Saturday, November 25, 2006


11/25/06- A GOOD YEAR

WELL, THE AMERICAN TRAGEDY CENTENNIAL YEAR IS OVER AT LAST. LAST SATURDAY, I ATTENDED THE DEDICATION CEREMONY OF A HISTORICAL MARKER FOR THE 1834 HERKIMER COUNTY JAIL IN HERKIMER. THE CEREMONY WAS SUPPOSED TO MARK THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE START OF CHESTER GILLETTE'S HISTORIC MURDER TRIAL FOR THE MURDER OF GRACE BROWN. THE MARKER WAS DONATED BY THE FAMILY OF HERKIMER COUNTY SHERIFF CHRIS FARBER. IN THE PHOTO ABOVE, I AM STANDING TO THE RIGHT OF THE MARKER, ALONG WITH JEFF STEELE, PRESIDENT OF THE HERKIMER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND CRAIG BRANDON, AUTHOR OF "MURDER IN THE ADIRONDACKS" AND "GRACE BROWN'S LOVE LETTERS." SHERIFF FARBER AND HIS FAMILY ARE TO THE LEFT OF THE MARKER.

IN ADDITION TO CHESTER, THE 1834 JAIL ALSO HOUSED TWO OF HERKIMER COUNTY'S MOST INFAMOUS MURDERERS, BOTH OF WHOM I HAVE ALSO BEEN LEARNING ABOUT THROUGHOUT MY TIME RESEARCHING THE GILLETTE CASE: ROXALANA DRUSE, WHOSE HANGING IN 1887 PAVED THE WAY FOR THE ELECTRIC CHAIR; AND JEAN GIANINI, WHO WAS ACCUSED OF THE FIRST SCHOOLTEACHER MURDER IN AMERICAN HISTORY WHEN HE MURDERED HIS TEACHER IN POLAND IN 1914. THERE IS A BOOK ABOUT THE GIANINI TRIAL NOW ON SALE AT THE HERKIMER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: "LULLABY FOR MORONS," BY RONALD KEITH SIEGEL. I HAVE READ THAT BOOK AND I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS REALLY INTERESTING. IF YOU ARE IN THE AREA AND HAPPEN TO SEE THE BOOK THERE, I RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED IN OLD MURDER CASES.

DESPITE THE COLD WEATHER, THERE WAS A PRETTY GOOD TURNOUT FOR THE CEREMONY. FOLLOWING THE CEREMONY, TOURS OF BOTH THE JAIL AND THE COURTHOUSE ACROSS THE STREET WERE GIVEN, AS WELL AS A RECEPTION IN THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY BUILDING. CRAIG WAS ALSO ON HAND FOR A BOOK SIGNING, AS WAS JOSEPH BROWNELL, AUTHOR OF "ADIRONDACK TRAGEDY." MEMBERS OF THE ILION LITTLE THEATER CLUB WERE ALSO PRESENT, DRESSED UP AS PEOPLE THAT FIGURED PROMINENTLY IN THE GILLETTE CASE, AND I CONTRIBUTED MY 8 X 10 PHOTO OF GRACE, AS WELL AS A PHOTO ALBUM CONTAINING ALL OF MY GILLETTE PHOTOS TO DATE, AND THE RUBBING I MADE OF GRACE'S GRAVE WHEN I WENT TO HER GRAVESITE IN AUGUST.

ALTHOUGH I MET JOE BROWNELL IN AUGUST ON THE BUS TRIP, THIS DAY WAS THE FIRST TIME I MET CRAIG BRANDON. IT WAS A REAL HONOR FOR ME TO MEET THE LEADING EXPERT ON THE CASE AND TO STAND UP THERE WITH HIM AT THE MARKER DEDICATION CEREMONY. IT IS MOMENTS LIKE THIS THAT DEEPEN MY COMMITTMENT TO THE CASE, ESPECIALLY SINCE AFTER ALL, I AM DOING A BOOK ON THE CASE.

THE YEAR MAY BE OVER FOR THE AMERICAN TRAGEDY CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE, BUT IT IS NOT OVER FOR ME. IT MAY NEVER BE OVER FOR ME. LIKE I SAID, I AM DOING A BOOK ON THE CASE, AND I MAY AS WELL GIVE YOU AN UPDATE AS TO THE DIRECTION I WANT TO GO WITH IT. MY NEW PLAN IS TO FOCUS MORE EXCLUSIVELY ON GRACE, ESPECIALLY SINCE SO LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT HER, OUTSIDE OF THE LOVE LETTERS AND CHESTER. I BASICALLY WANT TO SHOW THE READERS THAT THERE WAS MORE TO GRACE THAN JUST THE LETTERS. I WILL ALSO INCLUDE THE UPDATES THAT HAVE EMERGED FROM THE CASE SINCE THE TWO BOOKS WERE PUBLISHED TWENTY YEARS AGO. IF ALL GOES WELL, I SHOULD BE GOOD TO GO BY THE END OF THE YEAR AND I AM HOPING TO GET THE BOOK OUT BY 2008, THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF CHESTER'S EXECUTION.

I SHALL NEVER FORGET MY INVOLVEMENT IN THIS CASE OR THE PEOPLE I HAVE WORKED WITH FOR AS LONG AS I LIVE. WHEN I FIRST STUMBLED UPON THAT NEWSPAPER CLIPPING IN JULY, 2005, I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS AN ACCIDENT. NOW I REALIZED THAT IT WAS FATE THAT LED ME TO THE CASE. NOW I HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT IN THE END, I WILL HAVE DONE RIGHT BY EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING THAT THE CASE STOOD FOR.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006


11/7/06- CHESTER AND GRACE (PLAY REVIEW)


OF ALL THE EVENTS SURROUNDING THE CENTENNIAL OF GRACE BROWN'S TRAGIC MURDER AT BIG MOOSE LAKE THAT OCCURRED OVER THE COURSE OF THIS YEAR, NONE HAS BEEN AS EAGERLY ANTICIPATED AS THE ILION LITTLE THEATER'S REVIVAL OF THEIR PLAY, CHESTER AND GRACE, A PLAY THAT WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN BY GLEN ALLEN SMITH AND WAS ORIGINALLY PERFORMED BY THE CORTLAND REPERTORY THEATER. THE ILION LITTLE THEATER ORIGINALLY PERFORMED THE PLAY IN 1999 AND AGAIN IN 2001, AND SINCE THIS YEAR MARKED THE ANNIVERSARY OF GRACE'S DEATH, THIS REVIVAL COULD NOT HAVE COME AT A BETTER TIME.

I ATTENDED THE OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCE LAST FRIDAY NIGHT AND I WAS REALLY IMPRESSED WITH THE WHOLE PLAY. THAT NIGHT ALSO WAS MY FIRST TIME IN THE STABLES THEATER, WHERE THE PLAY WAS HELD. I HAD LIVED IN ILION THREE YEARS AGO, BUT I HAD NO IDEA THAT I LIVED RIGHT DOWN THE ROAD FROM THE THEATER UNTIL THE FIRST REENACTMENT PERFORMANCE BECAUSE I USED TO LIVE NEAR THE REMINGTON ARMS WHEN I LIVED IN ILION BEFORE I MOVED TO HERKIMER AND BEFORE I LEARNED ABOUT THE GILLETTE CASE.

ANYWAY, BACK TO THE REVIEW. I COULD NOT HAVE THOUGHT OF ANYTHING BETTER TO DO THAT WEEKEND THAN TO GO TO SEE THIS PLAY. THIS PLAY WAS PERHAPS THE BEST PLAY THAT I HAVE SEEN AND PROBABLY WILL EVER SEE IN MY LIFE. WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE THIS EXPERIENCE. I WISH THAT I COULD HAVE GONE TO HIGH SCHOOL PLAYS AT LEAST HALF AS GOOD AS THIS.

BASICALLY, I WAS VERY IMPRESSED WITH THE ACTING. MOST OF THE ORIGINAL CAST MEMBERS FROM THE 1999 PLAY RETURNED FOR THE REVIVAL, INCLUDING JENNIFER SCHANTZ (GRACE) AND ART WILKS (AUSTIN KLOCK, WHO WAS IN THIS SUMMER'S "THE PEOPLE VS. GILLETTE"), BOTH WHOM I HAVE SERVED ON THE CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE WITH.

AS FAR AS THE PREVIOUS INCARNATIONS OF GRACE ON STAGE AND SCREEN GOES, THERE IS NO TOPPING JENNIFER'S PERFORMANCE. SHE BROUGHT OUT GRACE'S TRUE CHARACTER ON THAT STAGE SUCCESSFULLY. SHE ALSO HAD A LOT OF THE MOST POWERFUL AND HEARTBREAKING SCENES IN THE PLAY, INCLUDING A MOMENT IN THE PLAY WHERE GRACE KNEELS ON THE STAGE, CRYING AND HOLDING A WRAPPED JAR, AS WELL AS SCENES WHERE CHESTER (PLAYED BY JACK CARNEY) IS TRYING TO GET HER TO GET RID OF THEIR BABY. I WAS IMPRESSED WITH HOW AUTHENTIC AND REALISTIC THOSE SCENES WERE WRITTEN.

ONE THING THAT I'VE GOTTA SAY ABOUT JACK'S INTERPERTATION OF CHESTER IS THAT NOT ONLY DID HE LOOK THE PART, BUT HE ALSO HAD CHESTER'S PERSONALITY DOWN PAT: THE "BAD BOY" AS OPPOSED TO GRACE'S "GOOD GIRL" IMAGE. HIS SCENES WITH HIS MOTHER (PLAYED BY COLLEEN SCHULTS) WERE ALSO PRETTY WELL WRITTEN, AS ARE HIS SCENES WITH D.A. WARD (PLAYED HERE BY BOB DeCARLO) AND DEFENSE ATTORNEY MILLS (JOHN CAMPONERA). I ALSO THOUGHT THE TUG-OF-WAR SCENE OVER THE TENNIS RACKET WAS REALLY FUNNY TOO.

IN ADDITION TO THE TWO LEADS, THERE WERE SOME OTHER STAND-OUT PERFORMANCES, INCLUDING OF COURSE, ART WILKS, AGAIN PLAYING KLOCK WITH THE SAME HUMOR AND WIT THAT WE SAW IN THE PEOPLE VS. GILLETTE THIS PAST SUMMER. THERE WAS ALSO A STAND-OUT PERFORMANCE FROM RISING-STAR EMMA HEMPLE, WHOSE CHARACTER, LUCILLE GILLETTE (CHESTER'S YOUNGER SISTER) SEEMS TO ENJOY THE LIMELIGHT AT HER BROTHER'S EXPENSE.

THE PLAY ALSO CONTAINS THE SONG "ENTREATING," WRITTEN IN 1907 AND BASED ON GRACE'S LOVE LETTERS. THAT SONG IS PERFORMED BY THE CAST AT THE OPENING OF ACT 2. THE FOLK SONG, "THE BALLAD OF CHESTER AND GRACE," IS ALSO PERFORMED IN VARIOUS SPOTS DURING THE SHOW BY THE PLAY'S NARRATORS, KNOWN AS THE "THREE C'S," WHO ALSO FUNCTION AS MUSES IN VARIOUS SCENES. ALSO, LISTEN FOR THE SONG, "WON'T YOU COME HOME, BILL BAILEY?," WHICH IS KNOWN AS THE SONG THAT EARNED GRACE HER NICKNAME, "BILLY."

THE PLAY'S DIRECTOR, DAVID STRITMATER, WHO ALSO DIRECTED THE 1999 PRODUCTION, DID AN EXCELLENT JOB WITH THIS PRODUCTION. IT IS DEFINITELY WORTH THE PRICE OF ADMISSION. IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN TO ANY OF THE EVENTS OF THIS PAST SUMMER AND ARE INTERESTED IN THE STORY OF CHESTER AND GRACE, YOU MUST NOT MISS THIS SHOW.

THE NEXT PERFORMANCES OF CHESTER AND GRACE ARE SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9; FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10; AND SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11 AT 8 P.M. AT THE STABLES THEATER IN ILION.