This week on The All Worlds Traveller, we take a look at Orion Lay-Sleeper’s epic headshot session.
In this session, Orion was the man of a thousand faces. He’d just been cast as Eddie Gilroy (Jackie Gleason) in City Lit’s production of Changing Channels, which opens this week. Orion, who I have only ever known as a man with a great big red beard, planned to shave down during our headshot session, capturing looks with his facial hair in different states.
I’ve previously photographed Orion in Idle Muse Theatre Company’s productions of What the Weird Sisters Saw and The Tempest.
Orion recruited his fellow The Tempest castmate Jacque Bischoff to do makeup for his session.
The Folk Session
As part of his headshot session, Orion also participated in Distant Era’s Golden Age of the Silver Screen project. We photographed three different ideas for the project, one at the beginning of the session, one in the middle, and one at the end, which also chronicled Orion’s shaving journey throughout the day. I’ll share those in their own dedicated post soon.
In a departure from the norm, we warmed up with a fun Silver Screen look before we set up our first actor headshot, moving from black-and-white to color. Browns and blues complemented Orion’s clothes and coloring, and these colors fit so well for him that we stayed with them for most of the session.
The Music
By default, I play ‘80s music during my sessions unless the subject brings their own playlist. I always tell a story about a pre-pandemic session with actor Jacob Bates, who arrived to that session singing “Country Roads.” I played folk music to match his vibe, and he asked whether I had anything more upbeat. Since then, I set the tone with ‘80s. Those songs were ubiquitous—on the radio, on the top 40 shows, on MTV, playing in all the public spaces—before ‘90s alternative/grunge, before streaming. I play ‘80s because the songs are familiar, upbeat, poppy, and immortal, it seems.
Orion’s session was different from any other. Fumbling with the streaming station, I asked Orion, “Is ‘80s ok?”
“I’m more of a folk kid,” he said.
I don’t actually own much ‘80s music personally, which is why I stream it. But I own a lot of folk and Celtic music (I think they categorize this music as “singer/songwriter” now). When alternative and grunge took over the airwaves in the ‘90s, I was working the Ohio Renaissance festival, and the songs I learned there got me into Silly Wizard, Stan Rogers, the Dubliners, Flogging Molly, the Pogues, Simon and Garfunkel, and later on, Pentangle, Jackson C. Frank, Sandy Denny, and the like. So we spent our session listening to music both Orion and I loved. We sang along. We introduced Jacque to it and soon had her dancing to the Pogues, who Orion had recently seen in concert. Orion and I swapped recommendations and both learned about bands we didn’t know about before. It was a long session, but a joyous time on a cold January day, where we collaborated to make the best experience we could for our friend.
BOTTOM: Makeup artist (and light tester, in this image) Jacque Bischoff, expressing her own musical taste.
Changing Channels
I’m glad we made all these different looks with Orion in the various styles of his facial hair. Until now, I’ve seen Orion in shows where he’s played noblemen or carried a sword and worn that big, red beard. Without meaning to, I’d typecast him in my head as the guy who plays these roles at which he excels. However, having just photographed his extraordinary, energetic, comical-yet-dramatic performance as a clean-shaven Jackie Gleason, I’m so impressed with his range that I’m glad we made some looks that show Orion’s different faces so that casting agents can visualize the breadth of his talent. Oh, and he plays the bagpipes. And can blow smoke rings. And is an espresso expert. The man contains multitudes!
So, check him out.
As of this writing, previews for Orion’s show Changing Channels are underway at City Lit Theatre Company in Chicago. The show officially opens on Saturday, March 7, and runs through April 12, 2026.
A thousand thanks to Orion Lay-Sleeper and to makeup artist Jacque Bischoff for bringing such warmth and talent to a frigid day in January.
