Quite often, promo pics for upcoming shows give me something to post into a blog . . . and they look really nice next to a print review, but occasionally there are some that go beyond that and they end up hanging out on my desktop for a bit longer than usual . . . lately there have been quite a few of these . . . here's a look at some of my favorites . . .
Fools For Tragedy have had an interesting series of visual pieces for their production of Medea at the villa terrace. The logo in stenciled purple doesn't necessarily fit the classy refinement of the production, but I absolutely love this pairing of images playing on the comparison of the title character to a lioness. Here it's taken literally. And due to the intimacy of the production, Amber Smith's eyes were locked with mine when she was in character as Medea announcing her plans for revenge opening night, so that image on the right takes on added meaning for me. It's a fantastic production and it runs through the 22nd.
Alchemist Theatre opens a show this weekend. Natalie Ryan and the Rogue Traveler is an inspired effort to make traditional sic-fi skewed just enough to make it onto an intimate live studio theatre stage. The advance promotional images for the show fit that mood perfectly. Look closely at the logo above. That font look familiar? It's a really close approximation of the font from the original Alien movie poster. (I like the Natalie Ryan Icon, too.) And above the logo, there's Grace DeWolff (left) and Anna Wolfe (right) in a promo photo that captures the mood of sci-fi perfectly. It looks like a promo pic for a sci-fi TV show from the mid-'90's. Expressions, poses and lighting are perfect.
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Natalie Ryan and The Rogue Traveller runs August 16th - 26th at the Alchemist Theatre
The fact that Michael Traynor (on the right with the fencing foil) is playing Sherlock Holmes is unspeakably cool. The fact that he's playing Holmes in a production in the Brumder Mansion is even cooler .The fact that it's a script written by Liz Shipe (who is also in the cast) is even cooler still. So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm really looking forward to this show . . . and in addition to that distinctive mood and tone rendered in the above picture by Reconstructing Grimm, we get some idea for how Holmes, Watson and Lestrade will be appearing in t his particular staging. The period in this image looks exceedingly accurate. Drain all the color and put it in sepia tones and this thing could have been a period photo. (Almost, anyway . . . that's a shock of black in Traynor's hair. Doesn't fit the period, but it does add something to the character.) Very cool.
The premiere of Liz Shipe's Sherlock Holmes and the Most Irregular Tea Party runs September 21st through October 14th with Milwaukee Entertainment Group.
