Holly Hunter takes a turn as captain of the tug Le Cheval Rouge, while Giovanni Ribisi takes a picture.

Photo by Hillery Lesh, a member of the Skagway "kidarrazi"

The stars are out in Skagway

Townspeople make room, mingle for movie

By ANDREW CREMATA

Hollywood has invaded Skagway and nobody seems to mind.
The arrival of the cast and crew of the film “The Big White” has brought a high profile end to the doldrums of the winter season and town locals have embraced the tinsel-town contingent with open arms.
For the last couple of winters, Friday night at the Skagway Pizza Station has been “Celebrity Bartender Night.” The celebrities have been a host of different locals who act as bartender that otherwise have little to do with the food service industry. Pizza Station owner Beth Winslow was thrilled to have a real celebrity spend some time at the establishment.
“Robin Williams was unbelievably nice,” she says, “He signed autographs, he sat down at another table with some fans and talked with them. He even heckled one of our regulars. Alison Lohman has also been in here and she is a sweetheart. She even went to WAGs with us.”
WAGs, also known as Women’s All Girls session, is a popular event with local women in the winter months.
Winslow has seen a sudden increase in business, one that typically doesn’t happen until the summer season is under way. “The crew has been great for business and they are fun and friendly.”
As for having a bona fide Hollywood star for celebrity bartender, Winslow relates, “I would love to have one of them as a celebrity bartender, but no one has volunteered yet.”
The Haven Cafe has been a popular hangout for the production crew before heading up the pass to shoot the movie. Cafe owner Susan Jabal talks about her brush with fame, “Holly Hunter came in and introduced herself. She said, ‘Hi, I’m Holly.’ It was a little embarrassing because the soundtrack for ‘The Piano’ happened to be playing.”
Hunter won an Oscar for her role in the movie.
Jabal continues, “They are all just regular people. Robin Williams is always cracking jokes. Everyone is so excited to see them, but we’ve tried to give them their space, and keep it a haven for them, same as it is for the locals.”
Jabal was caught a little off guard by the sudden increase in business. “It has been a huge boom for our business, a little more than expected. We have run short on a few things.”
The Red Onion Saloon opened early this year for the film crew. They have been providing food and drink, oftentimes late into the night only after the shooting for the day is done.
“The cast and crew have been extremely gracious,” says saloon owner Jan Wrentmore, “and we love having them here.”
Movie Producer Chris Eberts, also the C.E.O. of the company making the movie, Ascendant Productions, has nothing but praise for the restaurants and bars in town. Between takes on the movie set he says, “The Haven has been our home away from home. The Red Onion had been absolutely great as has been the Pizza Station. They have a great slice of pizza.”
Joanne Korsmo spent a day with celebrity as she and her husband Mike took some of the actors on a tugboat tour for Mike’s birthday.
Korsmo tells the story, “The Packer Expedition guys have been the celebrities’ ambassadors of fun. Kip (Wheeler), Cory (Thole) and Ken Graham took them snowshoeing. Kip called and asked if we could go out on the tug. On the boat we had Holly Hunter, Alison Lohman, Giovanni Ribisi, Tim (Blake Nelson), and W. Earl Brown. We had a group of children who were so excited they were able to get some photos. Holly even steered the boat.”

Alison Lohman hangs with Nola Cole on the tug boat.

Photo by Teslyn Korsmo

“That night Earl Brown came over, ate dinner and watched “Deadwood” on TV with us and then we sat around the fire and he sang songs.”
Brown is the star of the new HBO series and has even written a song about the Red Onion “ghost” since he’s been in town.
Eileen and Dan Henry, owners of the Skagway Fish Company, made bicycles available to the crew during their stay. Many have got their first glimpse of a celebrity passing by on a bike and have kept their cameras at the ready in the hopes of getting a snapshot with one of them.
“Look at this!” says Elizabeth Burnham to a group of onlookers, proudly displaying a photo of herself with actor Woody Harrelson.
Joanne Arnold, who bartends at Moe’s Frontier Bar, thought she simply had a really nice, unfamiliar customer at the bar. She relates, “This customer was just wonderful. She had a hat on and I didn’t recognize her. She was just like one of the regular crowd, talking to everyone, then I found out it was Holly Hunter.”
What are the chances of Skagway becoming a regular hotspot for Hollywood movie moguls?
Tourism Director Buckwheat Donahue says, “I’ve had conversations with Jim (Glennon) who is part of the site location group. (Glennon is also the Director of Photography) He wants to buy something out here. Other people who are department heads with the movie like the place. Nobody is making promises, and our role in Skagway would be support, not casting.”

Glennon, with fedora hat, sends workers scurrying for the next shot.

Photo by Chris H-B, courtesy of The Big White

Glennon seems to be enjoying his time in Skagway. The fedora clad DP as he is called, raves about the town, “More film crews should work from Skagway. The people are film friendly – I would love to buy the Ice House and use it in a movie.”
What is it like to be a celebrity in Skagway?
Donahue explains, “The first few days, packs of children were following Robin Williams around. He has always been very kind. Half of the kids in town have met him. Holly Hunter has been professional and friendly. Everybody in Skagway has been pretty cool, they love having the film crew here, and for the most part nobody has given them a hard time.”
It may be time to start considering a walk of fame down Broadway. Until that time Skagway continues to enjoy its high profile guests.
Donahue sums it up, “It’s been a lot of fun. They have been good to Skagway and Skagway has been good to them.”
The crew was scheduled to move on to Whitehorse today for a few days, and then on down to Winnipeg to finish up shooting.

UPDATE: Some real winter weather slowed the crew down over the weekend, and they were due to wrap on the pass by mid-week.

"The Big White" publicist Michael Umble (rain coat) and Skagway Production Coordinator Tim Gould catch up on work on their computers at production headquarters in A.B. Hall, where a big TV was set up for the directors to watch the "dailies" after each day's shooting. JB