THE CALL BACK
The callback came a month later. “Hi, this is Patrick Kelley with the White Countess, James Ivory and Karol Armitage (the choreographer) have asked me to call to see if you are available. We have a special dance scene coming up, a choreographed “ ballet” for four feature dancers and they want you to be one. “Ballet,” I said, “I don’t know, I have never done anything like that before.” “but if Karol thinks that I can do it, I’ll try.” “And this is a real job this time,” he said, “you will be paid as a professional dancer.” (You all know by now that doesn’t mean a thing, I would do it for free.)
The next day I has asked to come in for them to take measurements for a costume fitting. I have never been so measured – it seemed like it was every 4 inches up and down each limb. What are they fitting me for, a body suit? I’ll let you know. First rehearsal is December 6th. Whatever the outcome, you can be sure it will become a story in the next Dispatch.
“It makes a great deal of difference whether you call life a dream, a pilgrimage, a labyrinth, or a carnival.” —Kenneth Burke
From Dis. 3(7) –Dec. 2004
BACK ON THE SET OF THE WHITE COUNTESS.
Well, this was the week I returned to the Merchant/Ivory movie set. I was very excited and a bit nervous because I did not know what they really wanted me to do. I had a lot of memories of my last time and was looking forward to revisitingthe best with others I hoped to see again. But there was only one thing that all those with whom I shared that time really talked about. An event I didn’t even report to you. It goes under “The guy who pinched Natasha’s butt on screen,” label. I did tell you that I had specific directions from James Ivory to ‘stop dancing so much and to come on to’ the”White Countess,” Natasha Richardson – to be an old letch. What I didn’t mention was how far I took it. In a later scene, when I was dancing with another partner and passing her and Fiennes on the dance floor — to stay in character — I reached out and gave her a little loving tweak on the behind – I was just following directions.
So that is how I am remembered here. How am I going to live it down or more importantly how am I now going to top that. We will see – do you have confidence in me?
IL DOTTORE
Now I know what all the measurements were for. When I arrived, they immediately sent me on to wardrobe where the costume designer anxiously awaited my arrival. With this big grin on his face he first had me slip on (no, not slip—stretch on) a pair of colorful two-toned red leg tights. Over that went the red silk knee- high pantaloons with the most beautifully buttoned square grouch patch. Then, as if that weren’t humiliating enough, came the upper body suit that brought back the worst beer belly I have ever had (worse than I ever had). Now you have to understand I have spent the better part of the last 15 years trying to acquire a mere semblance of six-packs abs that eluded me as a young man. Now when I am just getting to the point where I can go shirtless without embarrassment, this British limy is draping me with a Falstaff body form. Say goodbye to any glamorous film presence. It turns out that I am to be “Il Dottore” in a Commedia Dell’Art stage performance at “The White Countess” nightclub. (I, now, wonder how this Eicherian show within a club within a movie is going to work out)
The rest of the costume is rather elegant (I want to keep it)—a nicely tailored (tailored for a sumo wrestler’s body) red tunic and long flowing black coat/cape, a red hat with beautiful long feathers, a wig of brown shoulder-length hair and mercifully, a mask with a hugh forked nose. You get the picture?
Unbelievably, my dance partner is an incredibly beautiful ballet dancer, Honglan Hou, Principal dancer with the Beijing Ballet Company.
This is to be a classic Commedia Dell Art piece choreographed by Karole Armitage to Shuman’s “La Carnavale” – a 45-minute piece distilled down to less than 2 minutes. I am to be this grotesque old man hopelessly chasing this beautiful girl. Have they got me type cast or what?
We rehearsed for two days—this beautiful ballerina, five Russians, a Swede, a young Chinese-American guy from Menlo Park, a 13-year old boy from San Francisco and me. The New York choreographer has created a very intricate story in dance with three beautiful couples –men in tails, women in gowns, waltzing away in love. Pierrot, the sad lonely clown being rejected by the ballerina, after which Il Dottore makes his pathetic try only to be thwarted by Harlequin, a general over all nuisance, interfering and constantly in the way. There are 11 dancers swinging and twirling in an area the size of a large walk-in closet. Timing is critical, as we dance by and in between one another. After two days we had it down – We were ready.
THE FILMING
“The demonic paradox of writing: when you put something down that happened people often don’t believe it: whereas they can make up anything, and people assume it must have happened to you.” —Andrew Holleran
The next day was the filming. I had to be up by 4:00 am to make it to the studio by 5 (I got home a 10:00 that night).
It took hours for all to get dressed and made up. There were over one –hundred extras. But this time I wasn’t an extra – the “La Carnavale Dancing Troupe” were contracted performers, we had our own dressing rooms and shared the actor’s make-up people.
When we finally got to see the stage we were to perform on – Big Surprise!
It wasn’t the same size that had been marked off on the expansive rehearsal stage. Our first dress rehearsals were chaotic to say the least – adjustments here, adjustments there – there goes the timing.
Then, in addition to that, Director Ivory has another alteration for me (why is he always picking on me?). I am not fat enough! “Get him some more padding,” he says. Now I can’t even see my feet. Speaking of feet, did I tell you that they had fitted me with these elf-like red shoes with big curled toes? All this and now, minutes before filming, the pre-rehearsed dance is being completely changed. I had forgotten what I learned the last time—“expect everything to change at the very last minute.”
Regardless of all this, we pulled it off to the stunned appreciation and applause of the hundreds of cast and extras who were playing nightclub patrons and audience of the Commedia dell Art stage performance. It was grand fun and I am safe– nobody will ever know that it is me underneath the belly and mask.
The best part is that I got to meet Honglan and a film producer (a Stanford MBA graduate) who is going to be making a movie with her in the staring role. You can check out their website: www.chinaventurefilms.com.cn — if you want to participate in their business plan let me know and I will give you the password to access it on-line.
They say that there will be something there for me as well. We will see.
I also made another contact, an American who has just arrived in Shanghai and wants to form a country/cowboy band. He asked me if I knew anybody and or place for this kind of thing. Silly question. Three days later there is the first performance of the “Shanghai Cowboys” at a bar called the Shanghai Literature Club (a new find of mine). This was the first time that the fiddle player (a new contact of mine from the Hospital – remember the new Hospital?), the Willie Nelson-like singer, the two other guitar players and I have all met. I even taught the Texas two-step and a line dance. It was a blast — there is potential there. We will see.
“The future is filled with worry, the past is filled with regret. But the present is all there is.”
From Dis. 5(5) — Oct. 2006
THE WHITE COUNTESS REDUX
The White Countess, Ismael Merchant’s last film with James Ivory is out on DVD. It was my first foray into the film extra world here in China. You may remember my description of being called back to be part of a “ballet” sequence (really it was a Comedia d’arte piece with ballet dancers and a few of us clowns…). I reported on this fascinating adventure last year. Well now we get to see the results.
Set in Shanghai in the 1930’s right at the time of the Japanese takeover, this is a classic Merchant/Ivory period piece — I liked it. And this time more than my left ear made it to the screen (you may remember my 3 milisecond appearance resulting from the 26-hour marathon shot on the Hong Kong film, “Everlasting Love.”).
This time I show up maybe a dozen times, as a tuxedoed dancing flash in the background or the fat buggling fool in red tights chasing the beautiful ballerina. I even got “a speaking part.” It was a total surprise to me, Natasha Richardson, the female lead and I were suppose to be engaged on the dance floor (as I was trying to pick her up) when Ralph Fiennes, the male lead comes to break- in. In the thirty or so takes of this scene we were not supposed to be miked — you may remember the efforts I went to keep it looking spontaneous by trying to use a different “pick-up line” each time. Well evidently they did mike it and I am caught telling her how much she is breaking my heart and she inisting that I need a ticket to spend any more time with her. What a surprise, even a bit embarrassing.
This time I also received a billing in the film credits– “Puncinello – David Sutton” — And I thought I was being “El Doctore”, that’s what they told me– no matter, in either case, the correographer was right, I wasn’t bad as the bumbling old fool after the beautiful girl. (Besides, nobody but you know it is me).
It is worth your time to see, I think — there are street scenes, that look just like the street I live on today.