Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1433736
Moondance Diner and Duarte Square The Moondance Diner was a downtown mainstay frequented by artists and other creative types nestled at the corner of th Avenue and Grand just north of Canal. For most of the '80s and early '90s, a massive and striking mural by the artist Stefano Castronovo loomed above it, painted on the wall of a neighboring building. In 2007, the archetypal train car diner with its rotating crescent moon and shimmering silver sign was sold and transported to Wyoming for a short-lived second act as an eatery servicing the gas-drilling industry. In its place currently stands the former James Hotel, a tall modern building that transformed the skyline. Although we did take a brief survey of NY diners still in service, we never truly considered using any of them. The Moondance was too iconic and Jonathan's history with it was too entwined for us to settle for a generic stand-in. Additionally, it would be the setting of unday, the centerpiece musical number of the fi lm, which reuired a set that we could control and manipulate as needed. The fi rst move in resurrecting the bygone landmark was to establish its place in Jonathan's geographic orbit. Since much of tick, tick…BOOM! takes place indoors in apartments, theatres, and rehearsal halls, the production felt it was important to make sure that the few exterior locations we did feature really hammered home not only what New York was like in 1990, but also how Jon navigated through it. Thus we moved a REMOVE EXISTING PLANTERS VFX PAINT OUT CROSS WALKS GRAND STREET GRAND STREET OFF CAMERA OFF CAMERA DUARTE STATUE JON RIDES BIKE TENT VILLAGE 6TH AVENUE SULLIVAN ST PLYWOOD WALL W/ POSTERS BY ART DEPT RELEASED 3.6.2020 MOONDANCE DINER P E R I O D C A R S P E R I O D C A R S P E R I O D C A R S P E R I O D C A R S P E R I O D C A R S G R E E N S C R E E N B Y R I G G I N G G R I P S PLYWOOD WALL W/ POSTERS BY ART DEPT Director: Lin Manuel Miranda Production Designer: Alex DiGerlando Alex DiGerlando Alex SET NAME DRAWING NAME LOCATION SET NO DRAWING NO DATE SHOOT SCALE DRAWN BY LOAD APPROVALS EXT DUARTE SQ 3.6.2020 J. MOSCA NTS 108 1 TENT VILLAGE DRESSING PLAN 6TH AVE @ GRAND ST, MANHATTAN 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 10 12 6 18 15 TRASH CAN 8 16 1 2 14 9 3 13 4 17 5 11 7 9 8 7 6 5 3 2 1 4 11 scene of him biking through Thompson Square Park in the East Village (originally scripted as a nod to the setting of Rent) to Duarte Square, a tiny triangular sliver of public space directly across 6th Avenue from the Moondance. Fortunately, with the exception of the James, most of the surrounding buildings on Grand Street had not changed all too much, which would help the visual e ects team insert the replica of the diner built on stage into its native habitat. To further assist them, the grips installed a massive green screen wall in front of the hotel and the Art Department marked I. MOONDANCE DINER STAGE SET. DRAFTED BY HAND AND MODELED BY JEFFREY D. MCDONALD. J. MOONDANCE DINER STAGE SET. SET PHOTO. F H G I J