It’s a twofer for me today on the NY Times website. I produced two pieces, with the help of other colleagues, and they are on polar opposite subjects. But they both have happy endings.
First, a short documentary about an Iraqi man named Uday, who was shot by insurgents in May 2003 while working with the American troops as a translator in Baghdad.
Along the way he met a woman who took on his cause and found a collection of angels — doctors and lawyers — who were eager to help him. Plastic surgeons and hospitals worked for free to repair Uday’s face, shattered by an insurgent’s bullet, and lawyers sought to secure asylum in America for him and his family.
The second piece — produced with Archie Tse and Amedeo Tumolillo — takes the viewer backstage at the 2000th performance of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker at the New York City Ballet. We hung out with the child performers as they changed costumes for the second act, and spoke with principal dancer Wendy Whelan, who performed the Sugar Plum Fairy pas de deux.
I liked how the Sugar Plum Fairy was such a down-to-earth gal in real life. I half expected her to start wisecracking.
I think of Ballet as a form of surrealism. My mind says they can’t be real people and do thosse moves, but I recognize that they really are people albeit very tallented and steadfast in their practice to perfection.
Dad