Last night was opening night for Rochester Civic Theatre’s production of the musical Grease. The cast and crew did a fantastic job and managed to keep their energy high throughout the performance. It was especially true of the dancing which was pretty amazing.
I shot the show photos on Wednesday, the final dress rehearsal before their preview performance to an audience on Thursday. Lots of color, lots of costumes, gel’ed lights, and leather jackets to capture.
The dancing and all that energy along with the lighting make for a challenging photography assignment, but I’m pleased with the results. Going into a photo shoot for a musical, you have some expectations for what will be happening. But there is quite a range. Consider a show like Les Misérables earlier this season at RCT which is almost entirely sung but which has practically no choreography. The lighting was often low, but the movement is more gradual, sort of a slow walk.
Other shows have a mix of choreography that you might consider as something of flowing from here to there. Grease, on the other hand, is set in the late ’50s and early ’60s with early rock-n-roll setting the mood. The dancing is high energy and fast. You hit the shutter button trying to capture the midpoints in the action when things stop for a tiny instant. If you’re lucky, you nail it. I don’t worry about a little movement – sometimes that actually provides a feeling of the movement that’s good to have. But blurry faces are not usually a good thing!
It was fun seeing the show as just an audience member last night. RCT is presenting the original stage version of the show which differs from the movie – as is usually the case – and apparently differs a bit from the revival that came later. Some of the songs were unfamiliar to me, and I haven’t seen the movie more than once or twice anyway. While shooting, I just don’t pay much attention to the dialog and lyrics unless I’ve gotten my shots for a part of a scene when visually things are not changing.
There was also a little incident during the rehearsal I shot that involved a bit of blood. It was good to see that had been resolved, and the wounded actor was fine. Live theatre is like that.
It was also great to see a packed house. Word is, the first two weekends are sold out and the final two weekends are selling well.
So, you still have a chance to buy tickets if you haven’t already. Just don’t procrastinate. It’s a fun evening and you get to see some of the awesome talent we have here in and around Rochester.
Great photos! Also, are you saying all of these were shot during a run-through and not posed? WOW. Very impressive.
What kind of lens/settings did you use for this?
Comment by Greg Hintermeister — March 15, 2014 @ 1:35 pm
Thanks, Greg – Yes, I’ve been shooting theatre live at a rehearsal for the past few years, although at RCT, we were still staging them until Winter Wonderettes in December. I think it’s a bit easier on the cast, although sometimes last-minute set, costume, and prop changes may not make the photos. I’m using my 24-105 f/4L lens. A 2.8 lens could be helpful sometimes, but more often 2.8 would be too shallow. I shoot at 3200 ISO which the camera handles well.
Comment by Tony — March 15, 2014 @ 3:08 pm