As Bees in Honey Drown

Douglas Carter Beane's As Bees in Honey Drown, Directed by James Black.

Ty Mayberry, in a cover shoot that never ran, Spring 2000.

One fine spring morning, I drove by the magazine to drop off my copy and found the doors padlocked.  We never knew all the particulars, but TWIT was belly-up.  That was the end of a wonderful ride.  Just like that.

I do miss it.

Gross Indecency

GROSS INDECENCY, The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, written by  Moises Kaufman and produced by the ALLEY THEATRE in the spring of 1999, was directed by Company member John Feltch.  The play was a moving and intensely dramatic telling of the story of Oscar Wilde and his 19th century trial in London on the charge of "gross indecency". 



Wilde was publicly destroyed by the proceedings and the outcome, and was essentially railroaded by the forces of "decency" into disgrace, imprisonment and eventually, death, for being a "deviant", i.e. homosexual.

As usual, I was invited to the photo call on the main stage, along with a photographer from The Houston Chronicle.

The etiquette in such shoots calls for each photographer to be given the opportunity to frame and shoot his own images, and not get in the way of the other photographer.  It can be a quite complicated dance of give and take.

I had worked with the Chronicle photog before, and things went smoothly, but he had obviously had his marching orders from his editor, and at one point, when the actors playing Wilde and his lover, Lord Douglas, struck an intimate, and perfectly natural, pose, he stopped the shoot and announced that he had been instructed not to photograph any images that would show the two male actors in close physical contact, so as not to offend his paper's readers.  I was flabbergasted.

Since my editor had requested the exact opposite, I waited for him to finish and then shot mine.

Jeffrey Bean, as Oscar   Gregory Woodell, as "Bosie"

The images above were photographed on black and white film in stage light, sepia toned and "antiqued" for a period look.

I had intended a piece on the play and its background, but the incident described changed all that, and instead I interviewed the director on his reaction to it.  It seems we hadn't come all that far in a hundred years.

The photos above accompanied the article.



The Play About the Baby

Another ALLEY THEATRE shoot, this one during rehearsals for Edward Albee's THE PLAY ABOUT THE BABY.  Directed by Mr. Albee, the play starred David Burtka, Rebecca Harris, Earle Hyman and Marian Seldes.

The shot

 

The play featured a rather extended nude scene, in which David and Rebecca Harris, as the two young lovers, frolicked across the stage. 

The shoot, which took place on the Main Stage, was also something of a romp.  

David, whose only wardrobe was a towel, was comfortable and easy, despite several lookers-on.

The cover

Angels at the Alley

My first photography assignment at the ALLEY THEATRE - ANGELS IN AMERICA.

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.

A Streetcar Named Desire

Another shoot on the ALLEY stage, a production of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, directed by Michael Wilson.

Patrick St. Esprit, as Stanley Kowalski.  Patrick was a joy to work with.  He wore a tear-away Tshirt for the climactic scene, and slowly tore it off as I shot.  I cannot find those photos, but I will keep looking.

The incomparable Annalee Jefferies as Blanche.  She signed a copy of this photograph for me with a line from the play, "Daylight never exposed so total a ruin."