Treading the boards

[Doug Kerr]

Alamogordo, New Mexico, our home, is a small desert town (population almost 30,000), about 90 miles north of the border with Mexico, about 65 miles from the nearest Interstate Highway (or Sam's Club). It is blessed to have two first rate community theater companies.

One, Alamogordo Music Theater, presents solely musicals, often well-known ones (they just finished their run of "Fiddler on the Roof").

The other, Theatre on the Hill, mainly presents straight (non-musical) plays, although they have done a musical in recent times. It is actually an operation of the college Theater Department, and performs in the college theater (which, as I mentioned in another thread, is curiously the only occupant of the college's Fine Arts Center).

A volunteer organization, The Theatre on the Hill Guild, provides support of many kinds to the theater's operation, and in a sense contributes to its overall governance (as advisors to the Theater Department). Carla and I are members of the Guild, and in fact Carla is its current president. The office has no set term, so she will be president until she dies, resigns, or is somehow deposed.

Each year, the late summer production of the theater is produced by the Guild on its own behalf, and all net proceeds, after covering the Guild's operating expenses, go to fund a series of theater study scholarships awarded by the Guild.

This year's Guild production was "This & That", an anthology of six short plays (performance time from 10 to 20 minutes). All were written by members of the Guild, one in fact by Carla, her first outing in that milieu. And she and I had roles in another of the plays.

Sadly, no arrangements were made for either still or video photography of the performance or even of dress rehearsal. But I am still able to give some idea of the favor of the project.

I will start with a shot in the makeup shop (c​um Green Room) during dress rehearsal. This was the first outing for my new Panasonic DMC-FZ1000, which had arrived just a couple of days before.

Douglas A. Kerr: Makeup!​

This is the full frame, ex camera except for resizing (using ImageMagick under Bart's script). That is not to suggest that this "crop" is ideal for a delivered work; rather I just want to show what came out of the camera.

On the left, we see Carla (in her costume and hairdo for her role in one of the plays) doing eye makeup on one of the actors (yes, Carla is also a skilled makeup artist).

You may wonder what time this rehearsal was, given the indication of the wall clock. That clock is dead, and a while ago I set it to 8:18, the standard setting for analog clocks on static display. We had bought a new one for the theater (our philanthropy for the performing arts knows no bounds - it was USD 4.27 at Walmart), but it seemed to have gotten lost before it was emplaced.

In later posts I will present some results of on-stage photography with the new FZ1000, and give a little insight into the nature of a couple of the plays in this production.

It was over all grand fun, but it wears an old guy's ass out.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

Sadly, there are no shots of Carla on-stage, as I was in the same play as she, and thus couldn't shoot even during the earlier rehearsals.

But here we get another view of her as she does the makeup on that same actor, Scott:

Douglas A. Kerr: Still makeup!​

Scott is a retired music teacher and a marvelous musician. His intonation on the flute matches anything I have ever heard.

Carla's costume and hairdo, a bit less "glamorous" than you are used to, is for her role in "Social Insecurity", the last of the six plays in the presentation. It is a farce about bureaucracy gone amok in the waiting room of a Social Security Administration claims office. Carla plays the office manager, a veteran of 53 years in that organization, with a watch she believes has kept perfect time all that time. "Rules are rules" is her mantra. "Yes, I know", says one of her foils. "Otherwise we will have chaos!"

"Yes", says the security guard (played by moi), "and we all know that chaos is not allowed in government offices." But of course this one has its own brand of chaos. Says the receptionist to a mild-mannered, and slightly hearing-impaired, applicant (played by Scott), "Well, take this ticket and go sit down over there with the rest of the losers."

Here we see Katie, one of the newest members of the company.

Douglas A. Kerr: Katie in the mirror!​

She is a recent transplant to Alamogordo from the Saint Louis area. She is in high school, and is "15 going on 16". She is a marvelous actor, and as well has a stunning singing voice. She played the female lead in one of the six plays.

Here we see Kristina (we have two of those, actually), another new member of the company, and new to acting:

Douglas A. Kerr: Kristina in the mirror!​

She works in the office of a well-respected chiropractor here in Alamogordo. She did a wonderful job in her first two stage roles.

So, while community theater is not "fine art", the art that is created by this company is fine, and as you can see, certainly are the players.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Tom dinning]

Thanks for the look-in, Doug. I great community feel here. Warm, friendly, supportive; all the things that make my skin crawl but understand their place in society. The photos are as good as any community play I've seen, and I've been dragged screaming to a few in my time. I'd prefer to be out the back with a camera.
Tell Carla my Great Granddaughter thinks Carla is a princess. I think it's the purple. It's Nevayah's favourite colour

 

[Antonio Correia]

Thank you Doug for showing us this part of your life.

I see here that there is quite an opportunity to make some beautiful portraits !

 

[Doug Kerr]

Thanks for the look-in, Doug. I great community feel here. Warm, friendly, supportive; all the things that make my skin crawl but understand their place in society. The photos are as good as any community play I've seen . . .

Thank you so much.

Tell Carla my Great Granddaughter thinks Carla is a princess.

She's quite right!

I think it's the purple. It's Nevayah's favourite colour

Thank her for Carla!

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

Now I'll move on to some of the actual plays. These shots were taken at "final tech", the last rehearsal before dress rehearsal (and in fact most of the players were in costume).

I'll start with the play Carla wrote, "One Hundred and Two Stories". (Yes, we know that the "and" is grammatically incorrect, but Carla wanted to title it the way most people these days would say that number.) It tells the tale of an elevator journey down from the 102nd floor small observation deck of the Empire State Building in New York City, which in fact is done in three trips, owing to limitations in elevator design when the building was originally designed.

There are multiple story lines cleverly woven together in this piece. For conciseness, I won't recount all of them.

Here we see the passengers on the first leg:

Douglas A. Kerr: On the way​

Well, almost all of them. A couple of the players are not seen here, some being offstage at the moment taking care of some adjustments, and one not present owing to a college class conflict.

In the central story line, Sarah (far right, played by Kristina M.) is telling Flo (in blue, played by Rachel, another newcomer to the company) a grisly story of a New York physician who had murdered his wife and, as we learn shortly, had cut out her heart. It turns out that this was the culmination of his involvement with the murder of homeless persons and the harvesting of their organs to be sold on the black market to unscrupulous surgeons for use in transplants. And in fact, his wife's heart was destined for just that trade.

But before the story unfolds too far, there is a thud and the elevator comes suddenly to a stop, between floors.

Douglas A. Kerr: An unexpected stop​

The elevator operator (left, in white, played by Kristina S) uses the red emergency phone (yes, we provided that) to learn that repairs were underway.

Various of the other characters express different kinds of distress over this contretemps. But, there being nothing else to be done, Sarah resumes her recounting of the case to Flo. Of course, the grisly details add to the discomfort of the passengers and bring a couple of them to the brink of nausea.

We will pause here for a honey shot of Rachel:

Douglas A. Kerr: Rachel as "Flo"​

Maria (played by our resident diva, Monica), an Italian tourist traveling with her husband , is overcome by the heat in the confined elevator, and finally decides to take off her stockings (and then slip, and later in fact her bra):

Douglas A. Kerr: Make yourself comfortable, Maria​

Her husband, Anthony (played by Perry) gallantly shields her from view with his jacket.

Finally, the problem is cured, and the journey resumes.

When the group reaches the ground floor, after the third elevator trip, Yevgeny, a young Russian tourist (played by Tony), catches up with Sarah.

Douglas A. Kerr: Yevgeny and Sarah​

He tells her that the story she told to Flo was amazingly like a story on a dramatic TV show they received in Moscow. "Of course", says Sarah, "that was a story on the soap opera, 'As the Stomach Turns'. I thought everybody knew that."

Blackout.

This play was very well received, and a number of the audience said it was their favorite of all six. Author! Author! Brava!

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

Here we see one of the newest, and certainly the youngest, member of our theater company, Grace (Gracie) Kennedy, age 9 months, seen with her mother, Victoria Kennedy:

Douglas A. Kerr: Victoria and Grace Kennedy​

Victoria, a very capable actor, is a regular with the company, and in fact appears in several of the plays in the recent production.

In "Social Insecurity", a farce about bureaucracy run amok in a Social Security Administration office, she plays Martha, a young woman who has come to the office, bringing her baby (played by Grace). We are given no insight into what business such a young person might have with the SSA (although there are various possibilities).

In one scene, Martha is standing with her baby and Carol, the office manager (played by Carla) comes right up to her and berates here for not feeding her baby before she came to the office. The issue is that she earlier tried to feed her baby (with a bottle) while sitting in the waiting area of the office, in contravention of one of the office rules, "No eating or drinking in this office". (The Security guard, played by moi, had warned her about that.)

Carla says that in that scene, when she was berating Martha, Grace would look at her with a very worried look, as if to say, "Why are you talking that mean way to my Mommy?).

In any case, Grace played her role flawlessly. She is a born trouper.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Antonio Correia]

Doug... the baby is gorgeous ! So lovely...

I was going to tell you before but I am going to say it now.
I may be wrong but it looks like you should correct the white balance in the photographs taken inside the theatre where artificial light is turned on.
The image of Victoria and Grace looks pretty good. In contrast with the other images you can clearly see what I mean. Am I wrong ?

Thank you for posting this lovely picture Doug !

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Antonio,

Doug... the baby is gorgeous ! So lovely...

I was going to tell you before but I am going to say it now.
I may be wrong but it looks like you should correct the white balance in the photographs taken inside the theater where artificial light is turned on.

Yes, as I proceeded with the new camera I became more aware of the need to use other than "AWB" when under stage lighting (or in fact, the incandescent lighting in the makeup room). There was a lot for me to come to grips with all at once!

I made the change in white balance setting only partway through the shots in the makeup room. All the onstage shots were under AWB.

The image of Victoria and Grace looks pretty good. In contrast with the other images you can clearly see what I mean. Am I wrong ?

No, you are quire right.

Thanks for that observation.

Thank you for posting this lovely picture Doug !

My pleasure. Thanks.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Antonio Correia]

If you use LR Doug, the adjustment of the WB is quite simple.

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Antonio,

If you use LR Doug, the adjustment of the WB is quite simple.

I don't use LR.

Are you speaking of making the adjustment starting with the raw file, or starting with a JPG file?

I don't generally use raw files (but may need to start).

Actually, the raw development software provided with the Panasonic FZ 1000 provides a nice facility for adjusting color balance (best if working with the raw file, but it makes a good try when working with the JPG). file.

But I just "hadn't bothered" yet, being actually fully overloaded by being in the play itself!

I will take some of those on-stage shots and try and do some color balance adjusting and see what I get.

Thanks.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

A very nice story and ditto pictures Doug.

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Cem,

A very nice story and ditto pictures Doug.

Thanks so much.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Antonio Correia]

...Are you speaking of making the adjustment starting with the raw file, or starting with a JPG file?... Best regards,
Doug

Yes I am talking about raw files Doug.

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Antonio,

Yes I am talking about raw files Doug.

Thanks.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Antonio,

The Panasonic FZ100 camera comes with a "raw developer" program, Silkypix, a product of Ichikawa Soft Laboratory. The version provided with the camera is only able to be used on files from Panasonic cameras.

Although the program is billed as a "raw developer", it will also process JPG files, including the application of color balancing.

Like LR, it is a "nondestructive editing" program.

I am still learning my way around the program, but here is one of my early efforts.

Here is an onstage scene from our play "One Hundred and Two Stories", directly from the camera (as a JPG file), cropped (downsized of course for presentation here), with the camera set for Automatic White Balance:

Scene from "One Hundred and Two Stories" - ex camera (AWB)​

Here I have applied white balance color correction to the above image on a "white point" basis, using a small region on the elevator operator's blouse as the white point reference:

Scene from "One Hundred and Two Stories" - white balance corrected in Silkypix​

I think that is a noticeable improvement.

I will be doing some further work this evening.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Antonio,

Here is another example, an on-stage shot from one of the other short plays in our production, "And Come Back A Star". It is a play about a play being produced by a college theater department. The director is a professor from the Theater Department. (All sound familiar?)

The female lead is to be played by a guest artist, a renowned actress from New York City. But she has been a real pain, looking down on her "amateur" colleagues, coming late to rehearsals or missing them altogether, refusing to take direction, and so forth.

On opening night, she has not arrived at the theater by"call" time, and the director decides that this night -and from here on - her role will be played by one of the student actresses, the understudy for the role. Of course, a lot of drama ensues from this decision!

On the left we see "Julie", the student actress, played by Katie, and on the right we see the director, played by Monica, in a scene where Julie is expressing concern as to whether she can live up to the audience's expectations, given that they were expecting a famous actress from New York City.

We first see the shot as delivered from the camera, again with AWB white balance:

Julie (Katie) and the director (Monica) - ex camera (AWB)​

Now we see the same shot with color correction applied to the JPG file on a "white point" basis; the reference white was taken from Monica's scarf. There was also a little exposure compensation applied (metering is tough in this setting, I should probably have used spot metering, but . . .).

Julie (Katie) and the director (Monica) - color correction applied in Silkypix​

And Katie - no, the audience will not be disappointed!

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Antonio Correia]

Thank you so much for having so much work with my simple observation.

It is notoriously evident the benefits of correcting the white balance.

The green dress looks very oriental probably it is silk... I am sure the color of this green in the corrected version is the true one.

Good work, good work !

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Antonio,

Thank you so much for having so much work with my simple observation.

Well, thank you for stimulating a very necessary exercise.

It is notoriously evident the benefits of correcting the white balance.

I think so.

The green dress looks very oriental probably it is silk... I am sure the color of this green in the corrected version is the true one.

I think maybe not silk, but Carla says maybe so. But yes, I think the color as now rendered is what we see in real life. And of course it was well displayed as we see it in the photo!

Good work, good work !

Thank you so much.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

Another short play in the recent production was "Mal's Practice". It takes place in the office of Dr. Mal, a general practitioner (yes, I know that term is considered obsolete). Dr. Mal has a number of brothers, all physicians practicing in this same town, all specialists in various fields - a plastic surgeon, a psychiatrist, a dermatologist, and such. And of course our Dr. Mal is often able to refer patients to one of his brothers, keeping the business "in the family".

In fact, Dr. Mal's nurse comments that there certainly are a lot of Mal practices in this town!

One patient that comes in tells the receptionist that he has indeed seen Dr. Mal previously, about a year ago, at the insistence of his wife, who believed he was having some sort of medical crisis. In fact, at the time he believed he was a chicken. And the worst part, he says, is that he was unable to lay any eggs.

He goes on to say that Dr. Mal had referred him to Dr. Mal, the psychiatrist, and that after only 12 visits he was cured of his malady.

Another fellow in the waiting room, overhearing this description, asked the guy if Dr. Mal, the psychiatrist, had cured him of his malady in the sense that he no longer thought he was a chicken, or in the sense that he was then able to lay eggs. The guy took great offense at this question. Here we see the confrontation:

Douglas A. Kerr: The confrontation​

On the right we see "chicken man", played by Tony Calderon; on the left, another denizen of the waiting room, played by Scott Hancock.

When the guy is seen by the doctor he clarifies that: he indeed no longer thinks he is a chicken. But he has come back (again at his wife's urging) because he now thinks he is a lizard. "I hope not a poisonous one", says the doctor. Well, says the follow, that is the worst part of the problem: he doesn't know what kind of lizard he is. He thinks perhaps an iguana, or maybe a gecko.

Here the aptly named Nurse Goodbody (played by Monica Helm) recoils from the fellow making a menacing move toward her bosom with his gecko hands.

Douglas A. Kerr: Perhaps a gecko​

On the right we see Dr. Mal, played by Perry Lawson.

The doctor asks the nurse to prepare a referral to his brother, Dr. Mel the psychiatrist. The fellow goes to the front desk and picks up the referral order, but then the receptionist (Kristina Stephens) remembers that she had neglected to collect from this fellow, when he arrived, his copayment (the part of the doctor's fees that are not paid by insurance), and would like to collect it now. At this, the fellow bolted out of the office:

Douglas A. Kerr: Copayment?​

When the other fellow had come in he introduced himself and said it was urgent that he see the doctor as soon as possible. He seemed baffled when asked if he had an appointment, and said, well, no, but he and the doctor had discussed this matter extensively. The receptionist said they would have to "work him in". He seemed further baffled by her asking to see his insurance card and identification.

Later, a scheduled patient had failed to arrive, so the receptionist said that the doctor could see this fellow shortly. She asked what he was here about. "I have shingles", he said. This was passed on through the nurse to the doctor, who assumed that the problem was the skin disease, herpes zoster, perhaps an opportunity to refer this patient to Dr. Mal, the dermatologist.

Here we see Nurse Goodbody helping the fellow onto the examination table, which seemed to baffle him further:

Douglas A. Kerr: On the table, please​

The doctor came in and said to the fellow, "Well, so we have a case of shingles." No, said the fellow, it was a lot more than a case. The doctor asked exactly where this was located.

"In my truck", the fellow said. "I'm here to repair your roof"

Blackout.

Overall, it was great fun.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

No theatrical production would be complete without an after party, and "This & That" was no exception. After the close of the final performance, the company repaired to a local restaurant to reflect on what they had done. The earlier picture of Victoria and Gracie was taken at the party. But now we'll do a little more.

Douglas A. Kerr: "This & That" after party—Carla​

Here we see Carla out of costume (stage costume, that is). She played Carol, the office manager at the hyper-bureaucracy-afflicted office of the Social Security Administration in "Social Insecurity", but sadly we have no shots of that.

Douglas A. Kerr: "This & That" after party—Jeremiah Crosby and Chelsea​

Here we see Jeremiah Crosby and his girlfriend, Chelsea. Jeremiah is one of our most capable actors, but owing to schedule conflicts was not able to take a role in "This & That". He is a former US Marine (guess you can see that) and is Victoria Kennedy's brother.

Douglas A. Kerr: "This & That" after party—Kristina Stephens​

Here we see Kristina Stephens in a frisky mood (nobody takes me seriously). You have seen her work in "This & That" in earlier messages.

Douglas A. Kerr: "This & That" after party—Connie Breding​

Last but hardly least we see Connie Breding, Associate Professor at New Mexico State University-Alamogordo and head of the Theater Department. She is in effect the Director General of The Theater on the Hill, a wonderful mentor and great inspiration to us all.

I think I'll take a nap now.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

In the course of this series, I have introduced you to many, but not all, of the dramatis personae of "This & That", so I thought I would finish the job.

Here we see Mia Rascon, the next-youngest member of the company (after Gracie, of course). Mia is 14.

Douglas A. Kerr: Mia Rascon (as Kara) and Rachel Connelly (as Bonnie, her mother)
​

Mia is a skilled actor, and has appeared in several productions.

In this play, "17 Minutes", Kara, a high school sophomore (played by Mia), has been grounded, but she sneaks out an upstairs window to be with her boyfriend. Bonnie, her mother (Rachel), assures the father that, as a woman, she will have no problem tracking Kara down, and heads out on that quest.

In the scene above, Bonnie has indeed found Kara, at the local mini-mall, and is proud that she was able to do this in only 17 minutes. Here she shoots a picture to memorialize her achievement.

Carolyn Dittmer is a capable actor, a playwright, and the author of most of the publicity material for the theater. Here we see her in "Mal's Practice" as Dr. Mal's wife.

Douglas A. Kerr: Monica Helm as Nurse Goodbody, Carolyn Dittmer as Mrs. Mal, and Perry Lawson as Dr. Mal​

Here she has reluctantly come to see Dr. Mal to get a referral to Dr. Mal's brother, the plastic surgeon. to have a breast augmentation. She tells Nurse Goodbody (played by our diva, Monica Helm) that her husband suggested that if she did not do so, "at least three sizes", she might as well hit the road. Dr. Mal, played by Perry Lawson, of course says he said no such thing, but he is sure that the procedure will be good for his wife's self esteem.

In the scene above, Nurse Goodbody says she hopes that if Mrs. Mal does have this done, it will take the doctor's mind off her.

Next we will see Zachery Miller in "One Hundred and Two Stories".

Douglas A. Kerr: Kristina Stephens as Beverly and Zachery Miller as Eugene​

While the elevator is stuck between floors, Eugene, played by Zachery Miller, flirts with Beverly, the elevator operator, played by Kristina Stephens, with great success. Here she gives him her telephone number and address, and suggests he call her so she can show him around Greenwich Village.

Alan Gonzales has had minor roles in earlier productions but here he shines as the male lead in "Rosie's Balls"

Douglas A. Kerr: Katie Calentine as Rosie, Alan Gonzales as Harry​

This two-person show tells the story of a young couple lost (maybe) in the woods near the Pacific coast on a hunt for washed-ashore Japanese spherical glass fishing floats, which Rosie sells to a local curio shop.

Here, Harry expresses frustration with Rosie's outlook on their predicament, which has devolved to "You, the great outdoorsman, have gotten us lost, and we will die out here."

Rosie becomes especially concerned when she realized that there are cougar and such in the woods. Eventually, as the sun goes down, they hear animal movement, and Harry prepares to charge the beast with the only suitable weapon he has, a medium-sized branch. It seems that the beast, which they cannot see clearly, is almost upon them.

Mooo!

Blackout.

No, the Ghostbusters belt buckle is not part of Harry's garb for the actual production.

Finally, here we see (in the second row) JD and Steph Hillard, experienced thespians recently arrived in Alamogordo from Cripple Creek, Colorado:

Douglas A. Kerr: Second row: JD Hilliard as Jack, Steph Hilliard as Harriet​

JD Hiilliard plays Jack, a very Texan Texan, who is outraged that the stalling of the elevator will make him miss a very important meeting, "with very important people", and insists something be done about it. Harriet, his wife, played by Steph Hilliard, urges him to be calm. When Maria decides to take off her bra to become more comfortable in the hot, stuffy elevator, Harriet decides to join in. Jack just can't abide this ("For God's sake, Harriet, this is a public place, full of strangers"), but it happens anyway.

JD has considerable experience in directing community theater productions in Colorado, and was appointed as the primary director for "Mal's Practice"; for all the other plays, the primary director was Connie Breding, the "director general" of the theater.

If I missed anybody, I'll catch them later.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Asher Kelman]

Excellent community!

You are doing spendidly documenting the play's production. I do hope you might be able to take a video of the play too! That would be really so popular with everyone here!

I looked at my schedule and I can make time to shoot Julie and Rachel!

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

Douglas A. Kerr: "This & That" after party—Carla​

As always, Carla is so "Red Hat" stunning! She could be a spokes person for skin care like "Oil of Olay" !

...and the picture is fab!

What camera for these and did you use on board flash or added flash unit

Asher

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Asher,

As always, Carla is so "Red Hat" stunning! She could be a spokes person for skin care like "Oil of Olay" !

Yes, she has fabulous skin (among other things). You know, she was 77 just last month.

...and the picture is fab!

Thanks.

What camera for these and did you use on board flash or added flash unit

For the whole series, Panasonic DMC-FZ1000 ("one inch" sensor), no flash, available light (mostly fluorescent in this one), ISO 1600. For this one, f/4, 1/25 sec, in-camera AWB.

I'm not completely pleased with the focus/sharpness on this one (although it is probably suitable for a "portrait").

Thanks.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Asher,

Here we see JD and Steph Hilliard at the after party, same setup as the pic of Carla (ISO 1600, f/4, 1/25 sec, AWB):

Douglas A: Kerr: JD and Steph Hilliard​

These guys were among the founders of the Butte Players in Cripple Creek, Colorado.

This is full frame, ex camera except for resizing with the attendant resharpening.

There is of course a little subject motion blur on Steph's hand.

By the way this was done with the Panasonic equivalent of "evaluative" metering with +2/3 stop EC to deal with the bright windows in the background.

So far I am quite pleased with the Panny.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Doug Kerr]

In the play "And Come Back a Star", the diva from New York loses her chance to play the lead for repeated misfeasance, and student actor Julie (played by Katie), her understudy, gets to play it. But there is a tumble-down. Now Libby (played by Victoria), Julie's understudy, has to play Julie's role. They have of course rehearsed their alternate roles in the "understudy rehearsal", but there is some trepidation on both their parts.

Douglas A. Kerr: Libby (Victoria) and Julie (Katie)​

Here we see Libby asking Julie for some last minute tips on how to deal with an especially tricky passage in Julie's lines (a series of "tongue twisters").

But we had a real situation almost like that. Mia, who plays Kara in "17 minutes", had a conflict with a high school band event for one night of the performance. So Katie would play her role that night (and would rehearse that on rehearsal nights when Mia was also not available).

But Katie would normally play Kara's best friend, Stephanie. So on the nights when Katie would play Kara, Victoria (otherwise "at liberty" for that play) would step in to play Stephanie. It was like life imitating art! But all the girls handled all of it just flawlessly. They are all so professional. (Victoria is the old lady of the bunch—she is 24.)

Douglas A. Kerr: Kara (Katie as understudy) and Stephanie (Victoria as understudy)​

Please excuse the blowouts - I was still figgering out how to meter for the stage lights with the FZ1000, freshly arrived that day!

Best regards,

Doug

 

[fahim mohammed]

Hi Doug.

I got this thread today.

A wonderful glimpse into a part of your world.

Best.

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Fahim,

Hi Doug.

I got this thread today.

A wonderful glimpse into a part of your world.

Thank you so much.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Asher Kelman]

In the play "And Come Back a Star", the diva from New York loses her chance to play the lead for repeated misfeasance, and student actor Julie (played by Katie), her understudy, gets to play it. But there is a tumble-down. Now Libby (played by Victoria), Julie's understudy, has to play Julie's role. They have of course rehearsed their alternate roles in the "understudy rehearsal", but there is some trepidation on both their parts.

Douglas A. Kerr: Libby (Victoria) and Julie (Katie)​

Here we see Libby asking Julie for some last minute tips on how to deal with an especially tricky passage in Julie's lines (a series of "tongue twisters").

But we had a real situation almost like that. Mia, who plays Kara in "17 minutes", had a conflict with a high school band event for one night of the performance. So Katie would play her role that night (and would rehearse that on rehearsal nights when Mia was also not available).

But Katie would normally play Kara's best friend, Stephanie. So on the nights when Katie would play Kara, Victoria (otherwise "at liberty" for that play) would step in to play Stephanie. It was like life imitating art! But all the girls handled all of it just flawlessly. They are all so professional. (Victoria is the old lady of the bunch—she is 24.)

Douglas A. Kerr: Kara (Katie as understudy) and Stephanie (Victoria as understudy)​

Please excuse the blowouts - I was still figgering out how to meter for the stage lights with the FZ1000, freshly arrived that day!

Best regards,

Doug

I really doubt you have blowouts if this is not from RAW files!

Asher