Best Portraits of the 16-17 Season at The Playhouse
With the opening of 'Hairspray', I've completed my first season as the photographer for The Playhouse. These are my picks as the best for each of the nine shows.
My first full season shooting for The Playhouse San Antonio has come to an end and I couldn't be more pleased with the numerous opportunities I had to meet the cool folks that populate the theater community and San Antonio on the whole. I started my tenure at the very tail end of the 2015-16 Season and I was able to shoot Two Sisters and a Piano, directed by Omar Leos who also directed Hairspray, this year's season closer. The Circle of Life.
For the nine shows in the season, I created a total of 56 images that made it into the public as official portraits. Of those, these are my favorites. Sometimes I chose them for the story behind them or merely that they pleased me the most. Feel free to have others be your favorites but here are mine.
Enjoy!
Beauty and the Beast
Jeff Jeffers - The Beast
Costume-wise, this is as difficult of a show as you might suspect so we only had time to create ONE portrait. The Artistic Director, George Green, wanted a show that was slightly darker and more ominous that previous iterations and the costumery and wardrobe that the team created certainly matched that.
Jeff is an accomplshed actor with a rich background and I think that he found the sweet spot between the scary beast and the wounded prince in his portrayal. Well done, Sir.
The Glass Menagerie
Gloria Sanchez-Molina - Amanda Wingfield
Without changing a single bit of the script or stage direction, The Playhouse and Director Molly Cox crafted an entirely new look at this venerable (koff - overdone - koff) classic and made history. The Glass Menagerie sold every seat for every show and gave San Antonio audiences an immersive experience in the mid-century mental hospital instead of a mere St. Louis apartment.
While 'Amanda Wingfield' was already a dynamic yet wounded character, Gloria's representation of her set a new standard, IMHO.
All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914
Nicholas Ponting
I've stated for the record that this is my absolute favorite piece of theater and I've been lucky enough to shoot it before. It's coming back again for the 2017-18 Season and we already have ideas on how to make the next round fresh and exciting.
This guy, Nick, is amazing. Not only did he have a hand in every show this season as the theater's Resident Designer, he has also performed in 3 of them. For All is Calm, he also served as the Musical Director, channeling the voices of all those trained singers into one magical wall of sound. As an actor, he was masterful at his ability to show strength through gentleness.
Fool for Love
Bill Gundry - The Old Man
If a photographer can't take a good pic of Bill, that photographer should just get rid of the camera. The character, history, and color on this man's face tell stories that others have never heard. As 'The Old Man' in the play, he was tasked to be a silent observer, always judging and occasionally chiming in with his faulty, biased memories and opinions.
"I got nobody now! Nobody!"
The Secret Garden
Corina Zars - Mrs. Medlock
Nobody should be this talented AND kind at the same time. Though I had already worked with her on Beauty and the Beast, I didn't really get to know Corina until this show. Up until then, her reputation as an artist and a super human was well-known but I just couldn't believe that she was as universally loved as folks said.
The rumors were true. From my first days in town, she has been simply wonderful on stage and off and she's earned all the kind words about her. Imagine my surprise when she portrayed 'Mrs. Medlock' as such a thoroughly repulsive woman!
The mystical nature of The Secret Garden inspired me to try a few new tricks and create the aged but ethereal portraits.
Disgraced
Megan Van Dyke - Jory
I chose Megan's pic for two main reasons. In the most simple way, the image captures what matters in the play; her quiet fierceness, the controversial art piece, a hint of wine, and the austerity of the NY apartment. Second, Megan's portrayal of 'Jory' was so very much in line with her presentation for the portrait. Quiet and fierce. Without unneccesary dramatics, she let you know exactly what her opinion was.
Urinetown
Carrie Daniels - Little Becky Two Shoes
Carrie is another person that has greatly helped the 2016-17 Season be the success it was as she has had her hand in all of the productions. She performed in Beast, The Secret Garden, and Urinetown, she was Stage Manager or crew for several productions in the Cellar and she worked on the creation of all the sets. On top of that, her on stage ability is superb, seemingly getting better with each show.
As 'Little Becky', Carrie created a dirty, loathsome little wretch that (forgive me) still managed to be very hot. Weird, I know.
I look forward to her stage appearances next season.
Crimes of the Heart
Rosa Gardner - Chick Boyle
This is another example of a super nice person portraying such a magnificent (rhymes with Witch) on stage. Rosa was with The Playhouse in The Secret Garden and is now in Hairspray.
We kept the portraits simple in keeping with the early 70s look and feel of the play but Rosa, especially, managed to make the viewer (or at least me) feel like her portait was about to say something snotty and rude.
Hairspray
Kass Ortiz - Tracy Turnblad
First, a confession ...
I didn't like this show before The Playhouse did it. I won't get into why but I'll state very clearly that this production won me over. It's the biggest cast I've seen on this stage and everyone of them moves with purpose and energy. No wasted moments.
THIS kid is front and center for almost every moment of it and for every moment, she is a radiant ball of fire. I suspected that would be the case when we created these portaits and Kass didn't disappoint.
Kettel Bells
Hairspray - Portraits
'Hairspray' opened up this weekend at The Playhouse. Their season closer, LOTS of folks have been waiting for this gem to arrive!
When the CEO/Artistic Director, George Green, and I were discussing what to do with the portraits for Hairspray, the word that he said that struck me most was "loud".
We had some back and forth with a few different proofs but some of my initial ideas were not loud enough. After a few tweaks and a few more proofs sent, I got the go-ahead and started working in earnest.
I'll say that these were the most intense images that I've created in a long time. Each one took about an hour just for the final editing and all the shooting, reshoots and batch editing took several days on their own. Well worth it though. I truly love helping a show and its team succeed by getting the patronage excited with these portraits.
Based on the packed houses and standing ovations that they received at all three shows this weekend, I know for a fact that the patrons were pleased.
Congratulations to Director Omar Leos and his team for ending The Playhouse's 2016-17 Season with a smash hit!
As the 2016-17 Season is on its last show, very soon I'll be posting my favorite portraits from each of the 9 shows in the season and another post with my favorite show images. Stay Tuned!
Loud enough for ya? I think so.
Hairspray runs at The Playhouse San Antonio through Aug 6. Tickets and info can be found HERE!
All is Calm - Character Portraits
The Playhouse San Antonio has just announced that All is Calm has been added to their 2016-17 Season and I couldn't be more pleased as I have a fond history with that production
My new theater, The Playhouse San Antonio, has just announced that we're adding All is Calm: The Christmas Eve Truce of 1914 to the 2016-17 Season as the Christmas show. I'm extraordinarily pleased to hear this as I was quite sad that I'd miss The Modern Theater's 2016 presentation. I've grown to love all the folks involved with the show and had great plans for this year's portraits.
I'm excited that I'll be able to apply those plans to this cast, albeit with a twist, but I won't reveal those plans to anyone but a select few and then only in the days leading up to the shoot. It's fair to say that I intend to give this cast my very best efforts.
In the first season that we presented AIC, the cast of 11 blended perfectly and created a thing of such beauty that I can't properly describe. Words can be cheap when trying to explain such a thing but I'm sure you've all experienced such a reaction to something so exquisite. Directed by my dear friend Abbey Crawford and with Music Direction from Zach Baker (the one with the cigarette), they had the distinct honor to perform the piece to a packed house at The Bing on the 100th anniversary of the event from which the piece came.
For 2015, we lost two of our young stars to their college aspirations but picked up Nicholas and Jace, a classicly trained opera singer and a local cabaret star, respectively. Again, they created a show of near perfection and I was lucky to have been able to capture them again.
For 2015, we even made a few videos. You can see this and one more on the Modern's Youtube site.
Every show that I've shot has afforded me new opportunities to learn and improve. I'm very happy that I get to be part of this show again as I had some great successes with this show yet there also a few aspects of its weight and beauty that I feel I missed.
Soon, I'll have the chance to try again.
The Ladies Foursome - Character Portraits
The Modern-Spokane opens another one tonight. I so enjoy being behind the scenes and seeing all the work that goes into making a show ... and the portraits, of course!
FORE! Here we go again ... my 29th show for The Modern Theater ... The Ladies Foursome!
A couple weekends back, the cast and director of The Ladies Foursome headed to The Links Golf Course in Post Falls, ID to create some imagery for the upcoming show. It was the perfect morning to do so while having the cast learn more about golf ... especially the finer points of course etiquette. Replacing divots, how/when to wait for or begin the next hole and where or where NOT to drive the really fun carts were among the lessons learned.
The Ladies were champs when it came to the images, too. A majority of the production occurs, like in golf, when they're waiting for one of their group to take their shot. It seemed a perfect chance for a cool series.
Though there was some sun and blue skies when we started, soon after we began play, the cloud cover increased and the chilly, early spring wind put a slight damper on the morning. Extra layers of clothing were added but when it came time to create the portraits, no one blinked. Everyone was on board to help make these portraits.
Practice swings were taken, form was critiqued by the other Ladies (sometimes quite bluntly) and many attempts were made to find just the right way to capture them at 1/500th of a second. You'll notice that 'Margot' has a different pose than the others. I really did want to capture an image where all the Ladies are in a position similar to the excellent graphic created by David Clemons. Marianne, though, looked so strong and proud and regal in the one I finally chose, it was great enough for me to break the template. If you've ever seen her on stage, you know full well that she's worth making any trifling exception like that.
Theatre (or theater) isn't merely the two hours or so of a production that you see on stage. It's the months of preparations. It's the weeks of rehearsals. It's the countless hours of administration and 'house' prep. For me, it's time spent researching a production to find a style of imagery that I feel works for the piece and a lot of time editing them and find a place in the 'web' for them.
Once the pics are created, it doesn't end there. In a world where Netflix, Hulu and Youtube are content kings, we have to put our stage in front of folks that have countless hours of programming at their fingertips. We at The Modern Theater try our very best to create a production that reaches past the edge of the stage and far into the daily lives of our patrons and community.
A community can be measured by the questions its theater asks
- Liviu Ciulei
A community NEEDS good theater. I do what I can to make certain that the playwright, creative crew and cast are seen in the best light possible by as many people as possible in an attempt to stir interest. I WANT my friends colleagues to have an audience to see their work, to FEEL it.
Next to Normal at The Bing Crosby Theater
'Next to Normal' is just wrapping up at The Bing Crosby Theater. If you miss this one, you're missing a true gem!
One of our best shows of the years wraps up today (the "our" is The Modern Theater, for whom I work and create images)! We partnered with Coeur d'Alene Summer Theater to present this Pulitzer Prize-winning musical. I've listened to the soundtrack on a number of occasions and while I was always pleased, there was always something lacking. That "lack" was the personal connection of knowing the voices and stories behind the music.
I've known the folks in this cast for a while! I know some of their families, their personal struggles and victories, their stories. Hearing MY people sing these powerful tunes made the music much more deep and meaningful. I mean, the play is all about mental illness and family tragedies ... and how we move past these issues. Heavy stuff and these folks handled the weight of it so very well.
From The Spokesman-Review :
It’s an edgy, occasionally bracing rock opera about one woman’s struggle with bipolar disorder and how her manic episodes send ripples through her household. That description might make the show sound like some kind of postmodern goof – you may wonder how such sensitive material could ever benefit from flashy theatricality – but the Pulitzer Prize-winning show is as stylistically risky as it is emotionally bruising.
This was only the second time that I've shot a full show here. The Bing is an incredible space but it wasn't designed for ease of photography. I had a couple ladders available and, yes, I did monkey-scramble across the chairs a bit. Those armrests aren't always perfectly sturdy.
Using some audio captured by our sound guy, Jesse Worley, we made a short promo video that, I hope, captures the beauty of the cast. you'll hear, in order, Alyssa Day, Daniel McKeever and Cody bray singing bis from their numbers.
Again, Doc Heggem did a fantastic job of not merely lighting the set, but in making the lighting a character in the play. The brilliant ambers, blues and magentas made the story come alive even more! The square footage on the stage is rather minimal so the team designed a multi-level set that fit perfectly and provided ample room in which to perform.
I'll confess that I'd be a horrible set designer ... but I sure know functional beauty when I see it. On my end, it may have been tough to shoot, but it sure provided angles and vistas not normally found in my other theaters.
Next up .... A Bright New Boise!
Next to Normal - Rehearsals
Rehearsals for any show can be a hectic times ... but they're always exciting!
The Modern Theater will be presenting Next to Normal as a co-production with Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre in just a couple weeks! Tonight, I got to visit their rehearsal space and capture the images that I'll be using for their character portraits. Naturally, as I always do, I managed to create a number of extras.
I appear in one or two shows a year. I do well enough that I'm not booed offstage and I always have fun performing ... but I wouldn't call me an "actor" and certainly not a professional. These folks, most of whom are far younger than me, are champs and all seem to have more experience than I do. So much hard work and dedication, so many years getting to this point and so many hours creating the character they plan to portray onstage. They've got a lot of work to do in a compressed time period but a good stage manager will keep a brisk pace at each rehearsal. These folks are up to the task.
I've listened to the soundtrack for 'Next to Normal' numerous times and I certainly enjoy its beauty and the depth of its topic but when I heard the songs sung by those that I know, love and respect, my appreciation for the both music and my friends increased tremendously. Though an already fantastic soundtrack, hearing it performed by folks that I know and respect gives it an entirely new level of wonder.
There are just two more weeks of rehearsal. LOTS of work to do in a short amount of time but, as these folks have done many times before, they're gonna create something magical!
Character Portraits - All My Sons
Arthur Miller is one of the finest chroniclers of post-World War II America. His 1949 play “Death of a Salesman” is rightfully held as the gold standard in U.S. theater, with its exploration of the American dream and all the pitfalls that come with trying to achieve it.
Two years earlier, Miller found his first success on stage with another exploration of the American dream, “All My Sons.” Inspired by real-life events, it centers on two families – friends, neighbors and colleagues – whose lives are undone by a selfish act. It’s a powerful piece of theater and the Modern Theater Coeur d’Alene has done it justice.
“All My Sons” is not an easy night of theater. There’s a lot of tension between these characters, and director Davis does an excellent job of guiding his actors in maintaining that tension to maximum effect. The first act builds, then things blast apart after intermission. When the final plot turn arrives, it is a foregone conclusion. But that doesn’t stop it from being a shock nonetheless. - Carolyn Lamberson at The Spokesman-Review
What a fantastic story and what an all-star cast! Such a powerful tale needed striking images. During WWII, newspaper articles and letters from the war zone were important sources of information sharing and for communicating with family back home. Those two mediums have a strong impact on 'All My Sons' and I felt that they should have some influence on the portraits.
As is always the case, the power of these images doesn't come from my fancy camera or special software. It comes from the dedication of the talent in front of the camera. Even young Mr Dixon, Little Bert, did such an amazing job, no?
I love my job and I'm so lucky to be able to meet and capture so many of these wonderful artists. Next show that I'll be shooting .... Last of The Boys by Steven Dietz
The Wild Party - Character Portraits
Directed by Troy Nickerson, Andrew Lippa's 'The Wild Party' was the wildest thing to hit Spokane in a long, long time!
I normally wait until after a show has finished its run before I post the images on my site ... but this show is so awesome, I couldn't wait. The Wild Party was the coolest thing that I've seen come through Spokane in quite a while. Based on a book-length poem by Joseph Moncure March, the story of the musical comes directly off the page and onto the stage. We shot these images at The Baby Bar, the same place I shot the cool Halloween images for their staff. It's a great location (and a great bar) that suited our needs perfectly; dark, a bit well-worn and the rich, red was perfect. Our idea was to capture the cast of characters as they'd be on an evening on the town.
How'd we do?
Plus a few other promo images we created...
Assassins - Character Portraits
"Why did you do it Johnny?"
It has just been announced that Stephen Sondheim will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom along with many other notables at the White House on November 24th. This seems like a good time to recall the character portraits from the recent presentation of Assassins at The Modern-CDA. I'll let the review of the show speak to its excellent quality but I was thoroughly impressed with this show. Though I'm fond of all of our shows, some are certainly better than others and this one was top-notch.
Recently, a dear friend caught me downplaying the value of the images that I create. I said something about how the images that I create don't have much to do with the final quality of the show and he disagreed firmly. He made a strong case for how show imagery and strong marketing material help to set the expectations that the public has for a production. The stronger the promotional imagery, the higher the expectations. If a cast and crew feel that their expectations are high, well, they'll work harder to reach that goal. For a low bar, they'll aim for that.
There is some sense in that. I do what I can to capture or create themes that are relevant and I'm proud of what I accomplish. I'd be lying if I said that having awesome artists with which to work didn't matter. They're super awesome!
For this show, we took all of these images in the basement of The Modern-Spokane. Though the place is much more well-organized now, when we moved into the space. It was a creepy mess; dirty, dusty and dark. Perfect setting for a bunch of assassins.
Rock of Ages - Character Portraits
'Rock of Ages' - Big bands with big egos playing big guitar solos and big hair!
For a season-opening show as big as this one, I had to try something different, something bigger. Rock of Ages is big and loud and fun and the portraits had to be big and loud, too. The movie had a great series of portraits but I didn't want to just copy them. We shot against a white wall, I edited the base images, then each image got about an hour of additional layering and painting .... with the help of a few actions that I had saved up for this shoot. I did my best to give each image a distinct look and color.
The reaction to the images from the cast was astounding, exactly what I hoped for. Those talented folks spend so much time and effort making these shows come alive, I'm more than pleased to make them look as good as I possibly can.
Halloween at The Baby Bar
Halloween at The Baby Bar - 2015
You may have noticed that it's getting quite Halloween-ish around town. My friend, Dan Anderson, asked me to help capture the ghoulish faces of the Baby Bar staff for their Halloween season festivities. He liked the work that I did for he and his mates in Glengarry Glen Ross a few months back and I was flattered that he called on me to help with this project.
He did an awesome job of gathering all the parts needed: hair, make-up, subjects .... all the legwork needed to make a shoot like this go smoothly. Smoothest shoot ever. Fun, too. I think I mentioned all the artists in each picture but to be sure, a shout out to Nirvana Marie, Amy Calkins from Wild Angel FX Make-UP, Dani Wiyrich from Thunder Kiss Makeup and Art, and Elizabeth from Strata Salon Spokane for their excellent artistry.
All these images are up on the walls of the Baby Bar through October. Go see them in all their gory glory!
Reason to be Pretty and The Modern Magazine
Neil Labute's Reasons to be Pretty is a great show but it's a tough one to sell in Spokane. It's harsh, tight dialogue is well-crafted but difficult for many viewers to digest. The play deals with the topics of beauty, perceptions of beauty and how we defend ourselves when our self-images come under scrutiny. It doesn't always go smoothly for the characters onstage and it often, by design, leaves the viewer questioning his or her own perceptions and flaws.
How do you highlight a piece like that? Well, you play into stereotypes and how the normal person views celebrities. Celebrities with numerous, unseen flaws. What may in reality be a heartbroken, bitter wreck of a person may, with the right spin and marketing, appear to be a font of lifestyle advice. What, to a sane person's eye, appear to be a shallow, fearful bully may appear on our newsstands as a paragon of manhood.
I've grown to be very fond of Molly, Ryan, Nich and Jennie for both their acting prowess AND their ability to incorporate these flawed characters into their own persona. It's a difficult piece to perform and they did so marvelously well.
Reasons to be Pretty finishes its run this Sunday. For tickets and more info, click HERE!