Living the Chifferobe
An OG, Robert Townsend, comes to one of our stages and kills it in his show. Living the Shuffle’. This is what I saw through my lens.
Over the years, one of my “go-to” jokes has been a reference to a throwaway line in Robert Townsend’s Hollywood Shuffle. I used it when I’m running late for something and get called on it. “Where you been?”, they say and my response a thousand times over has been that I was out back bustin’ up a chifferobe.
The first thing I thought when I heard that Robert Townsend may be performing at our theater is that I’d probably owe him some royalty money. My crack team of lawyers told me that I’m fine because his line is a parody of the reference in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ where Mayela Ewell asks Tom Robinson to bust up said chifferobe.
Over the years, I’ve been pretty cool about meeting an odd celebrity here and there, but this dude was different. He’s not only a genuine OG in his field, but he also provided me with years of excellent comedy content. Now, I get to meet him and help promote his show, ‘Living the Shuffle.’
FUN FACT - He has such a strong social media game and such a huge following that between that and the social mojo of his co-Producer, Don Reed, I just held on for the ride. His popularity and skill as a performer sold the show.
As happens in theater, we needed some media shots to help spread the word of the show. So, a week before the first performance, Robert came to town for a quick tech run and to work out a few quirks in the show. He had been rehearsing plenty for this, but he needed to get a feel for the space where it was to be performed. During that time, he was kind enough to let me drag him around downtown Berkeley to grab a few shots.
The whole time, he was pleasant and present, engaging with passers-by that recognized him and bullsh*tting with his friend, Don Reed, who was with us. Dude was totally comfortable in front of a camera and gave me everything that I could have hoped for with my tight deadline.
We did take some shots on the stage, but it was so bare and unfinished for the images to be of use. So, we waited until a few days until the tech stuff was more ready and had another go at it. Now keep in mind these images were taken during a cue-to-cue. That’s an unsexy term that means it was a run specifically for the tech team to get their light cues and image cues ready for specific points in the show. It’s perhaps the most stressful part of a show’s development, more technicians and artists have fought to the death during this stage of production than any other. This day, though, no one was murdered.
I’ve met enough artists in my time to get a good feel of the kind of person they are within only a few interactions. From day one, Robert and his whole team were super pleasant, their responses to requests were prompted, and their gratitude for our actions was quick and warm. Just a pleasure! Honestly, in this field, I’ve met very few folks that I’d consider a bad person. The worst thing I usually encounter is someone who is just concerned with himself. Robert is the opposite of that. His whole career has been an example of pushing others towards success. The grand number of folks that flew up from Southern California to see him on opening night was a testament to that.
About the show itself? Let some of these quotes do the talking…
90 minutes of captivating tales and good humor - Broadway World
Townsend’s imagination catapults him forward in life again and again. It’s there when he reads “Oedipus” in class in school with such Royal Shakespeare Company panache that the other kids scramble to one corner of the classroom as if they’ve discovered a fox in the henhouse. It’s there when he almost bombs his first audition, for a Chicago troupe called the Experimental Black Actors Guild, but then demonstrates the improv skills he first honed in his bathroom — all before he even knows the term “improv.” It’s there when he’s cast as extras in a Pepsi commercial and an action movie but then so thoroughly envisions his character and situation that directors give him meatier roles. - Lily Janiak, SF Chronicle
There are plenty more great reviews here, and here, and here.
In brief, it’s a show that has legs. It’s a high-quality piece of art with a huge market that is certainly going onto greater things. We’ve already extended him once, there’s some talk of other extensions or shows but it’s all up in the air. You can totally expect more from this show.
“Living the Shuffle”: Written and directed by Robert Townsend. Through Dec. 15. 95 minutes. $30-$100. The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley. 415-282-3055. www.themarsh.org
Hidden Canyon
Visitors to shuttle stop #7 have a tough choice between Hidden Canyon, Weeping Rock and the Overlook Trail. I finally managed to make time to visit this one.
This is one of the last popular hikes in the main canyon that I hadn't yet done. Hidden Canyon has a rather steep set of switchbacks and trails but it's quite smooth most of the way. It can be rather strenuous so on one of the many stops you'll need, please be certain to enjoy the fantastic overview you'll have.
From one of my favorite hiking bloggers ....
The trail to Hidden Canyon starts at the Weeping Rock Trailhead, the 7th stop on the Zion Canyon Shuttle, the same trailhead as for the Observation Point Trail and the East Rim Trail up to Cable Mountain, Deertrap Mountain, and the East Entrance Trailhead. Hike up the paved trail that zig-zags its way up the east side of the main canyon. Take your time; if you're not acclimated to uphill hiking, this could be quite strenuous. Soon enough you will come to the junction of the Hidden Canyon Trail; now it's time to choose the path less traveled!
Night Photography
The nights here are loud with the sounds of nature and when the moon is anything more than a sliver, the whole of the place is radiant.
The nights in Zion Canyon can be cacophonous at times as the hard cliffs keep in all the noise that is generated on the flatland. The crickets are loud, the river is ever flowing and crashing onto the rocks, the large insects and bats swoosh their way through the night sky, and any bird that makes a night sound or rustle is easily heard.
During the rare times that there is cloud cover at night or when the moon is just a sliver of itself, the stars aren't enough to fully illuminate the place, but when the sky is clear and the moon is mostly present, we're afforded a chance to see this darkened, martian landscape in a thoroughly different way.
A Walk Through the Grass
The secret to happiness is freedom ... and the secret to freedom is courage. - Thucydides
We wear masks. All of us do. In order to keep the social peace, we smile when we're supposed to. We use good manners and we keep ourselves pretty in order to be accepted. Most of the time, when we rebel against social norms, we fall into the familiar, well-used patterns of rebellion because we really don't know any other ways. Our "rebellion" looks just like those of all the other wannabe rebels.
We pretend to like the popular things ... sometimes we convince ourselves that we DO like that cool band or new movie. We don't speak our true minds. We keep ourselves so tight and wrapped up because of all the unspoken rules about how we're supposed to BE when we're in the world. So many things we have to do to conform and be "normal".
I just wondered what a thing it would be...if overnight everything you owe anything to, justice, or love, had really gone away. Free. It would be...heartless terror. Yes. Terrible, and...Very great. To shed your skin, every old skin, one by one and then walk away, unemcumbered, into the morning. - Tony Kushner
Those who do not move, do not notice their chains. ― Rosa Luxemburg
The world I held so closely, she played me like a game, I released and left her laughing to stand on my own two feet. ― Coco J. Ginger
The Ladies Foursome - We Begin!
In a few weeks, we'll present another show. But first, we get to create more imagery!
Yesterday (Apr 24), the cast of 'The Ladies Foursome' and I headed out to The Links golf course in Post Falls, Id. It was a multi-purpose trip; partially to capture promotional images, hopefully to have the cast learn a bit more about the sport of golf and certainly to have a great day of fun and team bonding!
Sarah Miller, Callie McKinney Cabe, Marianne McGlaughlin, Nancy Gasper and the Director, Dawn Taylor Reinhart have been in rehearsal for just a week and as much as can be learned about golf through reading, conversation and YouTube videos, they knew that it would take a trip to the links to make their swings look realistic, their trash talk genuine and the knowledge about their characters come to life!
We won't even pretend that the form was perfect! Heck, even the shoes were off but, we all still had a blast playing on the course!
Over the next few days, we'll be showing plenty of new images on our various social media pages so be certain to keep an eye out. I'll have them all posted here AFTER the run of the show.
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!
Nuclear Waste - Shooting Day or, For Your Consideration ...
Behind the Scenes of the Behind the Scenes work for this really cool short film!
Shooting day for 'Nuclear Waste' from JJH Productions went along perfectly! More rehearsals and run-throughs and more opportunities to fix small weaknesses and strengthen the choreography of the shoot.
I'm very glad that Jesse James brought me along as I hadn't worked on this type of project before. Many of the elements were familiar to me but the tight timeframe of the project AND the longer term social media needs were a different kind of mix. In my many theater projects, we have a longer time period in which to capture imagery but my focus was a bit different here.
In brief, my goal was to capture as much imagery of the shoot as possible (imagery that doesn't give away too many details) and to get those images in into the Social Media (SM) stream as quickly as possible and in high enough quality as possible.
The plan that I went with was pretty simple but it worked out well. Research the organizers, competitors and Nuclear Waste team members and find out the SM platforms that they use, find other participants, capture loads of imagery on scene with the iPhone, post a few as we go through the day, tag as many folks as possible, edit the best of the images and schedule them out onto the various SM platforms throughout the following days and weeks. Additionally, a few of the short films I created on-scene will be sent to the event organizers to give them a look at what went into the making of the film. Here's a super quick look at some of it!
I won't go into boring detail about all the apps and bits of software that I use (various Google stuff, Snapseed. Lightroom, DropBox to name a few) but it can get to be an involved process.
While I'm certainly having fun doing all this, it's an important piece of the creative puzzle. A film, a play or a piece of art that doesn't get scene may still be wonderful but there will be no one to appreciate all the effort and creativity that go into the creation of it. The world is littered with artwork and events that never see the light of the public's eye because no effort is made to broadcast that art. The fact that we're trying to attract attention for all this effort doesn't make the art less valuable. It just increases the odds that the event's judges see the build-up to the work and have a positive mental association with it all.
