As You Like It — Covington High School

As-You-Like-It-P-1745As-You-Like-It-P-1894We’ve photographed many CHS shows before, and we’re never disappointed. Gary Mendoza is a very talented teacher and theatre program director.

As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare first published in the 1623. The play follows its heroine Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncle’s court, accompanied by her cousin Celia and Touchstone the court jester, to find safety and eventually love in the Forest of Arden.

Covington High School’s Music and Theatre Department and Talented Theatre Program present William Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Shows will take place on January 24th, 25th, 26th, 29th, 30th, and 31st at 7:00 p.m. in the CHS auditorium.

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Into the Woods

Into the Woods P-0326Last week, we had the opportunity to photograph a dress rehearsal for Slidell Little Theatre’s Into the Woods, directed by the talented Larry Johnson.

In Into the Woods, a witch’s curse condemns the Baker and his Wife to a life without children. They embark on a quest to find the four items required to break the spell: the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold. Will they succeed? And what happens after ‘happily ever after?’

Into the Woods is currently playing at Slidell Little Theatre and closes February 3rd.

You’ll be able to see all the rest of our photos after the show closes on our theatre archive site.

Read the wonderful review at Nola.com!

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Four Faeries

We photographed a rehearsal for Covington High School’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.  Here is a quadriptych of some of my favorites. This one is a fairly large image, so click to embiggen. It’s worth it.

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Video Sneek Peek: To Kill a Mockingbird

I originally did this as a test, but so many people liked it I plan to put it on the photo CD.

If you’d like to order a DVD for full-screen play on your TV, email Julie at the studio.
You can get one for $15, tax included. Add another $5 if you want us to mail it to you; otherwise you can pick it up at the studio when it’s ready.

Program Photo Outtakes

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We shot program headshots for “Ragtime” the other night. The cast was huge, and we found ourselves with some down time while we waited for some actors to arrive. So, of course, we had to play. And Elmo had to join in the fun.

We’ve got a pretty good process for program photos (which we provide to Slidell Little Theatre at no charge). Actors come in, take 2-4 images which are immediately transferred via WiFi to our viewing station, pick out an image, and they’re done. All in all, less than five minutes per actor, usually considerably less. In theory.

In practice, especially in the shows with younger actors, the viewing room tends to get a little crowded, since everybody wants to see everybody else’s images.

We don’t mind. We like to make it a fun experience, like we do all our photo shoots.

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The Glass Menagerie

My theatre photography is almost always about the show. I’m in the audience, watching and capturing the imagery on stage, little more than an audience member. But recently, David Hobby (Mr. Strobist himself), was give a unique opportunity to become part of the show.  He was asked to shoot the images that would be projected up on stage during a production of Tennessee Williams’ American classic, The Glass Menagerie.

One of the original devices used in the play is that of projections. They pop up in the set and are keyed to various memories and perception-vs-reality stuff. It happens maybe a dozen times throughout the play, and is sort of like a flashback in a movie. Tennessee Williams was under contract with a film studio when he wrote it, and it may have originally been seen as a movie.

The projections are not always included in modern performances. But to Michael’s credit, he absolutely wanted to try them. So we started working through the process, designing photos to be projected at different moments in the play. The good news: They would be displayed on a 12-foot-wide screen. The bad news is that the height is less than four feet. That’s a pretty stripey aspect ratio, which created some problems to be solved.

Read about his experience here.

Little Musical

LM-090403-3344 We photograph a lot of theatre. Sometimes the shows are good, sometimes mediocre, and sometimes we come back again and again to take more images or simply watch and enjoy.

Little Musical is one of the last type.

Little Musical is a modern love tale with an interesting twist: the leading lady is 3 feet 10 inches tall. Sadie is a young woman who puts her big city life and career on hold in order to take care of her ailing father. Upon returning to her small hometown, she reconnects with childhood friends who help her face some difficult questions: Can she find happiness along life’s detours? Will she ever fall in love with the right guy? With original music and lyrics by John Giraud and book by Scott Sauber, this romantic comedy that will bring you to your knees.

Sarah Folkins, the star of this show, inspired John Giraud to write the music and lyrics for this show. We’ve watched Sarah in both young actors and mainstage productions, and we’ve always been impressed with her talent. I’m glad to see her talent showcased so everyone can see.

We’ve also known that John was talented, both onstage and off, but Wow! The music is absolutely incredible. It’s moving, it’s catchy, it’s beautiful. We’re very much hoping that he manages to do an original cast recording. We’ll certainly buy the CD.

Next weekend is the last weekend for Little Musical. Catch it if you can.

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