Best Show images of The Playhouse's 2016-17 Season
With the 2017-18 Season about to begin at The Playhouse San Antonio, it's a good time to look back at some of my favorite images from the Dress Runs and Archive Shoots in the 2016-17 Season. Before we begin in earnest, here's a few images that I loved but that didn't make the finals.
Over the course of the 9 shows, most of these images were captured during a Dress Run in the days leading to opening night. While those shows always provided fantastic imagery, the microphones that the cast wore often interfered with getting tight shots of the faces. Also, because the shows were so vast and active with so many moving parts, I wasn't always able to get all the shots we wanted so we also relied on the Archive Shoots to produce images.
In past years, theaters would have these Archive Shoots later in the run and the images were used simply to "archive" the show. As marketing needs and social media needs altered over time, we continued doing these shoots but we moved them up a bit in the run so we could use those images for promotional use. A few years back, we started shooting the dress run images so we would have lively imagery in the days before the show to start to broadcast to the community the fun and beauty that they have in store when the show opens.
The reception of the images has been wonderful. The actors and their friends and family do a great job of sharing the images so that more folks can see what the show is about, who the pretty faces are, and what the stellar lighting and scenic design will contain.
Selfishly, I'm so grateful to be around so many talented folks and to have the chance to make my own art. My goals with the photography have been to help sell the shows to the patrons but also to honor the skill and effort of all those involved
Chris Berry and Carlye Elyse in Disney's Beauty and the Beast
A fantastic way to open the season, this show did so incredibly well that it is among The Playhouse's top-selling shows of all-time. The Opening Night fire alarm sure was interesting, no?
Why This Shot --
Chris and Carlye were awesome in their respective portrayals of Gaston and Belle. With their superb comic timing and the deep well of acting experience they both have, they killed the roles. For this scene to work, their timing, grace and facial poise had to be perfect. I'd seen them practice this move before so I knew where I had to be to get the image I wanted.
Dir - David Nanny
Sam Mandelbaum in The Glass Menagerie
Not really a light and happy story on its best day but Molly Cox's version of this classic took it in a thoroughly new direction. Her team didn't change a lick of dialogue but resetting the "illusion" to take place at a mid-century mental institution was brilliant! It gave new life and breath to Tennessee Williams' words.
Why This Shot --
Sam created and nurtured so many little tics that made his Tom Wingfield beyond perfect for the new setting. Never going over the top or being cartoonish, he used every inch of the space to great effect. As other characters were in their scenes, Sam would be watching his "family" and he'd be taking notes on their behavior, using them as material for future writings.
Dir - Molly Cox
David Fenrich in All is Calm
Yup. Still my favorite musical. I've been so lucky to work with various casts of this show over the years and they're all superb humans.
Why This Shot --
Because of its utter simplicity. Nicholas Ponting's set and Dan Heggem's lighting are always a huge part of any show but the restrained use of resources was so masterful on this set because the feel of cold and sparseness was so vital to the story.
David Fenrich's voice is stellar but his ability to, in silhouette even, portray the loneliness and madness of war shone out through his simple, shrugged stance.
Dir - George Green and Bill Gundry
Holly Clifford in Fool for Love
This cannot be a FUN show of which to be a part. It's difficult to imagine the inner demons that an actor might have to bring up and harder still to imagine how to face them, encompass them into a performance and come out normal at the end of a show's run. I admire all of the actors involved with dramas like this.
Why This Shot --
Sam Shepard's play is not for the faint of heart, either for the actors or patrons. Holly's portrayal of May was stunning and chilling from start to finish. Whether the emotional pain was being hurled at her from her love interest or if it came from the demons and guilt she carries with her, the weight of all of her love, desires, and fears hammers her at the end of the play and the manner in which she projected that was magnificent.
Dir - George Green
The Secret Garden
This show was another fine example of less being more. The RHR stage was far more stripped down that in most other shows but that doesn't mean that the set wasn't intricate in its own way. Sliding curtain, moving "gardens", and light design that moved the story along and added chills to each scene.
Why This Shot --
This shot almost didn't happen! The idea for it was from Nicholas Ponting. The yellow light is something the patrons saw only for an instant at a time. It was flashed on and off as lightning during the storms but for this shot we staged the scene as if the kids were captured in the flash of lightning. Corina and the kids managed to make the very best of the moment, no? Keep an eye on Nickie and Ashley. They're gonna be stars.
Dir - Laura Michelle Hoadley
Disgraced
A simple dinner party with friends. What could go wrong?
Why This Shot --
This was one of the very first images we took on our media day and I was surprised and amazed at how quickly and easily the cast got into their characters and enacted their dinner routines. The banter seemed normal and natural, their dining movements seemed smooth, and their demeanor and postured displayed the perfect "before the storm" comfort. The set and lighting were simple/complex enough to turn our Cellar into a trendy Manhattan apartment. A perfect setting for the worst dinner party ever.
Dir - David Rinear
Urinetown, the Musical
This show is now easily in my top three musicals ever. With the power trio of Tim Hedgepeth, Andrew Hendley and Courtnie Mercer covering direction, music, and movement, Urinetown used every inch of the stage, performed superbly the very complex score, and got the most out of every set piece and lighting element.
Why This Shot --
OK. The artsy stuff was awesome but I chose this image because it captures the utter ridiculousness of the ensemble. Yes, the leads were all superb but this show NEEDS a bright, loud, colorful, occasionally stupid cast of background characters. There was not a weak link in the show ... nor in this picture. If you saw it, you know what I mean.
Dir - Time Hedgepeth
Crimes of the Heart
I'd seen this drama a few times and never liked it. I won't get into why but this cast and this show changed my opinion. Maybe it was the casting or the cast. Maybe it was Bill Gundry's use of the space and his pacing. Who knows! It was awesome and the critics and patrons loved it. So did I.
Why This Shot --
LOOK at that set! Once again, Nicholas Ponting and Dan Heggem turned the Cellar into another piece of visual, useable art. As the space is so intimate and close to the patrons, any half-hearted efforts or cheapness will be easily spotted. Not in this house and not in this show.
Dir - Bill Gundry
Danielle Renae King in HAIRSPRAY
Hairspray is a fun and colorful show but it also has a strong point about race relations and equality. This, the biggest cast of the season, took that message and material, treated it with honor and class, and created the best season closer we've seen in a while.
Why This Shot --
Power. Pure, raw power!
D#mn! That lady can sing! In addition to that, her stance in that shot, her movements leading up to it and in the whole show demanded that you look at and listen to her. The very first time I met her was during the portrait shoot. She was funny and polite and awesome and I loved her right away. I imagine she gets that a lot.
Dir - Omar Leos
Y'all ready for the next season?