The Partial Observer

Adventures in Casting: ‘Roadhouse
Coup’ an Otsego County Who’s Who

Folks throughout the area have asked me at least a thousand times, “How did you get all those leaders of Otsego County to be in your film?”

Here’s the “Reader’s Digest” version.

I first met former Oneonta Police Chief Douglas Brenner while working on another project. The introduction went something like this: “Hi! My name is Lori. You don’t know me, but I’m going to make a movie here, and I may need your help. By the way, here’s a cake I bought for you, and my contact information.”

Why he didn’t pull a weapon and chase me away, I’ll never know.

We began to discuss the story of Eva Coo. Brenner said he loved the history of our area and offered to help with research and production. While scouting locations for filming, Brenner suggested I reach out to Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh of Cooperstown, as she would have intimate knowledge of Eva Coo’s crimes and what happened to Harry “Gimpy” Wright.

So, I called Mayor Ellen and said, “Hi! My name is Lori Bailey and I’m going to make a movie about Eva Coo. I could use some research help and I need someone to play the role of an up-tight Prohibitionist. Would you be interested?”

After a long moment of silence, she agreed to jump on board.

While working with Mayor Tillapaugh, she suggested I contact Sen. Jim Seward, assuring me this would be “right up his alley.” Mayor Tillapaugh gave me the senator’s contact information and, later that evening, I sent a rather comical e-mail introducing myself and asked him if he would like to play the judge in my Eva Coo movie.

The senator responded in less than 10 minutes with a resounding YES!

While I was working on the script with Sen. Seward (who has LOTS of stories to share, by the way), he suggested that I go take a look at the jail cell where Eva Coo was held. He said it was above the district attorney’s office in Cooperstown.
“Go there and tell them I sent you,” he said.

I did just that. And here’s where it gets really interesting.

Upon entering District Attorney John Muehl’s office, I gave my usual introduction to the ladies in the front: “Hi! I’m Lori. I’m making a movie about Eva Coo. I was sent here by Sen. Seward and told to ask for the DA, to see if I can look at Eva Coo’s holding cell.”

I was informed that, unfortunately, the DA was not in his office at the time.

Suddenly, as I was turning to leave, the front door flew open and a large gust of wind blew in. The window shades rolled up with a snap. The ladies in the office quickly draped themselves over their desks to hold down papers as they began to take flight. A tornado of a man (reminiscent of the Tasmanian devil from the Bugs Bunny cartoon) spun through the office, passing by me and heading to the back room.

I stood in shock and asked, “What the heck was that?”

Once the air settled, one of the ladies answered, “That’s John Muehl, the district attorney.” One of the secretaries hollered out, “John, there’s a lady out here says she’s making a movie about Eva Coo and wants to use the old jail cells.”

The DA looked up at me and said, “Oh, you want me to be in your movie?”

I had no idea what to say at this point, so I responded with… “Um, sure. You could play the defense attorney.”

“No!” Muehl responded. “Got anything else?”

Thinking quickly on my feet, I said, “There’s a role available for a special agent. The man who breaks the case and brings down Eva Coo.”

“Oh? Okay,” he said. “I can do that. Send me the script.”

To this day, District Attorney Muehl has no clue that there never was a Special Agent Williams. I had to rush home and create that part, add it to the screenplay, and send it to him. He did a great job with that character.

There are so many little stories like these. Each unique in its own way.

I guess the short answer to the original question is just that I simply asked people to help me— with the innocence and ignorance of Forrest Gump—and, for some reason, wonderful people wanted to help.

Like Ben Guenther, but that’s a whole other story…

Oneonta resident Lori Bailey is writer, director and producer of “A Roadhouse Coup.” The film, released in December of 2022, depicts the true story of Eva Coo, a local brothel owner convicted of killing Harry “Gimpy” Wright on Crumhorn Mountain Road. Coo was tried and convicted in Otsego County, then executed by electric chair at Sing Sing Prison on June 27, 1935.