Renowned Documentarian Joins Doctor Atomic

The filmmaker Jon Else has joined the Doctor Atomic rehearsal ranks, bringing with him his observant camera and trusted team: Bonni Cohen, producer; John Haptas, location sound mixer; and Jigar Mehta, camera assistant. Some of you may have met Else and Haptas during the production of Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle, filmed in 1990 and released in 1998.

John's films include Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature;Yosemite: The Fate of Heaven, and "A Job at Ford's," from the PBS series The Great Depression. More to the point, his film The Day after Trinity: J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb has a direct connection to the world-premiere opera Doctor Atomic, by John Adams and Peter Sellars. Jon Else gave Peter Sellars access to unused interviews with scientists such as Robert Wilson, Hans Bethe, and Oppie's brother, Frank Oppenheimer, and the material became an inspiration for, if not part of, the libretto.

On a safety note, both Else and Haptas became certified fire fighters before filming the NOVA special “Fire Story.” If rumor is correct, and welding equipment becomes part of the Atomic experience, we’ll feel a little more secure having them around.

Thanks, guys.

Lynn (Dope WAC) Meinhardt