Let's Go Backstage

Backstage at the Birmingham Children's Theatre.

Creating the Magic

The evil White Witch takes shape

OK, I've been teasing you all with my new "project" long enough. I've been asked by the Birmingham Children's Theater, actually that cute Nancy Jones who could sweet talk the horns right off a billy goat, to chronicle their fall production of C.S.Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, from start to finish! In high school I was much too shy ( oh stop the guffaws and knee slapping...I was!) to ever try out for a part in the school plays. I preferred to work behind the scenes with props etc. Well now I get to re-live the fun of watching a stage production unfold. Oh, did I mention that I read the book no less than 15 times to my third graders over the years? It was one of my most favorite read alouds. And don't fret, I'll give you peeks at the action from time to time!

Today, meet Emily Blanche. Emily hails from Fullerton, California and is here to construct the whimsical, mythical Narnia characters in puppet form. I was just fascinated with her renderings and watching her patiently hand sewing the puppets. What a talented artist she is!

Photos will be updated weekly on my Facebook here and on my Flickr set here.

Mr. Beaver will soon come to life!

Connecting People and the Community

Tuesday I had the pleasure of connecting with yet another wonderful organization here in Birmingham. The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, " established as a public charity in 1958, is dedicated to connecting people and resources with community needs and opportunities to make life better, today and tomorrow." They are celebrating 50 years with a fascinating project. Each week for 50 weeks they are highlighting one of "50 Ways to Love Your Community". I met Emily Jones Rushing, their Director of Communications, at the Birmingham Children's Theater. Emily wants to add the BCT as one of their 50 ways. I think that's a terrific idea. I had the chance to photograph these two exuberant canvases, painted by attendees at a recent Foundation gathering. I'd gladly hang these on my walls. Aren't they great??

PS More about the Birmingham Children's Theatre later. I've started my exciting photography project for them. There will be lots of photos to follow.

Lunch at Bettola

Today I had lunch at Bettola at Birmingham's Pepper Place ( Martin Biscuit Co. to be exact). Bettola is a really hip place, and I always feel very "with it" when I dine there! I met my cute friend from the Birmingham Children's Theatre, Nancy Jones, there to discuss an exciting photography project that she's proposing for me to shoot this fall. Oh don't you worry, you'll get to see it all from start to finish. Stay tuned!

P.S. Nancy tells me she is a trés faithful fan of both my blogs. Merci beaucoup mon amie! And you all will get to see her in person , I promise!!!

Theme Day: Yellow .....Brick Road!

Today, the first of April, is Theme Day for City Daily Photo Bloggers around the world.  We voted for YELLOW as our theme so here's my entry. It's Dorothy (Eva) and the friendly witch (Maddie) skipping down the Yellow Brick Road  at the A Night in Oz  fundraiser for the Birmingham Children's Theater.  I have a little bonus entry at the bottom.  A still life I took in my kitchen during my first photography class in January, 2008.  

Hundreds of Daily Photo bloggers around the globe have posted their interpretation of YELLOW.  Take a look!

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

I am pleased to introduce a new blog today.  My friends at La Bonne Etoile have launched their new blog.  Have a look!  Don't forget that there is still time to register for the photography workshop I will lead there in July.  See the blog or the info on my sidebar for more information.

The Faces of A NIGHT IN OZ

We're back at the Birmingham Children's Theater's wonderful fundraiser - A NIGHT IN OZ*.  How could I pass up a chance to show you some of the adorable faces I captured?  There were way too many for one post.  I've saved a few more to share later.

Remember, if you would like to make a donation to the Birmingham Children's Theater, click here for more information.

* See yesterday's post for more photos of this event

Well of course she looks familiar!

A NIGHT IN OZ

Dozens of darling Dorothys !

Saturday evening I had the pleasure of taking photographs at the Birmingham Children's Theatre's first fundraiser sponsored by their Junior Board.  Held at the beautiful Southern Progress building in Homewood, this was a family event.  An Evening in Oz ....think adorable kiddos dressed to the nines in gingham Dorothy dresses, lots of red, sparkly shoes, scarecrows, lions,  Munchkins, and many, many Glenda's resplendent in their pink gowns.  The Junior Board didn't miss a trick. They had creative crafts, the most elaborate facepainting and kid appropriate food, including a self serve "Pixie Stix" machine that insured a sugar high from now to next year! (My grandson hasn't come back to earth yet.)  The theatre's talented actors,  plus other local singers,  mesmerized the audience with fabulous music from the play and everyone had a really good time!  Sadly the cuts in local and state funding have made this a necessary way for this fabulous community theatre to keep the doors open .  Please go to their website here, if you feel you can make a donation. 

TOMORROW:  The Faces of A Night in Oz!

A Little Zen at the Civic Center

 I visited the Birmingham Children's Theater back in December,  and as I climbed the steps of the Civic Center, I spotted this vignette.  I have been toying with this photo ever since.  Today I sent it to my friend Bob Crowe and gave him the usual directive:  " Any good? Let me have it."  It got a thumbs up - after I recropped, so here it is.  I am so fortunate to have Bob and many other daily photo photographers that are so willing to share their expertise with me on a daily basis.  Merci Professor Crowe,  you continue to challenge me as well as advise. I need every bit of it.

The Tune du Jour is " Sundial  Dreams " by Kevin Kern

Discover Kevin Kern!

Airheads

Still rummaging through my archives for something new and different, I came across this photo last night.  It was taken in the colorful costume department at the Birmingham's Children's Theatre a few months ago.   As is sometimes the case with photographers, the ones that appealed to me at the time didn't seem blog worthy in the light of day. This one in color, was "ho-hum". But wait..... how about  a little fiddling with the color boost a little, the contrast, temperature/tint and .....voilà an entirely different photo with a whole lot of pizzaz. Behold the power of post processing! It's fun stepping out of my "box" once in a while!

* At Bergson's suggesetion I am posting the "before" photo at the bottom.

 

The Tune du Jour is " The Way You Look Tonight" by Rod Stewart

Before

Discover Rod Stewart featuring Chris Botti!

Backstage

Waiting in the wings

One of the perks of hosting Birmingham Alabama Daily Photo is that it gets you into the most interesting places!  I have volunteered some of my time to the wonderful Birmingham Children's Theatre.  You read about it earlier here.  What an asset to our city and  state, but sadly this theatre company is feeling the economic pinch along with many non profit groups. Please see the website if you feel that you can offer some financial assistance to this most deserving organization.   They have asked me to take some photos for them and I couldn't be happier.  I dabbled in the theatre just a tiny bit in high school as a props and stage manager.  Getting free reign to wander around backstage and see what's going on in the scene shop has been great fun.  Today's offering is from their wonderful production of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". It was my all time favorite book to read to my class when I taught third grade.  Now I get to see it on stage and it is outstanding!

The Wings Awaiting

PLEASE VISIT MY NEW BLOG: 

PARIS THROUGH MY LENS

Discover Sally Harmon!

Welcome to Birmingham, Leonardo!

It's not every day that you go to the Bimingham Museum of Art and bump into the master himself!  Several weeks ago the museum threw a Family Day and look who showed up?  Leonardo da Vinci schmoozed with the kids and greeted visitors as they came in the front door!  Everyone in town is excited about this special collection of his drawings that have never before traveled as a collection from the Biblioteca Reale in Turin.  The works include one of his most celebrated notebooks, the Codex on the Flight of Birds and 11 other important drawings.  The exhibit is unusual in many respects.   Because the drawings are small and detailed ( you can actually see each and every stroke of his stylus) , the viewer is allowed to get extremely close with a magnifying glass.  This invites a very personal experience between the observer and the artist.   The room is kept darkened somewhat with a chilly temperature of 62 degrees F.  To highlight the theme of the flight of birds and some of his horse drawings, the museum invited the Birmingham Zoo to bring birds which everyone enjoyed seeing in the Sculpture Garden and horses from the Birmingham Police Department were a favorite in front of the museum.  In addtion, art activities were provided in the main lobby area for the kids.  What a great way to introduce children to the wonders of art and make them feel comfortable visiting our museum.  

Tomorrow,  I will be a volunteer inside the exhibit for the first time.  It will be a very chilly 3 and a half hours, but getting to view the drawings as much as I'd like is a good trade off I think!

Postscript: Grazie to my friend Fabrizio, who taught me that he is referred to as Leonardo, not da Vinci. He explained that "da Vinci" merely means that he is Leonardo of Vinci.  

BELOW: Art Birds!

The Tune du Jour is " Per Te" by Josh Groban

PARIS COUNTDOWN.....18 DAYS!

Merci beaucoup to my friend D.C. Confidential for sharing the BFF AWARD!  You have raised the bar for me in so many, many ways,  and I thank you for that.  You are talented, articulate and passionate about what you believe in. I hope to follow your example my friend.

Discover Josh Groban!

It's Showtime!

The other day Ming I asked on his NYC blog, "So have you seen any live shows lately?"  I gave an emphatic YES.  Saturday I was in the audience for the Birmingham Children's Theatre's performance of " The City Mouse, and the Country Mouse" in the Wee Theatre.  Now one of America's largest professional theatre groups for young people, this fabulous (non profit)  group performs year round for schools and the public.  They don't just hang around in Birmingham all the time either.  They take it on the road for schools across the state that otherwise would not have access to live performances of this calibre.  I received the grand tour of every nook and cranny backstage by their exuberant Director of Development and Marketing, Nancy Jones.  If  Nancy can't get you excited about BCT, nobody can!  I have been invited back to photograph rehearsals and behind the scenes action. I can't wait.

Saturday, the audience was a lively group of youngsters and their parents.  I think this  four mouse cast got a standing ovation at the end,  but it's hard to tell with that many wiggly kiddos in one place!  Afterwards in the lobby,  the cast signed autographs and posed for pictures with each and every child.  Birmingham is so fortunate to have the BCT in our midst.  What an asset to our community.

The Tune du Jour is "New York, New York" by Mondo Wells

( I couldn't get Liza so let's be happy with this version)

 PARIS COUNTDOWN ... 33 DAYS!

Discover Mondo Wells!