The Limelight Productions had the honour of presenting the first musical in the newly-reopened Alhambra Theatre in Dunfermline, Scotland. This building was originally opened as a theatre, then became a cinema, and then for many years was a bingo hall. Recently is has been converted back to a theatre, still with many of its beautiful 1920s features intact.
Anyway, as I said The Limelight Productions were the first company to present a musical in the theatre. They are a recently-formed amateur group, and are always ambitious both in their choice of show and the production values they demonstrate in the show.
This year, they did the RSC version of "The Wizard Of Oz", and I was fortunate enough to be invited to be invited to shoot the dress rehearsal.
It was quite a tricky theatre to shoot. I shot from the circle, but choosing a lens was hard. The 24-105mm wouldn't give good close-ups of the soloists; the 70-200mm would have been too long. I could have gone downstairs to the stalls (orchestra), but then I'd have run the risk of ending up with "up the nose" photographs that I really don't like.
In the end, I had a bunch of photos that were clearly taken from well above the stage, and soloists didn't really get great close-ups. Not ideal, but until I get a full-frame camera and the effective focal lengths of my lenses changes I'm not sure what else to do.
Equipment: Canon EOS 350D (Rebel XT) and 24-105mm f/4.0 L.
1. Somewhere Over The Rainbow
2. After the storm, Dorothy is welcomed to Munchkinland by Glinda and her attendants. Glinda seems more interested in her appearance than anything else
3. Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead
4. The Wicked Witch terrorises The Scarecrow. This was one of about ten pyros used throughout the show - quite advanced for an amateur company. I was present for the safety briefing, which I am pleased to say was very thorough
5. We're Off To See The Wizard. What a shame two of the excellent cast had their eyes half-shut. I have another similar one, but they're looking down. Bah!
6. Act One, nearly at the finale. Good Witch Stage Right (our left), Bad Witch Stage Left (an old theatrical tradition, from the days when God was believed to sit on the right). Dorothy and friends falling asleep in the poppy field, and a dirty great ugly lighting bar blocking my view...
7. The Cowardly Lion - who was excellent - is pampered while Dorothy looks on
8. Our heroes stand before the Wizard... (please ignore the stage hand sorting out the scenery; it was a rehearsal after all!)
I thoroughly enjoyed the dress rehearsal, and then took my daughter to see the show on the Thursday night. We had a splendid time.
Next year, they're doing Beauty And The Beast - I'm looking forward to it already!
regards,
/alan
PS Something seems to be screwed up in the forum in that it's not handling IMG tags properly, so all these photographs can be found on flickr in the set http://www.flickr.com …p/sets/72157622378550099/
although there are also real lights - the wide shot with the two witches shows lights in the auditorium. Maybe I should have cloned them out, though!
