Welcome to Burlesque- Valentines Day Treat
So yes, I did get to photograph this Burlesque show. I was also a performer in this show and we only had two weeks to put the whole thing together. So here is the tea. Round Table Theatre Troupe was putting on a burlesque at the Historic Baker Building. I thought it was such a fun idea and I had never been part of a burlesque before. Now it was a PG 13 show so there was no excessive skin, but just fun dancing, good cocktails and having a good time. I asked the director of the show if I could dance for the show, and he excitedly let me be part of it.
So! They casted it as types of lovers, like jaded lover, book boyfriend, things like that. Each person was given two different songs from Burlesque where they do a solo, and then the other they do a dance with the rest of the cast. I was put as ensemble since I was being onboarded late, and I was going to be dancing only, not singing.
I was actually unavailable the day that they were learning choreography and only learned like two dances when there was about 8 dances to learn. I was able to learn the dances from the videos but we did only have a week to get it all done. Kyla Olson did a great job making sure the choreography was difficult enough for the challenge while simple enough to learn and look good in a week. I was proud of how well everyone picked up on it and enjoyed the choreography.
We worked hard throughout the week to get everything done and make sure the space looked beautiful. If you are interested in seeing the space in person at another event, just click on the links at the bottom of the article.
We got to the end of tech week, and then I got to take photos. They were going to have another photographer there in the middle of the last show so I was going to get some photos of me too, but these were specifically posed photos that we needed.
That day we did a full costume run with practicing all our quick changes. They took some promotional video, and then at the end I got to take some photos. I told Travis, the director of the show and of Round Table Theatre Troupe, to pick out some moments from the show and we would go from there.
Our lighting designer Oliver Folger did a great job on making sure the lighting was accurate to what we would be performing in the show so it made it easier to photograph. I got all the shots that he asked for and then we were done for the night.
I always like having my photos done the week of the show because it gives everyone a chance to use them for promotional purposes. I made sure everyone would have access to them so they could download what they liked. I did the show in both black and white and in color so it got both the old school and bright fun vibes. Then the show went on! And everyone had a great time showing off their talent and enjoying the cocktails designed for the show.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I loved taking them and I cant wait to share the next one with you soon!
