After a couple of time changes this week, @kukrae and I arrived at Chelsea Piers for a noon set visit. After a quick hug from Christian, the PA we met last year, and signing the necessary paperwork, he asked us if we wanted another tour or just wanted to go watch. We said “Why not?” and had a mini tour. We saw the hospital set, currently under construction for an upcoming episode. It had served as the editing suite for the “Bachelor” (called “Heart’s Desire”) during Assaulting Reality, which was what we saw filmed last season. We also saw the morgue wall, with the drawers, and the part of the courthouse that is the remaining Mothership set. Also saw the skeleton of an office (DA??) that had Tamara nearly drooling as it had shelving on at least 2 walls that went floor to ceiling.
Then he gave us an intro to the episode they were filming, episode 19, Spellbound which will air later this season.
They had just finished filming one scene and were rehearsing/marking the next so we watched from the perimeter of the bullpen, which is a great vantage point. The bullpen is also a living history of the 18 years of SVU with plaques honoring Huang, Amaro and many others. New since our last visit is the plaque honoring Dodds. Benson’s office is to the right and it’s more spacious than it seems on the show. Cari was surprised to see that they do indeed have a Desk Sgt. between the elevator and bullpen since it seems that people have had a habit of just walking into SVU over the years. Since Video Village, AKA Interrogation Room #1 connects to Benson’s office it was a quick walk between the two spaces to watch rehearsals and filming. Much of what we experienced last time regarding the interaction between the “behind the scenes” staff and cast.
Watching the actors read through the scene in street clothes was surprising, except Kelli and Mariska’s clothes were pretty close to their characters’ clothes. Raul on the other hand was in a white tee shirt, jeans & tennis shoes. This scene was Olivia/Amanda/Sonny and Barba, although Fin’s entrance was referenced when they were deciding how Peter/Sonny should enter. I’ll share more thoughts about the three scenes we watched filmed once the episode has aired.
The funniest take away from this scene was between reads that they started discussing how to perfectly hard boil an egg. Answer, 9 minutes on the heat after bringing to a boil, then run under ice water. Special Eggtimers Unit!
Although the episode wasn’t as dark as others, they were still using humor between reads to break it up. Among the highlights, Mariska’s insistence that “rise up lights”, when said with an American accent, sounded the same as “razor blades” as if said with an Australian accent. Try it, you’ll be saying it for days. I realized it last visit and during the Inside the Actors Studio taping but she really is a goofball.
It was then that Mariska turned toward where we were and her face lit up in a smile. “Welcome back”. To say someone is beaming is often a cliche but in this case it was very true.
On one of Mariska’s two visits to Video Village Tamara mentioned “The Selfie” from Valentine’s Day. Much like last visit, Mariska didn’t completely understand why the selfie was such a big deal when they were “just doing their shtick”. She confirmed that this was Chris’ first visit to set since he left the show. Cari was surprised that it really had been six years that he was gone. Hearing Mariska talk about the selfie were the selfie coming to life verbally.
Seeing this pop up in my Facebook memories today is equally true. I’ll never give up on Benson & Stabler because they’ll never stop being adorable. March seems to mean selfie to them, because the anniversary of this one is coming up.
Mariska’s subsequent visit was near the end - after the rewrite of scene three she wanted to know from Kinan Copen what the vic’s exact words were, because she wanted to be sure it was right when Liv spoke of the testimony. There’s a real respect for the creative process.
We had four visits to Mariska’s suite of rooms. On each of those visits Cari feared our visit was ending as her office is near the set exit/production offices. Although Video Village was quieter than our previous visit, filming was busier with them trying to wrap the episode
The second of the four, during what was a meal break for some but when Mariska was due for a read through, was the longest where Tamara brought what she’d made for Mariska and we discussed the prior visit, including showing Mariska the photo from our last visit. That’s what led to the new, and signed, photo, which we took during our third visit to her office. After each, we happily retreated to our corner of Video Village, glad for more time on set.
We had the opportunity to speak at length with Celine Robinson and Stephanie Marquardt. Christian introduced us to Celine while we were watching a rehearsal. We’d been sitting behind her in Video Village. We started to speak with Stephanie while watching a rehearsal and then continued the conversation in Video Village so as to avoid being run over by a camera. Similar to last time, Cari was surprised at the amount of equipment and technical staff required to stage an episode. Stephanie then introduced us to Kinan Copen who had written No Surrender, the episode that Stephanie had directed. We had a quick hello to Rob Cohen, who we met the last visit.
It was nice to have a quick hello with Ice T who we’d said hello to last time. For as infrequently as Fin has been on SVU in recent years, we were lucky to see Ice both times. We also had a very quick hello with Kelli. She and Peter were on set last time, but Raul wasn’t. It was nice to see Barba in action live.
Miscellaneous Notes:
Watching a (mostly) season 5 marathon makes me realize how much the different hairstyles and colors make Mariska/Olivia look like almost a different person. Olivia’s voice is also very different to Mariska’s, something I really never thought about before.
Most of the SVU crew seems to have an interest in theater, Celine and Cari discussed how amazing Jefferson Mays was as an ME and in Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.
It really is amazing to watch both the on screen and behind the scenes teams work together to create an episode. Here’s to eighteen more years of SVU.
"By late morning, a jittery calm prevails. Avner and I are overlooking the thirty-five acre flagstone plaza of the Haram-al-Sharif, or Temple Mount. On the southern tip is El-Aksa Mosque, the third holiest mosque in Islam. To the north is the Dome of the Rock, the splendid, cobalt blue octagon built over the Rock and topped with the twenty-four-karat dome that towers over Jerusalem's ecumenical skyline. Up alove is the Mount of Olives and a cluster of chruches marking Jesus' last steps. Down below are the sheer remains of the Second Temple perimeter, revered as the Western Wall. The defining spiritual fact of Jerusalem is this: Any panorama, any camera angle, any genuflection that encompasses one of these holy places will necessarily include at least one of the others." Bruce Feiler’s Abraham
I always have a "heart full of love" for @lesmizbway, but knowing tonight was probably the last time seeing this amazing production, I cried even more. From Ramin Karimloo to Alfie Boe and John Owen-Jones. Will Swensson to Terrence Mann and Hayden Tee. I was lucky enough to see Colm Wilkinson when the show was first here, but I've seen some amazing folks in this production's run. Forever Team Javert. Here's to the show's next run. "But he couldn't run forever, No, not even Jean Valjean!"
Dory, a memory-impaired blue tang fish, has emerged in recent years as one of Disney’s most popular characters. She has more than 25 million followers on Facebook, leaving Mickey, Minnie and most other Disney characters in the dust. (Tinker Bell and Capt. Jack Sparrow come close.)
a book signing in a theater. It feels like there should be a punchline there, but New World Stages was actually the perfect venue for this event. And it couldn’t get much closer to my office: always nice on a weeknight event.
I’ve been a member of Hudson Union since graduating NYU and, to be honest, I don’t really understand what they are. But there’s always a deal on renewing membership and they’ve had some great speakers so... as soon as David’s book signing was announced, I knew I was going to represent @kukrae. On the heels of #BlanceInBrooklyn, this has been a very XFiles spring for me-and I was never the biggest fan, although I enjoyed it. I was glad that @cortexiphankids was able to join as, despite our mutual theater interest and living so close, we hadn’t actually seen one another since a Julianna Margulies reading at the Public in 2004(!)
The main reason for tonight’s event is promotion of his new book, Bucky Fucking Dent. As a Yankee fan, that caught my attention at the Library even before I realized it was the name of Duchovny’s book. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know that he wrote or that it was his background at Princeton and Yale prior to acting. Alas NYPL only has this & Holy Cow in audio format so hoping they go on Kindle sale.
It was general admission so we got there early and snagged 3rd row seats for the five of us thanks to Carrie’s quick thinking. No photography allowed in the theater, so I only got this quick snap as he & the host were leaving the stage. We were issued books on arrival and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the signing would be after-I was expecting pre-signed books.
They spoke for about an hour about a number of topics, although the primary focus was Bucky Fucking Dent. The premise, a man whose life is prolonged by the success of his sports team, isn’t unique, but from what Duchovny spoke about, it seems like an interesting read. Some other notes on his remarks:
Interesting comments on reviewers saying they’re reviewing a book by an actor and that they don’t do that with, say, a book by a cop. I wonder if he sees it this way due to his Ivy League education. He isn’t “just an actor” even if the fame he achieved from that led to his writing career.
His next book is Miss Subways, and is also set in New York. No release date as it’s only notes at this stage.
A few questions from the host on both Californication and X-Files toward the end of the program and one audience question about his favorite XF memory (rain in Vancouver). He didn’t seem super inclined to answer the same old questions again and I’m sure he’s answered those more times than he can count.
After the end of the conversation, we filed back into the lobby where the line moved quickly. Books came with our tickets but more were on sale if you needed extra and it was a pleasant surprise that he was doing personalization. They wanted to move things along as it was nearly a full house and late, but he took a moment to at least chat with folks.
Mariska Hargitay, Renee Elise Goldsberry and Leslie Odom Jr. pose for photographers during the ‘Hamilton’ Tony Awards After Party at Tavern On The Green on June 12, 2016 in New York City.
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