"The Real Paul Bunyan" Film Documentary Set for Release This Summer
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Loggers tussle in the Opera Omaha production of Paul Bunyan last fall.
Who ever said Paul Bunyan was a has been?
Statues of the giant lumberjack are being refurbished in Ossineke, Michigan, and Blind River, Ontario.
A film documentary is slated for release this summer.
And the internationally acclaimed Paul Bunyan comic musical operetta continues to play to sophisticated audiences around the world.
In Bay City, reputed home of the "model" for Paul, one Fabian Joseph Fournier, is featured in a life-size photo on the wall of the Kingfish Restaurant, just steps from where the famed brawler was murdered in 1875.
"Every day somebody from out of town asks about this guy in the big photo," said Greg Kimbrue, co-owner of the Kingfish.
"We explain that the legend of Paul Bunyan most probably started right next door at the Water Street ferry dock where the killing occurred. This is a famous character that Bay City people need to know more about."
"The Real Paul Bunyan" is a new documentary about America's most fascinating mythical lumberjack.
"From Maine to Minnesota, and on the the Pacific Northwest, this movie tracks the migration of a national folk hero," says film producer-director Daniel Taradash, of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He adds: "Filming, as well as editing, are nearly complete. Color and sound corrections will be done this summer. The final film should be ready for viewing in late summer of 2006."
One of the numerous locations featured in the film is, of course, Bay City, home of Fournier and ostensible birthplace of the Paul Bunyan legend.
Taradash, a Minneapolis native and film program graduate of Minneapolis Community Theatre Company, was in Bay City two years ago to conduct interviews and do on location shooting in Veterans Park and along the riverfront.
The film will be about 75 minutes and will include about 30 interviews from seven states and the Canadian province of Ontario, with plenty of supplemental photos and footage.
Public promotion of the film begins early this morning on WCCO Radio, Minneapolis, a 50,000 watt clear channel station at a.m. 830 heard across the nation. The audio can be accessed at http://www.wccoradio.com
Raves about the operetta came after its two latest performances, last fall in Central City, Colorado, and Omaha, Nebraska.
In Omaha, Fr. John Schlegel, S.J.,Creighton University President, portrayed the legendary Paul Bunyan in this colorful production that includes a cast of singing trees, wild geese, cowboy cooks, Swedish loggers, cats on roller blades, a tap dancing Western Union boy, a blues quartet, a Country and Western balladeer, a chorus of lumberjacks, farmers and frontier women and Paul's daughter, "Tiny."
Reviewers commented: "Written as an ode to America, Paul Bunyan allegorically follows the growth of the country from virgin forest to settlement and cultivation, and leaves us with a touching message.
"This internationally praised production from Glimmerglass Opera and New York City Opera was broadcast nationally on Live From Lincoln Center—and conducted by Stewart Robertson—when it was first produced.
"Singing its praises, Time Magazine critic wrote, "Move over, Oklahoma!" Paul Bunyan is a full length operetta ideal for children 11 years and older and is a work widely embraced largely by adult audiences.###
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