A Series About Childhood MemoriesKid Stuff
#17Warm & wonderful: A kid's view of 'Gypsy'
ANN JILLIAN The 'Gypsy'
in My Soul
Ann at 11, already turning into the beauty she would become in her teens
By ANN JILLIAN
of TheColumnists.com
THERE I WAS AGAIN on one of the countless airline flights I've taken to reach a location of employment, paying close attention to what the flight attendant was saying about how to act in case of an emergency. After all my flying time, I knew her lines cold. My lips could form the words in tandem with hers, but that's okay. I believe every performance should be repectfully watched. It's only fair. I expect the same from my audiences. When she finished, I made a sign of the cross and said a prayer for a safe flight. Now MY little routine was finished, and we were on our way.
Could my mother have known what she had started so many years ago when she suddenly decided: "Vee go to Hollywood!"?
She was standing in the wings, watching me sing on stage, at age 4, for a local Lithuanian community function in Boston, Massachusetts. I remember the accompanying music ended and I kept singing. A big man came out chuckling and picked me up in his arms to take me off stage. (He could have been the size of my friend, Mickey Rooney. I couldn't really tell. At my age everyone looked "big.") If I'd just been given the proverbial "hook," my mother didn't see it that way.
"Vee go to Hollyvood!" she said that day.
So, my family packed up and prepared for the pilgrimage across America by train to Los Angeles, California. Hollyvood!! A place of dreams for those with the talent, desire, and courage to pursue them. Were they her dreams, or mine?
In retrospect, they were hers in the beginning but they became mine through a kind of "osmosis." How clever of her to know that her dreams finally would find their way into my psyche, where I would adopt them as completely my own.
As our flight began passing through a majestic bank of billowy clouds, my thoughts continued to drift back to those childhood days. Hours later, when I settled into my hotel room, I found my restless mind still wouldn't stop its journey back through the years. Thinking the TV might distract me and put me to sleep, I turned it on--and saw myself on screen, as a child.
There I was, playing Dainty June in the movie classic, "Gypsy." Oh, what a collage of memories! In the scene on the screen, Natalie Wood and I, who played sisters in the movie, are at a chinese restaurant. Our Mama Rose (Rosalind Russell) is gathering up the silverware and throwing it into her massive purse with a series of loud clanks.
"An eye for an eye n' a tooth for a tooth," she says. "It serves em right for over-charging!"
Instantly the sense memories fill the room. I can smell the damp, dusty soundstage on the Warner Bros. lot and feel the chill that is nearly always in the air except when the powerful lights are illuminating the set. This scene required coats (that Rose supposedly made out of blankets from their hotel). I was particularly grateful for that because I never could tell if I was cold or I was nervous.
|
Ann was grateful for the warm coat on the chilly set. |
 |
The soundstage was massive. There may have been one, two or three sets on the same stage at one time, depending upon how large the set was. In addition, the dressing rooms, touch-up stations for hair and make-up, snack table for cast and crew, and the "school" room for juvenile players. In the school, we were tutored for three concentrated hours each day and given assignments from our regular schools. Our on-set teacher made sure rules were followed and time regulations kept.
My eyes stared, transfixed
on the small screen, but my mind's "screen" was bringing
back a "movie" behind the movie.
I winced as I watched Dainty June spin across the stage, ending
up--triumphantly--doing a split. Ooh, I remember how I struggled
to accomplish that "split", with the dogged determination
that 11 year olds are sometimes known for, and how thrilled the
choreographer and dancers were when I finally achieved it. They
cheered knowing how hard I worked on it, having never done one
before.
The press was scheduled to visit a rehearsal in the following days and I was confident because I was prepared. It can be pretty intimidating to give your first "performance" to a "row" of influential members of the press corps, but I wanted to show what I had and do well for "the film" and the team that had worked with me and supported me so. Finally, the reporters streamed onto the set.
Our rehearsal pianist played the intro for the group of male dancers who were dancing with me. The sound of half a dozen pairs of feet and canes pounding out their tapping rhythms was exhilirating and filled the massive rehearsal hall with excitement. I'm glad it did because my heart was thumping right out of my chest and I was sure they would hear it!
"They're smiling!" I thought. Brimming with assurance I belted out the strains of ...
"Broadway, Broadway,
how great you are!
I'll leave the farm,
with all it's charm,
to be a Broadway sta-a-r..."
They're still smiling. Grrreat!!!
Ms. Russell weaved her way in and out of the number. It was going beautifully.
Next came the "train," the military tap on "toe," and finally the split!
Yes! I was doing it! I'm sliding down, on the boards...wait, what's this? The "boards" of the floor were old and used. Suddenly my heel sticks in the crack of one and I push...down I go! Perfect "split"! Ah..., but also perfect agony!!!
The press applauded enthusiastically, their ovation punctuated with well-appreciated hoots of encouragement. They thanked everyone as they streamed out, just as they had entered.
It was a success, and I remained glued to the floor in my split position, waving "good-bye" to the last of them with a Burt Lancaster grin plastered across my face, followed by an excruciating "Owwwww'' when I was sure that they were all gone.
The guys ran to help me up and began barraging me with congratulations, helpful remedies for my "undetected" mishap, and pats on the back for being a "trouper". I'd severely pulled a tendon (as I found out later) and was due to shoot the number in the morning. Bummer!
After a visit to the doctor's office, a night of massaging and ointments and baths of epsom salts, I got my first experience that following morning of that old show business maxim: The show must go on!
I laughed as I recalled the pain, much like we all do at seeing "slapstick" comedy, though it was nothing I'd care to repeat just for old time's sake.
The programming was interrupted by a commercial and an announcer promising to be right back to Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood, and Karl Malden, in "GYPSY"!
If I were to describe each of those three great stars and the impressions they left upon me, this is what I'd say:
Rosalind Russell: Regal, but professional, always knowing her lines, always respecting the other actors sharing the scene with her. Many times her mind seemed to be elsewhere, her eyes spoke of something wistful, perhaps serious. At any rate, I always waited for an appropriate moment to approach. I admired her dignity. She was warm to all of the children, but beyond that there was really nothing that we could offer in conversation. We were, after all, only children. I was 11 and the others were even younger. I didn't need conversation, though. I felt the important things about her, as children so perceptively do.
 |
|
Natalie Wood: Soft and professional. When I say "soft," by no stretch of the imagination do I mean "weak." Her carriage was that of a princess. Her beauty, haunting. Talent? Pure. Mervyn LeRoy once said of her ability to convey emotion, "She's the only actress I know that can make a single tear feel a hundred different ways." Her generosity, particularly to me, both onstage and off, touched me forever.
She knew the tender concerns my heart held, having been a child actress herself. It was easy to say the lines,"you never worry about yourself, only for me." She did. She made me feel comfortable in what was not yet my arena; always gently leading and helping.
On my final day of shooting, she delighted me with a surprise visit to my school room. I was dismissed for a moment to receive a most beautiful gift from her. A gold charm bracelet with a heart that read, "Ann, Love, Natalie" on one side and the name "Dainty June" inscribed on the other. I love you too, Natalie. I miss you, as so many others do.
Karl Malden: Playful and professional. A truly charming man. Full of life with a twinkle in his eye and, of course, a fine actor who had the knack of making everything he did look "easy." That truly requires talent. I had the pleasure of introducing him to my husband so many years later, after my own rise in notoriety, at an industry function, and on numerous occasions after.
I had the unique opportunity to observe these three stars in action together since I was in many scenes, on screen, with all of them, playing the older version of June, making my character the sister counter-part to Natalie Wood's older version of "Louise" (Gypsy). Lucky for me. It was a gift, really, on the job training with the best, and the only one of the children to have that opportunity.
The three would banter
and laugh with each other and the director/producer, Mervyn LeRoy,
and then, in an instant, would "switch gears" at the
sound of the clapboard and the word "action," diving
perfectly into the scene at hand. They genuinely liked working
with each other and it was infectious.
Watching the movie worked. The warm, wonderful memories it brought
back to me helped sleep finally to overtake me. Not a moment
too soon, either. For morning was drawing closer and I needed
to be rested for the interview I was scheduled to give on CNN
and the lecture I was giving later the same morning for National
Cancer Survivor's Day.
My memories are becoming
frequent friends, but they had to sleep with me that night, for
the next day was another day with plenty more to be made, and
plenty more to remember...
© 2001 by Ann Jillian Murcia. The images are from Ann Jillian's
private collection.
You can comment on this column or contact Ann Jillian with an email to: talkback@thecolumnists.com
| Home | About Us | Archives | Talkback | Shopping Mall |