Memorial across from Camp Cleveland near Reims France

Posted on by Thor

I parked in a muddy ditch on the side of the country road near the intersection which was right next to the field where Camp Cleveland used to be 80 years ago. I had a WWII war map that pinpointed this exact location. Some sensors on the car beeped loudly which made it clear the car didn’t like the spot I was parked. I hoped the tires would not spin in the mud when I started the car back up. At this intersection was a granite memorial for World War I. Wind whipped across the empty fields. On occasion a large farming truck would roar by. Strangely the spot reminded me of a scene from the Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest where Carry Grand was dropped off by a bus in the middle of nowhere.

The City Camps were an area north and south of Reims France where troops assembled before being sent back to the states. Since Japan was still fighting in the pacific, there was a possibility that any soldiers who did not have enough points to go back to the states might end up going to the pacific.

The War Memorial of Val de Vesle was erected in 1957 which was long after my father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken left Europe. This memorial commemorates the French offensives of April 1917. The involved units were: VIIIe Armée: 85 RI, 95 RI, 27 RI, 1 RAC, 37 RAC. The memorial is at the intersection of D34 and See Liberty. I doubt anyone ever stops here. This was one of the first sketches I did upon entering Europe since it was on the road leading to the American Reenactment camp I first sketched when I left Paris France. Since I don’t read French, I at first though the WWI monument might have been on this spot when Camp Cleveland was a cross the street 80 years ago.

All the city camps on the map of Reims are, Detroit, Washington, Chicago, and Philadelphia north of Reims and then Cleveland, Boston Pittsburgh, Philadelphia Saint Louis, Baltimore and Brooklyn. There isn’t much academic research on these camps since they became less important when Japan surrendered. There were traffic control points at some intersections for security purposes.

I read an article about how one veteran’s son purchased a property in France which was close to the City Camp his father had been stationed at. The son could not find the camp, so his father helped by using Google Street View to navigate to the exact spot. The son then sent photos of the location, and the father was able to navigate the son to a tree where the soldiers used to carve their initials. The initials had been carved into the bark at about waste height. Over the 80 years the tree grew much taller and the bark healed. There were no initials to find.

Camp Cleveland today is a wide open field. There were no trees to carve names into. Even if there were, time heals such wounds. I have to wonder if the farmer, tilling the soil each year might find WWII trinkets lost by the many soldiers who passed through Camp Cleveland. There were between 2000 and 35,000 soldiers stationed in each camp. There is plenty of room for a huge camp in the empty fields near Reims France buy I have not yet determined just how big Camp Cleveland was. Camp Lucky Strike which is much closer to the port city of Le Havre France had the largest number of solders at 35,000.

39 Steps Rehearsal

Posted on by Thor

Back in January at a Florida Creative’s happy hour, I first found out that Ryan Price was planning to produce a Fringe play built around “The 39 Steps” a 1915  adventure novel written by John Buchan. It was later adopted by Alfred Hitchcock in a 1935 film. Becky Lane is directing this adaptation in which every show will be improvised based on audience suggestions. In early rehearsals Becky told me that the cast did view point sessions in which the actors walked an imaginary grid and worked as a group becoming a cohesive cast.

This Invisible Frisbee Productions rehearsal was held in a Winter Garden warehouse just two days before Fringe opened. A huge ventilation fan moved the humid air. A tarp was put on the floor because in one scene there is a murder and they didn’t want the corpse to have to lie in saw dust or metal filings. In this rehearsal the cast of four went over the introduction and the sequence of events that were needed to get the audience feedback. Since I was essentially an audience of one, Becky had me fill out eight chalkboards with answers to two questions. One question was to write down a job of someone in my party that was suspicious. I’ve found people to be suspicious of artists so that was my first answer, the others that I recall were a teacher and mailman. The other question involved picking a character trait of someone in your party that they are proud of and then write down the opposite. I recall writing excitable, angry and sloth. Those chalk boards were hung on the front of the boxes and helped defined the backgrounds and personalities the characters.

My other responsibility was to hand out playing cards that each character picked to choose their roll in the comedic drama. Max Hilend, the wild card, was hilarious as a lazy sloth of an artist. He spoke slowly with little to no enthusiasm. He discussed the one painting he does a year, and even the cast was laughing, and peaking at the words that defined his character. Nadia Garzon with a red rose in her hair was funny and entertaining as a high strung excitable art teacher. I decided she had to be the lead character, Hannay, based on her hilarious performance. Megan Borkes was a disgruntled spy and in a scene with Nadia, the two played off each other wonderfully. The villain was the black bearded Christian Cheker in his black shirt and military cargo pants. To me these roles seemed predestined. It is exciting watching the scenes unfold with the even actors not knowing what would come next.

The sets were defined with the boxes rearranged in each scene as chairs as well as a table, ladder and a window on a tripod. Nadia stayed in character as Hannay and had me laughing consistently with her innocent enthusiasm and endless curiosity. I glanced over to see the director, Becky, laughing out loud as well. It was such a delight to know that this performance was unique and as an audience member, I helped mold the performances. As Hannay was entertaining the spy in her home, Max opened the window and blew a dart into the spy’s neck. That sudden murder changed Hannay’s fate, forcing her to follow through on the spy’s mission, now being accused of murder, and on the run from police and the villain who was easily identifiable because of a unique, sometimes rude feature picked by the audience.

The cast took me on an amazing playful ride while asking me to suspend disbelief and fill in what was needed with my imagination. Be sure to check out this show at Fringe, your experience will be new and completely unique. It is theater in its truest form with murder, intrigue and plenty of laughs and unexpected turns.

Where: The Pink Venue

Tickets: $11 along with your Fringe button.

When:

Thursday May 16, 2013 at 6:00PM

Saturday May 18, 2013 at 6:45PM

Sunday May 19, 2013 at 11:15AM

Tuesday May 21, 2013 at 11:15PM

Wednesday May 22, 2013 at 9:30PM

Saturday May 25, 2013 at 4:30PM

Sunday May 26, 2013 at 2:45PM

Tippi Hendren

Posted on by Thor

On April 12th at 7:30PM as part of the Florida Film Festival, there was a screening of Alfred Hitchcock‘s “The Birds“. I was the very last person to enter the Enzian Theater for the sold out screening. The last seat was in the front row right in front of the seats where actress Tippi Hendren was going to be interviewed after the film. I’ve seen the film before on TV but it is much more impressive on the big screen.

Barry Sandler acted as the moderator asking Tippi questions to get things started. She praised Hitchcock’s film making genius and was thankful for all the acting tips he gave her. She also worked with Charlie Chaplin who would act out the whole scene himself and then ask the actor to repeat it. There were several truly fanatical fans in the audience who would shout out in delight to Tippi’s responses.

In the middle of the interview she spoke at length about Hitchcock’s dark side. He became sexually obsessed with her and asked her to do things that she refused to do. In the birds Tippi had seagulls and crows tied to her in the attic scene and for five days, they threw birds at her. The crew grew concerned for her safety but Hitchcock was unrelenting. She was pretty good at deflecting the birds, but after so many takes the birds got quite cranky. One cut her cheek just below her eye. A doctor advised her to rest for a week. After shooting “Marni”, another Hitchcock film, Tippy had to get away from him.  His advances became more brazen. If she broke her contract, Hitchcock vowed to ruin her career which he did. Other directors wanted Tippi to be in their films but Hitchcock would always say she was busy.

Tippi’s daughter is Melanie Griffith. Tippi was shocked when Melanie told her that she got a part in a movie. She should have had some ides of how difficult it is to work as an actress. You are always looking for work and the hours are horrendous when you are working. That didn’t stop Melanie.

Now Tippi is involved in an organization that hopes to save wild cats like tigers and lions from captivity. Some people assume she is rich from starring in Hitchcock’s films. She was paid just $500 a week when making the birds. “That money is all gone” she assured us. She is desperate to raise money  through Shambala to protect these wild cats. Hitchcock may have ruined her  acting career, but he certainly didn’t break her spirit.