Still sorting through a whole lot of cool and not-so-cool things that happened during the movie shoot...for me, there was a lot of life crammed into those 5 weeks...
There's plenty of stories to blog about and I pretty much had in mind where I wanted to start with those stories...but somehow I keep getting distracted....
Like today...it somehow is impossible for me to NOT tell this story now...for some compelling reason...initially, I simply emailed it to the friend who put me on the trail to the robes...once I gave him the raw version, it made sense to come on over here...& clean it up for the blog version...
So here's the story...
It's about the robes. We needed robes for a scene in STEP AWAY FROM THE STONE...preferably black robes....with hoods....five or six of them...
So I contacted a friend with some theatre connections to see if he had any ideas on where I should start to look...
It was the last week of the shoot...the robes were for the last scene to be shot...
The days all were running together. It was Tuesday when I received the call from my cousin's wife telling me that his brother, also my cousin, had been found dead in his bathtub in Denver. He had been sitting there in the tepid water for several days with his drink precariously balanced on the ledge. Sad ending to a sad life.....
...and to be honest, I felt nothing. I had stopped feeling anything about any of it after my Aunt Julia (their mother) died in the fall....the horrific display of disrespect, greed & arrogance that followed pretty much left me cold & empty....and sad that there was really nothing much left of my father and my family heritage that felt special.
It was funny. He sent me two names. They were both variations of "debbie"...one with matching brown robes...one with mismatched black robes...
Naturally, I went for the black....mismatched....option. So I called & arranged to come by her place...which was actually her home.
It was an older house in an older neighborhood. Stray...but lovely....cats wandered on & off the porch... there was some interesting yard things hanging & sitting around. As I rang the bell, I think I said something like "interesting place" to Mary Hall.
The door was thrown open by a delightful, grey haired woman....her hair was knotted on the back of her head....she efficiently invited us into the front hall then proceeed to lead us into the front room on the right....she talked pretty much non-stop from the moment the door opened until we left...pausing only seconds for a response when she asked a question....which actually was a good thing....because even though you probably find this hard to believe....I was pretty much overwhelmed & speechless from the first step into the front room on the right.
Racks and racks were crammed into the room. There was barely enough room to squeeze inbetween them. All loaded with pieces...clothes....accessories...*sigh*
....and in some cases...real live-honest-to-God costumes....
Not the kind that you kinda sorta throw together....not just old clothes that represent a past era....but things that had been carefully constructed, designed, sewn....works of art that will only be threads of the tapestry of a story somewhere....
....time stopped....
....it was as if I was 7 years old....and once again visiting my grandmother, Abbie...at her home in downtown Little Rock...it was a big old house with a porch that wrapped around 2/3 of the house....when you walked into the front door (which we seldom did...we always entered through the only uncluttered room in the house which was the kitchen)....you were immediately surrounded by racks & racks of gauze....tulle...sequins....satin....suits....dresses....gowns....robes....
COSTUMES....
...you see, my grandfather died while Abbie was carrying my father....and there were three other children before him....so she had no choice in the early 30's but to leave the children with her parents during the week...on the homestead...the family farm....while she went into the CITY to earn a living....
...a single working mom....she had no skills except for her needle...a love for beautiful things....& a flair that was all her own...
...so Abbie was a COSTUMER to the society mavens of Little Rock....
I numbly followed our hostess from room to room as she chattered away about the clothes...the costumes...the shows she was wardrobing...where the things came from....each room of her house except for the kitchen/den was filled with racks....and racks....and racks....
That's all I really remember about my grandmother, Abbie....was that house....filled with magic....and fantasy.....and a happily-ever-after that she never experienced again after her man died so young....not only were there costumes on the racks....others were always in progress on one of the dozens of sewing machines scattered throughout her house....and the most exquisite wedding gowns...handsewn...hand beaded....commissioned by the belles of society throughout all of Arkansas....maybe even the South....
...to me, at age seven, my grandmother was obviously a FAIRY GODMOTHER....all she needed was a wand....
She died when I was nine. Quickly, everything was sold & disposed of....no thought was given to heritage or memories or traditions....not a single grandchild came away with any handsewn item...not even a costume for some future Halloween.....
Today all I have from Abbie's costume shop are a roll of discolored Oriental silk that Aunt Julia brought her once from Japan when her husband was stationed there...a box of old buttons and mismatched sequins....and some cool little decortaive doo-dads that like like miniature fairy wings....those always make me smile....the fairy wing things...
By the time we got back to the front room with the mismatched robes...that she pulled from several different racks in several different rooms...she knew exactly where each one was hanging...it was cool....my face was wet with tears....
I said, "You have no idea how much coming to your house has meant to me....my grandmother had a costume shop....she was THE COSTUMER of Little Rock until she closed up shop sometime in the '60s."
She just smiled ... and she looked exactly how I remembered Abbie looking....
It was special....it's part of who I am...no one can take that away from me...no matter how hard they try to pretend that there is no family...or heritage...or anything worthwhile to be found there....
When we returned the robes on Friday, we entered the same front room. It was still cool but I was prepared this time....yeah....right....
Hanging on the end of the rack was a dress....it was grey & white pinstriped with huge white collar with lace trim....all I could see was the back...it looked vaguely familiar...
Once again she was talking up a storm....asking how the robes worked...about the movie....again Mary Hall was fielding the questions because I was "somewhere else" ....
I picked up the dress and turned it around to see the front....it really wasn't special or particularly beautiful....just tasteful and elegant....simple...
It was a designer dress....label still in tact....from the early 70s...I commented on that...and she said yes but it's timeless and works well in shows set from the 20s forward....
I teared up again...I said it was pretty much one-of-a-kind...and she said that's quite possible based on the label ...and she added that she really had no idea how it came into her "collection"....
...I placed the dress back on the rack....it was my mother's dress...she wore it many times....when it was necessary for her to accompany my father to some function here or there that was more "professional" than "formal"....
My mother, Carolyn, wore that dress when she went to events with my father, Jerry, who was Abbie's son. Most likely it was an extravagant thing at the time. Party dresses weren't really a part of her wardrobe. Not even a classic practical one like this one...
And now, somehow, this one...the one that I remember so vividly....found it's way onto that rack....so that I would find it...so that I would be reminded of all of the beautiful, special things that are a part of me because I was their daughter...and he was Abbie's son...
Amazing....it was absolutely amazing....
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