PHOTOS FROM HB'S STILLER AND MEARA GALA

Presentation of the Award!
Jerry Stiller, Eli Wallach, Anne Meara and Anne JacksonAll photos: by Eric Roffman from the Gala for QPORIT
The HB Studio -- one of New York's oldest acting studios -- was founded in 1945 by renowned actor Herbert Berghof. He was joined in 1948 by the legendary actress Uta Hagen. The two master teachers trained several generations of master actors in theater, theatre and film. On Monday, Nov 10, the HB Studio and the HB Playwrights Foundation honored Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara at a benefit Gala.


Jerry Stiller and Edith Meeks, Executive Director
Speakers, especially Jerry and Anne in their remarks, honored the tradition of the studio. Anne remembered her studies with great fondness. Jerry celebrated Herbert Berghof's passion for theater, recalling the time Berghof called him at two in the morning to come down to the studio to study, work on and read a new, strange play (Waiting for Godot). He remembered how Uta Hagen was nice, tough. After his audition, while accepting him into her acting class, Uta suggested that Jerry also work on keeping his day job.




Ben Stiller

Among the many speakers, Ben Stiller and Amy Stiller recalled what it was like to be brought up in a loving house with parents who were performers.

Jerry Stiller
Talking about bringing up children, Jerry mentioned that when Amy was about two, he was rehearsing a sketch called "I Hate You" with Anne and they were screaming at each other. When Amy came out of her bedroom, all upset, Jerry and Anne explained that they were rehearsing. Later when they had a real fight, Amy came out cheerfully to say... "You're rehearsing!"



Eli Wallach & Anne Jackson

The award was presented by Stiller and Meara's old friends, Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson. Anne Jackson is still actively teaching at HB Studio. Many distinguished alumni of the Berghof-Hagen era have taught at the school, including Bill Hickey, actress Jill Clayburgh and screen writer Tracey Jackson (whose "Confessions of a Shopaholic" is scheduled for release in Feb 2009).


Letty Ferrer, Uta Hagen's daughter,
an active member of the HB Staff,
was among the guests.


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Anne Meara, David Amram and Ben Stiller

Among the entertainments at the Gala was a terrific, long concert by David Amram -- accompanied by his son and daughter in law.


Doris Roberts

Doris Roberts, an old friend of Stiller and Meara, was among the speakers.

Sam Groom
In the post Berghof-Hagen era, The HB Studio continues to evolve. Sam Groom, a link between the B-H era and the current world, teaches a class in acting for the camera. Anything other than pure theatre was very rare in the olde days.





Snezhana Chernova

Snezhana Chernova, a brilliant actress, acting teacher, and member of the staff, and her husband Aleksey Burago, who teaches directing, both of whom were trained in Russia (not at HB with Hagen & Berghof), are among the new generation at HB Studio. With his unique energy and style, Aleksey renews the tradition of passion for theater!

Julia Wolfermann


Performer Denusia Trevino

Julia and Denusia are members of a new generation of actors studying at HB and working with the HB Playwrights Foundation. At the Gala, Denusia presented an excerpt from the one-woman show she is developing at HB, about the immigrant experience.

Posters of productions with legendary directors, actors and playwrights line the walls of the Playwrights Foundation Theatre next door to the studio. Continuously operating through the years, recent productions have included a new adaptation of Chekhov's stories by Aleksey Burago, and work directed by Tony Award winning Jack Hofsiss, who also, currently, teaches directing at HB.

The re-assertion of the values of Hagen and Bergof and their passion for acting and theater were the spirit of the remarks by Stiller and Meara, and were then echoed in the comments of their children, Ben and Amy. As this Benefit Gala is a link to the past, it is the next generation... it is the evolution of HB into the future that will benefit!

THE HOLIDAY

The Holiday is a romantic fantasy, with a great cast, including Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law in what may be his best romantic performance, Jack Black in his first romantic role, and Eli Wallach, still spry at 90.

WARNING -- This post contains SPOILERS.

OK... it's not like any great secrets are going to be revealed... but the film depends in part on little surprises, so any information about the film may be more than you want to know before you see this film.

If you don't read on, then you should just know that in addition to being a romantic fantasy with an attractive cast and a first rate romantic-fantasy writer-director, the disk contains a first rate commentary by the writer-director, Nancy Meyers, on both the writing and directing.

SPOILERS BELOW

The Holiday is a romantic fantasy, where the great men are loving single dads... or sensitive composers who write a theme just for you... or cute old men as helpless and adoring as puppies; and the not-so-great men look terrific and talk seductively, but sleep with or even marry other (younger!) women. As for the women, they work hard, live in the most beautiful houses in LA or country England (all alone after they are betrayed by their men), and are miserable, trapped, insecure, and confused; yet potentially, happy, free, independent, confident, loving and lovable.

The film contains laughs and chuckles. It has some little surprises. It is well acted, nicely directed and even believable (insofar as possible). And of course it ends well.

It does not have great laughs, biting wit, deep insights into the human condition, or brilliant intensity. It's not that kind of film.

What the DVD does have is an extremely good commentary by Nancy Meyers. (It also has a "making the film," film which has a very interesting description of the English locations, but suffers from too many "he's great", "she's great", "he's so funny", "she's so funny" "interviews.") Meyers discusses in great detail the decisions that went into writing and directing the film, including the casting process, the choice of music, costuming, sets, and so on. As with most commentaries, it is very interesting to observe what is talked about and what is not discussed. Here, it is the details that concern her, not a discussion of the whole concept of the film -- the fact that she is making a romantic fantasy about real people (something slightly different from a romantic comedy about real people -- eg Clueless or Sleepless in Seattle -- or a romantic fantasy about fabulous people-- eg Pretty Woman). The slender reality of the basic premise holds together, I suspect, because of the richness of detail described so well in the commentary. So many of the details she mentions are so subtle they are almost subliminal, and almost impossible to notice explicitly if you have not been clue'd into them, yet they do seem to really help ground the film.

A pleasant movie, probably best around a fireplace with popcorn during the winter holidays... Yes, it probably will make for seasonal repeat performances on television -- one of the perks of using "holiday" in the title. And it is not by accident that the movie ends with Kate Winslet, just barely audible as the camera pulls back from the cute country cottage where all the principal characters are having a party, saying, "Happy New Year!"