So now what will I do?
For close to three months, the routines of my life have been delightfully interrupted by all things “Little Women.” But now they’ve left town for good. I feel like it’s the first day home from camp without my friends or I’m facing the laundry after two weeks in Aruba.
First there were the rumors: Columbia Pictures was “talking” to the town about filming scenes for “Little Women,” starring Meryl Streep, Emma Watson, and that girl and guy from the movie “Lady Bird.” Surprisingly, since I hardly ever go to the movies anymore and am a pop culture dropout, I had seen “Lady Bird,” so I felt kind of “with it.” And, of course, I know Meryl. But it seemed too exciting to be true. After all, “Nothing ever happens in Harvard,” right?
The rumors were supported by sightings of director Greta Gerwig in the General Store, and on Elm Street, my granddaughter Natalie interacted with Gerwig (whose face she had memorized from Google) and immediately texted her mother, “It is totally her and she petted our dog.” Stories got passed on of location scouts roaming the town “looking for houses.” For a long time, no one could say for sure it was happening, but just the possibility was exciting and gave a boost to my mostly mundane life.
Then construction started between the General Store and the Congregational Church. Nothing was “signed” yet but it seemed unlikely Columbia would be building a set they weren’t going to use. It was amazing to watch the set take shape—every day brought progress and each building took on a personality of its own. We heard the facades would be storefronts, but we didn’t know what kind until the signs went on the buildings one night and downtown Concord in the 1860s stood at the foot of the Common. Immediately, people had designs on the buildings when Columbia was done: an ice cream shop, affordable housing, an artist’s studio. Some hoped the structures could “just stay as they are.” But liability doomed all those visions.
During the set build, parking in the center was reduced—though never impossible—and it made sense for me to walk the short distance from my house to the center. (Parking aside, it makes sense for me to always walk.) So thanks to “Little Women” for getting me more exercise. Now I fear I will return to my slothful ways.
Harvard comes alive
The General Store was daily crowded with people coming to check out the site and the construction crew breaking for lunch. People ran into people they hadn’t seen in a while; one woman’s mother had come from California to see the set; and everyone was excited and friendly. All the talk was about the movie, even though nobody really knew anything.
Another positive sign was when Columbia did two days of filming at Fruitlands. The 1794 Shaker office building, moved to Fruitlands in 1919 to become the first Shaker museum in the country, was turned into the house Meg and John lived in after their marriage. The building remained closed for the rest of the Fruitlands season, so visitors were told about the filming and it was an endless topic of conversation among interpreters and guests. Working in the Fruitlands farmhouse where Louisa May Alcott lived for seven months as a 10-turning-11-year-old, I thought a lot about how perfect it was that scenes for “Little Women” were being filmed here in the same town where Alcott had been shaped by experiences she would later use in her book.
Finally, the day of the first filming in the center arrived. A contract had been signed, but by now that was anticlimactic. It was a beautiful crisp, sunny day, and the trees on the Common were aflame. I was surprised there was no heavy security, just our friendly town officers, and that I could go right up and stand on the east side of Ayer Road. The group gathered there was full of anticipation, and people shared the hype with both friends and strangers. That day filming was mostly background shots, with lots of extras in hooped skirts and top hats milling about in front of the stores. During the milling, my older daughter came face to face with Laura Dern, who, we later heard, had bought four pairs of mittens at the General Store.
A gloomy second day
The second day they filmed was a gloomy, chilly one, but things were made brighter by the snow around the Unitarian Universalist Church and the top of Elm Street, where snowmakers began rolling at 2:30 a.m. My daughter caught the early-morning filming of the little women on the Common. From her house on Elm Street she was “this far from Emma Watson out my window.”
At mid-morning, filming was at the bottom of the Common and once again a group of townspeople watched from Ayer Road. Crews were putting fresh snow on “Main Street.” It spewed out of giant hoses as a CAT machine reloaded from a new pile of “snow” delivered by a giant refrigeration truck. Horses with their carriages waited patiently on the Common; extras grouped here and there in front of the stores; and there were crew people everywhere. Looking at all the equipment, vehicles, and workers, I understood why a movie is called a “production.” It was impossible to know who was in charge, even though it looked as though everyone was on a mission. Each of the main actresses had a young woman assigned to hold an umbrella over her as she went back and forth. Someone commented that the girls had a breakfast of specially made chocolate croissants in the General Store. A man in a white jumpsuit whom the crowd had taken to calling “astroman” came over to tell us we had to be perfectly quiet when they said, “Rolling.”
When we heard the word, we behaved like dutiful children as we watched the four little women walk past the Congregational Church and across the storefronts. We had a pretty good view and heard them say goodbye to each other as they split into pairs. By the fourth “rolling” my feet and hands were numb and I headed home.
‘The Perils of Vanity’
There was one more outside shoot that evening—the little women and extras coming out of Concord Town Hall after attending “The Perils of Vanity” on the upper floor. Three cranes shone “moonlight” onto the snow-covered parking area. Again, lots of preparation and standing around. It was really sinking in that being a Hollywood actress has its downsides, and I was glad I had never run away “to be in pictures” as had been the dream, of many a girl growing up in the ’50s.
As I had so often during the past few months, I thought how proud I was that Columbia scouts had chosen Harvard as a location for filming. I know they used sites in many other places in and around Boston, but I like to think they enjoyed coming here to a more rural area, a great general store, and a friendly town center. With a large Common ideally located, lined with historical buildings and bounded by two impressive church buildings, it is truly a beautiful town. We didn’t need Hollywood to tell us that, but I for one am glad they did.
But now what?
