[Stage] The Trojan Women

(April 10th, 2013)

UH School of Theatre and Dance presents “The Trojan Women”.

more images at: http://forestphotography.smugmug.com/Stage/Top-Theater-Photos/20130410-The-Trojan-Women/29164220_jcqWvT

Dispatch: Photo Of The Day — “Shadow Building”

(Feb 28th, 2013)

The cropping is all wrong, but I was at a red light.

HCC Southeast campus expansion. One of those cool sunset days. Good to see the campus finally looking like a real college, instead of just one building with a parking lot.

[Jazz: In Photos] Christian McBride & Inside Straight Quintet

(Feb 8th, 2013)

DaCamera Jazz Series continues to bring in fantastic practitioners of the art form.

Christian McBride performs at Wortham Theater with his Inside Straight Quintet. DaCamera.

more images at : http://forestphotography.smugmug.com/Jazz-In-Photos/2013-Live-Gallery/20130208-Christian-McBride/29117606_BfXtGq

[Stage] Henry V

(March 15th, 2013)

Finally got the opportunity to work with the great Guy Roberts and the most vivacious Jessica Boone again since the Houston Shakespeare Festival mid 2000′s. Even then, I was only doing some publicity shots. This time, I get to watch them do a whole play, and shoot.

Guy brought back some of his troupe from the Prague Shakespeare Company to collaborate with Main Street Theater to produce a most entertaining performance of Henry V. The fact that the run  sold out every performance is testament of how good the production is.  The reviews will give a better report than I can.

I will, however, say this though — it was pure genius how they prop masters made it rain ONSTAGE, where the stage is the middle space being surrounded by the audience, and no one in the audience got wet. Pure genius.

more images at: http://forestphotography.smugmug.com/Stage/Top-Theater-Photos/20130315-Henry-V/29096019_nRC93c

Reviews and Interviews:

Guy Roberts on the Front Row on Classical 91.7 Houston Public Radio! http://www.thefrontrow.org/articles/1364471958-Henry-V.html

Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/Main-Street-Theater-s-Henry-V-fights-the-good-4389732.php

BWW Reviews
http://houston.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Reviews-Impressive-HENRY-V-is-Energetic-Brilliant-and-Alluring-20130325

Zest
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/article/In-Guy-Roberts-eyes-Henry-V-is-lesson-in-4377232.php

Houston Press
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/2013/03/war_is_hell_but_main_streets_p.php

Buzz
http://blog.chron.com/criticscritic/2013/03/prague-shakespeare-companymain-street-theaters-henry-v-is-magnificent-feast/

Dispatch: Photo Of The Day — “Encounters of the Elementary School Kind”

(March 1st, 2013)

Silly photo. But we got to have fun sometimes, yes?

Passed by Southmayd Elementary School, who are rebuilding a wing of the school. This little sand hill reminds me of “Devils Tower” as featured in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

[World Music] ¡Uno, Dos, Tres! with Son Vallenato

(April 13th. 2013)

***As part of ¡Uno, Dos, Tres!: The Many Musics of Houston’s Latino Community presented in collaboration with Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts (MECA), Talento Bilingüe de Houston and KPFT 90.1 FM. ¡UNO, DOS, TRES! programming is created and carried to into fruition by Houston Arts Alliance Folklife Program. The grant was written under MECA that enabled participation by the other organizations.

Saturday, April 13
MECA, 1900 Kane Street
5:00 p.m. Workshop: The Stylistics of the Colombian Accordion
Join us for an overview and listening workshop of the various techniques and unique qualities of Colombian vallenato accordion performance.
6:30 p.m. Concert

Son Vallenato

Founder and bandleader Victor Velasquez was an active Vallenato musician in Colombia for 30 years. When he moved to Houston in 1986, he inevitably met other musicians hailing from various parts of Colombia. Together they formed an ensemble in 2002 called Orgullo Vallenato. A version of the group has since been renamed Son Vallenato and consists of eight members. Victor started out playing the guacharaca (a percussion instrument typical to Vallenato), but taught himself to play accordion by ear. At this count, Victor owns no less than eight accordions, which were all made in his homeland. The Colombian-style button accordion has a different sound from Tejano conjunto or Mexican Norteño accordion music, in large part because the reeds of the instrument are tuned differently. Vallenato (which is named for its association with a valley region along the Caribbean coast and its origins in the city of Valledupar) is often paired with cumbia. Vallenato is considered the national music of Colombia and is recognized and enjoyed throughout all of Latin America.***

2nd concert from the series ¡Uno, Dos, Tres!. Son Vallenato performs the music of Colombia at MECA.

more images at: http://forestphotography.smugmug.com/ThroughTheDoorsofMECA/ExhibitionsPerformances/20130413-Uno-Dos-Tres-with-Son/28949130_cMNWvJ 1 like

[Stage] The Merchant of Venice

(March 26th, 2013)

A powerful presentation by Classical Theatre Company re-envisioning The Merchant of Venice being performed in a concentration camp during WWII.

Reminiscence of the Defiant Requiem, a story of prisoners who performed Verdi’s Requiem Mass at the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp during World War II, and Tibor Egervari’s Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice in Auschwitz.Audiences got to witness themselves watching a play within a play within a play.

Great direction from JJ Johnston and Blair Knowles, abling Matthew Keenan, Philip Lehl and Thomas Prior to brilliantly portray all key characters from the play seamlessly between just the three of them.

More highlights at http://forestphotography.smugmug.com/Stage/Top-Theater-Photos/20130326-The-Merchant-Of/28651212_KHzpZt

Interviews and reviews:

The Front Row: http://www.thefrontrow.org/articles/1365005744-The-Merchant-of-Venice.html
BWW: http://houston.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Reviews-CTCs-THE-MERCHANT-OF-VENICE-is-Masterful-Gripping-Sharply-Perceptive-20130331
002Mag: http://002mag.com/for-arts-sake-april-2013/
Fox26: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/21830306/2013/03/29/shakespeare?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=8725057