Little dirt, lots of gloss in Juilliard profile

In 1987, Juilliard music school alum Judith Kogan wrote an unflattering book about her alma mater, describing it as a place of crazy-making pressures and intense rivalries not only among students, but also among teachers. “American Masters: Juilliard” (on PBS tonight) may not be the school’s official response, but it might as well be.

Producer and director Maro Chermayeff has created a two-hour profile that stops just short of being a glossy marketing tool, as if Juilliard needed it. Yes, it’s a tough school, the film asserts, but that’s what it takes to make it the country’s greatest conservatory.

Look at the graduates. A short list would include actors Robin Williams and Kevin Spacey, sopranos Renee Fleming and Leontyne Price, violinists Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, pianist Van Cliburn, conductor James Levine, composers Philip Glass and John Williams.

Even former “ER” star Eriq La Salle, who got booted out after two years, vouches for it. “If I had to do it again,” he says, “I’d do the exact same thing. It’s a hell of a training.”

The documentary shows some of that training by focusing on four students: dancer Abdur-Rahim Jackson, soprano Sarah Wolfson, pianist Elizabeth Morgan and actor Jeffrey Carlson. These scenes are not always illuminating, however.

We also see the nerve-racking audition process, some backstage judging, footage from the archives and lots of talking-head testimonials. Chermayeff’s reach is broad but not deep.

The most stunning archival footage shows modern dancer and choreographer Anna Sokolow commanding her students to give “more! More! More!” Says one graduate, “Everything is easy after Anna Sokolow.”

The most arresting modern footage shows dancer Jackson rehearsing in the studio. Jackson, who went on to graduate and join the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, also puts a human face on the process.

Says one of his teachers: “There are people who don’t make it through Juilliard, and Abdul is on the line.” Abdul responds by saying that he doesn’t always feel like dancing, and the tug of war goes on.

Other controversies surface but mostly in the second hour. Violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg says she’s grateful she had a normal childhood when she was in the pre-college division, but that many there now don’t get that opportunity. A Juilliard official counters by saying that the school has an obligation to nurture young talent and, besides, the kids want to devote themselves to their art.

Lisa Gay Hamilton, a co-star on “The Practice” who graduated in 1989, says she never got to play someone her own age, only older black servants. Worse, she was never cast in a romantic part. “I never kissed in four years,” she says. “What kind of training is that?” She says she doesn’t know whether the reason was “politics, racism” or something else. The film offers no rebuttal. But dancer Jackson says that although “racism is everywhere,” your success depends on “who you are and what you have to show.”

Robin Williams calls the whole process “theatrical Darwinism.” Many of the students talk about that pressure, although they wear it like a badge of honor. It is a badge of honor. Juilliard, contrary to the focus of this film, is not the only school that turns out brilliant students, nor the only place where inspiring teachers may be found, but it does have a cachet that few other schools can boast. Just take it all with a grain of salt.

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On TV

“American Masters: Juilliard” airs tonight at 8 on KVCR-TV and at 9 on KCET-TV.