This was an incredibly fun shoot.  I was actually working on this show as the understudy to Falstaff (played by the wonderful Dan Daily) and knowing a show that well certainly gives you an edge for knowing the important moments and the best angles.  The Pearl is a fantastic company and this was one of their first shows in their new space (the old Signature Theater) and certainly the first that made TOTAL use of the stage area, which was giant.  Certainly H4P1 is a show that can use all that space and it was used to the fullest.

This was also a great opportunity for me as a photographer, as my work was featured in many of the reviews for the show.

This show was produced and performed by some friends I’d worked with before, but hadn’t seen in ages, so wonderful to see them all again.  It was also performed in one of my favorite off-off-Broadway spaces, the Women’s Interart Center, home to my friends at Blessed Unrest, but also where I directed Stormy Weather: Tornado/Avalanche.

Shooting in these small spaces is always a challenge.  There’s not enough house to be able to move freely without being in everyone’s way — there was creative team in every row!  I pretty much shot from one spot, but occasionally scenes unfolded favoring the other side of the stage, so I tried to head to the other side of the house around the back (oddly enough, essentially backstage) only to find that the angles there were worse!  Of course that’s when the eponymous prop made his entrance and I wasn’t able to get a good shot (pardon the pun) of him.

Sometimes the Seagull wins…