On a small rise in Central Park-just above Stuart Little's sailboat lake and the bronze statue of Alice in Wonderland-a photographer is shooting a bucolic "hippie" wedding. But since this is "the indie city," the barefoot bride, the long-haired groom, and all the hippy-dippy wedding guests are actually 35 costumed background actors in the opening scene-day four of 22-of "Picture This," director Lisa Albright's new romantic comedy. And the photog is actually Broadway's Melissa Errico ("High Society"), heading up a high-profile cast of local Broadway and television talent, plus a couple of Hollywood "names," in this low-key, low-budget theatrical release (SAG LB/TH contract), cast by Karen Gilman.
Besides Errico's Eve, there's her rich daddy (Michael Nouri, Broadway's "Victor Victoria"), and her divorce mom (Valerie Perrine, of the big screen's "Superman"). Eve has commitment issues with her boyfriend, Frank (Christian Camargo, Broadway's "Skylight"), because he wants some and she doesn't! So she runs to her best friend, Patty (Beth Littleford, of TV's "Spin City" and "The Daily Show") for advice. Others in Eve's sphere include artist's rep Robin Strasser ("One Life to Live") and gallery owner Michael Emerson ("The Iceman Cometh"), with a special cameo appearance by musical-comedy legend Jane Powell. (See sidebar.)
Following the (il)logic of film continuity, the next day's shoot is an interior from much later in the script, so the "Picture This" company relocates to East 33rd Street, directly across from P.S. 116. As Director of Photography David Tumblety instructs the crew for a lighting set-up on a second-floor window ledge, director Albright and actress Errico huddle in discussion. A noisy group of savvy New York school kids appears, knowing a movie is being shot. "Hey, who are you?" a small boy chirps at Errico, and then runs back to his friends yelling, "Who's Melissa MacEnroe?"
Melissa Errico is Melissa MacEnroe. Unlike her commitment-phobic character in "Picture This," the Manhasset, Long Island, native Errico is married to childhood sweetheart and tennis doubles champ Patrick MacEnroe (brother of tennis' bad boy, John). "We've known each other since we were seven or eight, at grammar school in Queens," laughs the actress, "before I got the acting bug around 11 or 12." She appeared on the kids' show "Great Space Coaster," and always loved musical theatre, although her degree from Yale is in Art History and Philosophy. "Yale's not too big on musical theatre," she jokes.
"Actually, I had two careers in those days. I'd leave New Haven in pitch darkness and come down by train, to be at Equity by 7 am. I'd pick up Back Stage, hit all the open calls, and get back just in time for my 1:00 lecture. I got a lot of summer theatre work from those calls," remembers Errico, an actress who is constantly being "rediscovered.' It happened a few years ago, when she played Eliza Doolittle opposite Richard Chamberlin in "My Fair Lady," and, more recently, when her Encores! performance in "One Touch of Venus" catapulted her into the role of Tracy Lord in "High Society." "Ironically, I was in the "Sound of Music" workshop and Rebecca Luker was in the workshop for "High Society." I was very conflicted about letting "SOM" go, but eventually we did switch roles."
Errico is about to be rediscovered yet again, this time on the big screen. In addition to her starring role in "Picture This," she's very excited about her supporting role in "Frequency," Gregory Hoblit's $100 Million sci-fi action film skedded for a late fall/early winter release. The film stars Dennis Quaid ("The Parent Trap") and James Claviezel ("The Thin Red Line"), and although it's set in New York, only some locations were shot here.
Beginning in March, Errico traveled back and forth between Toronto and New York for her "Frequency" scenes. "I love film," she exclaims, adding, "being in front of the camera is actually a relief. Musicals require such big strokes and you're always thinking about all the technical stuff-the dancing, your voice, the mike, your wig! Film is just you and the character you're playing."
Patty and Pizzas
The East 33rd Street location is Patty's apartment. She's a stand-up comic and performance artist, which also describes actress-comedienne Beth Littleford, who plays the role. Littleford stands on the stoop to chat with Back Stage. She's clad in pink oriental pajamas, and sports bright blue finger- and toe nails, plus a zebra-striped sleep mask atop her blonde hairdo. "I love this part," she enthuses, "Patty's a performance artist who creates a dominatrix-from-Des Moines character, and my husband [Rob Fox] and I just wrote the performance piece she does." A few years ago, Littleford got great notices for "This is Where I Get Off," her own one-woman show at Off-Broadway's Circle Repertory Company, then went on to become a regular on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show."
She describes her "Daily Show" persona as "this crazy, kooky, newsy gal, who basically just talks to the people in the street, but the topics can get pretty racy." (At first, the producers weren't too sure this would work, but Littleford was not only a hit; she later married one of them!) The role requires all of her considerable improv skills-she's a veteran of Chicago City Limits-and is miles away from Dierdre, the sexually aggressive character she plays on "Spin City." No stranger to the indie world ("I got my first student film through an ad in Back Stage, but they never sent me a tape!" she riffs), Littleford has "another fun part" in the eagerly anticipated autumn release "Mystery, Alaska," starring Russell Crowe, written by David E. Kelley, and directed by "Austin Powers" 's Jay Roach.
While his T-shirt and jeans are a perfect costume, only in the movies does the pizza delivery guy look like Christian Camargo. "Frank's a kind of a free-spirited wanderer," Camargo explains. "He plays the dulcimer and likes pre-war New York architecture. This is my third New York independent film [he's also in "Harlem Aria" and playwright Tom Donaghy's directorial debut, "The Story of a Bad Boy"], and my second time playing a musician ("H.A."). Camargo has just returned from the Williamstown Theatre Festival, where he played both Charles and Lord Byron in Nicholas Martin's version of Tennessee Williams' "Camino Real." "Ethan Hawke was Kilroy, and his energy was just great. It was like summer camp!"
So far, the handsome young Juilliard grad's career has had a slightly transatlantic flavor. "Because of "Skylight," I was chosen to be part of the inaugural season at the Globe in London," he explains. "First I played all the bad French guys in Doug Hughes' "Henry V' (New York Shakespeare Festival), and then I got to play the Dauphin at the Globe. I love being able to do both theatre and film, and I've been so lucky to work with all these great directors," Camargo says modestly. Then he laughs, recalling the Back Stage notice for an open call, seeking actors with vintage cars for Spike Lee's "Crooklyn": "I've got an old caddie, but neither of us got the part!"
Back Stage's last "On Location" interview with Michael Emerson was in 1977, during his Award-winning Off-Broadway stint as Oscar Wilde in "Gross Indecency," when he moonlighted in Stanley Tucci's comedy "The Imposters." Now he's just finished playing failed lawyer Willie Oban, in Broadway's mega-hit production of "The Iceman Cometh." Of his fellow "Iceman" cast members, Emerson quips, "We've all got cumulative fatigue syndrome." Describing his "Picture This" role, he says, "I'm the perceptive, quirky gallery owner who gets the bright idea to put one of Eve's wedding pictures in my show of wedding photos. Before this, she'd undervalued her ability and was insecure about her work, so the show really begins her life in photography.
"I'm a character actor on the more eccentric end of the looks scale," Emerson remarks. Although he's already appeared in a few indie films, he feels, "I don't really have a film career started yet." His "Picture This" part shoots during a three-week break, before rehearsals begin on "Give Me Your Answer Do," Brian Friel's newest play, scheduled for a September-to-January run at Broadway's Roundabout Theatre Company. "I've been blessed to be able to be onstage almost all year," Emerson concludes with a quirky, character actor grin.
Picking out the director on the "Picture This" shoot, your first guess might not be the striking woman in the tank top, jeans, and platform sneakers. Lisa Albright's background as a performer (actress-singer-dancer) is evident from her cool good looks, but her easy professional manner with the actors and crew is a revelation. "I got on this new track after more than a dozen years as a performer," she tells Back Stage, "everything from a stint with George Hearn and Judy Kaye in "Sweeny Todd" at the Paper Mill Playhouse [N.J.], to straight dramas and television-I even played the lead in a student film! When I first hit New York, I didn't know a soul, so I'd scour Back Stage for auditions. It was my survival tool and because of those auditions-particularly an open call for "Phantom of the Opera"- I even got an agent."
But since 1994, it's been writing, producing, and directing. Albright has done 30 industrial Broadway and opera revues for Audi cars, is contracted to write a children's book series, associate-produced Richard Greenberg's "Desert Saints" for Meg Ryan's film company, and created several online projects, including the 1996 Toyota Comedy Fest.
"In 1998, I got my M.A. in a special two-year Entertainment Producing Program at New York University. It's staffed by working professionals across the entertainment spectrum, and you learn by doing. I made three shorts and crewed on 15 more. It taught me about preparation and how people are willing to fuel your passion, when they see you can do it. I'm so proud of this cast-some are stars just waiting to explode and others are already established, but it's not about names, it's about talent. And getting Jane Powell was a dream come true for me!"
As the day proceeds, AD Sol Tryon and Associate Producer Eduardo Braniff talk over the next day's schedule, when they're approached by a small, gray haired woman who says, "Oh, you're making a movie? My son's in the business, too." Everyone smiles convivially. After all, there are eight million movies to be made in the indie city!