Westport Public Library MOVIE & MUSIC Blog

Warner Brothers: Behind the Scene

My family and I are just back from a visit to California which included a tour of the Warner Brothers Studio. If you’ve been on the Universal Tour, this guided adventure is absolutely nothing like that very scripted one. It’s only 12 people to a large golf cart type vehicle and no sticking to tracks or scripts for that matter. Our guide, a young man originally from Oregon was enthusiastic and as he said “totally into” movie technology. In addition to showing us the must see museum of Warner Brothers' history and famous back lots, he scooted all around in an effort to show us anything of interest happening at the studio that he could find. As a consequence, we watched a carnival scene for the TV show Chuck being prepared. The producers actually brought in a traveling carnival and set it up in the Warner Brother Studios' staff parking lot. We also saw a set being reconstituted to film the show Ghost Whisperer. You may recall that Universal had a fire a little while back, and the lot used for the setting for this CBS show was one of those damaged. So, as I learned, Warner Brothers rents lots not in use by that studio to other film production companies. The kids were excited to see the “homes” used to film The Gilmore girls and the “park setting” used in some scenes from the series Friends. They learned about the magic of the camera, a small set front or grassy area looks much bigger on the screen than in real life. I learned that if you need a petition to gain attention, have Clint Eastwood sign it. Apparently, George Clooney was advocating for a basketball court. He was told to get support from others on a petition. (I assume this was before he was THE George Clooney!) He got one signature, Eastwood’s, and the court was built.

While not inexpensive, the tour was a value for the money.

He looked to his roots in his championing of original English folktunes that may be seen in his songs, such as "Linden Lea" and "Silent Noon". His music covers almost every genre and was written for both professionals and amateurs. His use of color and melody are quite prominent in his symphonic and big choral works.

His empathy for the persecuted and his belief in social justice led him to help German refugees prior to World War II. He devoted himself to the Home Office Committee for the Release of Interned Alien Musicians during the war. Like many others who disagreed with the policies of the Third Reich, his music was banned.

If you are wish to learn more about this composer, the library has Ursula Vaughan Williams' R.V.W. : A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams. A sampling of his music includes Fantasia on Christmas Carols, Orchestral Favourites, Phantasy Quintet and Symphonies 1-9.

His first solo album, Alone Together, featured such memorable songs as "You Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave", "Only You Know and I Know", and "World in Changes". Jim Capaldi of Traffic, Rita Coolidge and Leon Russell lent their musical talents to this album which also had unique packaging. After several mediocre attempts, he came out with It's Like You Never Left with artists Graham Nash, Greg Reeves, Jim Keltner, Carl Radle and Stevie Wonder on the CBS label. He continued touring throughout the 1970's with Rick Jaeger, Mike Finnigan and Jim Krueger. In the 1990's, he joined Fleetwood Mac and contributed songs to their album Time in 1995. Since then, he has toured with his own Dave Mason Band.

If you can't make it to the concert, feel free to stop at the Library for his music on compact disc. In the meantime, please enjoy this 2004 performance at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

According to the NBC Olympic Schedule website, they are offering over 1,400 hours of coverage on their flagship station and its many sister stations combined. And if you are really hooked, there is over 2,000 hours of coverage online. Whew! That’s a lot of synchronized diving, cycling, running and ball spiking.

If you’d like to take a break from all the current coverage the library’s collection has some films to consider. No listing of Olympic movies would be completer without mentioning Chariots of Fire. Relive a sad chapter in Olympic history with the movie Munich. If the sport of running interests you, staff suggests Prefontaine about Olympic hopeful Steve Prefontaine. For those that appreciate gymnastics, give Peaceful Warrior a viewing. It’s a delightful lesser known film with an upbeat ending about a gymnast who faces many challenges.

I’m not sure any of the actual sporting events can top the opening ceremonies directed by Chinese film maker, Zhang Yimou. Several of this director’s films are in the library’s audio visual room.

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What is it about the tried and true family tradition of the piano lesson? Did you have a positive or negative experience with this obligatory childhood ritual? Were you encouraged, rewarded or threatened by your parents to practice an hour a day? My siblings and I enjoyed the lessons but were reluctant to practice. As adults, many of us are envious of the ones who applied themselves and can still play Beethoven's Fur Elise while the rest of us struggle along with Chopsticks.

Tricia Tunstall's Note By Note: A Celebration of the Piano Lesson is her paean and memoir of this life-defining experience. She is passionate about the instrument and extols the virtues of the one on one communication imparted by the teacher to the student. Her insights on the musical scene, society and the role that music plays in developing one's ideals and inspirations are drawn from her own observations and those of her students.

The Library has several books on piano instruction including Ward Cannel's How to Play the Piano Despite Years of Lessons, Roger Evans' How to Play Piano, Brad Hill's The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Piano and Carl Humphries' The Piano Handbook.

I thought you might enjoy the first stanza of Billy Collins's poem Piano Lessons from the collection Sailing Alone Around the Room.

"My teacher lies on the floor with a bad back
off to the side of the piano.
I sit up straight on the stool.
He begins by telling me that every key
is like a different room
and I am a blind man who must learn
to walk through all twelve of them
without hitting the furniture.
I feel myself reach for the first doorknob."

Like its namesake which is the brightest star in the Scorpius constellation, Antares strives to mesh the old and the new by embracing change and giving traditional forms new looks. The group, made up of cellist Rebecca Patterson, pianist Eric Huebner, clarinetist Garrick Zoeter and violinist Jesse Mills, draws from an eclectic, sumptuous repertoire of music for clarinet, violin, cello and piano, as well as concomitant trio and duo combinations. This versatility permits them to explore unique and unusual chamber masterworks from the Classical, Romantic, 20th and 21st century periods. Among the accolades bestowed upon this quartet are two ASCAP/CMA Awards for Adventurous Programming in 1999 and 2004 and First Prize winner of the 2002 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. Antares has performed at the Bayview Music Festival (MI), the Huntington Summer Arts series (NY), the Chautauqua Institution, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, etc.

Joel Puckett, the son of a Dixieland jazz musician and a classical tuba player, grew up in Atlanta absorbing and playing different genres of music and received a DMA in composition from the University of Michigan. The Washington Chorus recently commissioned and premiered his choral piece This Mourning at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. His honors include a BMI Award, a grant from the department of humanities at the University of Michigan and a Rackham Dissertation Grant from the Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan.

Besides the world premiere, Antares will play Maurice Ravel's Ma Mère L’Oye, George Tsontakis' Eclipse and John Mackey's Breakdown Tango.

Ermes Effron Borgnino the actor, otherwise known as Ernest Borgnine was interviewed on Good Morning America today. The 91 year old has been making the rounds promoting his new book Ernie: The Autobiography. I must say, he looked wonderful and carried on a funny and very charming interview with the host. I’ll leave it up to the publishing world to critique his writing. But, there is no doubt that the movie world has recognized his talents throughout his long career. Borgnine was born on January 24, 1917 in Hamden, CT to Italian immigrant parents. His childhood includes time living in both the US and Italy. I was surprised to learn he spent 10 years in the Navy prior to considering an acting career, and attended drama school in Hartford at his mother’s suggestion after ending his service in the armed forces. So, obviously, McHale’s Navy was familiar territory to him.

Borgnine’s first memorable role movie role was as Sargent “Fatso” Judson in From Here to Eternity in 1953. Two years later he won the Oscar for his performance in Marty, a role he earned just $5000 for performing. Like so many other actors, he’s been quoted as saying he would have done the part for nothing.

The gruff sounding actor can be seen in among many other films Ice Station Zebra, The Dirty Dozen, The Wild Bunch, The Vikings and the Poseidon Adventure. He’s even taken a turn as an animated character, lending his voice to the Mermaid Man in the Spongebob Square Pants series.

If you like reading about your favorite star, don't forget to check out the library's many biographies and memoirs about motion picture stars. We have many titles of interest. Recent titles include American Prince: A Memior by Tony Curtis and Doris Day:The Untold Story of the Girl Next Door.

As a young boy, he sang in a church choir in Covington, Tennessee and later played the saxophone in a high school band in Memphis; he played in local clubs like Curry's Tropicana, the Tiki club and Plantation Inn at the beginning of the 1960's and eventually played organ and piano as a studio musician for Stax-Volt Records. He arranged pop songs for Otis Redding, Sam and Dave and the Mar-Keys and had a fruitful writing partnership with David Porter. He achieved national attention with his solo albums Presenting Isaac Hayes, Hot Buttered Soul and Black Moses. As his music career dissipated, he pursued acting and was seen in Truck Turner, Three Tough Guys, Escape from New York, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, etc. His diverse television appearances included The Rockford Files, The A-Team, Miami Vice, South Park, etc. His honors included Grammys, an Oscar and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

It was recently reported that the great actor with the magnificent mellow voice, Morgan Freeman was in an auto accident but is now recovering from his injuries. This gave me pause to think about the long career of this enduring actor. I’ve always loved his voice, in particular, because he was an antidote to crankiness in any child I babysat. Turn on PBS’s children’s show Electric Company and they would stop crying when the 6’ 2” actor came on screen. Yes, he was indeed in this show before he came to fame.

A press release issued when Freeman joined the legion of stars with their hands and footprints preserved at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on June 5, 2002 nicely summed up the actor’s accomplishments. “Morgan Freeman has established himself as one of America's most admired actors by audiences, critics and fellow artists alike. His breakthrough performance in Street Smart in 1987, earned him the first of three Academy Award nominations, the other two being for Best Actor in The Shawshank Redemption and in the multiple Oscar winning Driving Miss Daisy, the latter of which also garnered him a Golden Globe. Freeman's diverse career spans more than 30 years, and reflects a constant mix of theatrical film roles, stage work and television specials.”

In the last 6 years he has gone on to play even more memorable roles including his Oscar Winning role in Million Dollar Baby and his cool performance in Gone Baby Gone. The Bucket List has been a big favorite in the library’s AV department. He can now be seen on the big screen in Dark Knight. And, The Human Factor, a film in which he portrays Nelson Mandela is in post production.

Feel better soon Mr. Freeman.

Beethoven, Ludwig van. Symphony #5

Cleveland Symphonic Winds. Stars & Stripes

Lloyd Webber, Andrew. Official Theme of the 1992 Barcelona Games

Norman, Monty. Olympics Song (1936)

Rossini, Gioacchino. William Tell Overture

United States Coast Guard Band. U. S. Coast Guard Bicentennial 1790-1990

Vangelis. Chariots of Fire

Various Artists. 1988 Summer Olympic Album: One Moment In Time

Various Artists. Summon the Heroes

Williams, John. Call of the Champions: The Official Theme of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games

Williams, John. Olympic Fanfare and Theme

Les Miserables opened at the Barbican Theatre in London on October 8, 1985 with the American version appearing almost eighteen months later on March 12, 1987. It has been performed in 38 countries and 223 cities, has been translated into 21 different languages and has been seen by more than 51 million people. Numerous accolades have been bestowed upon it such as eight Tony awards including Best Musical in 1987, New York Drama Critics award of Best Musical in 1987, five Drama Desk awards including Best Musical in 1987, Grammy awards for the 1988 Broadway cast album and 1991 symphonic recording, and a Triple Platinum disc for the London cast album. On January 25, 2002, the New York production became the second longest running show in Broadway history; that record was broken by the Phantom of the Opera on February 4, 2004.

If your schedule precludes you from hearing the cynical Master of the House or the inspiring Do You Hear the People Sing?, feel free to come to the Library to check out the book, compact disc, or vocal score.

For all of those aging rock and rollers, rock aficionados or trivia enthusiasts, Jeremy Simmonds has written an eclectic, fascinating book. The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars: Heroin, Handguns, and Ham Sandwiches is a chronologic, descriptive guide to rock musicians who died from 1965 through 2006. Every type of music falling under the rubric of rock is included like grunge, heavy metal, punk, rhythm and blues, etc. A short introduction to those rockers who died before 1965 appears at the beginning of the book.

The main entries begin with the death of Alan Freed on January 20, 1965 and end with the Christmas day 2006 passing of James Brown, the soul and funk singer whose estate has just begun to be auctioned. Each column provides a short biography of the artist with a detailed account of their death. Black and white photographs are liberally dispersed throughout the text, and quirky facts are highlighted in boxes under the heading Dead Interesting! There is a cute picture of Sonny and Cher in stripes which could have been taken from their television show, a smiling Karen Carpenter and a glamorous Dusty Springfield playing an old record player. Icons indicating the types of death that range from accidental to eating disorders to natural causes to unsolved are useful. A nice touch is the Lest We Forget reminders of lesser known pop stars that appear at the close of each calendar year.

For those looking for the effects of rock on our culture, the Library has Glenn C. Altschuler's All Shook Up: How Rock 'N' Roll Changed America, Robert Palmer's Rock & Roll: An Unruly History and David P. Szatmary's Rockin' In Time: A Social History of Rock-And-Roll. Books with photographs depicting the rock eras include Charles T. Brown's The Rock And Roll Story, Penny Stalling's Rock 'N' Roll Confidential and Fred Woodward's Rolling Stone: Images of Rock & Roll .