Lovable Villains
In the past week I’ve shot two musicals, and man were they fun! Each one had (to me) a lovable villain that stole the show.
What is it about villains with personality? I think that if you make anything humorous and witty, it makes it easier to take.
It also helps when you have talented stage actors play those parts.
Little Mermaid the Musical
Vee as Ursala at Kenton Ridge’s Little Mermaid the Musical
I shot Little Mermaid last week at Kenton Ridge High School. I really didn’t know what to expect when I arrived there. I knew it was going to be in something called a “cafetorium”, which conjured up images of the elementary school I attended growing up that had a large multipurpose room that functioned as an auditorium, gymnasium, and lunch room. When I got there, that was about it in a nutshell!
After getting some stagehands to help move some lunch tables back a bit, I had made enough room to move around to get the shots across the whole stage. Unfortunately the orchestra started setting up right in front of the stage, so I had to ask to move the tables back even more to clear them. Heads and instruments were going to be sticking up above the stage floor height, so before the shoot even started I knew I was in for some editing fun later! There was also a large speaker right dead in the middle of the stage, so that was also going to be an obstacle to overcome in edits. Thank goodness for AI Generative Fill in Photoshop!
The other thing I had to deal with was a parent with a videographer there to record it. While they promised to stay out of my way, there were several moments during the performance where they were just solidly in the way of where I needed to be. I was nice about it but in the future I need to once again start putting my foot down about other photographers and videographers that get in the way at a shoot where I am the official photographer who is paid to be there to get the shot. I had hoped this wouldn’t be an issue, but as usual trying to be nice bit me in the ass.
The kids were awesome. They completely knocked it out of the park. Vee, who played Ursala, was amazing as always and owned the role. I think that “Poor Unfortunate Souls” is one of my favorite songs at the moment and is in my theater song mix rotation.
Lighting was great, and the costumes were stunning!
I know that I’ve seen the original Little Mermaid cartoon, but I’ve never seen the musical before. And its been ages since I’ve seen the cartoon. As usual to familiarize myself with a musical I’m about to shoot, I watched a few performances on YouTube before shooting this one. I realized just how dark it is, with Ursala having murdered all of her sisters including Ariel’s mom. But that’s Disney for ya!
Here’s a few of my favorite shots from the performance. Click on the first to enlarge and scroll through.
Beetlejuice the Musical Jr.
Keith in the title role of YAA’s Beetlejuice
This week I shot the Youth Arts Ambassadors (YAA) performance of Beetlejuice the Musical Jr. Once again another villain steals the show! For many of the actors in the musical this was the last year for being YAA performers and I have shot them now for almost a decade. I’ve watched a lot of the kids grow up through my lens. This was Keith’s last year and he nailed the roll of Beetlejuice. I knew when I saw the cast list this was going to be a great show.
The John Legend Theater is a great place to watch a musical, and it is equally great to shoot one in. Lots of room between the front row and stage, and the lighting is great. Having such a venue in Springfield for the kids to perform in is truly incredible. I wish that all students had such an opportunity to perform in such a great theater.
This show also had a lot of past YAA members who are now all grown up and running things, including Bailey on lighting and Brady directing.
Enough blabbing, here’s some of my favorite images from the performance. Click on the first to enlarge and scroll through.
I hope you enjoyed the shots as much as I enjoyed being there to make them!
Next month is the Steel Magnolias performance at Clark State’s Kuss Amphitheater. I’ll be certain to bring lots of tissues with me to the dress rehearsal, because if I remember it correctly its a real tear-jerker! I’ll post images next month after the shoot.
If you are looking for quality theater photography for an upcoming show, please feel free to reach out and we can chat!
As always, thanks for reading.
Jeremy