Halfway!

Yesterday was our first day off since we started shooting on March 4. In celebration, we went on a five mile hike around Savannah (“we” being Joey Odendahl, our director, Ashley and Eric (Rosamund and Michael Moon), Alan (our photographer) and his wife Helen and yours truly). All my life, I’ve been a bit of a history buff and I discovered when I got here that my favorite obscure signer of the Declaration of Independence, Button Gwinnett, is buried in the Colonial Cemetery about two miles north of Galloway House where we are living and filming. So with destiny beckoning me to fulfill this lifelong quest, I insisted that we take a walk to the grave of the Great Man and pay our respects.

Having no place else in particular to turn their steps, my companions gamely complied and we made the trek to the cemetery. It was a lovely day, like early summer in Seattle: a bit muggy but still fine for a walk. We strolled through Forsythe Park, looked at the green water in the fountain (dyed emerald for St. Paddy’s Day), watched a bride and groom being photographed, and enjoyed the wide variety of folk out taking the afternoon air. I love Sundays! A sanctuary in time each week where God tells us to just to worship him and savor life! We took pictures of the wrought iron railings, read all the historical signs, smelled the good smells coming from the various restaurants and pubs, swapped historical lore, and watched little kids and young lovers savor the spring.

Eventually, we got to the cemetery (which, I discovered today, was where Sherman bivouacked some of his troops after the conquest of Savannah in 1864. Sherman sent a telegram to Lincoln present Savannah to Lincoln as a Christmas present). He apparently fell in love with the place and so chose not to obliterate it as he had done to so many other Confederate towns.

The cemetery was, as cemeteries typically are, a lovely peaceful place. The graves are nearly all quite weathered, however Button Gwinnett’s grave is quite new, having had a sort of pillared shrine built over what they are (pretty) sure was his final resting place:

We ambled about the place (now a park) for maybe 45 minutes, reading gravestones and what not and learning something about the local lore. Turns out this is where Casimir Pulaski, a Polish freedom fighter, fell in battle on October 9, 1779 when the Brits laid siege to Savannah during the Revolution. Also, Sherman’s troops tore open a number tombs and used them for shelter during the bitter winter of 1864-65.

Eventually, we decided to head back. Looking up, we saw the twin towers of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, so we decided to go check it out. As it happened, it was open for tours (you can take a virtual tour at their website), so we went in and check it out. The coolness of the sanctuary after the muggy heat of the afternoon was heavenly! We wandered about, listening to organ music (*very* impressive pipes!) and taking pictures of the gorgeous art. I explained the meaning of some of the art and architecture to Helen, who was very interested in what it all meant. Several people also grabbed a minute to pray, which was lovely as well.

Then, after maybe a half hour, we decided to wander home since we were all parched. Water tasted extraordinarily good!

As to the shoot, things resumed this morning. We did a (mostly) full cast read-through of Act III so that some of the new folk could have a sense of what’s happening and how the plot will resolve itself. Now we are busy shooting a bunch of Pym’s dialogue (my prosecutor). Later we’ll get reaction shots as well as dialogue and rejoinders from Michael Moon, etc.

Right now, I’m gearing up to learn my lines for next week, when I have the heaviest lifting to do in terms of acting. Today basically consists of screwing around with paper airplanes and messing up Cyrus Pym’s opening speech, which is big fun.

Anyhow, piece by piece, the movie is coming together as everybody puts in their individual ideas and helps create a fun little comedy in praise of the goodness of life. GKC, ora pro nobis!