Shifting Out of Show Biz for Body and Soul Betterment
Myriam Lopez was busy flying about doing creative direction for star-studded Showtime promotions when 20 Front St. went into hibernation in 2009 after the restaurant there folded. However, that life prepared Lopez well in several ways for transforming the old building, with its long-stilled clock jutting over the sidewalk at Front and Sussex Streets in Port Jervis. Just as Lopez gave photo shoot roles to such actors as Liza Minelli, Jeremy Irons and Matt LeBlanc, she has now recast 20 Front as Catskills Pilates for a role in honing people’s bodily tone, flexibility and awareness.
Lopez hones this new life after 20 years of directing fleeting roles in photo shoots, though she savored much about her Showtime work
“My favorite activities were ones leading to a big photo shoot--reading scripts and brainstorming advertising campaign ideas with the team of creatives I supervised, then, come shoot day, art directing the talent. Showtime produced shows all over, and we had to travel to sets in L.A, Chicago, London, Budapest, Dublin, Vancouver and Las Vegas regularly.”
But the pressure could be daunting on these often $250,000 shoots that had to generate images useful to the whole company, she said.
“The single most difficult challenge was directing method actors to smile or act for the still camera. I wish I had a penny for every time I was told by an executive producer to not ask such and such to smile again. Back in New York, if I didn’t get the gamut of smiles and moods in the pictures, my bosses would not be happy. Then the retouching began. There’s no end to human vanity, and making everyone look slim and 34 years old forever is a soul sucking endeavor.”
Meanwhile, the idea for the Pilates studio was seeded in a Brooklyn bar.
“A smart, beautiful Yale-educated woman told me about Pilates. She had a studio, Real Pilates, overlooking the Williamsburg Bridge. I would go there on my way home from the subway twice a week, and it made me stop and focus on my body, inside and out, slow controlled movements, versus go, go, go. My legs got toned, my back pain was gone, and I was developing six-pack abs,” said Lopez. “It was easy, not much sweat, and the classes were less than an hour. That was the dealmaker for me.”
Joseph Pilates designed the movement regime as a German prisoner of war during World War I to help rehabilitate the wounded, as he noticed that rest without activity left people weak.
“Pilates isn’t just for the young and svelte,” said Lopez. “It helps people move better despite their impairments. Change happens through movement, and movement heals.”
Lopez watched Brooklyn Pilates teachers develop large followings and decided to take the teacher training. She began working for one of those teachers, and then, at 50, decided that 20 years of working in the show biz realm was enough. She retired, aiming to focus on teaching Pilates.
“I’m 50. If I can do it, others can,” she said. “Dealing with all sorts of personalities, body types and egos during my Hollywood career became an incredible asset once I became a pilates teacher and eventually a studio owner. There’s no shortage of celebrities who depend on Pilates for more than just looking and feeling good; Pilates is their form of therapy when no one is watching.”
When Lopez bought 20 Front St. four years ago, she knew its stylish contours well, having dined there often. She had bought a home in Huguenot in 2005 to give her then infant daughter some rural time, as Lopez had grown up in Madrid, Spain, and spent summers with her grandmother in a nearby mountainside village.
When Covid-19 hit, she began teaching out of her Huguenot home, sometimes teaching her former Showtime boss and colleagues, even if just on Zoom. To be outdoors, she taught a class in Laurel Grove Cemetery on International Pilates day in May, when she opened her studio.
The pandemic helped her get a small business loan, allowing her to do the needed repairs and preparations on 20 Front. Now the upstairs rooms there are furnished with mats and a diversity of Pilates equipment amid leafy interior design. Lopez has designed sets for her new role, teaching daily classes on mats or springy equipment, like the classes that intrigued her, each under an hour.
Catskills Pilates: 20 Front St. For information, see Catskillspilates.com, email hello@catskillspilates.com or call 917-971-8380