The day before we went to Savannah, I had a dental appointment, to which I was actually looking forward! For more than a week I'd been having pain in my right jaw, especially in the morning when I had to gently get it mobile before even brushing my teeth. As it turns out, I'd been grinding my teeth at night!! I attribute this to trump as I had no other reason in my life to grit my teeth --- just another symptom of trump dysplasia syndrome!! The dentist recommended an over-the-counter mouth guard, which made an immediate improvement. I'm still using it most of the time but I don't expect to have to permanently, but I am very happy to have relief from the discomfort.
I mentioned last time that we (Liberal Ladies) had received an invitation to be to be extras in The Glorias movie, the life of Gloria Steinem. As the time approached, we hadn't heard anything so we were beginning to doubt that it would happen. Our Steering Committee Chair inquired about it and was told that our services would be needed, they were just trying to get everything organized. We were told that we needed to come dressed appropriately for summer in 1977 in Houston!! Some took that as a serious assignment. I just looked in my closet!! We were to wear our best outfit and bring 2-3 extras. So, the day arrived and we drove to a parking area behind the police department, where a shuttle took us to the location, the Savannah Civic Center. We went upstairs where we did paperwork. From there we went to wardrobe, hair, and makeup. At that point, we were welcomed by the Director, Julie Taymor, of Lyon King fame! She was very kind and told us that the idea of the movie came about as she was with Gloria Steinem, Madeline Albright, and others, watching the 2016 election returns come in - and the deflation they felt. The movie is independently financed and they hope to be able to release it at a time when it will have the greatest impact. Julianne Moore is playing Gloria and Bette Midler, Bella Abzug, though we had no idea we would see either. In any case, Julie Taymor was very welcoming and down to earth. I was amazed at how many of the staff and crew looked like they had been dressed straight out of the thrift shop. Everything was very casual and low key.
The first thing we had to do was put our extra wardrobe on a table and let the wardrobe people look at what you had on and what you brought. In my case (and Chris') we were okay with what we had on, which tells you a lot about my closet!! Kathy, who had enthusiastically spent lots of time in thrift shops and wore a trendy outfit of the period, was asked to change into jeans and knit top. Tippy was also asked to change from a conservative dress and sweater to pants and a loose top, so go figure what they wanted. From wardrobe, it was to hair and makeup. My hair was okay, but I spent a lot of time in makeup - the woman had her work cut out for her. The artist who did my makeup was from Charleston and another from Atlanta. We learned that they put out a call for those people just as they do for extras, minor players, etc. While they did our makeup early on, several remained on set for touchups throughout the shooting.
From makeup, we went to the set. We did not nearly fill the convention hall, but somehow they will make it appear that we did! It was interesting to see where they placed people. We thought we would all sit together, but that wasn't the case. The crew would look around and say "you two ladies go sit on the other side of the aisle" and just move people around with no scheme we could comprehend. Initially, we were placed so that there was quite a bit of space between groups of us. As the day progressed, we were seated together near the podium. Late afternoon, Bette Midler arrived dressed as Bella Abzug (but wearing her bedroom shoes!) to film her speech scene (close up). There were several takes and we were cued to cheer, wave signs, etc. Somehow, I really lucked out and was seated on the very front row, looking straight up at Bette! Once her take was good, she left to our applause. Everyone was very respectful and not intrusive, so I didn't get any photos, which makes me want to kick myself now!
Following Bette's scenes, we did various crowd scenes - voting on various platform issues from the convention. We were reacting to the vote on the sexual preference issue on which the majority approved, so they walked around and designated those of us conservatively dressed to stand to vote against it. On another issue, the original response was about a 60/40 break so they asked everyone who had birthdays between January and August to stand. If it appeared to be about 60% of the group, they were good to vote yea, unless they wanted to relocate people. It was all very interesting to see. On one occasion, one of the crew pointed to me and asked me to go onstage and sit in the third chair. I went up to applause from Tippy, Kathy and those they had recruited as my fan club! I was settling in when another crew member came up and asked if I was in their wardrobe or my own clothes. When I told them they were mine, he said I couldn't be on stage! So, I disappointedly returned to my previous status. After that scene, another crew member directed me on stage again, but the original guy came by and told him I didn't have on their wardrobe. My claim to fame stifled again!
Somewhere in the midst of everything, some Liberal Ladies began to filter out. They said that any of us who wanted to stay for the full day's filming would be welcomed to do so....and that we would be paid. I'm guessing that this was around early evening. I had come for the full duration, so Tippy, Kathy and I signed up, not knowing that this would go one until 3:30AM!! Probably around 9 or 10PM, we broke for "lunch". We ate with the crew except they had one menu and we another! Even so, we were all surprised at how nice and friendly the crew was. When I was prevented from sitting on the stage the second time, I jokingly said to the crew person that I would give him my clothes if I could sit onstage, and he said he'd given that up as his NY's resolution and was trying not to dress as a woman anymore! One recommended that we not tell our friends we were in a movie because the hours we'd spent filming would be only a few minutes in the film and we'd be hard-pressed to recognize anyone. They were all very pleasant, even as the night progressed.
After "lunch" we went back to filming. This time it was a scene with Bella Abzug and Gloria Steinem, so we got to see both stars - and this time Bette had shoes (and Bella's iconic hat) on since it was a full shot. This is when my starring moment came. This time Julie Taymor was looking around and pointed to me and asked me to go onstage and stand behind a row of seated ladies. This time no one objected!! So, as Bella and Gloria took the vote on the ERA Resolution, I am onstage to their left! When it passes, they move to the right of the podium, hold and raise their hands, as we cheer, hug, chant, etc. I have no idea whether or not I will be in the movie, but I certainly had a better shot at it than I ever expected. Once that scene was done, we had several more to do before winding up at 3:30AM. Once over, Julie Taymor thanked us again. Oh, for the final scene I was seated about 4 rows back and the young lady who sat beside me just happened to be Julie Taymor's assistant, who had come in from Chicago. She, too, was very warm. I told her that I was surprised that Ms.Teymor seemed like such a nice, low key kind of person. She confirmed that and said that most of her top people were of the same temperament, making it a good working atmosphere. That certainly seemed to be the case to us. I really expected it to be more chaotic. While there was a lot of time sitting around for set-ups, etc., it was all done efficiently and without angst. Once home, I Googled Julie Taymor and, though I knew of part of her theatrical career, I was unaware of her varied and diverse early life growing up. Definitely a good read HERE. Anyway, she left a very good impression on all of us, taking the time at the end of a long day to thank us again for helping out.
So, at 3:30AM we went upstairs to collect our things and sign out. There was a shuttle waiting to take us to our car, and we made our way home. I got in at 4:30! That's definitely a long day and a late night for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was especially nice that Liberal Ladies could be a part of this particular film. I talked with several ladies from Savannah who do this regularly, which would be fun. All in all, it was a totally enjoyable experience.....and it was great to share it with friends.
Unfortunately, I got very few good photos, so this will mostly serve as a reminder for those who actually attended the event. It may give you an idea of the setting.
As a little historical background, I found THIS ARTICLE informative. Tippy read the Resolution topics to us as we were driving over; and, while we feel we've come a long way, there is much left to be done.
I just got off Skype with Eileen in the UK and we were both saying that we don't know what we do with our time, but we seem to stay busy. I'm still doing Liberal Ladies' newsletter, Lowcountry Coalition Against Hate's website, and have now volunteered to do their newsletter also. Someone stop me from volunteering!! Add to that, the meetings that are required, other groups like Drinking Liberally, Lowcountry Indivisible, Democratic Club, and just normal gatherings with friends, and my calendar fills quickly. I'm lucky to enjoy it all and to be able to share with such great friends.
