On Sunday, November 26, 2017, the Garden State’s own gem of an orchestra, The New Jersey Symphony, presented a screening of the Gene Kelly film, An American in Paris, at The State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ. Conducted by Constantine Kitsopoulos, the screening featured the film’s brilliant Gershwin score performed live by the talented musicians of the NJSO. The afternoon program was introduced by Gene Kelly’s wife and biographer, Patricia Ward Kelly.
Describing the score as “anything but easy to play,” Mrs. Kelly compliments the NJSO on the group’s previous night’s performance at NJPAC in Newark declaring, “Gene would be proud.”
Ward Kelly provides background information to the packed State Theatre audience about the revolutionary 1951 film which received seven Academy Awards — including Best Picture — revealing that her husband received a special Oscar for his work acting, singing, dancing, choreographing, and directing the film.
According to Mrs. Kelly, although Vincente Minnelli is credited as the film’s director, three of the movie’s featured scenes were directed by Gene: “Embraceable You,” “I Got Rhythm,” and the classic An American in Paris ballet, an unprecedented 17-minute dance and music sequence featuring no dialogue whatsoever.
Ward Kelly discloses that, contrary to public opinion, filming did not take place in Paris, France, but on the MGM Studio Lot in Culver City, CA, where composer Irving Berlin happened to meet up with Gene one day and say to him, “17 minutes of all music and no words? I hope you know what you’re doing, kid.”
Mrs. Kelly introduces conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos who takes the podium and raises his baton as Clarence, the MGM lion, roars onscreen and the opening credits roll to the familiar opening strains of An American in Paris. Here in the historic State Theater, the movie looks pristine as the orchestra’s brilliant sound rises from below the screen, filling the auditorium with the glorious sound of George Gershwin’s masterful score.
As the story opens, we meet Gene Kelly, who plays the leading role of Jerry Mulligan, a struggling American artist living in Paris.
As Mulligan’s friends, Adam (Oscar LeVant) and Henri (Georges Guétary), talk about Henri’s girlfriend, Lise — played by Leslie Caron — the orchestra provides the accompaniment to the first show-stopping number of the afternoon, George and Ira Gershwin’s “Embraceable You.” During this piece — which features a series of vignette performances — Leslie Caron’s on-screen dancing changes from innocent to sexy as the orchestra expertly changes musical styles from bluesy jazz to classical ballet to ragtime to can-can and more!
Another highlight of the film is the scene where Gene Kelly as Mulligan — beloved by the children in Paris — teaches English phrases to a group of neighborhood kids. After teaching them how to say “I got…” Kelly adds the rest of the lyrics to the classic George and Ira Gershwin tune, “I Got Rhythm” as he sings. The sparkling sound of the orchestra not only accompanies Gene Kelly’s sturdy vocal here, but also all of the on-screen action as Mr. Kelly tap dances his way into the audience members’ hearts.
Eventually, Kelly’s Mulligan falls in love with Caron’s Lise — Mulligan being completely unaware that Lise is already committed to Henri. As the couple meets down by the Seine, the sweet sound of the orchestra provides the soundtrack to Mr. Kelly’s captivating vocal rendition of “Our Love is Here to Stay.” This is soon followed by a charming dance sequence between Kelly and Caron featuring splendid accompaniment work by the excellent NJSO string players.
Meanwhile, Mulligan’s friend, Adam — the struggling concert pianist played by Oscar Levant — has a dream sequence in which he imagines himself dressed to the nines in his tux and tails, performing George Gershwin’s exquisite Concerto in F. Levant’s brilliant piano performance is deftly accompanied by the NJSO as the audience sees Levant in various on-screen roles as pianist, conductor, xylophone player, and percussionist — not to mention as a group of five lookalike violinists — all thanks to the magic of Hollywood special effects. The audience cheers and applauds for this exciting number!
One sequence which makes the State Theatre audience laugh out loud is the comical scene where Gene Kelly and Georges Guétary perform George and Ira Gershwin’s “’S’Wonderful” — each man waxing poetic about the woman he loves, all while their mutual friend, Adam, nervously realizes they’re both singing about the same girl, Lise, but cannot let on to either one of them that he knows!
When Lise ultimately informs Mulligan that she must choose Henri over him, Mulligan daydreams about being with Lise. In the extended ballet dream sequence that ensues — set to Gershwin’s monumental An American in Paris — Gene Kelly takes to the street, interacting with everyday Parisians, French soldiers, American GIs, and more, in a set of dance scenes which reflect the artistic styles of such celebrated French artists as Renoir, Rousseau, Van Gogh, and Toulouse-Lautrec in terms of the costumes and sets employed.
As this compelling number progresses, the NJSO does a spectacular job of bringing the piece to life with beeping horns, rat-a-tat-tat percussion, and shimmering woodwind and brass playing. All move the action along until Leslie Caron as Lise enters the dance. Here, the mood of the orchestra slows and the gorgeous sound of the string section is featured —resonating beautifully and serenely — as Mulligan dreams that Lise is once more with him.
At the end of the piece, the audience bursts into wild applause shouting, “Bravo!” and rewarding these talented musicians with an extended standing ovation!
After Mrs. Kelly personally greets many of the attendees at this post-concert chat, she thanks everyone for coming, noting, “This is the largest talk-back audience we’ve ever had!”
The NJSO’s moderator, Victoria McCabe, starts the session off by asking Kitsopoulis how a performance in which a live orchestra is able to play the score to a pre-recorded film soundtrack is done, to which Kitsopoulis jokingly replies, “Very carefully!” At this point, he takes some time to explain the actual process which involves such steps as securing the rights to the film, removing the original orchestral tracks from the movie’s soundtrack, marking both the score and the film with “clock-synchronization system technology” and, lastly, bringing the movie to the big screen and adding the sound of the live orchestra.
Mrs. Kelly thanks Maestro Kitsopoulis for his outstanding conducting work by stating, “Precision is required to do what Constantine did” before adding, “and that is what Gene Kelly did, as well.”
Going on to identify some of the challenges with which her husband had to contend while making An American in Paris, Kelly explains that no metal taps could be used on Gene’s shoes during the “I Got Rhythm” tap-dancing sequence. Rather, she says, the sound of the taps was recorded in a sound booth after the film was shot using a process where a microphone was suspended near his ankles and Gene watched the movie while trying to recreate his exact taps.
Disclosing that the penultimate sequence in the movie — the An American in Paris ballet — took seven weeks to rehearse, seven weeks to create the costumes and sets, and four weeks to light and shoot — Mrs. Kelly goes on to reveal that the entire piece was shot with a single camera, as per Gene Kelly’s orders. She also mentions that her husband’s goal with this sequence was to shoot as many “long scenes” as possible so as to avoid cuts, and thus add to the overall flow of the motion picture, noting that the Technicolor camera that he and his film crew used weighed approximately 500 pounds.
In taking some time to provide some history about her famous husband, Mrs. Kelly reveals that Gene was born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1912, stating, “Growing up he wanted to be a shortstop, a hockey player, a priest, and a lawyer,” but “finally settled on dance.”
As a gymnast and acrobat whom she says could walk a tightrope with ease, Mrs. Kelly discloses that Gene studied dance with Martha Graham. After deciding, “I don’t want to dance for rich people!” Gene came up with the idea of dancing to the “American Songbook of his youth” — the music and lyrics of such great American songwriters as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George and Ira Gershwin.
Responding to questions from the audience, Mrs. Kelly discloses that Gene’s favorite dance partner was Jerry the Mouse, explaining that, according to Gene, “He showed up on time, he knew his lines, and he worked his tail off.”
When asked how she met her husband in the first place, Mrs. Kelly recalls, “We met when I was working on a PBS special and Gene was hosting it,” acknowledging, “I was a Herman Melville scholar who didn’t even know who Gene Kelly was!”
After several unathorized Gene Kelly biographies were published — all of which Gene felt were erroneous accounts of his life — Gene asked Patricia to become his official biographer.
“I spent ten years recording him, and I’m still writing his memoirs,” acknowledges Patricia. In addition, she travels the world with her one-woman tribute show, Gene Kelly: The Legacy. An Evening with Patricia Ward Kelly.
At the conclusion of the talk-back session, we take a moment to chat with Mrs. Kelly who tells us, “It was a privilege and an honor to work with the NJSO and conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos. They have a really professional organization here. I’m sorry this project is over,” before adding, “and I can’t wait to do another one!”
We also chat with several members of the crowd who provide their reactions to today’s program by Patricia Ward Kelly, Constantine Kitsopoulis, and the NJSO.
Regarding the film, An American in Paris, Maria from Wayne exclaims, “These oldies are goldies! Gene Kelly is a talent who is irreplaceable — he’s a natural,” before remarking, “And the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra always does a great job. What they are able to do is truly innovative.”
We also chat with Anna and Sam, a pair of teenage twins from South Brunswick.
States Anna, a dancer, “The An American in Paris ballet was great — I liked that the sequence only featured dance.” After acknowledging, “This was the first time I saw the film,” Anna discloses, “I have seen Singing In the Rain — so I was familiar with Gene Kelly — but I really enjoyed the longer takes in this film. In a lot of today’s films, everything is so cut up.”
Anna’s brother, Sam, an aspiring filmmaker, agrees with his sister, stating, “I loved the movie — the long takes were cool to see. The camera work was very cool, too — plus it sounded great! It was interesting to hear the live orchestra — and it was all synchronized so well that you forgot that it was even being played live.”
Miriam from East Brunswick concurs, commenting, “The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s performance was wonderful! We’ve been subscribers for years. The musicians did a fantastic job with what was a difficult score,” before adding, “I’m always impressed with their technique and understanding of the styles of music they play.”
We also chat with Sandy and John from Oceanport who are here at the State Theater for this afternoon’s performance to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.
Exclaims Sandy, “It was excellent — we enjoyed it so much,” commenting, “There is just no substitute for the NJSO!”
Likewise, her husband John remarks, “I’ve never experienced anything like this! The NJSO really brought the performance to life by adding an extra dimension and richness to the movie.”
Lastly, we chat with Kori from South River who confesses, “An American in Paris is a classic and it’s just so beautiful, I cried. It’s my favorite movie, and I’m also a fan of this orchestra,” before concluding with a smile, “All in all, I just loved it.”
To learn more about Patricia Ward Kelly and her one-woman show, Gene Kelly: The Legacy. An Evening with Patrician Ward Kelly, please go to facebook.com/patriciawardkelly. For information on upcoming concerts by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra — including Sci-Fi Spectacular: Music from Star Wars, Star Trek, & Beyond on January 6, 2018 at NJPAC and January 7, 2018 at The State Theatre; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on March 3, 2018 at NJPAC; and ET The Extra-terrestrial in Concert with the NJSO on June 1, 2018 at The Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, on June 2, 2018 at NJPAC, and on June 3, 2018 at The State Theatre — please go to njsymphony.org.
BOTTOM PHOTO: The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Fred Stucker.
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