The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Nolan Thornton

About Nolan Thornton

Nolan Thornton is a journalist and screenwriter living in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Bill Gorlin – Inside the World of A Theatrical Engineer

by

PHOTO BY CAROLYN SIMPSON

Bill Gorlin is an award-winning structural engineer and Vice President of the prestigious McLaren Engineering Group’s Entertainment Division. He has called Briarcliff home since 1998 and wouldn’t have it any other way. He loves the access to NYC, the woods and rolling hills, the great schools, and proximity to family in southern Westchester.

“I grew up in Westchester; I love the progressive attitudes, the excellent schools, and the vibrant culture. You have Tarrytown Music Hall, Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, which is an absolute jewel, The Jazz Forum, a world class jazz club in Tarrytown, Purchase College, and ArtsWestchester, an incredible organization that produces fantastic events supporting the arts,” said Gorlin.

From Blueprints to Spotlights

Bill had many influences that shaped his career path including working with an amusement ride manufacturer, different theatre scenery shops, sets of iconic concerts like The Rolling Stones, various TV & film productions, and many live events.

He developed the Entertainment Division at McLaren Engineering in 2000, where he still is today. “In my world, success is based on: Did the show or event happen on budget, on time, and was it enjoyable for the audience? As opposed to: Did I save 3% on the weight of steel? Which is a more relevant question when building a high-rise,” Bill explained. “If I get hung up on a certain engineering issue, I may lose sight of the big picture.”

Crafting the Magic

Gorlin described a difficult project he worked on last holiday season for the Christian Dior holiday display on Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to suspend an eight-story display over the building’s façade. “When the audience, the people in the street, looked up, they saw the flowers, the lights, and the beautiful parts of the display – the steel framework we installed was imperceivable. The eye sees what it wants to,” Gorlin said.

In essence, engineering is the “magic” in a magic trick, and this is especially so in Gorlin’s line of work: entertainment engineering. They say a magician never reveals his tricks, and that is certainly the case in entertainment where much of Bill’s work is a tightly controlled trade secret. Back to the Future – The Musical (on Broadway now) has a fantastic mechanical effect with a flying DeLorean but unfortunately, we can’t talk about it,” said Gorlin.

Vision To Reality

“A good design of a bridge, for instance, celebrates the structure. The Mario M. Cuomo bridge is a very functional design that’s also very elegant,” Bill said. The difference between entertainment and function is just that – Gorlin’s clientele wants to suspend their disbelief, rather than suspending lanes of traffic! Think of an engineer as the rhythm section in a Broadway musical – they are in the background so that the soloist can look like they’re shining effortlessly. But take the rhythm section away and you find out just how important they are to the magic of the show!

“Sometimes clients want us to help market an event. For instance, House of the Dragon (a Game of Thrones sequel now on HBO) had a promotion where a huge dragon ‘landed’ on the spire of the Empire State Building. We were involved with the engineering, and they encouraged us to promote it on social media to create more buzz,” Gorlin shared. He stressed how important the secrecy and discretion of most projects can be in creating happy clients and excited audiences.

“Virtual reality and CGI can always defy physics, whereas engineers have to deal with it straight on. If we’re doing a physical performance with real people and real equipment, we can’t make something fly the way you see it on screen,” said Gorlin. With Back to the Future, Gorlin’s team and the special effects vendor had to create something from the ground up, rather than simply trying to emulate the special effects in the original movie.

In the show, the DeLorean time machine, from the classic ‘80s blockbuster, flies above the stage of the theater, as opposed to in the movie where it’s limited to the 2D screen. Gorlin’s job as an entertainment engineer required him to transport the audience through the fourth wall of the movie screen to pull off an effect meant for live theater goers only.

The Overweight Production

When live entertainment shut down during COVID, the small screen was all we had, and the scale and beauty of performance disappeared. One of Gorlin’s first projects upon the return of the live entertainment industry was the long-awaited revival of The Music Man. “That was an important show because it was a big musical with big stars that was coming out right after the pandemic ended,” said Gorlin. Unlike a movie premiere where the final film can be done months prior to the opening, The Music Man came in right under the wire.

The show was set to open at the Winter Garden Theater (the same theater as Back to the Future) and when Gorlin and his team came on, he was astonished to find out that the show equipment above the stage had exceeded the venue’s weight limit by a whopping 40,000 pounds. Gorlin had upgraded the weight limit of the theater nearly a decade prior, and even still the production was almost doubling the limit. Back to The Future got to take advantage of the upgrades constructed to support the heavy Music Man set, and so will the next show, and the next show after that. There’s a lot of momentum in the Broadway culture of paying it forward,” Bill said.

Migrating Elephants

Bill was recently involved in another very high-profile project. This is one of largest outdoor installations in NYC, ever! If you’re walking around downtown Manhattan, you might stumble upon a herd of 100 life-size elephant sculptures in the Meatpacking District – The Great Elephant Migration.

These elephants are on a special mission to raise funds for non-profit conservation organizations and to create awareness about the challenges that wildlife face. Bill’s team was responsible for anchoring each of the five types of elephant structures to the ground so they could withstand such environmental issues as wind and earthquakes. “The anchoring consisted of stakes and/or ballast (weights) that were unique to each site, depending on local weather and seismicity and the supporting grade and soil composition,” explained Bill. Each of the sites for this installation has different challenges. Next the elephants head to Miami Beach!

Success & Happiness

Gorlin was chosen for the 2024 “Backstage Legends and Masters” Award Winner by the Broadway Technical Theatre History Project. “After three decades of providing engineering support for 200+ Broadway productions and renovation work on 40+ Broadway theaters, this recognition was truly a lifetime achievement,” Bill said.

For now, Bill seems to have found the perfect mix of engineering and entertainment. “I love my job because I get to solve challenging problems and create designs incorporating science, art, 3D spaces, and human interaction,” Bill shared. “I get to collaborate with talented people who are intensely driven to create something meaningful.” The work of engineers is all around us, but it’s rarely visible or the center of attention, and that’s exactly the way it should be.

Seven Chappaqua Dads Are Rockin’ Out

by

(L-R) Jason Asch (drums), Seth Corwin (bass guitar and vocals), Mike Liebowitz (guitar), Greg Renza (keyboards and vocals), Glen Carnes (lead guitar and vocals), Jordan Saletan (saxophone), Eric Negrin (guitar and vocals).
PHOTO BY JESSICA PASCHKES/PRETTY PICTURES MARKETING

I was supposed to be flying to Florida in a few hours, but when I heard the other six guys were available for the gig, I moved my flight. There was no way I was missing Garcia’s,” said Jordan Saletan, saxophonist for the Chappaqua rock band, The Station Agents. They were just offered their biggest gig yet, a headlining set at Garcia’s Bar inside the legendary Capitol Theater in Port Chester, where their childhood heroes performed.

The Station Agents formed like many great bands before them: from a big impromptu jam session at a party. The jam led to an email list that led to rehearsals for nothing yet in particular. “Then pretty quickly it was whittled down to the seven of us from Chappaqua. And then it just stuck,” said Saletan. Unlike a lot of bands, The Station Agents didn’t grow up together. In fact, their kids are currently growing up together. “We knew each other through our kids. At least one person was connected to everyone else, and then we just came together and finally all met at our first rehearsal,” said Saletan. The Station Agents hold their practices at the Chappaqua Transportation garage where the school buses are kept, which is owned by a member of the band. “We’re a true garage band,” said Saletan. Their logo is even of a school bus. If they ever open up a Dad-Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, it would be difficult to think of a more fitting image.

“We have very eclectic tastes, but we try to pick songs that most of the crowd are going to know so they want to sing and dance along. That always comes first for us,” said Saletan. All seven members of the band bring their own unique tastes and influences, but all come from a bedrock of classic rock. “We started with all the old stuff like Bruce, The Stones, Tom Petty, and the Allman Brothers, then slowly branched out. Now we do a big block of 90s music and even some Disco too.” Not only is the band a whopping seven musicians, they have four singers. If you’re wondering if it’s common to find a seven-piece rock band that includes three guitarists, a saxophonist, and four vocalists – it’s not. “Having four singers really makes us unique because everyone has their own range and specialties.”

“A couple years ago my son sat in on alto sax and Mike’s son sat in on trombone,” said Saletan. Situations like this are something of a holy grail scenario in dad rock as the schedules of the kids can be as busy as those of the adults. Saletan laments the fact that they haven’t been able to recreate the moment or get the kids around for every show, especially as many of them are held in bars and pubs, but he’s beyond grateful for the support The Station Agents’ friends and family have shown them. With seven dads, no matter who is able to show up on any given day, they still have quite the audience and cheering section for their gigs. And what more could a rock star hope for than that?

“One of our guitarists has a friend who underwent a double lung transplant, so we’re honored to be able to play the Benefit for the Transplant Forum at Columbia University Irving Medical Center again after the success of last year,” said Saletan. The event will take place on Saturday May 4 at Captain Lawrence Brewing, Elmsford. On June 8th, they will perform at the First Annual Greeley Sports Boosters Bash, a fundraiser at the Captain Lawrence Barrel House, Mt Kisco. “All of us are Chappaqua dads, so we’re really excited about this one!” said Saletan. The Station Agents will perform for their third year at the Chappaqua Summer Concert Series on Wednesday, July 17, at Recreation Field Gazebo, Chappaqua, and will make their debut at the Briarcliff Manor Summer Concert Series on Thursday July 25, at Law Park, Briarcliff Manor. Visit thestationagents.com And their Youtube at: youtube.com/@stationagentsband

The Chappaqua Performing Arts Center: Flourishing Now and Into the Spring

by

“We want to choose productions that bring in different types of audiences when we’re programming for the season,” began Michele Gregson, Chair of Friends of The Chappaqua Performing Arts Center (ChappPac for short), during a recent Inside Press interview. They have certainly succeeded as the beautiful 425-seat theater located in the former Reader’s Digest campus boasts a diverse and vibrant lineup of upcoming productions this year. From shorter shows for children like Theater Works’ new musical Dot, Dot, Dot, to an Office TV show trivia night hosted by fan-favorite Office cast-member, David Koechner, ChappPac has something for everyone to get excited about this spring. “And there truly isn’t a bad seat in the house,” said Gregson, who says she always enjoys spending time in the beautiful space.

What’s Coming

“People are already freaking out about ‘Office Trivia Night,’ they’re so excited,” said Gregson. Fans of The Office will be thrilled to see David Koechner, who played the obnoxious Todd Packer on the show. “I like the idea because it’s different. It’s people competing, but there’s still a story to tell,” she said.

Excitement is already building around Dot, Dot, Dot, as well, a colorful and vibrant musical for kids adapted from an award-winning series of picture books that, “celebrates the power of originality, self-expression, and opening our eyes to look beyond the expected.”

“I would love to have the Taylor Swift movie here too,” said Gregson. “It’s all about community,” she said. “I would love to have all those people gathering here instead of just watching it in their homes.” With monthly rotating events planned, she noted, “We want ChappPac to be a true art center.”

“Part of our vision is to have a theater company of our own,” said Gregson. This vision also includes launching a children’s theater company, as well as instructional classes. “Everyone on the board went to theater school and is either an actor or writer by trade. We already have all the pieces we need,” said Gregson. The proof is in the pudding, as one of their original productions, Interactive Elf, an interactive watch-along experience set to the movie Elf, starring Will Ferrel, just celebrated its second year this past holiday season.

Interactive Elf came about when Gregson sought to stage a watchalong event for the cult film, Rocky Horror Picture Show, which has a long history of midnight watchalong screenings. Interactive screenings typically involve a script that each audience member receives that tells them how to react (shouting something out, throwing popcorn at the screen, etc.) when a key moment comes up in the film. Instead of doing another Rocky Horror event for adults, Gregson decided to apply the same concept to a kid’s movie, which proved to be a big hit for kids and adults alike. “We always tell parents to bring your kids who can’t sit still,” said Gregson. “This show is for them!”

ChappPac received a grant last year to bring back Comedy Nights – unique comedy shows in which each comedian is essentially their own show. “When we bring people in, we want them to come back, and we want them to recommend ChappPac to their friends,” said Gregson. “We got a lot of great comedians through referrals!”

A Community Within A Community/Additional Programming

Creating a community with the artists they work with, as well as being a part of their own community in Chappaqua, is a basic goal. “We love partnering with town committees and locals whenever we have the opportunity,” said Gregson. Every year ChappPac spotlights young artists in their 20s who grew up in Chappaqua. “We don’t want anyone to think that unless you’re an investment banker, there’s no hope for you. We want young people to know that you can make money and have a profession in the arts.” In ChappPac, there just might be a treasured venue to perhaps showcase your talent one day.  

Additional programming came to our attention, post press time: a Dance Performance Benefit for Skyla Schreter’s Dance Company, and a forum titled “Says Who” with Dr. Anne Curzan.

And a Fond Look Back: 

Theater goers had the opportunity to observe three young women breaking barriers in a program hosted by Frank Shiner and Michele Gregson. Producer Diana Cody, (Chappaqua’s!) Lindsay Shiner (luminous as “Bonnie”) and writer/director Josie Hull (who is 19!) shared film clips and discussed their award-winning short films Cookbook for Southern Housewives and Black Velvet. Online, we noted the stylish and compelling performances by Shiner (who is reminiscent of a young Elizabeth Taylor–her sparkling eyes and sultry soulfulness!) in lead roles. – Grace Bennett

How Country Music Superstar Jessica Lynn Proved the Naysayers Wrong!

by

“As a NY musician who wanted to do country music, I’ve always had a lot of nay-sayers,” said Jessica Lynn, Westchester native, and independent country music superstar. Jessica and her band, which includes her husband and both parents, just got back from a European summer tour and are taking a brief sojourn before their busy holiday schedule. Jessica Lynn’s A Very Merry Country Christmas has become a local staple, and has often been named at the top of must-see holiday events in the Hudson valley.

“The first few years I was thousands of dollars in debt,” said Jessica, who got the idea for financing her own show after opening for a John Denver tribute band Christmas show years ago. She bought snow machines and created props for the stage, aiming to create an experience that would rival something an audience would see at Radio City. The Christmas show puts a colorful spin on classic Christmas hits, with Jessica’s trademark country impresario sound and showmanship. “Now we’re almost sold-out for the Paramount Theater this year,” said Jessica.

Thinking Outside the Box

“I’ve always looked for ways to think outside the box, and to bring art and music to people in a way that’s not expected. The Christmas show has been an amazing way to work with different creative people in each city, and to use my imagination in a way that I couldn’t in a regular show.”

Jessica started her first band at 13. “We weren’t country, we were more like No Doubt meets Bowling for Soup,” joked Jessica. But country music was always on in the house when she was growing up and attending Lakeland High School in Yorktown Heights. “It was New York, so I could never tell my friends what I was listening to!”

Jessica and her band played venues all over New York City like The Bitter End, and came close to a record deal when she was 16, but at the end of the day, she was the only member of the band who wanted to commit full time to a music career and the band fell apart. She tried for years to bring them back together or to find new musicians, but, “I was never able to recapture the magic. Those were my childhood best friends,” Jessica said.

Keeping the Faith

Jessica ended up going to college for math and special education, where she met her husband (and later lead guitar player). Something clicked in Jessica, who until this point had never written country music, and she began to write a full album of country songs after meeting him. “Do what you do, always have faith, always keep pushing forward, and the right people will find you,” said Jessica.

In that spirit, having little success playing by the rules in Nashville, Jessica maxed out every credit card she had to self-produce a television special that wound up playing nationwide on PBS. Jessica and the band recorded the tumultuous low-budget show in 2012, spent two years editing the sound, which was riddled with recording problems, then eventually sent it out to television stations in 2014, with little expectations other than to use it as Jessica’s video resume.

“Wyoming picked it up, Montana picked it up, Texas picked it up, and before you know it we were covering 90% of the markets,” said Jessica on the moment she created that effectively launched her career. Her band is even the same as it was on that difficult show back in 2012–save for her original guitarist who had been with her since her teen days, who ironically moved to Nashville for business and not music, and was replaced by Jessica’s husband.

“You know when you try to take a picture of a sunset but it never looks the same? That’s how I would describe having my family there with me for these huge moments. I don’t have to show them a picture,” said Jessica. She described an opening for country legend Richard Marx, who is her father’s favorite musician and the first concert act she ever saw at age five. Jessica, the youngest audience member there by far, even waved to Marx at the concert, and he noticed her and waved back.

A Career Takes Off

Flash forward and Jessica, her parents, her husband, and her drummer of over 10 years are opening for Marx, and Jessica spots him watching in the wings, giving her a thumbs up. “It was just so weird and emotional to be standing there with my parents who had listened to this guy for my whole life and took me to my very first concert to see him, and now there we were performing with him,” said Jessica.

Moments like these make Jessica’s entire career flash before her eyes. “When I walked out of a record exec’s office after I said no to a big contract, I wondered if it was the biggest mistake I’d ever make,” she said. “But you always need confidence in who you are as a unique individual. There’s literally only one you.”

On Tour

Jessica Lynn and her band are touring the tri-state area with shows at the Jefferson Valley Mall in Yorktown and the Paramount Theater in Peekskill. Her single, Not Your Woman – The Sweetwater Sessions, which was recorded live upon invitation from the renowned musical instruments and audio company, and the accompanying music video are out now.  Visit jessicalynnmusic.org

Interview with the Soulful Couple Behind the Much Anticipated 2023 Phoenix Theater Festival – Live Arts in Nyack

by

Phoenix Theater Festival’s founding and creative directors, husband/wife team Craig Smith and Elise Stone

“I’m a crazy idealist, so I think that synchronicity happens in good theater where the performers and the audience are all living and breathing together,” said Elise Stone, Artistic Director of the Phoenix Theatre Ensemble.

One could argue that we’re all idealists when it comes to a good story. What adult can say they never smiled at a happily-ever-after bedtime story, or lost sleep over a creepy campfire story as a kid? Part of the job of Stone, and her spouse, Phoenix Executive Director Craig Smith, is to communicate with that kid inside all of us to create performances that truly resonate with audiences. And judging by the reviews and feedback from last year’s inaugural Phoenix Festival Smith and Stone do their jobs quite well.

The second annual Phoenix Festival in Nyack will take place over four weeks, starting September 28th, with the final performances set for October 21st. The shows include old favorites, as well as original productions developed by Phoenix Theatre Ensemble in NYC, as well as dance and music performances. “Put it on the calendar now, because you’ll blink and miss it,” said Smith. One of the performances of Pan, a dance piece presented by Emotions Physical Theatre is already sold out.

“Even when we’re doing something just plain fun, like a comedy, it’s never fluff. We bring all the heft of our love for language, literature, and human beings – and the desire to create connections – that’s why we’re storytellers,” said Stone. As Artistic Director, she has been working hard to develop many different works for many different audiences. “What can we do to adapt to the times and draw people in for something they can’t get at home?” asked Elise Stone.

One of the new and exciting plays to come out of Phoenix’s PlayCoop incubator series addresses this question head-on. The new work – Scandalton – is an interactive 90-minute piece structured like a Jane Austen novel and inspired by the hit show Bridgerton. The play’s program reads, “No romantic drama is complete without the judgment of genteel society, which is why at Scandalton, the audience will supply the rumors… You bring the tea. We spill it.”

Smith notes that the beauty of a show like Scandalton is that it appeals to younger people who want to participate in the fun, as well as the older crowd – of which he laughingly counts himself a member – who can just sit back and enjoy it.

The dance piece Pan, “set to hip-hop and more,” explores American boyhood and masculinity through the lens of the classic character Peter Pan. Emotions Physical Theatre grapples with the harsh reality that young Black men die before their time in disproportionate numbers  “for reasons we all know but refuse to fix,” according to the program. “Pan will deliver an experience that highlights the question ‘what are the reasons a Black boy might not want to grow up?’ through a carefully crafted interdisciplinary theatrical experience focused on movement and dance.”

Another exciting performance coming to Phoenix Festival is Drinks with Dead Poets, Phoenix Playwright in Residence Glyn Maxwell’s adaptation of his acclaimed novel, in which he also stars. The adaptation sets the play right in Nyack, NY, in the very space where the performance will be held: the upstairs bar at the iconic Hudson House restaurant on Main Street. Smith says this piece will have strong appeal for those who don’t enjoy a typical theater environment. “You come in and get a drink, and this incredible play will unfold right in front of you,” said Smith.

Other plays featured at the Phoenix Festival include their adaptation of the children’s classic, The Wind in the Willows created to be enjoyed by all ages, the critically acclaimed adaptation by Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus of the Dostoyevsky classic, Crime and Punishment, the original comedy Reflections from the Shallow End of the Dating Pool, and much more. Another exciting addition to the Festival this year is their brand new augmented reality walking tour Digital Dreaming, which is free to the public, and takes you via smartphone on a guided tour of Nyack’s history.

“I have a dream of audience members walking through the village as you do at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland to see an amazing performance in one-of-a-kind, non-traditional venues all over the city,” said Smith. It’s a dream that’s quickly becoming a reality, as the Festival approaches its second year. Stone mentioned a comment made by co-founder and artistic director of the famed Repertorio Espanol, Rene Buch, who said, “Theater has become something that’s seen as cake for the elite, but it really has always been and should always be bread for everyone.”