By request: AMA I played Clothilde in A Light for Greytowers

amother

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 7:04 pm

amother Copper wrote:

Wow so interesting to read all this. The trailer looks so professional.
Not trying to be rude at all- I’m asking this sincerely- why was it ok to film young girls for 12 hours a day?? And with no pay?? It sounds like child labor or something like that. When you signed up for this camp you knew you would be busy filming all day? Why were all the parents ok with this? It sounds exhausting not fun at all. You should have been paid, and instead you had to pay to attend this camp. So confused.

Totally understandable questions.

The tech crew (lights, sound, camera) were all professional and unionized, and there were strict union rules and child labor laws that we had to follow.

None of the actresses, not even Miriam, was truly working 12 hours a day. Yes, we had to be there for our call times, but there was downtime during the day that we spent with our friends. The littlest kids were only in a few scenes total and had just a few very busy days the entire summer.

Cuz that’s what it comes down to - none of us were child actors doing this for the money, or to “make it” in show business. This was a labor of love, and all of us felt lucky to be part of something groundbreaking.

We signed up for it because this was something all of us loved to the point of mild insanity, even as kids/teenagers. We all learned so much, like having a film school internship! It wasn’t a school play where participation is mandatory. No girls were forced to be in this movie - we all knew it would be grueling at times, but we were passionate about what we were creating, and passionate to be doing it together. We all cried on the last day of camp, just like at sleep away camp, even though many of us would see each other at school in September.

To call Kol Neshama a “summer camp” isn’t really accurate, and they never advertised it as such. It was the Kol Neshama Performing Arts Conservatory, and it meant it. The first 4 years of the program, when we did stage shows, was a good indication of what would come.

We had no swimming, no arts and crafts, no sports, no bowling or ice skating trips. This was a intensive program for girls who wanted to have an hour-long dance class followed by an hour-long improv class, then lunch, then singing class then rehearsal til the end of the day. It’s not for everyone, but for the girls it’s for, there’s nothing like it!

amother

Sienna

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 8:08 pm

[quote=
Anya’s Lullaby
music and lyrics by Levi Yitzhaq Garbose[/quote]

Thank you!!

snooper86

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 9:00 pm

OP wow this has been super entertaining. Thanks for answering questions.

Now let’s just see how many schools will suddenly have this story for their school play. (If they didn’t start yet)

amother

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 9:21 pm

snooper86 wrote:

OP wow this has been super entertaining. Thanks for answering questions.

Now let’s just see how many schools will suddenly have this story for their school play. (If they didn’t start yet)

The Jewish day school in Atlanta just did it 😄

Rachelle Freedman worked as an acting teacher at Kol Neshama in LA for a while before moving to Atlanta.

Greytowers lives on!!

gr82no

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 9:21 pm

Something ive always wondered about what is the point of that thing that you snap shut right after before every scene

amother

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 9:37 pm

gr82no wrote:

Something ive always wondered about what is the point of that thing that you snap shut right after before every scene

This thing? 🎬

Good question!

A slate (also known as a clapboard) serves a few purposes.

1) since we shoot the scenes out of order, the slate appears at the start of every scene to show which scene it is, and which take of that scene. If you’re shooting on actual film reels, the slate would also say which reel it’s on. The tech crew keeps a careful list as we film.

Then during the editing process, the director can look for a specific scene.

Fun fact: A Light for Greytowers was filmed on actual film! I think that’s part of what makes it look more authentic - not quite “old fashioned”, but it has a slight glowy haze and more “texture” than something filmed digitally.

2) On a professional movie set (unlike the video camera on your phone), the audio and visual are captured separately for higher quality - microphones for audio, and film for the visuals. So they use the clap of the clapboard to sync up the audio and video in post-production.

gr82no

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 9:39 pm

Cool thanks!

giftedmom

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 9:48 pm

amother OP wrote:

“Russia” was filmed in Topanga Canyon State Park. Baby Miriam that Anya holds is a real baby, but actually a baby boy, the baby brother of one of the campers. One of the Russian soldiers who rides past on a (real!) horse is a (non Jewish) female member of the production crew who had been an equestrian growing up.

@amother Sienna:

Anya’s Lullaby
music and lyrics by Levi Yitzhaq Garbose

Hush my darling, don’t you cry
Remove the tears from on your eyes
Hashem will guide us through the night
Sleep and dream peaceful dreams

Emunah in the one God above
Bitachon in His eternal love
Torah shows us the way
And gladdens our hearts throughout the day

I just want to say I’m a huge fan ever since I watched it first on the big screen. I was so excited to find it on toveedo so I was able to pass down the fandom to my kids! This song in particular got me through many hard times.

amother

Holly

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 9:50 pm

We did this play in high school in 2001. Let’s see who was in school with me 😁

amother

Dimgray

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 9:58 pm

amother Holly wrote:

We did this play in high school in 2001. Let’s see who was in school with me 😁

My school did it around the same time, but elementary school.

amother

Daffodil

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 9:59 pm

lol! I think my Day Camp did it in 2001! I was the fancy lady who deposited Miriam at the orphanage.

amother

Cognac

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 10:24 pm

amother OP wrote:

The main character, Miriam, is played by Abby Shapiro, his younger sister.

Just look at their eyes and eyebrows 😆

That makes so much sense!
I always wondered why Abby Shapiro looked so familiar (on twitter).
Must have been my obsessive watching of the light for greytowers as a preteen.

And Hi OP, you taught me drama in a high school club Smile

amother

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 10:46 pm

amother Cognac wrote:

That makes so much sense!
And Hi OP, you taught me drama in a high school club Smile

Hi!!!! 💛💛
East Coast or Midwest?

amother

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 11:03 pm

amother Banana wrote:

Ohhh cool! Now you can say that you and a celeb go 'way way back' Smile

I don’t know how much this will mean to people, but some may find it cool:

Our cinematographer, Alice Brooks, kept moving up in Hollywood and 15 years later was the cinematographer for the movie musical In The Heights.

So me >> Alice >> Lin Manuel Miranda 😎

She’s currently working on the musical film adaptation of Wicked, coming out in 2024. She really does specialize in musical films. It’s so cool.

chili-n-cholent

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 11:06 pm

amother OP wrote:

I don’t know how much this will mean to people, but some may find it cool:

Our cinematographer, Alice Brooks, kept moving up in Hollywood and was the cinematographer for the movie musical In The Heights.

So me >> Alice >> Lin Manuel Miranda 😎

That is super cool!
I love anything relating to Lin Manuel Miranda!

amother

Heather

Wed, Dec 27 2023, 11:43 pm

Is there any new film coming our way made by robin g.

amother

DarkCyan

Thu, Dec 28 2023, 12:07 am

Thank you op for this thread! I feel like I’m a child again and it brings up so many memories.

In a very young grade, our teacher read us the book every day a few minutes before dismissal. Later when my mom bought the film I was ecstatic! Miss Grimshaw was an official character throughout my childhood.

#BestBubby

Thu, Dec 28 2023, 2:17 am

amother OP wrote:

The book was published in the 90’s!
Are you English? Eva Vogiel and Ruth Steinberg did turn their musical script into a book, but that’s the farthest back I can trace it.

If you were in their show, can you confirm or deny a hypothesis I’ve always had, as a fan of the book?

Hypothesis: at least 2 songs in the original production used tunes from The Sound of Music.

My reasoning:
1) With a main character named Maria, who causes trouble for the headmistress, you just know they used “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?”
2) the original book-version lyrics can be sung perfectly to the tune of Eidelweiss
Hush my child, sleep my child,
Though stormy clouds surround us
Do not fear, Hashem is near
His protection all around us

(High part)
It’s not for us to question why
Hashem is watching from on high

Hush my child, sleep my child,
Keep your Emunah forever

Not English. This was Camp in Catskill NY.

I don't think we had those songs.

I remember the song

A, the Boss I. Here is me
B, Thou shall not over eat...

amother

Thu, Dec 28 2023, 7:54 am

#BestBubby wrote:

Not English. This was Camp in Catskill NY.

I don't think we had those songs.

I remember the song

A, the Boss I. Here is me
B, Thou shall not over eat...

Fascinating!

The “commandments” weren’t numbered? The whole shtick of it is that Miss Grimshaw is demeaning Miriam’s religion by replacing it with her own Ten Commandments

amother

Pistachio

Thu, Dec 28 2023, 8:23 am

amother DarkCyan wrote:

Were you in my class? Was this in third grade in Passaic?