Literally! Director Paul Spurrier chose for his first scene to film this one. I play a brilliant but unbalanced composer/conductor who teeters on the verge of psychosis. Betsy Palmerston plays a Viennese Intendant who has decided the bottom line beats out the “diversity” mandate of her company and sends the Maestro Arun Saeng-Somnuek back to his benighted country.
Our director filmed an astonishing nine scenes and 7 1/8 pages on the first day, working methodically through a very tight schedule. It was a joy to watch the story start to come together.
The venue for this shot was the Old England Students’ Association, a building that provides a very European-looking setting. The signed photographs of Leonie Rysanek and Kirsten Flagstad, the bust of Wagner and the original Ottmar Hörl Wagner sculpture were all, um, plundered from my house. The poster of Trisdee conducting at the Rossini Festival was borrowed from the Siam Sinfonietta’s office.
Peter C. Green took most of the pictures you’ll be seeing in the upcoming daily blog.
The team moved on to Soi 39. My sister’s house — which she generously let us borrow to film in, These scenes take place in the home of Luke, a child prodigy pianist, his Thai father (played by Vithaya Pansringam) and his Japanese mother (Miho Tsuda).
