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Photography
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Tuesday, May 29, 2007 – A Bit of Whimsy
Lucky Seven – off Melrose Avenue, with a very red wall –
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On Melrose Avenue – The Unicycle
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On Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, the Neon Schnauzer at the big pet store –
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On Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, just west of the Neon Schnauzer at the big pet store, good prices for nightmare travel –
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On Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, a new pink wall, with good angles –
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At the Matrix Theater on Melrose – LA Women's Shakespeare Company & Rosalind Productions present AN ALL-FEMALE "AS YOU LIKE IT" by "Billy the Bard" Shakespeare. Set in the Wild West!
Featuring...
- Live Bluegrass Band
- Dancin' Cowboys
- Cross-Dressing' Cowgirls
- Bar Brawls
- Gun Tricks
- Love Poetry and more...
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From Travis Michael Holder, a review –
Since 1993 the L.A. Women's Shakespeare Company has turned the tables on tradition, reversing the original concept of male actors playing the Bard's female roles by casting only women in its productions. LAWSC attracts hugely talented performers eager to pencil in sideburns, adopt a wide-legged swagger, add a well-placed sock, and find a new kind of artistic empowerment. This time it's even more interesting, not only because of the already gender-bent nature of the material but because the Forest of Arden has astral-projected into the American West of the 1880s.
Lisa Wolpe directs with an assured hand, cleverly adding period music and dance to grace a magically versatile rough-hewn set by Mia Torres, which, accompanied by the faint clink of spurs, transforms from frontier town to open plains to cathouse-saloon, the actors decked out in Christina Wright's splendid cowboy drag. Suspension of disbelief happens with surprising alacrity, thanks to such stalwart L.A. stage royalty as the formidable Fran Bennett, who bellows in perfectly modulated Shakespearean tones as both Dukes; the durable Mary Cobb, almost unrecognizable as the bewhiskered Corin; and Brady Rubin as Adam, turning the aged servant into a resident Gabby Hayes. Among many unswervingly committed performances, Wolpe is riveting in her simplicity as the melancholy Jaques, Kimberleigh Aarn crafts a suitably dashing Orlando, Katrinka Wolfson teases effortlessly as Celia, Kate Roxburgh is a slickly Cockney Touchstone, and Emme Geissal makes an auspicious L.A. stage debut as the Chaplin-faced Kid.
Still, the Achilles' heel of this formidable presentation is glaringly obvious: Although Abigail Rose Solomon has her ducks in a row as producer of the piece, as leading lady she doesn't yet have the chops to stand alongside this veteran ensemble; she substitutes flailing arms and alternately joyful and pained facial reactions for acting. Rosalind is one of Shakespeare's most challenging roles, and for anyone who dreams of one day playing such a juicy character, the tools needed to make it happen must also be there, right alongside the passion to bring it to fruition.
It runs through June 3rd.
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If you wish to use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me. And should you choose to download any of these images and use them invoking the 'fair use" provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, please provide credit, and, on the web, a link back this site.
Technical Note:
Most of these photographs were shot with a Nikon D70 - using lens (1) AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or (2) AF Nikkor 70-300mm telephoto, or after 5 June 2006, (3) AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor, 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED. They were modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0. Earlier photography was done with a Sony Mavica digital still camera (MVC-FD-88) with built-in digital zoom.
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[A Bit of Whimsy] |
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All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik
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