James Carroll

Masters Travel Scholarship to the United States 2012

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Northport, Long Island I began my trip on the rst day of August with a brief stay with family on Long Island in the tiny, charming village of Northport. The place would feel like an English seaside town were it not for the extraordinarily good weather, oversized brunches (mainly at Tims Shipwreck Diner souvenir mugs $7) and the standard-issue 4x4s. The local favourites are New England Clam Chowder and Soft Shell Crab. (Im able to remember most of my trip by the food served up in different places, all of it supersize.) The main Northport landmarks are the two red-and-white striped stacks of the Long Island Power Company and the Vanderbilt Museum across from Cow Harbour, giving the impression of an unusually upmarket Pokmon town. A lethal combination of the regional musical I Love You, Youre Perfect, Now Change and one mouthful the local ice cream parlours Custard Cluster (with Oreos) meant a good rst nights sleep. * * *

Northports nest souvenir from breakfast at Tims. * The drive to New Jersey The next day began with a run around Steers Avenue and the beach near the house. After being in Delhi for almost a month, this felt like toytown with neat lawns, swept streets and pristine wooden houses. Breakfast was at The Shipwreck (where else Eggs Benedict with Corned Beef hash and an endless supply of coffee meant no further food until dinner).
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The beginning of the drive to New Jersey was spent struggling to get an AM signal for the trafc news every ten minutes on the 8s on one station, on the 1s on another. The conversation revolved around politics and a new drama on television, Political Animals, loosely based on Hilary Clintons image as a Secretary of State ready to challenge the President. The Americans in the car made the point that there is a difference in attitude between egalitarian America and some older European countries with the tradition of the nobility caring for the lower classes. This fed into a discussion of immigration which apparently boils down to higher taxes, crime and the general erosion of law. Heavy topics but clearly very important during election season. Light relief was provided by stories of attending a New Jersey Dominican convent school (St. Catherines) where a nuns reaction to the discovery of cuss words in the toilets was to set a homework assignment to dene them. (The supporting cast included a teacher who uncontrollably drooled and a wacky nun whod been placed there to overcome a nervous breakdown, though she still played I can see clearly now the rain has gone on repeat.) In eighth grade at this convent school, there was a note passed which said that Lillian (a classmate) was pregnant because she had slept in the same room as a boy. Lillian had to spend some time with the nurse, and the other nuns helpfully explained exactly what that meant she was full of life, pregnant with promise. This conversation led back to politics and the importance of being liberal , just not quite like Obama. I think this car ride was the best preparation for the election-based discussions I would have across the East Coast for the next month. * The Garden State In the greenery of Far Hills, New Jersey (deer in the garden, bears in the woods), I stayed with a family who own three dogs Bartholomew, Seamus and Molly. I was reminded to wrap food to stop bears snifng it out. Memorable food inclued the reddest salmon I have seen with a brown sugar and garlic rub, cooked outdoors on a plank of soaked cedar wood. They also loved corn in this house (of the local yellow-and-white variety) and even had specic, spiky instruments for each end so you can lift up the cob without buttering your hands. I apologise for the lengthy descriptions of food, but I wouldnt be doing justice to the trip or American culture otherwise. Dinner was followed by a trip to Taylors in Chester for Rocky Road and Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream. A couple of runners were perched outside eating a huge cone each as a reward only in America. Like every shop or customer service desk I had encountered so far, there was huge friendliness from the servers who seemed genuinely interested in where I was from and what I was doing there. * *

My own run the next morning was short lived. It was so humid that even the early-morning gardeners were taking a break. Dogs put out for the night had for once stopped barking at rabbits at every turn. I nearly collapsed when faced with stepping over the green-bagged Star Ledger newspaper to get up the drive-way. * * *

The view from New Yorks new Skyway walkway which sprawls across Lower Manhattan. * New York, New York After dining on Lobster Palooza in New Jersey (outside, in a thunderstorm), it was time to hit New York. Ive been to New York only once before it seems exciting and intimidating in equal measure, until you peel back the curtain and discover that its as friendly as any other US city, just busier. Caf owners will happily let you sit with nothing but tap water and write all day long, transport workers will make sure you know where youre getting off when they check your ticket, and waiters will give an elevator pitch of the screenplay theyre working on before asking for feedback and questioning you for just as long. Though you can see why people get the wrong impression. The rst thing I heard in the car to Gladstone train station in New Jersey was an advert that went something like this: Now... you can safely leave your baby anonymously at a NY re station. No secret is worth a life. With a music box underscore and smooth voiceover, it was pretty creepy. * *

In the City, I met Ruth Somalo, a Spanish documentary lmmaker married to an Irish music executive, living in New York and waiting for her green card. (Ive since seen her in London they both passed the rigorous interviews.) She talked about the importance of emotional intelligence on a lm set to keep everyone happy, the need to sometimes look like youre leading from behind, how to fundraise as a freelancer, and the importance of not undervaluing your own work when it comes to the all-important invoices. I met Ruth in 2009 while she was lming rehearsals of a musical with Youth Music Theatre:UK. Three years on, shes still waiting to get her nal shots from its West End opening, make a nal, nal, nal cut, and nd a distributor. She talked about balancing projects across the world (a street-sweeping documentary in Rio de Janeiro, a music video in New York). It was great to learn that the practical, logistical side of the job is often 95% of the battle, providing shes got a good idea to shoot. After Ruth, I met Gary McAvay, the President of Columbia Artists Theatricals, the leading North American tourer of Broadway shows. He spoke about the need for preparation, agreed aims between parties, and complete certainty of vision before a project begins, otherwise its doomed to lose money. Broadway and American theatre is working within very marginal, tight nancial boxes more than ever before (and hes been in the business long enough to know). Gary has been at Columbia his whole life. Im not sure I could make a living out of scaling down Broadway shows and taking them out to the sticks, maintaining relationships with presenters across America and keeping artistic and commercial reputations of works intact. Most presenters can be seen when they visit Broadway, but Gary still travels 20% of the time. We had a great discussion about the strategy of saving money where you can and spending it where its needed most. A national tour is usually $2-3million and 30 weeks long. The presenters in the regions are in charge of tting the show to their audience, but he must give them tools to do so. Sometimes this means suggesting PR strategies like bible belt presenters writing to subscribers to say that they can have their money back if their unused ticket to Book of Mormon is sold. Core audience gures and lists of subscribers means guaranteed sales are known for each market, and the number-crunching seems more to do with past ticket sales than audience demographics. For a pre-Broadway tour of Jekyll and Hyde (before it opens in NYC in Spring 2013), Columbia has asked each presenter to gross $1million. Gary said the advantage of his work is being able to produce multiple projects at once, something he couldnt do if he focused solely on bringing a show to Broadway (though this does limit him to commercial, branded shows most of the time). He spoke about the backwards marketing attitude of Broadway, how producers dont put social media use, and presenters still suggest yers and posters as the core marketing spend (even without a big budget).

We talked about Spidermans ability to get past the reviews with guaranteed funding and destination show status. Broadway has a huge tourist market, so its often difcult to work out what type of audience is sustaining a show. As a starting point, Garys advice was to commit to a good internship as a platform for more experience he optimistically said that the theatre industry is due a small expansion, but nding experience will always be tough. I nished the day meeting with a friend whos working at a talent agency, then hopped on the 21.32 train home from Penn to Newark Broad Street and Gladstone, New Jersey at 23.30. * * *

With Democratic State Representative Chris Walsh in his State House ofce in Boston. * Boston, Massachusetts I travelled to Boston Logan International on Wednesday 8th August to stay with family friends. For a big city, Boston has a real sense of small-town history. The Freedom Trail walking tour (with iPhone app guide) is denitely worthwhile. I had a good time wandering around the more modern sights too at Quincey Market, saw a chess grandmaster battling 20 people at a roundtable in South Station, and even witnessed an American citizenship ceremony outside the town hall. I also made it to Cape Cod to ride bikes, run on the beach and swim... and see Paul Ryan picked as Mitt Romneys VP nominee.
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The most interesting thing in Boston was meeting State Representative Chris Walsh. He invited me to his ofce in Framingham and drove me into town to chat with his staff and have a tour of the State House (with Mitt Romneys portrait still hanging in the Governors ofce of Democrat Deval Patrick). Chris reckons hes more representative of the people than most Reps because Framingham isnt a city and still has town government his is an end of life job. Hes not risen up through the political ranks but remains a member of the community. He evens plans to take on work again as an architect to make ends meet after being reelected (which happened on Nov 6 this year). There are 40,000 people in his district, so polls arent important he can get round a large chunk on foot. The State House was essentially the Oxford Union with better decoration, and Room 39 (Chriss ofce) was a little like Veep, 2012 or The Thick of It with less cussing. Chris hadnt stepped through the door before he was interrupted by Julie the intern and asked to nd more envelopes for mailouts. Credit where credit is due, by the time Id returned from having a look round, envelopes had indeed arrived. Chris has to rely largely on local loyalty. He has a campaign manager whos not around that often, one aide who managed his previous campaign, and occasional interns or volunteers that reach 30 to 40 in number on election day. It was a fascinating insight into local politics and how the national race affects voters in smaller races. I caught one the free tours administered by volunteers, snapped some photos with Chris (carefully positioned in front of a bookcase rather than ofce cubicles), left the State House and visited Emerson College (famed for its media courses) before heading home. * * *

An Old Members cat disturbs my late-night preparation for a day at the Washington Post.
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Washington, D.C. My arrival in D.C. on 15th August involved turning up at an Old Members house in Maryland while they will still on holiday and helping myself to a beer from the fridge in the garage. (The suggested course of action by Old Member Bob Corker, never fear.) After settling in and welcoming my hosts home, I headed into D.C. to buy the cheapest pair of trainers I could nd at Macys (mine had been ruined by New York), which turned out to be a ash Nike pair on discount. An exciting, if practical start. Id emailed ahead to Frances and Tim Sellers, both Old Members, and theyd invited me for drinks at their house on Capitol Hill the following day. On the way, I bumped into another lost Brit and jointly apologised to an American that we couldnt give them directions, went our separate ways, only to be reunited for drinks. It turns out that James Ball was working at The Washington Post (where Frances is the Arts Editor) on an exchange programme from The Guardian. Not only had we met briey in the streets of Capitol Hill, but we eventually realised wed met in London too at The Guardian Open Weekend. To complete the anecdote, James turned out to be a product of Oxford. Sitting on the rooftop while the sun set over the Capitol (with its white dome and the sprawling mall in full view), the four of us saw three military helicopters shufing around in a holding pattern over the mountains behind. Eventually, one of the helicopters broke formation, swooped down low and shot at full speed down the river towards the White House, zooming just a few metres above the water. Welcome back from your fundraiser, President Obama. In between making last minute corrections to the paper on her Blackberry, Frances kindly invited me to spend the following day at the Post. James offered to shepherd me around the ofce too and to take me for lunch at Obamas favourite restaurant (the Lincoln) he was hugely insightful about the differences between US and UK journalism, and his personal experience of both. Apparently, the challenge for the reporter on this scholarship is to make it aboard Air Force One. Im not sure hes managed it just yet, but he did have the excitement of working in an American newsroom on election day. Friday 17th August at the Post was spent shadowing Frances in editorial meetings (setting the agenda at the beginning of the day, monitoring the competition, commissioning stories, editing work coming in and nally putting together the paper in the evening, all while keeping on top of the web). I was lucky to be given draft stories to read and asked to suggest changes, and completely terried when Frances pointed out in the nal meeting that I thought one lead story was currently quite confused. I was surprised when the comment was met with careful thought, I was asked to explain more, and the article was revised before being printed. There were no political squabbles only meticulous consideration about whether the stories were correct and important, and laughter about whether a dinosaur really had been found nearby (that made it onto the front page).
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Elsewhere in Washington, I met Univite Oliver Cox and his other fellows at the Library of Congress, and attended a talk on immigration at the Center for American Progress, a Democratic think tank. The process at the latter was breathtakingly supercial, with only the rst three sheets of the report printed off for journalists and policy makers in the audience. But it was interesting to see another arena where political opinions are supported by conveniently manufactured facts something with which the campaigns and election media have become obsessed. I managed to catch some baseball, watching the Nationals play the Atlanta Braves, the most important parts of which were the pre-game drink in The Bull Pen (a sprawling outdoor bar made of shipping crates) and sampling Bens Chilli Dog once inside. As seems to be tradition, we all left early, unsure of the result. The Newseum is denitely worth a visit if youre interested in the media, and a few days can be spent simply locating all of the free museums on the Mall, some of which are better than others the Indian American museum has incredible food, but largely unexplained exhibits. Before I left Washington, I sampled a local fair (think Demolition Derby, cattle auctioning and country-style Fair Idol a hoot) and had a few beers with Oliver and James in Tunnicliffs Tavern (highly recommended). My very last visit was to a government ofcial with a fascinating career I could never handle. I feel very privileged to have been put in touch with her, and thankful for her candid conversation. I found her after a friend of one of my hosts suggested we meet. That level of kindness was replicated throughout my trip. I visited Arlington cemetery on my way to the airport before leaving Washington with an incredible view of the Pentagon and D.C.s landmarks bathed in golden light. Next stop, the windy city. * Chicago, Illinois Wednesday 22nd August was my rst day in Chicago. I stayed with two incredibly accommodating hosts in Lincoln Park, Serge (OM) and Erica Ozbek, and fell in love with their two cats and colour-coded bookshelves. Another Old Member, Jack Hurst, invited me for dinner with his wife Nancy and was very keen to nd out the latest varsity table tennis and bridge results, sports he played when Univ was men-only (we lost the table tennis, won bridge). Serge was great to chat to about his work in a big advertising agency. I managed to do a bit of research about the Chicago media, but spent most of my time taking in Chicagos art galleries, cruising the river on a guided architectural tour, wandering by the Lakeside or reading about brutal Chicago politics by the Bean in Millennium Park. By chance, an old friend from home was in town so we queued for ticket to Second Citys Late Show, a live comedy show and the breeding ground for network comedians, some of
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Saturday Night Live fame. A drink at Old Town Ale House (an Obama haunt, with pictures to prove it) is mandatory beforehand. The Chicago food of choice was Lou Malnatis deep dish pizza and the most important culinary fact I learned was that Americas famous girl scout cookies are not actually made by girl scouts theyre mass manufactured, you just cant buy them in shops. After a relaxing trip up until that bombshell, it was back to New York for the nal leg of my tour. * * *

Watching the football with family in New Jersey. * Return to New York and New Jersey On 28th August the approach to LaGuardia was terrifying swooping down in a spiral above seemingly endless water, only to nd land at the last moment before the plane straightened out and the wheels touched down. But it was probably worth it for the cheaper airfare. I stayed with family again in New Jersey and this time managed to catch an American Football game, the Giants versus the New England Patriots. It was a pre-season game so the play was not up to much, but it was fascinating to see the incredible production values
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of American sport, with huge buckets of fried goods, giant sodas, theatrical smoke, banners, reworks, and even a man wearing headphones and huge orange gloves who signals to tell the referee when the television networks are back from commercial and the game can resume. Mind-boggling. On 30th August, I went to the City to meet Adam Silberman of Stage Entertainment USA, Producer of Spiderman on Broadway, previously of Baz Luhrmanns lm outt including work on Moulin Rouge and La Boheme. Needless to say, I was a little nervous. It was a good job that Adam turned out to be one my most generous hosts, setting aside over an hour to sit and chat about working in the business side of creative industries. Adam worked for Cameron Mackintosh in Australia and London, and now describes Stage Entertainment as a start-up trying to grow its portfolio. Happy to be a suit accepted into the industry, he said he feels lucky to have worked for Mackintosh at the right time and to have been recommended for seemingly too big to fail projects like Spiderman. My nal meeting was with Charlotte Wilcox (of Charlotte Wilcox Company), a Broadway general manager who looks after the logistics of multiple shows. Both Adam and Charlotte gave invaluable insights and promised advice in future. After a few more days in New Jersey, it was back on the plane to Heathrow, and an American adventure over. It was a whirlwind. Exciting, eye-opening, informative and completely tiring. Thank you to everyone who made it possible. I could not be more humbled by the generosity I received. I hope I have made some rm friends and would like to think I have learned a lot about those United States.

James Carroll November 2012

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