, our Friday show went great. It felt a bit more spontaneous, while still having the benefit of good rehearsal to support an underlying structure. I think I could actually keep at this for a little while, as long as the rest of the group stays committed... they seem to be. And so we move on... until the next big challenge... unavoidable, but not necessarily insurmountable. 

Post-show, as we celebrated at a nearby pub, news came over one of the TV screens that the second bombing suspect had finally been caught. It was pretty wild how in this new technological age things had been "resolved" so quickly... of course I feel for the friends and families of the victims, who are left with the task of finding some kind of peace...

Related Link:

www.berkshireimprov.com

Catch Me I'm Falling...

Today I can feel the weather finally starting the change (thank God). Signs of crocuses and snow drop flowers blooming... I was even able to ditch my jacket.

Although cooler this past weekend, Sarah and I managed to get outdoors for a hike with her parents on Saturday afternoon, along one of our favorite nature preserves in the Capital Region. I already blogged last June about the Christman Sanctuary, which contains a couple of really stunning waterfalls. Well I think now is really the time for us to get cracking on our waterfall search, because things are thawing and the water is falling! Here are some photos I took with my new Canon EOS Rebel T3:

Interesting to see the changes with a longer exposure:

For those who attended our wedding, this waterfall might look familiar 

(we used a photo of it on our invitations).

Fairest of Them All

Switching gears from performing to interviewing, over the past couple of weeks I have had the pleasure of getting to know acclaimed dancer/choreographer Marge Champion. In the 1940s and 50s, she teamed up with her then-husband Gower Champion to become quite an successful dance team, performing on Broadway, TV, and such MGM musicals as Showboat and Lovely To Look At (here's a beautiful routine from the latter film):



One of Ms. Champion's other big claims to fame was serving as the live action model for Walt Disney's first feature-length animated film, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. "Uncle Walt" and the other Disney animators filmed her movements as a reference, which they later used to bring Snow White to life. Only a teenager at the time, it was Champion's first big break: every scene you see of the character in the 1937 film was actually based on her movements, many of which were improvised.

Reference photos of Marge Champion, who at the age of 14, began
serving as a live reference model for Walt Disney's "Snow White and The
Seven Dwarfs." Photos courtesy Marge Champion. ©Disney.

Dancer Marge Champion in New York.
Photo by Jeremy Clowe for Norman Rockwell
Museum. ©Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.

This summer Norman Rockwell Museum is hosting the traveling exhibition, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Creation of a Classic, which celebrates the 75th anniversary of this classic 1937 film that is beloved by viewers of all ages. Organized by The Walt Disney Family Museum, the exhibition explores the development of the animated masterpiece− from conceptual drawings and character studies, to watercolor backgrounds and colorful cels that brought Disney's ambitious project to life. 

As you can imagine, Marge Champion has considerable insight into the creation of the film, and I had the exciting opportunity to visit with her at her homes in New York City and the Berkshires (she has a part-time residence in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where our Museum is located) to conduct a videotaped interview and learn more. She had plenty of interesting stories to tell, including the fact that she went on provide model reference for Disney's Pinocchio (the Blue Fairy) and Fantasia (some key insight and ideas for the dancing hippos). She was even married for a short time to Art Babbitt, one of Disney's early animators (credited with the creation of Goofy). I have to thank my friends at CTSB-TV, who allowed me to use their Sony AVCHD camera to conduct the interview− the recording looked great, and I look forward to sharing the material in the coming months to help promote the exhibition.

Jeremy meets Snow White (Marge Champion).
Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

Of course I also asked her about her career in dance and connection with the Berkshires− she served for a long time as a board member of Jacob's Pillow, the dance festival that initially attracted me to the area. I think the most inspiring thing about Ms. Champion is that she is 93, but you would never believe it. She's mentally sharp and in great shape, reinforcing the idea that keeping your mind and body active over the years has its benefits.

The Museum will be honoring Champion as the guest of honor at a special opening gala for the exhibition on the evening of Saturday, June 8. I look forward to meeting her again at that time, and maybe learning a few new dance steps. I also look forward to seeing the art in the exhibition− my father was a big Walt Disney fan (he even got the animator's autograph back in the day), so here's another opportunity I'm sure he would be amazed to learn I was involved with.



Related Links: 

"The Real-Life Snow White," CBS News, October 13, 2009

"Snow White: Marge Champion, a Model Princess," Animated Views, October 7, 2009

Sense and Sensibility

Pre-show... getting that ascot just right!
Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

March madness turns into April Fools... surely it's the time of year for absurdity! For me, it's time to catch my breath after finishing up Woman in Mind at Schenectady Civic Players last week. We had a good run and I learned a lot... about perfecting comedic timing, dealing with varying audiences, and working as part of an ensemble. 

The cast was great. We had some very talented people on board, including Victor Kahn who played Dr. Bill Windsor, the physician attending to Susan (the wonderful Amy Lane) for much of the play. During one of our pre-show conversations, Victor told me that Alan Ayckbourn, who wrote the play, doesn't find his work performed much in the States. The more we worked on the show, I realized that Sir Ayckbourn's British "sense and sensibility" might indeed prove a challenge for many American audiences to grasp, at least in seeing much of the inherent humor in the text. There were nights we had near deadly silence, and others where the audiences reacted more vocally to the dry, dark comedy (having a fondness for British literature and music since I was a kid, I may have been the exception to this particular kind of taste).

In terms of my own performance, I tried to straddle the line, adjusting my tone and delivery as I felt it needed to be... playing slightly more broad or intense as I felt the evening justified. I think I also learned that with a play like this, you need to play it fairly brisk. 

One night in particular during our second week I felt like we really nailed it−the show was sailing along, and I really found myself amused backstage as I listened to my fellow actors do their thing− interesting to note that that night was a fairly quiet audience... at least until the second half. 

Master of ceremonies... getting ready for the big finale of "Woman in Mind"
at Schenectady Civic Players. Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

To sum it up: Woman in Mind was a complex show to perform, and I think we all learned quite a bit from working on it. Again, I tip my hat to Schenectady Civic Players for being brave and talented enough to pull it off. Our final show on March 24 was met with a very receptive audience which was nice, which made it feel like all the hard work did not go unnoticed. Immediately after that show, we went about striking the set and enjoying a cast party... a night of mixed emotions, of course.

Things have showed down a bit this past week, as I get used to not being "famous" anymore... ha ha. Actually, I have had time to reconnect with Sarah and visit with our families during this past week of Passover and Easter... and rest... let's not discount that.

But it looks like it's time to ramp up once again... a few new projects in the works this week, as well as some offers that came my way during the run of the show... so we'll see what happens next.

Cast of Schenectady Civic Players' "Woman in Mind," March 2013. Left to right: 
Alysson Kelly, Joan Justice, John Nickles, Jeremy Clowe, Amy Lane, Marty O'Connor, 
Ben McCauley, and Victor Kahn. Photo courtesy David Goldfarb. ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

Mind Games

Showtime! My talented co-stars Amy Lane (Susan) and Victor Kahn (Dr. Bill Windsor)
in Schenectady Civic Players "Woman in Mind." Photo by Tom Killips.
Courtesy Schenectady Civic Players. All rights reserved. 

Wonderfully artistic and love-filled weekend... we just finished our first week of performances of Woman in Mind at Schenectady Civic Players. It felt great, and was made even more special by the number of friends and family who stopped by to show their support. My fellow cast and crew are first-rate, and I'm really proud of what we have achieved so far.

Unfortunately, the newspaper reviews so far have been mixed... I'm never sure whether to read these things while I'm in the middle of a show, but I was curious since this is such a difficult production to pull off. Alan Ayckbourn's dark comedy is all told through the subjective point of view of Susan (played by the wonderful Amy Lane), who accidentally hits herself on the head with a garden rake; the resulting injury leaves her having a hard time distinguishing between her unfulfilled reality and imagined fantasy life. As performers, we walk a fine line here between keeping it funny and delving into the darker themes... I took the reviews with a grain of salt, since so much of the play is open to interpretation in the first place. Even though I wasn't specifically mentioned, I also found their critiques useful in helping me to further think about how to strike that balance− as Susan's "imaginary" husband, I have perhaps one of the darkest moments in the show, while also needing to come off rather light and charming throughout. I have noticed myself injecting a little more of myself into the piece... at times utilizing more of my improv skills.

It's really all part of the process... something Amy and I discussed with WAMC's Joe Donahue last Friday on the radio show, The Roundtable. 

Mind the gap! I think some of the funniest scenes belong to Joan Justice (Muriel),
Amy Lane (Susan), and Marty O'Connor (Gerald) in our production of Alan
Ayckbourn's "Woman in Mind." Photo by Tom Killips. Courtesy Schenectady Civic Players.
All rights reserved.

In fact, there are some delightful things I have learned with each of our performances so far, and the cast seems to be getting more and more comfortable with each other... that always seems to happen, and makes it harder to realize that your show has a limited run. One very cool thing for me, returning to work on a full play after several years, is that I have also had a couple members of the audience approach me after our performances with requests that I audition for upcoming shows they are putting together at the Civic Players and other venues! Hey ya! Must be doing something right...

All I can say is that it feels great to be back on the boards, doing something so creative and rewarding... after three shows I have enjoyed hearing the reactions of delighted audiences, and getting a sense for what it must feel like to do this as a full-time gig (kudos to the talented staff at SCP). On Wednesday night we're back at it, with a 7:30 p.m. show, followed by performances Thursday through Sunday. Of course, it can only get better. I can't wait, and look forward to further "Mind" games... 

Related Links:

"Schenectady Civic Players present Alan Ayckbourn's 'A Woman in Mind,'" The Roundtable, WAMC Northeast Public Radio, Friday, March 15, 2013

Sch'dy Civic Players "Woman in Mind" on Schenectady Today, YouTube

Schenectady Civic Players website

www.alanayckbourn.net