It was a very exciting time. ANGELS was in rehearsal, and we all sensed that theater history was being made. With a stellar cast consisting of the Alley company and guest artists, and director Michael Wilson at the helm, a kind of magic was created - a world of its own.
I was assigned, along with writer Brent Shockley, to do a feature piece and cover story for This Week in Texas. From the first we were welcomed into the process, and had the rare privilege of being there during the rehearsal period, as well as for the extended run.
The result - the cover - is below.
Joseph Haj and David Whelan embrace in a scene from
Tony Kushner's ANGELS IN AMERICA.
The shoot, which was called on the rehearsal stage, was not without a drama of its own. The pose above was directed by Michael, and went off without a hitch. Everyone was being congenial and cooperative. Then a couple more directed by Michael.
The Alley company's John Feltch, comforting Joseph Haj.
At this point in time I had to pause to change film. When I looked back up, some (undirected) action was taking place on the stage bed. I shot it.
The next day I got a frantic call from the PR office. It seemed that "one of the actors" - they never said which one - was having second thoughts about the photo shoot, and could I bring the proofs up for a review? The only time available was that evening, during a charity event associated with the show at a local gallery. Could I bring them there? I told them I could. What I didn't tell them was that the photos had already gone to press, and would hit the stands the next day.
I arrived at the gallery, where several representatives of the theater and I huddled in a back office to look over the photographs. It was all very discrete; the actor who was complaining was never identified, nor was the specific shot he was objecting to, although it wasn't difficult to determine which one it was.
It was finally decided that there was nothing offensive in the images I had taken, and they were all cleared - a tremendous relief to me, since I could have done nothing about it at that point. (I had actually lobbied to use the kiss as the cover, but the editors opted for another shot.)
The play was a tremendous hit, and was held over twice, a first in the history of the ALLEY. I had an open pass, and saw it again and again. As the play was quite long, it was divided into two parts, usually run on consecutive evenings. There were one or two marathon performances, when both parts were performed on the same day, with a dinner break in between. I saw them all.
It was a great experience, and one I shall always remember.
These photographs were scanned from a copy of the article, and were half-toned for printing, which explains their image quality. I apologize, but I cannot locate the originals. It's quite possible that the magazine retained them. I don't remember.
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