How ‘A Complete Unknown’ Brings Bob Dylan’s 1960s New York Back to Life
The Ritz Theater in Jersey City, meanwhile, was a two-for-one. “We had two sets of curtains and two sets of flooring and two sets of dressings in the wings,” Audouy says. First the space became Town Hall, where, in one memorable scene set in 1963, Dylan sings the classic “Blowin’ in the Wind.” (The actual performance would be included in Dylan’s Live at Town Hall album.) Audouy also designed the interior space to look like the famed Carnegie Hall, relying on 3D scans of the famed venue on 57th Street in NYC to enhance some of the longer angles.
But when it came to Columbia Records’ Studio A, the designer aimed for 100% accuracy. “It’s hallowed ground with a really cool history,” Audouy notes. (Indeed, Dylan, Johnny Cash, Simon & Garfunkel, Patsy Cline, and Loretta Lynn all recorded on the premises.) He sifted through 400 vintage photographs of the studio—some of which were provided by Dylan’s manager, Jeff Rosen (a producer on the movie)—to painstakingly make a forensic replica on a soundstage. Even the period-appropriate mic stands were perfectly arranged in the correct herringbone pattern against the wall. “It’s a wonderful contrast to MacDougal Street because this company was super-establishment,” Mangold says. “Dylan shows up at age 19 in his dirty jeans and long fingernails and beat-up guitar and finds himself playing in this space that’s the bastion of mainstream American music.”
