SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CHRISTMAS CLOWNS—Production Photography with City Lit Theatre

Last Thursday, Distant Era photographed City Lit Theatre’s holiday production of Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Clowns, by John Weagly, directed by Brian Pastor, adapted from the works of both Arthur Conan Doyle and G. K. Chesterton.

Character Portraits

For Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Clowns, we took time to do a portrait setup prior to the tech run when I photographed the show.

For this portrait setup, I brought a small background and two softboxes for a style of portraiture that I hoped would look somewhat painterly and Victorian. Here are some examples of the first round of portraist from that brief setup.

Photographing the Show

Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Clowns is the first show I’ve photographed on the City Lit stage, though I’ve seen many shows in the space over the years. During the show, I leapt around the theater to get as many shots from as many angles as I could. These are a few of my favorites.

Reunions

On a personal note, Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Clowns was something of warm homecoming, full of faces both familiar and new: I knew writer John Weagly from playwriting festivals. I’ve been fortunate to work with Brian Pastor and City Lit on multiple occasions this year, such as Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train and Strange Cargo: The Doom of the Demeter. Visitors to The All Worlds Traveller may remember Courtney Abbott from our session featuring Courtney as Sarah Bernhardt/Hamlet. Additionally, Alex George is also in the show, who I met earlier this year photographing images for my friend Gen Spridco’s new website (which I will share once the website is complete!).

A Holiday Hit

It was a rare treat to photograph Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Clowns among so many people I know, as well as to meet so many fantastic new people in the process. I’m grateful to Brian Pastor for the opportunity to document the work and to the actors for being such great subjects in both our portrait session and she run of the show itself. Huge kudos to City Lit’s technical team for the outstanding set, costumes, light, sound, and props!

Thanks also to resident Sherlock fanatic Elizabeth, who assisted with packing and transporting gear and acted as a great audience member for the actors, reacting to the show in progress.

We wish City Lit and the cast and crew of Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Clowns a stellar opening and fantastic run!

Cast

SHERLOCK HOLMES: James Sparling

DR WATSON: Adam Bitterman

COLONEL ADAMS: Mark Mendelsohn

JEMMA BLOUNT: Courtney Abbott

LADY GABRIELLA: Betsy Pennington-Taylor

JOHN CROOK: Manny Sevilla

RUBY ADAMS: Sophia Vitello

CHORUS: Maggie Cain, David Fink, Bruce Holtman, Alex George

Production

Jeremiah Barr (Scenic Design), Liz Cooper (Lighting Design), kClare McKellaston (Costume Design), Mary McCormack (Music Director), Carrie Hardin (Dialect Coach), Hazel Marie Flowers-McCabe (Stage Manager).

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Steven Townshend is a fine art/portrait photographer and writer with a background in theatre, written narrative, and award-winning game design. As a young artist, Steven toured the US and Canada performing in Shakespeare companies while journaling their moments on paper and film. In his transition from stage to page, Steven continued to work as a theatre photographer, capturing dramatic scenes while incorporating elements of costume, makeup, and theatrical lighting in his work. Drawn to stories set in other times and places, Steven creates works through which fellow dreamers and time travelers might examine their own humanity or find familiar comfort in the reflections of the people and places of a distant era.