It's not Westminster Abbey, but the ornate lobby of the Loew's Jersey theater in Jersey City was a suitable stand-in for a sanctuary yesterday as international superstar Elton John and a crew of dozens used it to shoot the singer's latest video.
The theater, which closed in 1986 but has been undergoing restoration by a volunteer group for the last three years, was chosen by John's video director because its baroque style, heavy tapestries and elaborate wall sconces reminded him of a church -- the only appropriate setting for a song called Recover Your Soul.
John's huge grand piano was placed in the center of the lobby, under the gleaming gold-leaf ceiling, marble columns and huge chandelier, ...
Of course, John, whose tribute to Princess Diana, Candle in the Wind 1997, is now the biggest-selling single of all time, could have his choice of any location on Earth. What brought him to Jersey City was the vision of video director Marcus Nispel, who scouted churches in Harlem and the Bronx, but found at the Loew's Jersey the elegiac feel he was looking for. ...
While John didn't speak to reporters, it was plain that he, too, appreciated the sumptuous setting. During a short break while some lights were moved, he was overheard saying, "This is fantastic. It's great that they're restoring it."
John, wearing plain black-framed glasses and an almost-clerical, double-breasted black jacket, with a velvet collar, did make a point of saying hello to the cast of 17 angels. He also signed some autographs for some of the police officers working the Journal Square beat. ...
Guess the speculation of what the next single is is over. Only wish Elton was playing the NY/NJ area (please...)
Roberta Salierno "Boston at last and the plane's touching down..."
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