My Own Little Corner of Your Universe

My primary issue, and the one that has proven to be constant, was dealing with the sheer amount of information about the Riot. After finally finding an entry, I still felt like I was whittling away so much of the information that I wasn’t sure what story I was telling.

It wasn’t until I was talking with Joseph about the project at our individual meeting that I realized how I had really been conceptualizing the piece. Because I thought about this initially as a teaching tool, my instincts really pushed me to give it the same sensibility that I tend to have in the classroom, which has been described as an “attacking” approach. When I got to the point that I thought I was on the right path, the piece was multi-layered and absolutely packed with information – images, audio and text all playing at once. In a word – aggressive.
Taking the note to pull back a little (or in some cases quite a bit) has been very helpful in this piece, and I think that it allows a little more ebb and flow for the viewer rather than trying to stand in the face of that whirlwind of data.

There are things I like about the piece. Of course, that probably means that these elements don’t really fit the rest of the piece right and that I’ve left them in just because of how much I liked the discovery of them. The first is the map that pans up the street to the Opera House and then stops there. That took me quite a while to do when I was working on one of the initial “sketches” for the piece, and I really liked how it turned out. I think that it works okay integrated into the piece with the v.o. and then moving into an image of the Opera House itself. Another one that I liked, but really doesn’t work as well is the image changes during the Macready v.o. about Mr. Povey begging him to end the play early. I liked how the juxtaposition there of the boyish Macready in a pleading position and the wide-eyed, darker image matched with the v.o.
I like Andrew’s voice over. He did a really nice job with it, and it ultimately reminded me of something that I tend to forget when working – that I really do need perspective. We did the v.o. in one long take one afternoon after he had had maybe twenty minutes to look over the script. Some of the choices he made in the text were completely different than how I had done them in my initial test v.o., and they really helped shape the piece in a way that it wouldn’t have taken if I was responsible for all the audio.

But there are quite a few things that I am not as happy with:
There is one point that there really should be a text insert, but I can’t do it without creating another loose end that would have to be resolved.
Too many blurry pictures – if I had the means or expertise, I would have taken Mark’s suggestion to work on them in photoshop.
At just over seven minutes, I’m concerned that it is a little too long.

In the end, I am happy with the piece, and I’m satisfied with where I’m at with it. There could be (okay let’s be realisitic here – there WILL be) a point in the future where I will want to change some things about it, but I really think I’m near the end of what I can do with it at this point. I think it works well as an introduction to the entire incident – a teaser maybe to get people more interested in what was happening at the time. I’d like to do more of these and see how those turn out. I still feel like I really did set the bar for myself kind of low in the class especially with this project because what I made is essentially a glorified Power Point presentation. There was, though, a lot about the process that I think I could work on in future projects in this area – especially in the relationship between audio and text.

I am going to post the piece to YouTube soon. But I want to get the class’ final comments on it.

There are a few things that I’ve realized about the way I work while taking in this class.
I realized how much more willing I am to sketch things out and try different things than I thought I was, and how much that actually helps. Part of my nature has been to try to get things right the first time. I know that really doesn’t fit the idea of “process.” The result is that I tend to get very immersed in the details of a project as I work my way through it and I don’t allow myself the chance to see it as a whole until I’m “done with it” in my mind.

I tend to let things stew for a while in my head before getting to work. Some may call it procrastination, but I really do believe that there is something to taking your time and that while it offers certain chronological issues as far as approaching deadlines, it also allows me the chance to work on issues that don’t come immediately to me. I think this tendency is a direct result of what I talked about above and it is where I do try to figure things out before I get bogged down in detail.

I knew coming in that I am also rarely satisfied with my work. As I said before, there is always a point in my work that I truly believe that what I’m working on is utter crap. Of course, that leads me to two possibilities: abandon the crap sometimes with the intention of returning to it at some point, or re-examining it to see if there is anything that is worth saving or trying to find points in the work that renew my interest in it.

In working on “creative” projects, I tend to start with a general idea, and see where it takes me. (I have to say though that in the PhD program here, we are really indoctrinated to focus primarily on our “academic” pursuits, so for the last two years I haven’t really done any of the writing that I used to do more frequently that I would consider “creative.”) I also have a tendency to remove characters from the situations that I intend to have them in and put them in new ones to see if anything different happens. I realize that I really did consider this project much more of an “academic” one than I did a “creative” one, and I think that skewed my process a bit.

There are some things from this process that I really do need to take away and integrate into my typical working mindset: I need to be able to step back and see the whole earlier in my process. Whether that means completing an entire rough sketch of whatever I’m doing (academic or creative) or if it means just escaping from my blinders at certain checkpoints to see how it all fits together again, it really would benefit my work
I also need to be less regimented in distinguishing between “creative” and “academic” projects, and that I really should be able to use the process I have in working on one while working on the other.

It is well past time for a progress journal on my Astor Place Riot project.

One of the most difficult things in this process has been trying to juggle the audio track, the images and the text. While I want all three working at the same time (for the most part - there are some areas where one layer is cut out), and because it is primarily a visual medium, I’m working at ways to subtly direct the viewer’s primary focus toward the audio track or to the text to create different narrative threads through the project. With the audio, it is really a matter of volume (though my next step would be to fiddle a bit with tempo et al., but that would come after the needed step in the next paragraph). With the text, I’m toying with a change in the shading of the text to make it pop out differently than the others. At points in the project, I have text as image and that is placed in a different font, so I don’t want to fiddle with fonts for the commentary text.

After I get the entire thing cut to the point where I want it, my next step is to re-do some of the audio. I like the differing voices for narration and for Macready’s journal (and Andrew did a really nice job with that), but when I was working on the recording, I put everything into one file rather than break it up into separate files. What I want to do is go back to Audacity and break up the large files of narration and journal. That way, it would be easier to add in a few pauses or additional narration.

I’m really glad I get a chance for other people to get a look at (parts of) it now. I think I’ve reached that point where I’ve gotten too much into the minutia of trying to tie together the image sequence with the patterns of speech in the narration, and I can’t see it with fresh eyes. I’m sure that I’m seeing things in it that aren’t really there for other viewers. Additionally, I need to see if the timing of the text portions is alright. Obviously the problem here is that I know what they say, so I’m probably reading them faster than a regular viewer would.
I’ve also reached that point where I’m convinced that everything that I’ve done is complete crap. But, for me at least, that seems to be a standard stop along the way whenever I’m working on anything. So having someone else’s eyes seeing it and giving me feedback is a good thing at this point. Then they can confirm that it is crap…

So that’s where I’m at.

Notable Names
William Charles Macready (1793-1873) - English Actor
Edwin Forrest (1806-1872) - American Actor
James H. Hackett and Colonel William Niblo – producing WCM’s Macbeth at Opera House
Captain Isaiah Rynders – One of the masterminds behind the riot. A Tammany Hall politician
E.Z.C. Judson (aka Ned Buntline) – leader of the rioters. Lieutenant of Captain Isaiah Rynders.
Catherine Sinclair Forrest – Forrest’s wife, from whom he separated on April 23, 1849
Caleb S. Woodhull – new Whig mayor of New York sworn in on Tuesday May 8, 1849
Washington Irving, Herman Melville, John Jacob Astor – signers of letter requesting WCM to perform again
Thomas Kiernan – first fatality of the riot. 21-year-old Irish waiter. Unclear whether he died before or after the first volley.
Bill Wilson – a prizefighter who may have led the in-house rioters on the first night of the riots.
C.W. Clarke – American actor playing Macduff. Was asked to quiet rioters on the first night. Had to defend himself after the day in the papers against being a Macready sympathizer.
Robert Emmett – owner of the house Macready retreated to during the night before going on to New Rochelle and then Boston.

Brief Timeline of Events
1821 Edmund Kean leaves the stage in Boston because there are too few people in the audience
1825 Kean in his return trip to Boston is driven from the stage because of perceived anti-American sentiments. Kean apologizes in the papers.
1826 Macready’s first American tour, played the Park in New York. Saw Forrest in New York at the Bowery. Macready derided a Philadelphia property man for supplying arrows of an “inferior American quality.” Denounced in the newspapers, he apologizes to the company.
1836 Forrest appears at London’s Drury Lane under Alfred Bunn (who had some disagreements with WCM). Forrest and Macready meet cordially. Forrest generally well received.
1843 Macready’s second American tour. Believed American audiences too used to extravagance, so he didn’t get the reception he believed he deserved. Proclaimed that Forrest was not an artist – a great American actor, but not an artist.
1844 Spring. Forrest follows the same tour pattern as Macready through the United States about a week after him. Brought about direct comparisons between the two.
1845 Forrest makes second professional visit to England. Now there are some negative reviews and occasional catcalls and hisses at the Princess Theatre. Forrest is declined an engagement at an English speaking theatre in Paris by Macready’s friends. Forrest much more successful touring the provinces than Macready was.
1846 March 2 at the Theatre Royal in Edinburgh. Forrest loudly hisses Macready’s performance of Hamlet. Forrest defends himself in papers by saying audiences are allowed to applaud or hiss as their interaction. Upon returning to the United States, he encouraged a national drama.
1846-8 Forrest becomes preeminent American actor amassing a fortune.
1848 Macready begins third tour of US at Astor Place on October 4 to warm crowds. Toured through American cities until April 1849.
April 1849 Forrest set to play in New York at Broadway theatre. Macready engages at the Astor Place. Forrest presents case against English criticism in papers on April 23. Forrest separated from wife April 28.

May 7, 1849 Forrest in Macbeth at Broadway beginning at 7:30. Macready in Macbeth at Astor Place beginning at 8. Thomas Hamblin in Macbeth at the Bowery.
• Captain Isaiah Rynders distributes between 50 and 60 tickets to his supporters to disrupt the play.
• Cheers at C.W. Clarke’s appearance – American actor. Macready believes that they had mistaken it to be him.
• Macready’s first appearance. Cheers at first, then groans and hisses. No action for 15 minutes.
• Prizefighter Bill Wilson leads the disruption. Pennies, rotten eggs and a vial of asafetida thrown. Gunpowder papers were prepared to be thrown into the chandelier. Banners flown reading “No apologies, it is too late” and “You have proved yourself a liar!” 1st act concludes in dumb show.
• During 3rd act, chairs thrown onto the stage narrowly missing Macready. Leaves stage thus ending the play.
• Clarke appears to tell the crowd that Macready had left the building. Responded to with “Three groans for the English bulldog”, “Nine cheers for Edwin Forrest”, “Down with the codfish aristocracy”, “Huzza for native talent”
May 8, 1849 Newspapers report without editorial comment for the most part though two do blame Forrest. Both names seen in non-theatrical advertisements. Macready did not want to play again, but concedes after receiving a letter signed by 47 prominent names (Irving, Melville, Astor et al). Wanted to delay until Friday May 11, but Niblo and Hackett convince him to play Thursday.

May 10, 1849 Forrest at Broadway in the Gladiator. Macready at Opera House in Macbeth.
• Handbills distributed throughout the day under EZC Judson and the American Committee reading “Workingmen: Shall Americans or English Rule in this City?”
• 4 pm 325 policemen arrive = 200 inside the Opera House. 50 at rear of house on 8th street. 75 opposite the main entrance.
• 7:30 Word sent that the militia is ready at Washington Square: 200 infantry from the Twenty-Seventh Regiment (renowned as “the Seventh Regiment” since 1847 as an elite militia), 2 horse brigades, 1 troop of light artillery including 2 cannons filled with grapeshot, 2 hussar companies.
• Tickets sold surpass the 1800 capacity. Only 7 women in the house. By 7:15 the streets outside packed solid with people.
• Curtain raises 10 minutes late @ 7:40. 15 minute delay at Macready’s first appearance. A blackboard placed on the apron reads, “Friends of order will remain quiet.”
• Police inside the theatre told to allow hissing. No arrests until the second act – Macready helps to point out the worst offenders. Five arrested men taken under the parquet. Play continues unheard.
• The upper tiers of the theatre become more violent and one patron yells out window about the arrests at the same time the police turn water hoses on the crowd. This begins the attack on the building with paving stones that had been removed from the street for sewer construction. Windows that had been reinforced with wood are shattered. Macready ignores the attack despite stones flying through the theatre. Chandelier is shattered by a stone.
• Orders given to arrest anyone throwing a stone. Arrested men housed inside the Opera House to prevent the building from being burned from the outside. Police on 8th street are driven back to the wall; they are reinforced and push back against the crowd. Eventually told to rally inside the Opera House until the military can arrive.
• A fire set by the arrested men under the parquet is extinguished before panic can set in.
• 9 pm. Military arrives at the beginning of the 3rd Act. Soldiers suffer serious injuries from thrown stones. Horse brigades with sabers (50 men and horses) clear path on 8th street for infantry. Stones knock riders off horses. 72 military injured before any shots fired.
• The play concludes. Audience able to leave through the main entrance onto Astor Place street behind bayonets. Bayonets were thwarted elsewhere as rioters attempted to wrest away guns from soldiers.
• Around 9:45 first order to fire – above the rioters’ heads – given by Sheriff Westervelt “Aim at the house” (Langdon’s House). Some fire horizontally into the crowd while others aim away. Orders to disperse before firing were not heard.
• Rioters retreat briefly. Rallied by EZC Judson. Several cries of “They’re using blanks!”
• Macready in disguise leaves through front entrance to his hotel.
• Second volley of fire. Soldiers told to “fire at their legs!” Not all do so.
• Three or four volleys total.
• 11:30pm Reinforcements arrive with cannons.
• Macready escapes to Robert Emmett’s house from his hotel.
• 1 am area around Astor Place secured by police and military
• 4 am Macready leaves Emmett’s house to New Rochelle. Takes first early morning train to Boston.
• Military turns over control of area to police at daybreak
• According to Moody, 22 dead that night, plus 9 more over the next 5 days. Total: 31 dead, 150+ injured between civilians and police/military. 86 arrested with 21 released for lack of evidence.
• None of Rynders’/Judson’s men are killed. 7 Irish laborers among the 22. Mostly spectators including one who was on the balcony of Langdon’s House watching.

May 11, 1849 Police still present at Astor Place.
• A protest meeting called to assemble at City Hall Park at 6 pm.
• Mayor Woodhull orders removal of all muskets from gun stores to the city arsenals.
• Military brought to Washington Square. 2,000 men with 900 police and 1,000 additionally enlisted “special constables” prepare to go to City Hall Park
• Hastily assembled platform at the park collapses killing a young boy before the rally. Open condemnation of the mayor and outrage displayed for people merely expressing their opinion
• 6 or 7 thousand leave rally to go to Astor Place. Brief skirmish. 60 arrested – mostly men, not boys.
• Military dispersed at daybreak.
• Forrest appears for the final two nights of his engagement (to very sparse crowds) in order to prevent further instigations to rioters

May 22, 1849 Macready leaves Boston for England on the Hibernia not to return to the US
1849 EZC Judson serves one year in jail on Blackwell’s Island and pays a $250 fine (maximum). A hero on his release, he is greeted with “Hail to the Chief”
1851 Macready plays his final performance, Macbeth, February 26 at Drury Lane in London.

For the first time, after weeks of trying, I can actually access by blog from my office computer! It has been a real hassle over the last few weeks to try work on the blog. First, no internet access at my house in Monticello is a problem with which I’m becoming increasingly frustrated. So all of my internet stuff has to be done here in the office at Nevada House on campus. But because of the problems I’ve been having with the site on my office computer, I’ve had to go over to Krannert or any of the Wi-Fi accessible places and use the MacBook in order to do any work with the arts 499 course. That typically meant that I either worked all day in my office and neglected the work that had to be done somewhere else, or I worked somewhere else and didn’t do the things that I need to do in my office.

Yes. I know. We all have problems.

But the upside is that I should be able to access (and thus use) the blog much more frequently now.

I guess that means I have to start having something to say. And it probably needs to be worthwhile in some respect.

Damn it.