This is a bittersweet posting. "Streetcar" is a wonderful production with a wonderful cast and I was really looking forward to posting the pictures which I thought came out very well and do a good job of "showing off" the show. But yesterday one of the lead actors in the show, Chris McGovern who played Mitch, passed away unexpectedly. This set of photos suddenly took on an entirely new meaning.
Yesterday I did a small, inadequate tribute to Chris. Today I post this link to the photos from "Streetcar" to celebrate the show and the fine work being done in it and to celebrate the memory of an excellent Pendragon player who too soon made his final exit from our stage. Farewell, Chris.
It's a sad day at Pendragon Theatre today. Chris McGovern, one of the theater's stalwart company actors died this morning. He was currently in two of the season's shows, "Aladdin" and "A Streetcar Named Desire." He was a skilled actor. I had the pleasure of directing him in a couple of the productions I did with the theater but never had an opportunity to play with him onstage. We are very saddened to lose him.
The above images are from a performance of "Streetcar" just this past week.
The bottom two are Chris playing the Evil Magician in "Aladdin".
May you find the Genii in that magic lamp, Mr. McGovern. We'll miss you and the host of characters you have inhabited.
Photography by Burdette
I got a new camera a little over a month ago and I've been wondering when I would get my first Homepage picture posted from it. I've been shooting with it a lot, needless to say, but for whatever reasons all the images I've been posting have been from the archives. The new camera is a Sony NEX-7 and is a great expansion of my NEX system as I get ready for our big trip later in the year. Ever since getting the NEX-5n a couple of years ago, I've been migrating more and more away from the Nikons I've been using for years. A sweet thing about the NEX cameras is that I can still use all of my Nikon glass with them. Though to be honest some of those big Nikon lenses look pretty silly on the little NEX bodies.
A couple of weeks ago we were in Williamsville, just outside of Buffalo, for a family wedding. As we wandered around the wife's old stomping grounds one morning, we came across the old Williamsville Depot at the end of a lovely new park space. Parked next to the Depot was this baggage cart loaded with appropriately old baggage. Couldn't resist and end up really rather liking the shot - especially with the sepia toning (unabashed traditionalist that I am).
"Dirty Blonde", an interesting look at the life of burlesque star May West, returns to the Pendragon stage after a brief hiatus. Here's a new link to shots taken at a performance earlier in the season.
Photos from "Streetcar" coming soon. Finally got that one after a few false starts - on my part. And check archive blogs from July for photos from other 2013 Pendragon productions.
I have been remiss in posting homepage updates. I put up a new image last week, on schedule I must note, but failed to make my requisite blog entry about it. I'm certain no one but myself noticed or paid any attention to such an egregious oversight.
So, to correct the error, I'm posting a double dose today and putting in the image from last week and the new one for the coming week.
The image above, "Plug in the Grass", is an older image shot with the trusty old Canon G9. The G9 was my go-to, travel camera in the days before the Sony NEX cameras joined the party. It's an image I've always been quite fond of and have nearly used a number of times but not quite. But today it called out and demanded to be sent in. It's just a fun arrangement of textures and forms that, to my eye at least, works really well as a black and white image.
Last week's home page image "Centenarians" is below:
This image captures a wonderfully weathered old barn and a similarly weathered and ancient yellow birch tree that have been living side by side for a very long time. Taken in the fall, it presents these venerable beings, one man-made and the other a creation of nature, in the stark, unadorned reality of their existence.
