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!
Junie B. Jones, the Musical at The Magik Theatre.
A new school year and new friends. Sounds great, right? Not so much for Junie B.
Though I've been in San Antonio for a year now, this show was my first time shooting at any theater other than The Playhouse. Magik Children's Theatre has a wonderful home in the heart of downtown and though it's a bit bogged down due to the massive but wonderful renovations in Hemisphere Park, that area of town is set to become another gem in the city. The Magik is well-located for future success.
I have a dear friend in the cast and when she told me bout the show, I knew that it was going to be loud and colorful. Just the type of show that I like to shoot. Junie B Jones, the Musical is a children's show but the design team didn't water down their skills a single bit. Loud and colorful, indeed.
From their website:
Based on the books by Barbara Parks
Book and lyrics by Mary Heisler
Music by Zina Goldrich
Directed by Frances Limoncelli
It's time for 1st grade, and Junie B. can't wait to see all her old friends! But over the summer old friends have drifted away, and new ones have moved to town. Junie B. soon learns that things don't always stay the same, and that doesn't have to be a bad thing.
As shows go, it's not my cup of tea but I'm not the intended demographic. What I found quite impressive is the amount of effort and dedication that the cast and crew put forth simply for the ideal of sharing art with the younger generation. The show runs from June 16 to August 13, 2017 so they're just a few weeks into the run. If the cast can keep up their energy through closing weekend, there will be LOTS of entertained little patrons.
Junie B Jones, the Musical, will run at Magik from through August 18th
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.
