by David Flint
Hundreds of Taking Woodstock extras were gathered by Stone Bridge Pond in Stephentown Saturday morning waiting for rehearsal of crowd scenes along Route 43 intended to depict the jam up of people and vehicles making their way to the 1969 Woodstock festival. Among them were three young women who had been picked – for whatever reason they did not know – to portray three nuns who were at the festival flashing peace signs. Collette Kulas from Stephentown, Kathleen McCarthy from
Glenmont and Kelly O’Loughlin from Cheshire, MA, appeared to be having a great time, not minding the long waits for any action to take place. Though all three happened to be Catholic, none had any experience being nuns, but no matter… “I’m Catholic, but I’m sure I was picked solely for my acting ability,”quipped O’Loughlin. On Friday they were fitted for their habits at the former Ceramaseal building in New Lebanon. “It was a totally well orchestrated operation,” said Kulas. “They must have raided every Good Will and thrift shop in the area.” She said they had tons of sneakers, moccasins and all sorts of clothing and paraphernalia. For the girls they produced beige religious habits with cream colored tunics, a modern veil and the requisite sensible black shoes. All three said they were thoroughly enjoying the experience of movie making and looked forward to the actual shoot the next day.
Susie Cooper of Stephentown was actually at the Woodstock festival 40 years ago with her two sisters. “It wasn’t only hippies,” she said. They camped out in a tent and fortunately had thought to bring a large
supply of food and drink with them. She recalls the monstrous traffic jam and how she burned out the clutch on her ’66 Mustang, but they had “a wonderful time.” This time around, as an extra in the movie, Cooper was told, “You’re on the other side now!” She was cast as one of a group of “unhappy townspersons” dismayed at the invasion of their town by half a million hippies. She had to stand across the road from the recreated El Monaco motel on Route 20 in New Lebanon and stare with arms folded and a grumpy face at the crowds of young people going by.
Cooper says if she doesn’t end up on the cutting room floor, she’ll be easy to spot in her hideous yellow hat. “I looked like a daisy,” she said, with her hair in a bun in the yellow hat and wearing a red shirt, brown shorts and blue sneakers.
Cooper had nothing but good to say about the experience. It was a lot of fun mixing with people from all over, even if the long waits got a bit boring at times. It took a whole day to do one scene, she says, shooting it about eight times from every possible angle. Ang Lee was directing and only he got to say “Action,” but Cooper said the Assistant Director otherwise did most of the yelling. While they were waiting they got to watch another scene being filmed at the El Monaco in which Liev Schreiber as a drag queen in a pink dress and a blond wig met up with Eliot Tiber played by Demetri Martin. Both appeared to be friendly and relaxed while not on camera and spent time interacting with the hippy extras on the set, with Martin singing and playing guitar.
Cooper was impressed not only with how many people it takes to make a movie but also with how friendly and attentive and organized they all appeared to be. The wardrobe and makeup operation at the Ceramaseal building was especially impressive with aisles and aisles and racks and racks of clothing all sorted and sized.
It has been a family affair for the Rogers of Stephentown. Janet and Eddy Rogers have been in about six scenes already with two of their vehicles, a red ’68 Chevy pickup and a ’41 Plymouth sedan. They had their truck in the traffic jam scene on Sunday by Stone Bridge Pond and their daughter Lacey also appeared as an extra in that scene. Though young enough to have been a hippy, Lacey was designated to be a local, and her part was to alert a cop on a motorcycle to a drug deal going down. Part of the scene also involved a young couple supposedly having sex in the back of a truck. Lacey noted with amusement how particular Director Ang Lee was in adjusting the arms and legs and clothing of the actors. It had to be just right.
Lacey’s 2-year old daughter Zolee also did her part. At a farm scene in Schodack she played the role of a hippy child with a group of young people walking toward a field while a military helicopter evacuated a pregnant woman. Lacey said, “Zolee did very well,” in her first experience as an actress.
The Rogers had their ’68 truck in the very first shoot that took place down in Hillsdale. They were also in several other scenes filmed on Route 20 in New Lebanon by the El Monaco motel. “It was very professional,” Janet said. “All the movie people were very nice and concerned about the extras. They provided sunscreen and kept us well hydrated and fed.” Rogers said they received $250 a day for vehicles; extras got $100 a day. Most of the time was spent waiting. Then when shooting happened, it was repeated maybe eight times. Janet recalled how in one scene a group of guys were supposed to strip to their underwear, then run and jump in the motel pool. They had to do this at least seven times.
Janet Rogers was very impressed with the magnificent catered meals served to vehicle drivers who got to eat in big tents with cast and crew. It was definitely first class. Lacey said the box lunches and snacks served to the crowds of extras were certainly adequate but it was definitely second class compared to the feasts her Mom experienced.
“It’s been good for the community,” Janet said. “It’s meant a lot of money coming in to restaurants and other businesses.” Lacey agreed, “It was fun to mingle with all these people coming from all over. I hope to do it again.”
Audrey Humphrey of Stephentown is 19 and hadn’t known much about the Woodstock festival. But her friends thought she’d be a natural for an extra with her long curly hair. So she went to open casting at the Lebanon Valley Racetrack a couple of weeks ago. She was spotted immediately and was able to bypass a long line of applicants. She filled out an application, had her photo taken and a number assigned. She returned the next day for her wardrobe. Her costume she described as “terrible red suede shorts with button up things on the side, a tube top that kind’a looked like it was made of hemp, a brown leather vest with fringes and beads and all that jazz, and sandals that wrapped around my legs.” Her hair was deemed to be perfect as is.
Thursday night she was called and told to report the next day at 8 am to the staging area in New Lebanon. From there the extras were bussed to the Ceramaseal building where they changed into costumes, had their hair done and makeup applied. They were then bussed to a huge field in Schodack set up to be the scene of the festival. In her first scene Audrey played the role of a young Buddhist espousing peace and greeting visitors in her hut. In another scene Audrey lay on a cot in an emergency medical tent with a bloody injured foot. Audrey said that makeup had been applied to her foot but Ang Lee was not satisfied with it so he personally stepped in and did the job himself, so that it was just right. Audrey noted that Demetri Martin as Eliot Tiber and Emile Hersch, playing a recently returned Vietnam veteran, both had roles in this scene. Audrey remarked on how realistically the scenes were set up. “It was very, very strange,” she said. “You couldn’t help but feel you were back in 1969. It was kind of hard not to get into the role of your character.”
It took four hours to do one scene of a minute and a half, Audrey said. It was a very long day, and the weather was cold and nasty so the extras ended up very muddy and bedraggled, much like at the real Woodstock 40 years ago. To top it off, the bus taking them back to New Lebanon went off the road and was at risk of toppling into a ditch. The Schodack FD was called, chained up the bus and evacuated the bus load of scruffy hippies. Nonetheless, Audrey said she thoroughly enjoyed the experience and hopes to be called back for more scenes in Taking Woodstock.
The money expended locally by the movie people has been a welcome shot in the arm for many area restaurants and businesses. Paul Sykes said Ang Lee stopped in at his store in Stephentown with some of his crew and looked around for anything and everything they might be able to use in setting up scenes. They were all very pleasant and interesting people, Paul said. They were happy to find a lot of things for props and costumes that had been around the store for many years – old hats and scarves, bolts of cloth, orange and melon crates, lamps, quilt pieces, dried flower arrangements, a real hodge podge of stuff that they piled into three vans. There was no quibbling about prices. Some of them have been back repeatedly looking for Rita Sykes’ baked goods. Paul also made an arrangement with them to park their vehicles alongside his store when they film a scene at the Stephentown Hotel on October 6 and 7.
“It’s been good for the whole valley,” Paul said, “especially in these hard economic times. It’s like found money.”
Filming is now said to be more than half completed. Still to come in Stephentown, besides the scene at the Stephentown Hotel, is a scene next week at a barn on Neil Gardner’s property and a scene at the Evangelical Community Church on October 2 and 3.