This week on The All Worlds Traveller, Distant Era congratulates City Lit Theatre Company on the opening of their Jeff Recommended production of Changing Channels, by John Reeger, directed by Kevin Theis.
The following is a summary of the play from City Lit’s website:
Based on actual events, Changing Channels is set backstage at the DuMont Television Network in New York City in 1952. It is the peak of the “Red Scare” and 151 actors, authors, and journalists are put on the Red Channels list, with alleged ties to communism. As Cold War hysteria sweeps the nation, actress Maggie Carlin finds herself accused just as her hit comedy show is taking off.
City Lit summary of Changing Channels, by John Reeger.
The Triple-Shoot
In a manner of speaking, we photographed pieces of Changing Channels three times:
At Orion Lay-Sleeper’s January 2026 headshot session, we photographed a Jackie Gleason look for Distant Era’s Golden Age of the Silver Screen series (also photographed to help promote the show).
In February, we did a shoot at City Lit to create an image for the show’s program featuring Orion Lay-Sleeper and Kat Evans.
Finally, in late February, we photographed a technical run of the show itself.
Production Photography
As usual, I arrived early to get a sense of things, check out the set, make my lens choices accordingly.
The gorgeous, period set for Changing Channels sprawls from one end of the City Lit stage to the other.
I made sure to capture the stage in some of the shots so that the designers would have a record of their work. For most of the show, I concentrated on the action, looking for moments when I could get multiple characters together in frame since, in my experience, pictures that showcase the characters and the action tend to be the most attractive images to promote the show. On a wide stage, this can sometimes be a challenge, simply because there’s so much more space to play. Nevertheless, I move around a lot when shooting, always looking for the opportune moment to capture a scene.
Prior to the show, actor Skyler Tipton, who plays Peter Bell, asked how many pictures I tend to take during a run.
“Hopefully eight hundred,” I said, “but probably twelve or thirteen hundred.”
At the end of the show, the final tally was around sixteen hundred shots!
It’s a lot. I captured every moment I could, as best I could, even though it makes for a big culling/editing job afterward. My goal is to show the essence of the show, its action, direction, and technical elements so that everyone who worked on the show is represented in the work.
Cast and Crew
Many thanks to artistic director Brian Pastor for inviting me to photograph Changing Channels. Thanks to stage manager Tseela Sokolin-Maimon for helping me test lights and run the photography smoothly. Thanks to director Kevin Theis for making time in his rehearsal process for the photos. Thanks to dramaturg C. J. Day for the conversation about Marcus Aurelius. Thanks to lighting designer Liz Cooper for running cues for me prior to the run. Thanks to playwright John Reeger and the entire cast, listed right below, for their astounding work. We congratulate you on your Jeff Recommendation and wish you the greatest success in your run!
Cast: Kat Evans, Orion Lay-Sleeper, Johnny Moran, Andrew Pappas, Skyler Tipton.
Production Team: Bruce Bennett (Scenic Charge), Mark Brown (Production Electrician), Liz Cooper (Lighting Designer), C.J. Day (Dramaturg), Joe Larkin (Scenic Designer), Emily McConnell (Costume Designer), Aubrey Pierce (Carpenter), Tseela Sokolin-Maimon (Stage Manager), Petter Wahlbäck (Sound Designer).
