If You Got It, Flaunt It!

This past Saturday, I made an addition to my "Playbill" series. Many people, theatre-loving or not, are familiar with the Mel Brooks movie, "The Producers". Many people are also familiar with the character Ulla Inga Hansen Benson Yonsen Tallen-Hallen Svaden-Svanson (and yes, that is the full name) made famous by blonde bombshell Uma Thurman, and Leo Bloom as potrayed by Matthew Broderick. I decided this would be a fun shoot to do... so that's what I did :-)


Meet Ashley Edmiston! I had met Ashley a couple of times before I even decided to do this shoot through mutual friends and other theatrical adventures. Casting her as Ulla for this shoot was an easy decision! I actually got the idea when I was reading her bio when I went to see West Side Story with Rockville Musical Theatre (she was Consuelo). Since she had played the character, I figured it made sense, plus she physically fits the part, so it was pretty much a win-win. She channeled Marilyn Monroe for most of the shoot, and what she came up with was perfect. Not to mention she pretty much directed herself... I hardly needed to say a word!


On the right we have Mark Hamberger, a friend I met when I did Hello, Dolly! this past summer with Rockville Musical Theatre. When Ashley and I decided to make it a paired shoot, we wanted someone with a boyish charm and an expressive face to portray Leo. Mark was one of the first people we thought of, (for obvious reasons). Mark definitely had the more difficult character to portray between the two and still did a great job with it. Ashley and Mark had both performed together in West Side Story, so it was definitely a good choice, especially when it came to the coupled shots. The chemistry was very natural and they were both very comfortable in front of the camera.

Thanks Ashley and Mark for an awesome shoot!

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All images owned and copyrighted by Scotty Beland.

The Stuff

So. My name is Scotty Beland and I am an artist in the DC Metropolitan area. I am currently going to the Art Institute of Washington in Arlington, VA to get my BFA in Photographic Imaging. I'll be graduating within the year and a lot of my portfolio is theatre-related, because I am also a performer. I've been working on a series of images where I get an actor to portray a character from a show, and I wanted to have a written bridge between the two subjects so that's what this will be for. As I do shoots for this series, I will be uploading images from the shoot to this blog and will talk about the character/actor/shoot itself as I go. I will also be writing about shows that I have seen in the area, which brings me to my next subject... Reefer Madness!!!

What better a way to kick off a blog than by writing about the fantastically hilarious musical comedy that is... Reefer Madness. The show is a satire of the cult classic film from 1936 with a book by Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney, with music by Dan Studney and lyrics by Kevin Murphy. It opened in Los Angeles, CA in 1998 and opened off-Broadway on September 15th, 2001. Closing shortly after, a movie was made in 2005. This production was done at Dominion Stage in Arlington, VA and I went to see it on the Saturday of opening weekend, January 16th. It was produced by Helen Bard-Sobola and David Moretti with direction by Matthew Randall and music direction by John-Michael d'Haviland. All in all, the cast was very well put-together and the orchestra was also pretty stand-out.
As soon as the curtain opened, the set grabbed the audiences attention. The set, designed and painted by Jared Davis, was skillfully painted in a style remniscent of Roy Lichtenstein, minus the bendet dots and served several purposes and we easy to move and set. The show was choreographed by Catherine Oh, and she did not disappoint. The opening number was expertly crafted and kept the audiences attention, and was also expertly danced by an extensively capable ensemble. Another number that stuck out in my mind was the 1936-swing style number, Down at the Ol' Five-and-Dime. Oh used authentic jitter and swing dance steps in the number and creatively tied them in to the dialogue and lyrics throughout the song. The ensemble was FILLED with talent from the get-go. Their dance abilities have already been discussed, but this was one of the most vocally capable casts I have heard recently in the area. All the vocal parts could be heard, but blended together wonderfully and never got over-bearing and help just the right amount of camp to serve the show justice.
Joel Piper as Jimmy Harper and Jaclyn Young as Mary Lane played very well off one another which definitely added to the comedy of the show without making a farce out of it. They were both vocally up to par to handle the roles and were almost perfect in their delivery. Piper did a great job with a high energy performance with just the right amount of over-the-top-ness overall. And Young played the naive Mary Lane to the tee and made the dominatrix scene between her and Ralph one of the funniest scenes in the show. Ralph was played by Sam Nystrom and did a great job, as well, seeming completely comfortable with all the quirks and strange characteristics that make up Ralph's persona. Tom Flatt was the Lecturer and narrated the show. His expressions could be seen from the back of the theatre, and his stern tone matched his expressions perfectly. The dark and mysterious villain of the show, Jack, was portrayed by Michael Reid. Reid did a fantastic job making the character as unlikeable of a person as possible. He was slimy, greasy, violent and mean and it worked perfectly for his conniving, reefer-peddling character. He also played the bit-part of Jesus, which was absolutely hilarious, showing his versatility as an actor. Cassandra Hodziewich portrayed the role of Sally hilariously! She gave Sally the sexy edge that was needed to lure Jimmy into trying reefer. Last, but certainly not least, possibly my favorite in the show was Amy Baska as Mae. This was her return to the world of musical theatre and it certainly was a good one! Her voice had a great smoky quality that added a quaint sex appeal to her character and was technically very sound. The role was also acted well between trying to get Jack to do the right thing and her addiction to reefer; it truly showed a definite struggle in a real-life situation instead of it all being funny.
The show was very well-staged and the director did a lot of justice to the satire that makes this show so enjoyable, and the communication between all the members of the production staff made the show seamless. This show is clearly for a mature audience, given the subject matter and some of the language, but all-in-all could be enjoyed by a wide variety of audience members. If you'd like to catch the show... the performances are as follows:

Thursdays - Jan. 21 and 28 @ 8 p.m.
Fridays - Jan. 15, 22 and 29 @ 8 p.m.
Saturdays - Jan. 16, 23 and 30 @ 8 p.m.
Sunday - Jan. 24 @ 2 p.m.

For more information, go to http://www.dominionstage.com/

Cast:
Mae - Amy Baska
Lecturer - Tom Flatt
Sally - Cassandra Hodziewich
Ralph - Sam Nystrom
Jimmy - Joel Piper
Jack/Jesus - Michal Reid
Mary Lane - Jaclyn Young
Ensemble
Melissa W. Bailey
Julia Fu
Peregrine "Pippin" Herlinger
Tyler Herman
Sally Kiernan
Gerard Maurer
PJ Mitchell
Maureen Reed
Dana Robinson
Michael Schaaff
Jack Solano
Erica Wisniewski

Production Team:
Producers
Helen Bard-Sobola
David M. Moretti
Director - Matthew Randall
Music Director - John-Michael d'Haviland
Choreographer - Catherine Oh
Assistant Choreographer - Mark Hidalgo
Stage Manager - Colleen Stock
Assistant Stage Manager - Anika Codispoti
Technical Director - David M. Moretti
Scenic & Painting Design - Jared Davis
Lighting Design - Jeffrey S. Auerbach
Special Effects
Jeffrey S. Auerbach
David M. Moretti
Sound Design - Ben Allen
Costume Design - Jacquin Pierce Allen
Assistant to the Costume Designer - Bill Hoyt
Properties - Christine Spata
Set Dressing Design - Patrick M. Doneghy
Hair & Makeup Design - Cast
Projection Design - Michael Sheman
Director Apprentice - Phillip Archey
Rehearsal Accompanist - Chris Byer
Dance Captains
Sally Kiernan
Michael Schaaff
Combat Choreography
Pippin Herlinger
Michael Reid
Master Carpenter - Hector Lorenzini

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