YALE... New Haven, CT... summer... and a couple of hundred sweaty background-extras sitting around for 5 hours in the sweltering heat of the holding areas surrounding St. Bonneface School on yet another New England street named Broadway. An occasional breeze wafts through the closely built housing, causing the welcomed venturi effect of a faster, cooler wind tickling our well-dressed perspiring bodies. But it's only momentary and then it's back to the "Sisterhood of the SWEATY PANTS 2, 3, 4...".This was BRUTAL! Yesterday I was doing a commercial for Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare in Sea Cliff, Long Island -also a sunburning 90 degree standing-forever-outside ordeal in addition to eventually being "trapped in the holding bus" for a long time -without a/c!!!
This morning however, I had a great yoga class on the beach and utilized it's calming effects for... "most of the day".
Got checked in at noon, but it wasn't until after 5 PM that we were taken to the set location around the block, University Theater, where we were seated and told that the a/c was off so as not to interfere with the sound recording's quality. (Moan!) Some of us were placed in the back row and told to clap vigorously as one of the cameo stars, Kyle MacLachlan, dressed in a white suit came in and observed the make-believe play that was taking place on the real stage in the front of the theater. He would make empathetic facial grimaces and self-congratulatory gestures to acknowledge the "make-believe play's success". Then suddenly, the upcoming Moroccon-madam-director, Sanaa Hamri, yelled CUT, went over to Kyle to give him some direction and called him "Bill"!? "Oooops!" she demured. "Did I just call you Bill? I'm so sorry..." Followed by lots of nervous laughter. And then retakes.
I was enthralled... (flashback)... here was the star of DUNE: The Desert Messiah -in person...yessssssss! I didn't see any of Kyle's other works (e.g. Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives, etc.), but I really liked his role as Paul Atreides (Muad'Dib) and he became a sort of sci-fi icon for me... (back to the present)...Later on, we the background, were shuffled around for various effects and then sent out into the street as our new holding area... for the next 3 or so hours!? CRUEL, very cruel... very. So we chatted, networked, exchanged cards and occasionally wandered off to feed ourselves at the local stores -because there was no food provided for the multitude of extras, although there was plenty of fancy "mangia" -seafood with safron rice...mmm... for the principal cast and crew. This was really, really LOoooooow! And then it began to RAINNNNNNN!
At that point, we were taken back to the former holding area where we were lined up inside the church's ultra-dim main service hall and told to get our vouchers signed. The line was enormous and there was only one -ONE production assistant to check and sign our I-9 paper. The camel's new straw was starting to strain, even under the auspices of the religious surroundings, and people started to "sneak" in at the front of the line. The expected result: YELLING and CURSING!!! I was lucky to be among the first 20 so I got out relatively quick and went to pick up my backpack and jacket. Unfortunately they were MOVED!!! And no one knew where they were... I searched franticly in the netherworlds of the school and happened upon an area in the basement, where the SAG union people were carousing and enjoying trays of FOOOOOD -amongs them the coveted seafood with safron rice! I wasn't going to give in to that. I was on a mission to find my belongings and get the hell outahere!
Went back upstairs to the church service area and saw some clothing on the floor...amongst which were my backpack and other self-supplied wardrobe. Scooped them up and ran out the door... the WRONG DOOR! It was now raining more profusely and I was totally disoriented. I was frustrated and angry at the chaotic manner in which we were handled -it used to be so much more professional. This was a MESS! But the rain started to take it's extinguishing effect and I started to feel calmer with each soaking step. I found my way down York Street and as I passed the mostly deserted set-location, there, under the SAG-food tent, a lonely figure wearing glasses and a red polo shirt, was scrounging through the last vestiges of nourishment. I recognized him; it was Kyle MacLachlan. As I passed by, I yelled "Have a good night Kyle... or is it Bill?" He waved back and said good night with a friendly squinting smile -not knowing who the heck I was. And that was the perfect ending for me on this gig.
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