It sometimes happens that multiple shows are opening around the same time. This week, I shot two and I have another coming in a couple weeks. This was the first time I shot for Stewartville Community Theatre. I thought it was time to expand my reach a bit, and to offer my services to another community. We’re fortunate in southeastern Minnesota to have several theatres and many dedicated performers.
Theatre-goers then have many opportunities to attend fun productions with a pretty wide variety of shows. And, being theatre, even two productions of the same show can be quite different.
Stewartville is producing the locally created Loving Lorna Doone. The show was written and is being directed by Aaron Rocklyn. I think it’s the second time he’s produced the show – previously at the Rep. (Music was written by Jaymi Wilson and Anthony Knutson.)
It’s a period piece – lots of fun costumes which make for some cool photos. There is also quite a bit of action which is a challenge to capture but rewarding when you make it work.
SCT uses the local high school for their staging. It’s a pretty nice little theatre, and the stage is huge. They have a lot of room to block the show, and they used it pretty effectively. I didn’t wander backstage to see what they have for space there.
This has been an incredibly difficult month for theatre rehearsals. Of the three shows I’ve shot or will be shooting soon, all are musicals. Musicals generally have larger casts and have musicians as well as the actors. They typically have larger crews. And they have longer rehearsals to cover the songs and the choreography as well as the acting and blocking.
When the rehearsals are planned, there’s an assumption folks will attend the rehearsals. But, this past month has been particularly tough with snow storms coming with seeming regularity. Then, the most recent big storm left a layer of icy snow in its wake. Travel has been horrific. Since that storm, over a week ago, we’ve seen temperatures not even approaching the freezing mark.
It’s been more often below zero F or thereabouts. Roads are only slowly improving. This means rehearsals have been canceled or have proceeded without some of the folks who need to be there. I was impressed when shooting both of the shows I photographed this week to see how well the people involved have coped with this challenge. Adversity is nothing new in theatre, but it’s still great to watch people overcome it.
I’ll write up some words on the Riverland show, The Drowsy Chaperone, soon. For now, I hope you enjoy this selection of images from Lorna Doone. Hopefully, the cast and crew will enjoy the photos as well.
I’ve been considering offering my services to local school productions, so if you know of any who might benefit from what I provide, let me know! It’s certainly something I enjoy!
