Will They Survive The Cutting Room Floor?—

Christ The King Family Is Among Those Waiting For The Opening Of

‘The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee’

By Shannon Hicks

“Pippa Lee” fever ran through the area about 18 months ago, when a film crew led by director Rebecca Miller spent a few weeks in Newtown, Danbury, New Milford, Roxbury, and Southbury filming scenes for a major motion picture called The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, based on Ms Miller’s book of the same name.

According to Screen Media Films, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee tells the story of Pippa Lee, a woman who seems to be happy. Portrayed by Robin Wright Penn, Pippa is the devoted wife of an accomplished publisher, played by Alan Arkin, who is 30 years her senior. She is also the proud mother of two grown children, and a trusted friend and confidant to anyone she meets.

But when Pippa and her husband begin a new life in a Connecticut retirement community, the idyllic world and persona she has built over the course of her marriage is put to the test. She finds she is full of anxiety and, as her character says in one of the film’s trailers, “to be perfectly honest, I’ve had enough of being an enigma. I want to be known.”

Pippa embarks on a bittersweet journey of self-discovery, accompanied by a new, younger acquaintance (Keanu Reeves), and finds she needs to confront both her volatile past and her hidden resentment of a seemingly perfect life. She finds herself heading toward a quiet nervous breakdown, and the possibility of falling in love with someone other than her husband, while her husband in turn falls for a younger woman.

With a cast that also includes Blake Lively, Julianne Moore, Maria Bello, Winona Ryder, and Monica Bellucci, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee had its Connecticut premiere last weekend in Danbury. It played on November 21 to a full house of 400 people at the Danbury Palace (and even had a second screening for another 40 people who could not get in to the originally scheduled show).

It will open nationwide on Friday, November 27, and one Newtown family will be among those looking forward to seeing the film when it opens.

Christ the King Lutheran Church in Newtown was featured in two of the film’s scenes. The first was shot in April 2008 and was an external shot, establishing part of the story taking place during the 1960s. Location scouts obviously liked what they saw when they found the Mt Pleasant Road church during prefilming work. Having been built in the mid 1960s, Christ the King’s building was consecrated on November 27, 1966.

Pippa Lee’s childhood took place during the 1960s, and the interior of Christ the King still holds much charm from its original construction. The second day of filming in Newtown was done inside the church. It showed a church service during the 1970s, with Tim Guinee portraying Pastor Des Sarkissian, who is Pippa Lee’s father.

Cathy and Scott Reiss and their children, Morgan, now age 12, and Kevin Reiss, 9, all landed roles as extras when the film crew was in Newtown in May 2008, as did fellow Christ the King member Sanya Kayfus. It was one of those “being in the right place at the right time” opportunities.

“We knew which day was shooting-day at the church, so we stopped by in the morning to see what we could see,” Cathy Reiss said this week. Pastor Greg Wismar, the senior pastor of Christ the King, had initially been told that members of his congregation would be used as extras for the interior shot, so he had collected names of those who would be interested in participating.

Closer to the day of the shoot, however, the plan changed and it was going to only be union members used for the Newtown location.

The Reiss family decided to visit their church during the afternoon of the film shoot anyway, just to catch a glimpse of filmmaking in action.

“We came back around 4 and Christ the King had turned into a Hollywood back lot,” said Mrs Reiss. Work was beginning to move indoors. “We watched from the choir loft until a crew member came up and said they were close to filming and we couldn’t stay there — it might distract the actors.

“Pastor told us to wait, though. He said he’d be right back,” said Mrs Reiss. When Pastor Wismar returned to the loft, he had exciting news: he asked the kids if they wanted to be extras after all.

“It turned out Rebecca Miller had been saying she needed some shorter people in the pews so when they film from behind, their heads won’t block the view of the main actors in front of them. Pastor told her he might have some kids available if she wanted to use them, and she said Yes,” Mrs Reiss said. In addition to the children, Ms Miller agreed to allow Cathy and Scott Reiss and Sanya’s grandmother, Karen Kayfus, to stay with the children.

“That worked out even better since our son was concerned about doing this without us,” said Cathy.

One crew member used his headset to confirm that the Newtown extras would only be seen from their waist up, someone in wardrobe checked on the sizes of the six new extras, and “magically she found period clothes that somewhat fit,” said Mrs Reiss.

The Reisses “throw on the clothes and sat in our assigned seats in the pews, along with the 12 or so paid extras,” said Mrs Reiss.

From their spots in the pews, the Reisses watched as Tim Guinee rehearsed his sermon several times from the pulpit.

“We watched the four young men to be seated along the pew next to the main characters — I believe they were Pippa’s brothers — having boards placed behind their backs in the pew,” said Mrs Reiss. “What we came to realize is their purpose was to push them forward a bit, to make them more visible in the scene. [There was] one thin board behind the first young man, two boards behind the next, and so on.

“Only when everything was ready for filming did the major actors get seats — Blake Lively, [who plays] teenage Pippa Lee, and Maria Bello, her mom. They sat in the pew just in front of Scott.”

The sequence that was shot inside Christ the King, the Reisses and Pastor Wismar were told, would be worked into the film as part of a flashback of the title character in which she recalls a conversation with her mother in the church while her father, the pastor, was in the pulpit.

Between retakes and other jobs that took up the day in Newtown, the Reiss family did not return home that day until after 10 pm.

There were other Christ the King members who helped make Newtown a successful stop for the Pippa Lee crew. Administrative Assistant Linda Gollenberg helped coordinate cast and crew locations. Karen Kayfus, a member of the church’s Chancel Society, made sure the altar and sanctuary areas were properly prepared for the church scenes.

Sexton Gary Secola helped the electric and lights crew with their gear, “which became a challenge,” said Mrs Reiss, “when a sunny day turned quite dark and rainy.”

Last but not least, was Pastor Wismar, “who was quite involved in the shoot,” Mrs Reiss said.

Pastor Wismar served as wardrobe consultant for Tim Guinee. In the film, it is Pastor Wismar’s robes — two of them, for different settings — that the actor is seen wearing. Pastor Wismar also helped write and edit part of the sermon script that was used in one of the scenes.

The two main actors involved in the Newtown shoot were hurried in and hurried out, so the Reisses did not have an opportunity to meet Blake Lively and Maria Bello, but they were left with good impressions nevertheless.

“Blake seemed very sweet,” said Mrs Reiss. “It appeared this was her last scene to be shot, so before she left she said Goodbye to the crew members and other actors and wished them well. They were both very serious actors.

“Maria was to be fretting during the scene, and even between takes she was chewing on her nails, seemingly to stay in the role.

“Rebecca Miller was also very professional,” she continued. “I remember seeing her coach an actor in the pews between takes. She went right up to the actor and spoke quietly, so nobody else could hear. She also sought input from her crew and seemed quite respectful of all.”

The day was unusual for Newtown, and for the Christ the King family, but it may last forever on film.

“All that for what is probably a two minute scene at most,” said Mrs Reiss, who said she may not be taking the family to see the movie immediately. “From what we know about the story it may not be appropriate for their ages. But hopefully it’ll come out on DVD and we can show them the scene.

“If we didn’t even up on the cutting room floor, you should be able to see the side of Scott’s face and the backs of our heads in the scene.”