The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 16 - Group Gropes

Team work wins Tonys! Above and below, Pat, Brady and Tom take the Tonys on a walk around the theater disctrict...

Dom and Brian are happy to share the Tony; but Nicky and Bobby didn't want to share and a fight ensued.

These lovely ladies were so happy and excited to get their Tonys - it was something they never even thought could happen!

Tetia and Molly have mother - daughter Tonys and they couldn't be happier about it.

My theater going ladies were THRILLED to hold the Tonys! And why not? They LOVE the theater!

Food For Thought - A Quick and Healthy Hot Afternoon Tea

I have to keep food prepared and in the fridge at all times because my schedule is insane so I need to be able to grab and go. It also makes it easier when I am on the kind of diet that requires the measuring out of 8 ounces. So I have Ziplock (Rubbermaid, Tupperware, etc.) containers filled with pre cooked chicken, pre chopped broccoli, etc. for my grabbing and going pleasure.

One of the things I always have in the fridge is chunks of chicken breast, seasoned with some onion and garlic and red pepper, then grilled. I take 8 ounces of this chicken and sautee it on the stove in a small skillet with a drizzle of olive oil, add some chunks of red bell pepper (others will do – I just happen to like red), some cherry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes) and when they are warmed through I take my carton of eggwhites (I buy the Food Emporium brand – they are less expensive than Pappetti – and Egg Beaters adds stuff to their “egg product”) and pour some eggwhites over the mixture of meat and vegetables. It makes for a nice little egg (white) scramble; a warm meal to have around four in the afternoon to keep your metabolism up.

You can do this with any combination of vegetables, too. Sometimes I do this with turkey breast, tomato and fresh basil. Sometimes I use asparagus or broccoli (pre steamed) with whichever poultry I am using. It’s like a salad. Mix and Match.

BUT HEALTHY! No cheese! No bacon! Use your head and BE HEALTHY!


Enjoy!

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 15

There came a time when the Tonys had to leave Two-A. You see, they were only under my care for a short while; when that time came to an end, they had to go where they belonged. We really did have the most fun having them as a part of our little family. They brought such a lovely energy, such an elegance, to our home. They were loved by all our friends and family. They were revered and respected and their presence in our home kept the memory and the legacy of the artist who won them - all six of them - alive. It was a festive, a whimsical, time in all our lives. All of us had the most fun creating this series of photos together. So when the time came to say goodbye, we had a little farewell party to make sure that everyone had had their chance to be photographed with them. These are those photos.At the top, Dennis and Vince demonstrate the proper emotion for winning a Tony. Above, Dennis has a quieter moment with his Tony while, below, Vince waves to all the fans who bestowed his Tony on him.

Look! Dennis and Chris have his and his Tonys!

Tim, Jessica and Mallory demonstrate the way to win a Tony by showing us their comedy and tragedy faces.

Below, Chris gets a Tony just for his high kicks.

Richie balances out a double Tony win with a big grin...

The Nelsons accept their Tonys with reserved dignity and grace.

Liz and her Tony make a little night music together.

Josh reserves his emotions while accepting his Tony but Jonna is a little more demonstrative with hers.

Danielle and Lyman's Tonys only have eyes for each other but Aaron and his Tony are the eligible bachelors for the evening.

The Workout Room DUMBBELL SIDE RAISE

This is the first of TWO videos showing the same exercise. This one was shot from the side, the next one, shot straight on.


I'm using 25 lb weights and, you can see, it's difficult. I tend to go for heavier weights so I can push myself and really stretch and grow.


Start lighter and GET THE FORM. With this heavier weight, I'm having to get a tiny hitch at the top - Ray would bust me for that hitch; but he would also be proud of me for pushing myself.


Start with the weight in front of your thighs and get that ballet arm curve. Raise it out, elbows high, like a bird flying.

Shoot for 15 reps and 3 sets.


If it become difficult, go with lighter weight!

The Workout Room DUMBBELL SIDE RAISE PART TWO

Here is a video shot straight on.


This was my 3rd set of this exercise and you can see - I'm struggling. That weight is getting heavy. I'm getting a little too jerky.

Do as I say..Not as I do.

If you see yourself getting jerky and really having to throw the weight, rather than lift it, lighten the weight. I am loathe to show you a video of myself doing something that isn't perfect -- but I am posting this so you can see what it looks like to do it wrong.

DON'T USE WEIGHT SO HEAVY THAT YOU HAVE TO THROW IT.


Lighten the weight and get the form right.

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 14

Welcome to the Boys Club! James shows us the proper way to welcome Tony home, while, above, David dreams about the Tonys - a lifelong passtime.

Tim and Tony(s) got so excited to be united that they both blushed a little.

T. shows us all what a little boy does with his Tony - spin it!

Tony and the Tonys take to Times Square (with three bodyguards, I might add).

Zack toasts his Tony.

Michael shows the Tonys what a balancing act it is, being a show biz agent.

Like many writers, Steve prefers the story be put forward, rather than the face.

Steve is at peace with his Tony.

Sean quietly shows off his Tonys.

No fanfare for Shane and his Tony. They like things calm.

Michael and Tony have similar senses of humour.

Mark and the Tonys just need a comfy chair and a back porch down south to be happy.

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 13

It's Ladies Day with the Tony Awards!

Liz reads a goodnight story to the Little Night Music Tony - it is a story this Tony, particularly, likes.


Lisa-Gabrielle knows exactly who to thank for HER Tony!

Sarah knows that the best way to show up for the Tonys is in a power colour that will get you noticed when you go up to collect your prize(s).

Jane doesn't need awards for validation. Lots of people tell her all the time that she is the best actress.

Trisha and her Tony sure do put the sunshine to shame.

Sandra shows us the sexier side of the Tonys.





Lindsay and her Tony light up the room. That's why they are in the fireplace.

Ashley's going to paint her Tony red and change her name to Elizabeth Arden.

Food For Thought - Baba Ganoush with Pomegranate

With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought I should weigh in with some alternatives to the side dishes we all usually have at the table...


I make this dish during the autumn months when pomegranates are in season and it NEVER fails me. It’s the cold months and the holiday months and people want to eat things that are different and fun and festive and tasty… and a lot of the time that ends up being sweet potatoes soaked in butter and marshmallows or carrots drizzled with butter and brown sugar or lots of other things that, let’s face it, really are more than your body can handle.

This is just some fun and it’s different and kind of light.

And delish. (My friend, Laurelle, LOVES this dish).

Here’s the thing: I cannot make Baba Ganoush. I’ve not mastered it. Maybe one day I will but, today, I cannot (in good faith) tell you that I can make this wonderful dip made of eggplant and spices. I buy the YORGOS brand. It is made straight and (I believe) it is organic (though I don’t have a container of it in front of me, so I can’t be sworn on the witness stand). There are other companies that make it with mayonnaise, which is repulsive. Just either make it yourself (and you can find lots of recipes online through google) or buy Yorgos or another clean brand. Eggplant. Spices. That’s it.

You need a good size pomegranate (or two, if you are making a lot of this for a party) – and they are really easy to seed; it just takes time and patience. Cut the skin, peel it back, break off a piece and pull the seeds out, dropping them into a container. When you have lots of lovely pomegranate seeds, mix them in with your dip and serve it with some nice whole grain, multi grain pita (or whatever dipping bread you want to use). It’s just for special occasions and a little bit of bread now and then isn’t going to kill you.

It’s just a lot more tasty and a lot more healthy than a bag of Ruffles and some bean dip.

It’s sophisticated. Your friends will be impressed.


So will your taste buds.

Ten Rules and Regulations Regarding My Personal Life: The Andrew Martin Survey

On Facebook, I belong to a small group of friends who do these lists of "The 10...." whatever. It is usually based on things like our ten favourite books or films or tv shows.. usually all entertainment related. We write these Notes and post them and tag each other and other friends. I tag friends who I think might be interested or who are mentioned (in some way) in the story or who I would like to read, should they choose to do the list as well. It's a very laid back, recreational kind of thing to do when you want to just goof off instead of actually work.

Yesterday, though, I was tagged by two of my group on this new list that involved some real, some serious, some introspective thought. I had to turn the camera (so to speak) on myself and see what I found inside. What I found there, I found to be so interesting that I am choosing to post it here...

Word for word, as copied from my Facebook Notes section:

Andrew tagged me in this note and then James Beaman tagged me as well; this is hardly surprising since the three of us tag each other in almost every one of these notes, notes I love a lot, even though there are times when I feel I am not up to the challenge. This note is a list of ten rules regarding your personal life, your space, your expectations and requirements of others on this planet. At first, I was not sure I could do it because, well, frankly, I have far fewer rules than I used to have. People who have known me for a long time have watched me change from a fussy, rather high maintenance friend who had so many rules that it became difficult to have an actual relationship with me. A couple of examples:

For awhile there was a sign on the door to our apartment that said “This is a fragrance free apartment. Anyone entering wearing perfume will be asked to shower.”

Last year, Laurelle was in our building visiting friends and she knocked on our door. Happy to see her, I invited her in; she apologized for coming by unannounced, saying “I know you hate surprise visitors”. I told her “not anymore. I don’t have as many rules as I used to.”

Life’s short. I don’t want to live like that. Too many rules ruins the fun. That being said, I am happy to make this, gentle, list – after much consideration.

Here are ten things in life that I dream of living without and, often, strive for just that. To live without these things – that is my wish.

1. Perfume indiscretion. Even though there is no longer a sign on my door of vehement distaste regarding this matter, my loved ones know that cologne and perfume gives me migraines. Most of my loved ones don’t wear heavy scents around me – and those that do have the good taste to dab just a bit on their person, rather than marinate in it. The truth is, I like perfume – that is to say, a little bit of good perfume. Not cheap dime store trash that smells so bad that it makes a person sick; and, certainly, not in mass quantities.

2. Interruptions. I think it is in the height of bad taste to interrupt someone when they are talking. I know that it happens. I know that we all do it. I am guilty of it to. Also, there are times when interruptions occur that are just not possible to avoid. You’re talking to a friend and your phone rings and it is your mother. You have to interrupt their story and excuse yourself; but it can be done with taste – and the moment you hang up, you should be able to say “you were telling me about the time your pet billy goat ate your mother’s merry widow that was drying on the line in the back yard of your home in Dayton, Ohio”. Or debates of a social or political or religious nature (or other topics I guess) tend to feature a lot of interrupting. That is the nature of debate. However, if someone is chatting with you at a party or telling a story or joke and you interrupt them, it is just bad manners. What is more, we all have friends who do this constantly. Tch.

3. Thoughtlessness. Have you ever had someone say something to you and actually considered replying “you didn’t just say that right to my face, did you?” I don’t (and never will) understand people who are so insensitive that they cannot think about what they say before saying it. I cannot fathom not being aware that saying certain things might not be the best idea – that it might actually hurt someone’s feelings. I know there are people who say things that are, deliberately, meant to hurt: that’s a different thing. I can usually tell when something was designed to hurt me. When a person is so oblivious that they aren’t even aware of what they’ve said or the fact that it couldal, woulda, shoulda and DID hurt me (or anyone else – it is, in fact, worse when you are in a group and you witness someone hurting someone you love and not noticing it); well, that’s just uncontionable.

4. Street smokers. I have friends who smoke. I can, on occasion, stand with them on the stoop during a party and chat with them without being bothered by the smoke – so long as they stand down wind of me and blow in the opposite direction. But the gaggles of people who stand on sidewalks and create mushroom clouds of smoke where I have to walk .. blech. And worse than that are the people on the sidewalk who exhale their cigarette smoke, only to have it bellow back into the faces of pedestrian traffic behind them… nasty. How about the people who flick their butts into the street without ascertaining whether or not they are going to flick it directly into another person? Rude. Sekurity!

5. Fake hugs. This is getting really petty but I have to admit that it bothers me. If you don’t want to hug me, there is a way around it. Everyone can devise their own, personal, way around it. And, frankly, I don’t hug people I don’t love. When someone who is close to me steps in for a hug, I prefer their arms go all the way around me and that they squeeze me. It’s just so dissatisfying to hug someone just gets their hands around you enough to pat you on your shoulderblades twice and then let go. It’s small, it’s petty, it’s nitpicky. I can’t help it. We live for a very short time and affection, both emotional and physical, makes that short life better. If you love someone, tell them. Kiss them and mean it. Hug them and let them know they are loved. People need to know they are loved.

6. Judgment. This is hard for me because I am actually guilty of it. I am actually on a quest to rid myself of this habit. I work closely with Doctor Bowler and with Pat and with OB1 Kenobi to get the habit of judgment out of my soul. I usually judge people on bad hair and bad outfits. I don’t judge people on much else… bad hair and bad outfits is just to easy. It’s fun. It doesn’t happen every day – much of the time I find something to love about my fellow humans (Marci has seen me do it and can back me up). Usually if I am judging people on bad outfits it is because I can see their genitalia through their spandex hot pants at the gym or because I have to look at their nipples through their torn mesh tank top at the gym. The rest of the time, though, I love the girl on the bike with rollers in her hair, I love the crazies wandering New York in mixmatched outfits and big hats. I admit this, though: I do not love the wearing of flip flops. Blech. Aside from my judging people on bad fashion sense, though, I think I’m doing well on my quest to be non-judgmental. My judgments of others tends to be a trend I reserve when witnessing acts of bad character. What I dislike observing, as judgment goes, in others are people who judge others because of their personal tastes. I don’t like hearing (or reading in print on chat boards) peoples’ disdain over someone else’s favourite movie or tv show, over someone else’s passion for renaissance fairs or comic book conventions. I don’t like to hear people say to someone “you like Britney Spears?!” or “Mariah Carey can NOT have been good in Precious? Remember Glitter?!” or any such comment. I feel like, if someone loves Liza Minnelli, there is no need to deride them or make fun of them. That just makes them feel like a second grader who has been teased because they spend recess reading instead of playing tetherball. Nobody likes to have their passions and interests demeaned. Even if you are not interested in Bollywood, even if you don’t understand the American Idol craze, there is no reason to judge someone on their own interests. Just listen to them talk about it for four and half minutes and then tell them about your model airplane collection. However, when someone wants to tell you where they get their KKK robes dry cleaned, down your drink and say “oh dear. My glass is empty. Will you excuse me for a moment, please?”

7. Bet Hedging. I think this is a fatal character flaw. The people I am talking about here are the ones who are unable to accept an invitation because they are waiting for a better one to come along. They tell you “ok, maybe; I’m waiting to hear from a friend….” Or they want to text you on the day of.. because you know they are waiting for a better offer. They keep you waiting to leave for a party or they drop by your party for ten minutes while on their way to a better party. They cannot make plans to go the movies or to the park or to the museum because there is a chance that someone more important might want their company on Saturday, instead. It diminishes your self-esteem because you are always second in line to them – no matter what. These are also the people who carry on conversations with you, the entire time, looking over your shoulder and around the room to see if anyone better, prettier or more important than you just walked in the room. Eww.

8. Liars. I just can’t have liars in my life. Honesty is paramount.

9. Mean Girls. I have had to stop being friends with some people because they are mean. They say mean things to you about you, to other people about them, to you about other people – and then they laugh because they think they are Don Rickles and that it is funny. I was taught “never make your light brighter by diminishing someone else’s.”

10. Drama. I have been a drama queen. I have known crisis junkies. I have had drama mamas in my life. I am no longer a drama queen. I know no more crisis junkies. I got the drama mamas out of my life. I am happier now. And when I say I want no drama in my life – I keep it out of my by starting with this one simple rule: No Crystal Meth Addicts.

My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Divas File

THE DIVAS FILE:

I have arranged my Ipod in a way that is unique to my own filing system – which Pat and other people tease me about a LOT. My dvds at home are grouped in genre or by star and THEN they are filed alphabetically. It really does get me razzed quite a lot. My Ipod is fixed by male vocalists, female vocalists, musical theater, movie music, classic music, instrumental soundtracks … and so on and so forth. So while I was writing the stories about exploring all the musical theater imported into my Ipod, I went from Z to A (remember – I started at the end of the list), until I got to Sondheim, Kander and Ebb and Jerry Herman, all of whose music is actually filed by composer. My God, this sounds complicated. Now that I have finished going through all that list (and making deletions and adding new music to learn), I have to admit – there are a few musicals that I didn’t touch upon because they are filed by STAR. In true gay boy form, those musicals and the stars of them are:

Julie Andrews

Camelot was a big part of my childhood. As a boy I discovered Julie Andrews. As a teen I discovered Camelot. I love the songs from this show; I loved listening to Richard Burton sing; I LOVED listening to Robert Goulet sing (for years, when I had the urge to sing, the first song to come to my lips was If Ever I Would Leave You). My passion for this musical rages, to this day, even though I have seen productions of it and realized the problems, inherent in the script; even though I have listened to (or read online) complaints from armchair critics who want to tear down this lovely and lush musical. I happen to like Camelot. I like it a lot; and as long as I am a fan, a devotee, an aficionado of the artform of musical theater, I will find myself getting out the cd or spinning the dial on my Ipod to listen to the cast recording, once more, and to sing along.

Cinderella isn’t really a cast album from a Broadway musical. It’s a tv show. It just feels like a Broadway musical because it is Rodgers and Hammerstein and because, after the popularity of both the Julie Andrews tv special and the Leslie Ann Warren tv special, people began doing it AS a stage musical. So I look at it as just that: a stage musical. The thing is, I don’t really listen to it all that often – I have to admit that it is a little sweet for me. Ok, it’s a lot sweet for me. Saccharine. Nevertheless, I like listening to Julie Andrews sing and I do listen to her solo cuts, sometimes her duets with the Prince (sooo sweet) and I admit that I do love to listen to The Stepsisters’ Lament, as well as the Impossible/It’s Possible number. Otherwise, the rest of this cast album I just sort of let slide – though I cannot bring myself to delete any of the numbers. What can I tell ya, it’s Rodgers and Hammerstein.

The King and I is actually a studio recording Julie Andrews did with Ben Kingsley. Not a big fan of the studio recordings, I wouldn’t really have paid it any mind except that it is Julie Andrews and Ben Kingsley – and it is their tracks on this studio recording that I have in my Ipod. I don’t really care about Lea Salonga singing the Tuptim tracks and I certainly don’t care about Peabo Bryson doing the Lun Tha tracks. They are both too pop-y for my tastes. If I want to hear Tuptim, I go for Joohee Choi and if I want to hear Lun Tha I, def, go for Jose Llana or Martin Vidnovic. I don’t need the tracks on this studio recording that don’t involve Julie Andrews – and Ben Kingsley is, actually, just a mild pleasure because it is Ben Kingsley. At the end of the day, it is just all about Julie Andrews.

My Fair Lady was one of my earliest discoveries in musical theater. It wasn’t the earliest – I think we’ve established that those were Hello, Dolly! Oliver! Mame and The Sound of Music. However, having been lead to the library record album bins by those four, I discovered the likes of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Dear World, The Music Man, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Funny Girl and, of course, My Fair Lady. My friend, Brady, says he prefers Gigi to My Fair Lady. Ladeda. Pardon me while I play the grand piano. I think Gigi is lovely. I don’t care. This is My Fair Lady. It starts with one of the greatest overtures ever written (no – it’s not the greatest but it IS in the top five – we’ll do the overture talk another time). Aside from the fact that every word, every note of the score is an absolute perfection, we do have the beyond perfection of Mr Harrison and the newcoming Miss Andrews. This was the show that made her a star… and it is a show that I could listen to over and over. Mind you, the revival cast with Christine Andreas does NOT thrill me. A die-hard Andreas fan, I listen to her cuts (though not all of them are really thrilling enough to warrant a listening) – but I don’t care for the Ian Richardson tracks. As far as the London revival cast recording goes (Jonathan Pryce and Martine McCutcheon) he is alright – pleasant enough to enjoy but not good enough to erase the memory of Rex Harrison – and she is divine (I love her tracks on the cd). There is a studio recording made with Jeremy Irons and Kiri te Kanawa that I made the grave error of buying and never listened to all the way through because it is Unbearable. No. If I want to hear My Fair Lady, I listen to this recording… the original recording with Julie Andrews.

And, yes, I will say this: I listen to the movie soundtrack. I love Marni Nixon.

Putting it Together. Oh, I am so angry I missed seeing this show. It was playing just before I moved to New York and it closed before I got here. Oh, I am so angry that I missed it. It is an absolute perfect combination. Sondheim done by Julie Andrews, Stephen Collins, Michael Rupert and Rachel York… dang nab it. Christopher Durang is mildly entertaining on the cast album but I rarely play his tracks unless he is singing with someone else in the show. I listen to this cd a LOT. A REALLY lot. In fact, aside from the remarkable tracks performed by Julie Andrews and the loveliness of Stephen Collins’ numbers and that Michael Rupert voice (for a very long time he was my favourite boy voice on Broadway and he remains one of my favourites but Chris Seibert, Brian James and Cheyenne Jackson sort of nudged him out of the way, during recent years), Rachel York is sublime, turning in one of my top two favourite renditions of The Miller’s Son (the other being performed by Liz Callaway). I love this revue – the concept, the execution, the performances, the sophistication. I love it and I listen to it. I’m sad that it didn’t retain some of the glamour and sophistication when it moved to Broadway. It is no reflection on the great Carol Burnett or George Hearn; it is certainly no reflection on John Barrowman. They are just different people than the original off Broadway cast. I don’t care for Bronson Pinchot and I really can’t stand Ruthie Henshall – that might have had something to do with it. I did see the show, live, with David Engel in for Bronson Pinchot and that made it a LOT more enjoyable. He DOES have elegance and sophistication. Pinchot and Henshall just seem vulgar and nuveau. This entry, though, is not about that production: it’s about the one with Julie Andrews. One of my favourite musical cds: one I actually listen to.

Victor Victoria. Tch. Saw it. Didn’t like it. Didn’t hate it. Didn’t like it. Still…. The title track is bouncy and fun. The ballad Living in the Shadows is lovely. The song Paris By Night is really pretty. That’s why those tracks are in my Ipod. None of the rest of this cd is. It just isn’t necessary. Though. With all the flaws, with all its’ faults, what I walked away from, after seeing Victor Victoria is that I saw Julie Andrews live. Nobody can ever take that away from me. I saw Julie Andrews live.



Barbra Streisand

Funny Girl. Ok. I’m a gay male. So Funny Girl is in my blood. Funny Girl is a part of my genetic makeup. I love this musical so much. I love the cast album, I love the soundtrack. I watch my dvd of it, listen to my cds of it and I sing along. I love the songs from Broadway that were cut for the movie, I love the songs from the movie that were added. I love everything about Funny Girl. I even love it when it is being performed in regional theaters by women who can never hope to live up to Barbra Streisand’s genius. Funny Girl is just one of those shows that deserves every ounce of love it gets from every gay boy (and the odd not gay boy) that loves it. Funny Girl is simply marvelous; from the first notes of the incredible overture to the final notes of the finale, every single song on this cast album is worth listening to – even the songs that Streisand doesn’t sing on. I like Henry Street. I like Find Yourself a Man. I like Who Taught Her Everything She Knows. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE Cornet Man. I love The Music that Makes me Dance (a LOT). I LOVE WHO ARE YOU NOW. I love I Want to Be Seen With You. And, natch, I love the famous songs – Don’t Rain on, Greatest Star, People and all the rest.

I think it is fair to say that Funny Girl is one of my happy places.

I Can Get it for You Wholesale is a fun little musical that a lot of people don’t really remember (even though Bloom and Vlastnick placed it on their list of the 100 greatest musicals). It did give the world Barbra Streisand. Ladeda. Is it one of my favourites? Not really. Maybe I just don’t get it. I listen to it from time to time – I leave it all in my Ipod because I want to like it. I want to be smart and sophisticated and like it. I want to keep it alive by listening to it, while the rest of the world has forgotten it, in favour of listening to She Loves Me or Guys and Dolls or West Side Story. So, in my Ipod, there it is and there it stays… even though I don’t really have a strong enough appreciation of it to do a detailed analysis in this story…

Liza Minnelli

Even though I keep all my Liza music together, when the time came to write about Kander and Ebb, it didn’t feel cohesive to separate the Liza music from the K&E music; so I actually DID include Flora the Red Menace, The Rink and The Act (and my bootleg of Chicago when Liza was in it) in those previous stories. If you are interested, feel free to scroll down and find the stories I wrote about the Kander and Ebb musicals.

And that ends my diva files – because those are my divas.

Well, three of them, at least.

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 12

Scott and the Tonys just lounging about on a lazy afternoon -- a nice way to spend a day!

David asked me how to make the medallion spin and I told him : "you just put your lips together and blow.."

Elizabeth was so proud of Maizie when she got her two Tonys! But since Maizie couldn't hold both of them, Liz helped her out.

Laurelle wasn't present when they called her name for her Tony, so she rushed out of the shower, wrapped her wet head and ran up to claim her prize!

Warren had no idea how he was going to get his Tony back to Texas. What a nice souvenir of a vacation!

Mark was a bit nonplussed when he got his Tonys -- it was something he always expected to happen to him. Leslie, on the other hand was completely taken by surprise with her Tony win!

The Workout Room UPRIGHT ROWS

I am doing this with a 50 lb wavy barbell.

Pick the weight that is right for YOU.

Hips are back, chest is high.

NO JERKING.

Just raise the weight, using the muscle. Drag the weight up your body, leading with the elbows. Get the elbows high. Exhale on the exertion.

Do as many as you can up to 20/25 reps.

3 sets.

I like to superset this with barbell presses

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 11

Sometimes a photo shoot yields more photos of a person and a Tony than I know what to do with. Sometimes, it just goes SO. VERY. Well.

I love shoots like that. It is always better to have more from which to choose...

Michael's shoot was one of those shoots.

Everything he did was just priceless.

I loved all these shoots shown in today's blog. They are among my favourites.

There is a reason Marty Thomas won the Mr Broadway contest...

As you can see, he deserved to win.

Marty IS Mr Broadway.

You can see, in the photos above, that Laura's idea of shooting a photo of here sneaking off to the airport and back to Chicago with a Tony were much better served by a little motion-blur. It really helps tell the story; as opposed to the photo below where everything is in perfect focus...

The Workout Room Straight Bar Shoulder Presses

It was shoulder day at the gym!

Shoulder day used to be my least favourite day because I had weak shoulders and tendonitis. However, when you work hard and you get strong, it moves you to work harder and love it more.

This is one of my favourites.

Take a barbell and, with one leg in front and one leg behind, do a deep lunge - then raise the bar over your head, lowering it down deep in the back and coming back over your head to lower it in the front.
Back, front, back, front, until you have done 20.

That is: 1-front, 2 - back, 3 - front and so on.

Front - back does NOT equal one rep!! Do 3 sets of these.

As you can see, the bar is heavy enough.

You do not need to add weight. IT WORKS.

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 10

If Ricky were a Follies girl, he knows just what his pasties would be made of... and how to bevel, too.

Peter does a sit down with the Tonys -- after blocking the only exit with an enormous mirror. Nobody was getting past him and his awards.

When Steve brought Dennis to New York for his first visit, they tried to change the scope of the skyline...

Linda exhibits the kind of giddiness brought by the winning of a Tony or two.

Joe and the Tony meditate on the future of the theater arts.

Kenny demonstrates the proper way to treat a Tony.

Like Lady Justice, Lily tries to balance the Tonys in harmony.

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 9

Jake and Emily got engaged and came over for photos to mark the occasion. Engaged to each other, silly; not to the Tonys.

Stephen and Will brought their new addition, MP, to meet our new additions, Tony, Tony and Tony. MP didn't care what they were - only that they were shiny.

Jason isn't even in show business - so he was, natch, a little stunned to be given (not one, but) TWO Tonys!

Carlo and Dana did all the touristy things on their trip to NYC... Isn't it touristy to pick up a Tony or two?

Dan looks a tad relieved to have that Tony, doesn't he?

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 8

This angel with a crooked halo has her eye on a Tony of her own, one day...

Peter has great reverence for the award given out for the artform that is one of his great passions in life.

Nick shows us what he might be found doing, were he to get a Tony of his own one day.

Snookie has people thrusting awards and accolades at her all the time.

Max meditates over the prospect of having a Tony.

Jesse holds the Tony with glee.

Howard and the Tony make great music together.

Natasha and Michael contemplate on what a great addition to their family Tony would be.

The Body Book: Boys and Girls Like You and Me

I love doing photos of couples -- especially in a state of undress. The inherent differences between the male body and the female body make for some great anatomical landscapes and portraits.

And it doesn't matter what the purpose of the photo shoot - what counts is the resulting picture. Some of the couples in this layout are actual couples (some WERE couples at the time) and some are two people thrown together for a modeling portfolio, an ad campaign or a theatrical publicity still.

As far as I'm concerned, as long as the people are in front of the camera, clinging to one another, they are a couple. My job is to capture the juxtaposing skin tones, muscle tones and landscapes of their bodies.

When the couple is a real life couple and stays a real life couple and the photos help to cause them to remember an important part of their history as a couple, that just sweetens the deal.

It's not just couples, though.
A great photo can be made of
friends gathering for a fun
photo shoot, an adventure
on film.

It's all about the art.

The Body Book: The Boyz

There really is very little to say about the joy of photographing pretty people... especially when a gay guy like me gets to shoot stuff like this, that you are about to see...

I am alway so appreciative of the models who have no boundaries. It provides us with so many more artistic chances and so much more honesty.

Honesty and trust between photographer and model is essential.

You don't have to give it all away. Just enough will suffice, much of the time.

Skin texture is a big part of the successful body shot. It has to capture the light in just the right way.

And a little bit of face and a little bit of body can lead the mind in directions that aren't necessary in the photo... the mind does the work.. happily.

These next two are two of my favourite shoots with two of my favourite models - and our times working together are actually limited to one shoot, each. Sometimes you just get lucky.

There are so many stories to tell about this shoot and this man in the white shirt; and here is not the place to tell them.

16 years old when this picture was taken. How old do you have to be to begin working out to have these titties at 16?

One of my earliest pretty boy pics.

One of my best friends. See the trust?

The Body Book: Details

Here are some of the body shots I have done where the focus is on some detailed part of the body, rather than a long shot where the entire person can be seen; yet they aren't really what I would call anatomical landscapes.

They're just different views of that which we see, every day.


This photo of Laurelle with the chain around her waist was actually shot for a jewelry line -- some of the shots from this session went over very well with the designer and the company. This one of her tiny waist with the jewelry on it was just tame enough for them -- that could not be said about some of the other shots I did for the campaign.

It's hard to get a nice picture of the male leg. It has to be done just right. This is one of the shots I've liked over the years.

There is a reason underwear models have the bodies they have. Right?

The version of this photo with two men was one of the photos that did NOT go over well with the company.

The models in this foot photo had this idea; it was not my own. They did it and I shot it and when they were able to pull apart, one said "that hurt like a WHORE!"

This juxtaposing photo of two hands was somewhat easier for the models. I should know. One of the hands is my own and the other is my beloved grandmother. This was the last time I would see her alive.

The picture of Laurelle in the black evening gown, flexing her bicep, was my idea - I love contradiction.

During the photo shoot with the interlaced feet, one of the models insisted that the other man's toes were so cute... that they looked like grapes. Natch, I had to make them the focus of at least one photo.

Here we have two different examples of how the body in a pair of undies can be lovely, elegant, landscaping, without being sexual or lascivious.

It makes it sexier if you can just see a LITTLE of the face along with the bits of body that show...

The Body Book: The Back

My fascination with the back began in the gayest of places -- the movie FUNNY LADY. Could you die? It's that scene where Barbra Streisand sings How Lucky Can You Get while wearing a Bob Mackie gown cut so deep as to expose almost her entire back. For a 13 year old gay boy to be so riveted by a glorious piece of costuming and the gorgeous piece of womanflesh is probably nothing new -- I am sure it was the spark that lead many other teenage gay boys into clothing design. This teenage gay boy, though, just became fixated on the human back.

Once I was, thoroughly, ensconced in my life as a photographer, I began focusing the lens on artistic pursuits and I felt like it was, really, very artistic to take pictures of peoples' backs. Most people have their faces photographed -- I wanted to flip the picture around.

So, for years, I asked my friends (who I felt would be game) to drop the cloth for me and strike a pose.

I have never really had trouble getting people out of their clothing during a shoot -- I attribute it to my innate trustability. People know that I am an artist, that I won't molest them once they are in a state of undress and that I won't let them look bad. So, over the years, I developed quite a portfolio of nude people. Within that portfolio more than half the pictures are of the human back.

Some of my back pictures are, clearly, at the start of my career. These two photos of Chris are a little hot, a little washed out, while the photos of Jonas and of Steve that flank the two photos of Chris, show a greater understanding of photographing the shadow, rather than the light.

When photographing the body, it is all about the shadow.

Withou the shadow, you cannot, fully, see the muscle tone and the landscape of the body.

Looking for more artistic and creative ways to shoot photos of the back, I remembered what my grandmother had taught me about the art of striptease; suggest the world but withhold the prize. That's why pictures like this one of Morgana made me feel good about my work -- to photograph a naked lady is one thing; to photograph an ALMOST naked lady is thrilling (not to mention looking at the photo of the almost naked lady).

There is also the matter of contradiction, of juxtaposition, like this photo of the very built up Ernie and the smaller, smoother, but equally bugg contours of his wife, Julianne.


It is also never a matter of just shooting a picture of a person from behind -- the whole picture of the whole person. Sometimes it is just a matter of a little bit of the anatomical landscape of the person's beauty.

There is no greater accessory for a picture showing off the body..... than another body...

I was very proud of my friends, all these years: they really have been the best sports about some of the things I have asked them to do for my camera. It's nice to have had so many people willing to be models without pay.

So often, it is what you cannot see in a picture that makes it sexy.

My favourite thing about shoots like this is that, when it all works out just right, you get to see both the masculinity and the femininity of the person in the picture.

It truly is a thrill to do this kind of work.

The Body Book: We Had Faces Then

By now, people who read this blog have read about my ongoing battle with Facebook. I have been kicked off of the system five times for posting photos that violate their terms of use. Those terms state, specifically, that photos cannot contain nudity, sexual content, drug use, defamation against a group or person or violence.

So I deleted all of my beautiful artwork from my Facebook profile, preferring, instead, to show it here, on Blogger, where I am free from censorship.

In some of my stories about this battle with Facebook to have my work seen, I have talked about what it is like to shoot the human body; to shoot the human body artistically, beautifully and in non sexual manner. I believe too many people are afraid of this gift God has given us - that people misunderstand it, making it something it is not.

I think the body is a beautiful entity and, even though it IS sexual (and I love that) -- it can also be.....

Romantic, like the photo of the male couple above...

Pure as a mother and child...

Elegant, like a girl with a glove...

Glamourous as a lingerie model...

Masculine as a man in tightie whities...

Feminine, like a girl in a bubble bath...



Sensual as a woman at her repose...

Strong as a woman who walks the walk...

Introspective as a tumultous duo...

Dramatic as a girl rockin' a sequin evening gown...

Artistic as a male model werqin his looks

Handsome as a man who doesn't have to try to be sexy...

Stalwart as a guy who knows what he stands for...

Sexy as a man who isn't afraid to be vulnerable...

The human body is a natural thing - nothing about which to feel shame or discomfort. I guess it is social conditioning that makes people think that there is anything wrong with it; I'm glad I don't fit into that mold. In fact, as much as I love the body, as an entity and as an artist's inspiration, I always find the body beautiful even more so when it is attached to

A pretty

Face

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 7

Gregory and Chris went back to Australia after a great visit, taking some souvenirs with them as they went...

Michael and Mark went back to Chicago with their own Tony memories

Those Tonys sure know how to make Hansrobyn and David laugh.

Happy was genuinely happy to have only two Tonys - she didn't need all six.

Dana shows her best winner's smile for the camera.

Georgina is so elegant and classy- she and Tony go together!

The Body Book: Anatomical Landscapes

In a recent story I wrote about my love of the human body and photographing the up close, detailed shots of body parts. I call them anatomical landscapes -- sometimes they are so up close, so detailed, that the viewer has to stare at them, trying to figure out what they are; othertimes, you can see what they are.

You just have to look at the photos and the body parts with a new eye.

It's not about sexuality or laciviousness - it's only about the body, the muscle, the skin, the shape, the curve, the texture. It's only about art. God's art, the body's art, the individual's art, the photographer's art.

Art can be found everywhere. Anywhere. It is wherever a person looks for it and finds it. It is in the light AND the shadow. It is in the yin and the yang.

Curves and landscapes can be found all over the body - in the simplest of places; places you wouldn't even think to look.

There is masculinity and femininity in each of us; it's fun to find where they live on each body. And the light and the shadow can be caught on either black and white or colour film.

True art requires limitation.

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 6

Brady whispers into Pat's ear, the magic it takes to get a Tony...
A native New Yorker, Tom knows the place to find a Tony is in Shubert Alley.

Justin and Gabe share everything; especially their Tonys.

Dan said all the Tonys could lie with him but he would hold the Tony for Pacific Overtures.

Dana has her heart on a Tony for costuming.

Bill seems shocked to have a Tony but we all knew he had what it takes.

The Body Book: The Good Fight

The saga continues. Each time Facebook bounces me, I feel like it is my duty to put my artwork on the net, somehow. Usually, my blog seems to be the best place for it. After all, it is MY blog.
I guess these anatomical landscapes are the pics that did it this time. Personally, I don't find the human body offensive or racy. I think it is beautiful and I say, with no modesty at all, that when I am photographing it, the human body is CERTAINLY beautiful!

I really like the term 'anatomical landscapes'. It is what I see when I look at the body - both as a photographer and as a fitness fanatic.

Is there anything, after all, unseemly about this photo of a beautiful pregnant woman and her doting husband? Not to these eyes. Not to many eyes, I imagine.


As a photographer and as a gay male, I don't find anything EVER offensive about a man without his shirt...

Artistically speaking... do you know what you are looking at?




What I love about the anatomical landscapes is how, if I do my job right, the viewer has to (sometimes) really LOOK to see what they are seeing. It requires some thought, some work. I like work.

In my life I have been asked to do this kind of shot (below) for a LOT of women. You should see them. They're beautiful.

Here we have another of my landscapes. When shooting the body it is ALL about shooting the shadow.

Maybe the man below is the latest photo to get me censored from Facebook. I don't see any more in this picture, though, than I do when I see peoples' photos of their weekends on Fire Island..

Do you see it?

This man seen below is not only wearing his trousers -- he has on a hat!

It's a nice body but it is, after all, just a nice body. For me, this body shot is all about the face.

Below is one of my favourite of the lanscapes! Looks like something you would ski on, no?

You can't even tell if he is naked, can you? He could have on undies that the viewer doesn't see.. It is all about the suggestion. Suggest everything but withould everything.

This man is wearing his blue jeans. Nothing wrong with a man in his blue jeans and no shirt, is there? If there is, I'm in trouble. I walk around all the time dressed like this.

I am so jealous of this woman. Aren't you jealous of this woman?

I mean, really, LOOK at her muscles!!

I'm jealous.

My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Jerry Herman Files -- Milk and Honey; Miss Spectacular; Mrs Santa Claus

It has been difficult for me to wrap up my little series of blogs about Jerry Herman because the two Broadway musicals that are left for me to write about are MILK AND HONEY and the concept album of MISS SPECTACULAR, which has never been produced on Broadway. The reason I haven’t been able to finish this little process is because I have only ever listened to each of these cds once. Each. I will listen to them again – but I only recently picked up the copies of them that I have and played them. I really liked both of these cds! I never bothered to learn about Milk and Honey, though I had heard the songs Shalom and Milk and Honey on the Tony awards or in Jerry Herman reviews. This show just slipped by me… So I imported it into my Ipod and listened to it on the treadmill at the gym and was delightfully caught up in it! The songs are charming and clever, pretty and melodic; and the performances were very good! So, much to my surprise, I didn’t find myself really interested in making any deletions. I know I will play it again.

MISS SPECTACULAR is a concept album and I don’t know the exact history of the show, whether it has been produced or not; nothing, really. I just got a copy of the cd from a friend and put it into my Ipod and played it and found it delightful. Pat, sitting in the other room, called out to me “Is that a new Jerry Herman musical?” He could just tell by the way the score is written and performed. This cd has some of the best voices you’ll ever find in musical theater – Debbie Gravitte, Michael Feinstein, Christine Baranski, Faith Prince, Steve Lawrence and the one and only Karen Morrow. These voices, alone, make owning this cd a must – but it turns out that the songs are all as great as I would have thought they would be! Yay!

Finally, I would like to touch upon the movie soundtrack to MRS SANTA CLAUS. It’s a Christmas movie with a score by Jerry Herman in which Angela Lansbury plays the title role. Now. You KNOW I have the dvd and the cd and that I watch the movie and listen to the album, don’t you? I think it is lovely, it’s charming. It’s the kind of holiday movie that, I am sure, touched some pre-teen gay boy and made him fall in love with musicals, just the same way Hello, Dolly did to me. I am a big supporter of Mrs Santa Claus and I am looking forward to (a lot) watching it this holiday season.

I have been wanting to write a story about Jerry Herman for awhile .. I think it’s time.
I feel a blog coming on.

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 5

Marissa ACTUALLY managed to scoop up all the Tonys for herself! It is an impossible feat - but if a person has enough determination, anything is possible.

Jeremy is a superhero who can look through Tony.

When Aaron and Shannon visited from Florida, Pat and the Tonys tour guided them around the city, Pat and the Tonys being native New Yorkers...


Mary-Margaret and Scott needed each others' assistance to get ahold of all the Tonys -- and, even then, one of the Tonys had to balance on MM's knees!

Tony isn't greedy. He is happy with one Tony and one Tallulah.

Like all good couples, Anthony and Dominick know how to share: one Tony apiece is enough.

Food For Thought - Sweet Potato Season

It’s Sweet Potato Season!!

I eat a lot of sweet potatoes. They are delish and they are complex carbohydrates – that means they will give you fuel without making you fat. I eat them in the fall and winter when my trainer and I are bulking me up, building me more muscle. You should google search the difference between simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates to fully understand why one type is good for you and the other isn’t. Talk to a nutritionist or a doctor or read up on it, ok?

Here’s the thing about sweet potatoes and yams (google that, too, to learn the difference between them). I double wrap them in tin foil and I bake them until they are soft to the touch. Really soft and gushy, ok? I don’t like them when they are on the harder side – when they have been baked so long that they become soft and gushy, they carmelize and make natural sugars. Most people have to put a lot of junk on their sweet potatoes/yams. Butter. Sugar. Brown Sugar. Marshmallows. Bullshit. No, not on the food. That’s what I think about ruining the taste of a good sweet potato with all that other stuff. Bullshit. If you bake these root vegetables to the point of being really soft, the point where they actually do make their own natural sugars, you can eat them warm from the oven and be HAPPY. You can pre bake them and put them in the fridge and re heat them or just grab them and eat them cold. I love them like that. I put them, wrapped, in the fridge and when I need a fast snack or some fast fuel or something sweet, I grab one, unwrap it and eat it (sometimes with a fork, sometimes with my fingers) and they are delicious cold.

In the video I show you a way that Pat and I do it, on occasion, for a treat.

Take the potato (whether freshly baked or out of the fridge), slice it, throw in a small handful of jumbo flame raisins (my favourites but you can use Thompson if you want) a sprinkle of cinnamon, a drizzle of honey ONLY a drizzle and then close it back up and zap it in the microwave for a few seconds. It heats up the honey and raisins and makes them juicy and tender. It’s REALLY yummy. Pat and I only do this now and then, though; it’s a lot of sugar.

Another thing we do is to take a non stick skillet and heat up some walnut oil or peanut oil and when it is hot, toss some pecans in it. After about a minute of warming the nuts through, I drizzle on a small drizzle of honey and after 30 seconds, empty the pan onto the baked sweet potato. Also delish.

It’s autumn. It’s cold. You can eat these without guilt.

Be happy.

The Workout Room Alternating Swiss Ball Tricep Kick Extensions

Lie down on a swiss ball with your head not too far back - you should be looking at the ceiling with your neck cradled on the ball.

Holding the dumbell, extend up and back down, allowing the weight to JUST touch your pectoral - extend back up.

The elbow is always facing the same position - it never changes.

It is all just this one move, up and down.

Open and close.

I like to do four sets of 20 to 25 reps, alternating sides.

The Workout Room Alternating Swiss Ball Tricep Kick Extensions -- the other side

What you do on one side, you hafta to on the other!

The arm that isn't in use, just let it hang out to the side. Let the ball support all the rest of your body so you can focus on the lift.


You know, a lot of people skip the tricep, thinking it's all about the bicep.


Not so. Do both sides of the arm - you'll be stronger, it'll look prettier, people will be more impressed and you'll feel better.

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 4

Jennifer is the mistress of her Tony Awards, with all the authority a diva should have.




Jimmy doesn't need more than one Tony; he's happy with things as they are.


This little angel thinks her Tony is a teddy bear.

Jerry juggles his two Tonys.

Rhoda isn't sure whose Tonys they are... Jason's or hers.

The Workout Room HAMMER CURLS

This one is easy.

You take two dumbells, hold them at your side - away from the body - and curl up, like a hammer going up and down, up and down.

Open and close.

Open and close.

Like a door or a drawer.

Explode up and lower.

USE THE MUSCLE.

Just raise it up and down. Use weight you can lift. I start at 30 lbs and work my way up.

I like to do 4 sets of 25 reps.

If I only make 15, the weight is too heavy; but I push through because heavy weight is good for building muscle.

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 3

This wasn't Erin's first trip to NYC; but it was the first one where a Tony landed in her hands!

Here's Howie, a man who should be surrounded by Tonys, getting used to the feeling.

A talent like Georga needn't be surprised or feel cheeky when a Tony comes her way -- it's a natural feeling.

If Dom looks surprised it is probably because, as a non actor, he has never given the Tony awards much thought... until he held one.

David Johnston is such a great playwright that he cannot help climbing up toward greater successes and awards.

Brett likes to lounge with his Tonys.

My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Jerry Herman Files -- Mame

I was sitting on a bench outside of a strip mall in Cleveland, Ohio. My mom and dad were in a store; I had been with them but got bored and stepped outside. I was eight or nine years old. A young man came out of a record store in that strip mall. He was young – in his twenties (maybe even late teens) and he was well dressed (though not necktie well dressed – just neat) and was carrying a stack of record albums. I would guess he had just bought about 7 or 8 new records – they were all shiny in their plastic cellophane wrap and the sun glinted off of them as he pulled them out of the package and sat beside me. He flipped through them, one by one, examining his new treats. I sat beside him, watching him enjoy these treasures.

As the young man flipped through his record albums, as I looked over his shoulder, I saw that cover.


Wow. That was eye catching.

I understood his excitement. I had some record albums at home. I had the movie soundtracks to Hello, Dolly!, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Doctor Dolittle, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and one or two others. I, regularly, checked out records from the library – specifically, the Channing AND Bailey Hello, Dolly cast albums, the soundtrack from Oliver, the cast album from My Fair Lady, the cast album from The Music Man and the cast album from The Sound of Music. Clearly, I had been bitten by the musical theater bug.

Then he turned it over and I saw the liner notes and two black and white photos – one of a glamourous and beautiful lady and one of a handsome young brunette man. (Do you remember those wonderful liner notes on the back of the Columbia records? Oh I LOVED reading those! They were my first educational tool in musical theater.)

I never forgot that record album.

I was watching the Tony awards at my grandmother’s house. There was a chorus of men singing and dancing to this lilting melody and this glamourous and beautiful lady was dancing her way down a staircase. I was mesmerized by her. I was just a kid and I didn’t really know who she was or what the song was or what made it all so special – I only knew it was special. At the bottom of the staircase, she looked at the last man (he had snuck onstage when she wasn’t looking) and when she saw his face, she burst into peals of laughter.

It was Angela Lansbury, the song was Mame and the man was the mayor of New York, John Lindsay.

Eventually, I would get myself a copy of the record to MAME and listen to it, devouring every word on the back of the album. I found a copy of the Random House book publication of the play and read it, gazing at the black and white photos and trying to picture everything from the Broadway production. Then I got the book AUNTIE MAME (it was a paperback and there was a drawing of Lucille Ball on the cover – I didn’t understand). Then I got the Random House play script to AUNTIE MAME and compared the two. As an adult I picked up copies of the book (with the original cover art of the hand and the cigarette holder and the bracelet) and the sequel AROUND THE WORLD WITH AUNTIE MAME. I own all these books, today; they are stacked on the bookcase around the corner from where I am sitting, at this moment. This is a household where Auntie Mame Dennis Burnside lives in the hearts of all. No matter the incarnation, we love this character and all the women who have played her (that we have seen – and some we haven’t seen but wish we had). Even the lamentable film version with Lucille Ball has some merit (and I will tell you what it is: Theodora Van Runkle’s costumes, the chance to see a too old Jane Connell do what she did onstage, and Robert Preston singing Loving You). MAME is one of the most important musical theater entities to enter my life and our life. Pat and I view Two-A as our family circle’s number three Beekman Place.

Pat, by the way, has actually been to number three Beekman Place for an event, a few years ago.

So when considering the genius of Jerry Herman and the genius of Angela Lansbury and the genius of Bea Arthur; when considering how important all things MAME are to me (the movie Auntie Mame is in my Ipod), is it any wonder that I keep the entire score in my Ipod and listen to it frequently?

Hello Dolly may be Jerry Herman’s most famous show but Mame is my personal favourite. My brother, John, in fact, once gifted me the original Broadway window card, matted and framed in a presentation so big that I have never been able to transport it from Texas to hang in my home; a grave error I will be correcting on my next trip home to see my family.

I think I’ll turn on my Itunes and listen to it right now; even though I don't actually HAVE to.

I can close my eyes and hear every note, any time I want.

Well.

Actually, I don't have to close my eyes.

Food For Thought - Another Salad

This is just a variation on a theme, to show you that you can do anything you like with your salads. Like I said in my earlier entry about salads -- use whatever lettuce or lettuces you like best. I tend toward Romaine, like I did in this video.

Instead of peanuts or sunflower seeds, this time I used pecans. Just go to the health food store and get a cup or so from the bulk bar. That's all you will need.

I used my usual 4 hardboiled eggs, chopped up -- with only ONE of the yolks.

I used some grinds of fresh pepper, which I always love on lettuce.

I sliced up some strawberries ( you will be surprised at how this brightens up this salad) as well as the chunks of orange.

I grilled some chicken slices (strips) in my NuWave Oven and while they are still hot I add them to the rest of this big salad and you're all set. Between the juicy chicken strips, the juicy chunks of orange, the crunch of the pecans, the bite of the pepper, you WON'T need salad dressing. You won't miss it; you won't notice it's gone.

Trust me!

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 2

Next up in the ongoing journey
of our Tony awards..

Brad tells us what he wants for Christmas.

Faye demonstrates how a lady shows off her Tonys; there's no need to draw attention to them by holding them up -- people will see them.

Patrick uses some elbow grease to get his Tonys.

Bob surveys the entire set, trying to decide between one of them or all of them.


David Campbell and his new wife, Lisa Campbell, show off the gifts from their registry.

Jarod has a little quiet time with his Tony.

Niceto, Bobby and Mitchell all have different emotional reactions to their Tonys.

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Album 1

The story of these Tonys and their journey in and around my circle of friends was explained in an earlier story; so all there is to say, now is that what you see in each photo is what the person in the photo created -- I merely caught it through my lens.

Brady Schwind muses over the arts


Mike has a Tony feast.

Matthew takes two...

... while Andrew gets his arms around more.

Amy shares the Tonys with her mom.

Alex is the center of attention for the Tonys...



...and AJ puts the Tony to a practical use.

Food For Thought - Lamb Meatballs

Like the rest of the meatballs that I make (remember how convenient they are? whenever you're hungry, they're in the fridge, like a friend, just waiting for you), these are really, really easy. The thing is, we dont' eat them as often as we do the chicken meatballs or the turkey meatballs. Red meat is a treat in our house, a once in a while kind of thing that we get to have when we've been good or when our body cries out for a little more substance, like when we are building more muscle. I like red meat and my trainer advocates the eating of red meat - SOMETIMES. I recently began buying organic red meat because of that article about the woman who ate the burger that was made with tainted beef, got ecoli and ended up paralyzed. I don't want to be an alarmist; but I also don't want to be in a wheelchair.

So regarding these lamb meatballs...

I buy fresh ground lamb and I mix up the meat with onion, garlic and crushed red pepper (my usual spices) and then I use a lot of oregano. I make the meatballs a nice small to medium size - big is no fun with any food. You want to be able to fit your food in your mouth and enjoy the experience of eating it.

Now here's the deal about the way I cook these. I NEVER FRY MEAT. Too fatty -- especially lamb. I use a Nuwave oven (it changed my life)

https://www.mynuwaveoven.com/index.asp

but you can use a George Foreman Grill or your broiler or anything else that gets the meat OUT OF ITS' OWN FAT.

The other thing is - don't overcook your lamb. It's not good when it is dry. Better juicy.

These are good cold, they are good microwaved, they are good right out of the cooker.

Yum

The Workout Room Straight (or wavy) Bar Bicep Curls

Attach the bar of your choice (and we do use both wavy and straight - on this day it was wavy) to the bottom of the weight cable in the cage.

Take a step back, LEAN back, get the elbows away from the body and curl up.

Full range of motion, please.

The lean back and the elbows away from the body are paramount to the success of the exercise.

Breathe on the exertion up.

I like to do 4 sets. I shoot for 25 reps but sometimes can only get there if I stop for a breather.

15 - 20 may be more reasonable.

Squeeze the muscle the entire time. It makes it more effective.

The Picture Down The Hall Part Thirteen

Here we go again. ANOTHER picture of Jennifer Houston! Can you tell that she is just one of my favourite models and best artistic collaborators? I swear, I should get down on my knees and thank God and the universe for sending me people like Jen (and the others with whom magic happens during working hours) to create art like that which we create.

There are actual photos of Jen in the bathtub, drinking wine and relaxing, that are in crisp focus and the viewer can see the whole picture...

Where's the fun in that?


This is another of my favourite pics of Donna Murphy. We were doing her portrait for THE BOOK OF NEW YORK and she chose (as her favourite place in NYC) The Delacorte Theater in Central Park. She looks so at home in this setting, so peaceful, so tranquil, so strong. All that and gorgeous too. Have mercy.

Speaking as a weight lifter, dare I say bodybuilder, I was so excited to see this photo taken while Jimmy Nelson was working out.

To me it says everything you can say in a photo about working out.



Photos of people laughing are my favourites. It is when we are, completely and totally ourselves.

That's my girlfriend, Joanna Gleason, being completely and totally herself.

This is one of my earliest works. In college, I was experimenting with light and shadows, skin tones, contrast.. all the things one experiments with when teaching oneself a craft. When this picture of Ann appeared in the developer, before my eyes ( in those days I did my own developing ), it thrilled me. To me it looked like some erotic photograph from the early part of the last century. I loved it.

When I opened an old photo album from my college days, recently, it was being reunited with an old friend. It's been a long time since I printed my own pictures.

I was glad to see it has survived so long.

Did you see this one coming? Another photo of Hunter.

That's the thing about my muses.

We're always there for each other.

Another photo from my college days; I was trying to find my voice as an artist and I thought I should shoot fashion. These were fashions of the time -- the time when women looked to shows like DYNASTY and KNOTS LANDING for inspiration. The truth is I loved this picture because I had to work with available light and it was proof that I could.

This is where my understanding of light began.

Even though Sarah is not Pat's child, nor any relation by blood, I have always loved the paternal feel of this photo. It moves me, so. The love and care of a child is universal; the child need not be yours - the child need only be a child.

The Picture Down The Hall Part Twelve

This is one of my very favourite photos - after all, it is of my very favourite place. With absolutely no modesty whatsoever: I just love this picture.

I show this photo a lot. It's of my friends David Basche and his wife Alysia. They are the most wonderful, loving, caring people; and they had me over to their home in New York city -- when we got to the garden I thought I was in some Frances Hodgson Burnett book! And THEY built it! They really are the finest of people and I think of them often because this photo is in almost every one of my portfolios. It's special.

I NEVER do this. Truly. Never.

This is a picture of a stranger.

I saw him lying there in the sun and shot the pic as fast as I could and ran away.

Brian d'arcy James brought his wife, Jennifer, and their daughter, Grace, to the park and let me shadow them. It was this marvelous day of adventure and playtime and when it came time for mom and dad to rest for a moment, Grace kept on moving (as children are known to do). The great thing about this photo is that it wasn't planned. When I snapped the pic, she just happened to turn and look at me.


I've been experimenting with digital photography. I've not found either my groove or my voice but I'm having fun - especially with the editing of the photos on the computer. In this photo of Danielle, I was playing around with the tints and the colours -- a novice at the artform, I found myself really delighted by the results. Of course, she ain't chopped liver either.

My friends Carmen and Timothy are a husband and wife classical music team. When they need photos, the fly in from the Midwest and we do the pics. What I love about them is that they are splendid people and they trust me. They don't want the normal boring photos but they can't get too wild; so we can get a little glamourous and have some fun as long as they aren't out of control in the pics. This is one of my favourites because I am especially queer for the way it's lit.

In a previous story I showed a black and white photo of Kristine W in her Nolan Miller gown at the Waldorf Astoria... I couldn't leave it there, though. Will you LOOK at the colours!!

The Picture Down The Hall: The Tony Awards Photos

I have these Tony Awards.

They're not mine. I am their caretaker for awhile - the owners have asked me to look after them. They have busy lives and travel and don't want their Tony awards lying around their house. For awhile, the beautiful trophies were in my living room. Now they are in cold storage, where they are safe and where I check on them from time to time.



While they were in my, physical, presence, though, I had a wonderful time collaborating with them and with my friends to make some fun and enjoyable art.



These are some of my very favourites -- I am sure I will post more of the Tony photos in future blogs (and I know that I posted one Tony photo in a previous blog).



Above you can see Brady Schwind in Shubert Alley.

Pat Dwyer with his glass statue of the Spider Woman

It was Jamison Scott's own idea to sit beside the Tony in two different chairs. (in fact, almost all of these photos are like the photos from The Sweater Book in that the model created their own photo - I just took the picture).

I am especially proud of my Tony picture because it is a self portrait done on a self timer with a digital camera. It took forever to get; but I got it.

That's Hunter Gilmore, trying to get out of the house with more than one Tony hidden on his person.

Below you can see William Blake having a little pillow talk with the Tonys.

Marci Reid gathers all the Tonys for herself.


Josh Blye and the Tony are lone wolves.

Jason Gilbert and Michael Buchanan fight over who gets to take the Tony home.

Annalisa Mickelson insists that stage managers are BEHIND the scenes.

Dan Carlisle gets personal with his Tony.

Pat catches Laura Wells trying to get out of the apartment, to the airport and back to Chicago with a Tony.

The Picture Down The Hall: Handsome Dudes

Inasmuch as I have loved shooting the pretty women, I have had equal pleasure out of working with the hot guyz. People often think it is a sexy life for me, shooting sexy men and then having sex on the floor of my studio when the shoots are over.

Um. No.

It doesn't happen that way.

Pardon my vulgarity; but, as I have often said to people who think this kind of thing: "Art is art. Fuck is fuck."

I am here to make art.

Hunter is one of my muses. I can always find a reason to do a shot of him and I can always count on the shot being good.
Gabe has been in front of my camera so many times that I can chart his growth as a man by the hairstyle in each photo. I'm lucky to work with Gabe because he is always game for something wild (I have some wacky kinds of demands sometimes) and he never says no. He trusts me and he does what I tell him to do.

You gotta love a guy like that.

The man in the black and white outfit is my husband of 23 years, Pat. They call him 'movie star handsome'. I agree.

To spend 2 plus decades with him in front of your camera is a beautiful thing.

I could look at him forever.

Jimmy Hays Nelson came to me as an actor and print model and we we instantaneous friends. While standing in my living room one day, waiting for me to be ready for a shoot, Jimmy looked so perf that I said "stay right there" -- I put the light on him and this was the picture that came out.

Like a newborn baby, I loved the photo the moment I saw it. It was just so perf.

Can you believe those eyes on Sean? What about the cheeks? The Lips?

Like I said. Art is Art. Fuck is Fuck.

For me, certain days of the week, I'd rather have the art.

It's more fulfilling

The Picture Down The Hall: The Beauties

All these years behind the camera have certainly given me my share of opportunities to set my sights on some flawless beauties. I love beauty; doesn't everyone? I agree that there has to be more than just what a person looks like -- and in my life I have been very lucky to know some truly wonderful women who were also truly flawless beauties. So, natch, I made as much good use of those friendships as I could; turning my girlfriends into my artwork.

You will never find a more perfect combination of physical beauty mixed with elegance and grace than Donna Murphy. To have her trust me with my camera is one of the great compliments of my life.

Marci has spent almost her entire adult life in front of my camera. One of the real foxes I have known, I have captured her various moods and personalities (and hairstyles!) throughout our long friendship and this one is one of my favourites. Sexy.

Susan Egan is a multi-faceted creature. And when I say creature I mean that she is something special, something unique, like a rare flower you find in the community garden on 48th street. There is something simultaneously down to earth and ethereal about her.

That makes her an ideal photography model.

A health and fitness fanatic and instructor, Kelly Nelson provided me with a great chance to capture the beauty and sexiness of a woman who is in tune (and in touch!) with her body. What I loved about doing pics of her was the joy of being into health and fitness. It shows on her face, which I really love a lot.

Kristen is (as I have often said) like a beacon of light. Her inner beauty and innate happiness at simply being alive comes through almost every pore of her being, radiating her outer beauty until it becomes a laserbeam of glorious gorgeousness. I have done so many photos of Kristen -- I think I may have to feature a full portfolio of the artwork we created together. Kristen is one of my favourite models.

I was asked to do an ad for a new line of jewelry. It would require an elegant beauty beyond compare; so I called Alison. The thing is this - the jewelry company had had a photo they wanted to use for the campaign. But negotiations broke down between them and (either) the photographer or the model ( I can't remember). So they asked me to recreate the photo for them.

In the end they couldn't use the ad campaign because it was, so clearly, a knock off of the original photo. Nevertheless, I couldn't be prouder of my own work - not just because it's a lovely photo and Alison looks gorgeous in it; but also because recreating it was a bitch of a time.. and we still got it right.

One of my divas, one of the great musical talents I can name and one of the most magnificent beauties I ever saw, I was thrilled (and a little intimidated) by statuesque stunner Kristine W. We did this photo just before she made an appearance at a benefit. For the event she was dressed in vintage Nolan Miller and being put up at the Waldor Astoria. We had happy permission to do this photo in the hotel lobby. What a great day.

There are few things as beautiful as Jennifer Houston, in full girlie hair and makeup, wardrobe, hells, guitar and microphone, her voice raised in song. It's one of my favourite things to see and to shoot.

The Picture Down The Hall: Regarding Colour

White is my colour. It always has been. I love to wear it, love to photograph people in it, against it... I just love it.

However.

Colour is so deeply important and these are some of my favourite pics that highlight it by simple use of a monochromatic backdrop. It really brings a photo to life. I've started with one of my favourite pictures of one of my favourite muses, Hunter Gilmore. We actually did this photo just before he and my husband and I walked out the door to go to Black Party. We were all in our Black Party drag (including makeup on both Hunter and myself) and I insisted on doing some steamy, sexy pics of all of us. Natch, Pat and Hunter's pics were much steamier and sexier than my own...



While doing a portfolio for Sean, we did a lot of natural looking things -- pics in a garden, photos on the streets of New York, shots in the living room, the usual kind of stuff you see in a J. Crew catalogue. The stylist, Jennifer Houston, and I just HAD to do something with a little more drama, if only to capitalize on his extreme features and eye colour.

Danny is a club kid... or, he was when I did these photos of him (there is another of him further down the page against a yellow backdrop). He came to me for photos that would capture his youthful exuberance and joy of life. Both of those qualities demand bright colours. I bought these backdrops just for him

This photo of Alberti is a picture I always wanted to take. I had been trying for years to get a photo where white overtakes the image -- the truth is, I don't feel like we got it here; there's too much shadow. Nevertheless, I still always loved this picture for the quality that it did capture.

Sometimes the best photos are happy accidents.

When a flawless beauty like Danielle comes in with her colouring and those eyes, and THEN puts on a splash of colour like in the necklace you see her wearing, the colour behind her needs to be vibrant; but not distracting. The picture MUST be about her.

And it is.

No Censorship Here

I threw in the towel.

Facebook disabled my profile again, claiming that I had photographic content that violated their terms of use, which (I copied this from them) are: Photos containing drug use, nudity, or graphic or sexually suggestive content are not allowed on the site, nor are photos that depict violence or that attack an individual or group.

The strange thing is that my profile was disabled after I had locked all my photo albums so nobody could see them and, thus, report any of my photos as indecent. While they were locked, I began deleting the photos I thought might be considered offensive.

These are the photos that were deleted... (and some others of this nature can be seen in previous blogs on this blog, about this topic).

The above photo of Xavier never offended me. I thought it was art.

This photo of Lisa-Gabrielle exposes far less of her breast than pictures I have seen on other peoples' Facebook pages, in the pages of magazines and on museum statues.

The same can be said of Keath's breast in the photo below, too.

I admit I may have been pushing the envelope with the photo of Jerry's bare backside... but for me the photo is about Jerry's laughter. And besides, I removed it from the page; but they booted me anyway.

My two best friends stood over my shoulder while I was making my deletings and when they saw the photo below they both cried out "pubes!" and so I hit delete... even though there are many photos on Facebook that show Fire Island party boys in far less clothing...

I certainly didn't want to offend anyone by the sexual nature suggested by a naked boy in overalls, though I have always thought this to be a sweet and unassuming look.

I often wear my overalls without underpants.

It's a shame that this pretty photo of Laurelle's alabaster skin and muscular toning could cause censorship of any kind. I like it.

I always thought this picture of this actor preparing for his life in the theater was very clever; but I suppose it could be considered dirty. Here's a secret though (and I hate to give away my secrets): he was totally covered up behind those Tonys.

I was a little worried about the implications of a naked man with an American flag touching his junk .. even though it is just an American flag body wrap...

So I cut this picture of Gabe.

I saw a statue by Michelangelo that looked like these photos of Steve -- only you could see the statue's bizness and Steve's is covered up.

That's my husband. He's beautiful. There's nothing dirty about this gorgeous photo of him. I think every man over 40 wants to look good and show it off - and should be allowed to.

I cropped Chris's junk out of this photo - but maybe I didn't crop enough. It's awfully close to the baseline, isn't it?

I know you can't see any nipple or bush in this photo of Laurelle; but maybe it's the photo that someone found objectionable.

Here's another photo of Xavier that may have been the offending picture. I can't imagine why - but apparently, you can't be too careful on Facebook.

There are some other photos that I removed from Facebook that aren't being shown here because they are in other stories further down on my blog (and because some of them are being featured, this week, on http://marcharshbarger.blogspot.com/ ). I don't find a single one of these photos in violation of the Facebook rules.

My big curiosity in all this is that I see photos on Facebook in peoples' profiles that are far more suggestive, that show more sexuality, that show actual vulgarity, that show full breasts and buttocks. I've seen quiz results people have taken that show men with erections. I have seen a lot of things on Facebook that are offensive, including a lot of political and militant religious preachings; and yet those people are allowed on Facebook. I have decided to NOT try too hard to get my profile reinstated. I will live without.

I feel persecuted.

Ah. The life of an artist.

The Picture Down The Hall: Miss Chita Rivera

As a boy, I wanted to be a dancer.

I took class. I danced. I read about Baryshnikov and Nureyev. I read about Broadway and the MGM musicals. I loved Tommy Rall and Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Cyd Charisse. I listened to cast albums and soundtracks.

I didn't know who Chita Rivera was until the friend of my parents loaned me the cast album to CHICAGO. Even then, all I knew was that I loved listening to her sing.

When I went to college, I bought cast albums and learned more Chita Rivera; with each album I fell more in love. Chita Rivera became a part of my personal make up.

I watched, a college student in Denton, Texas, as Chita Rivera won her first Tony award for THE RINK.

"Thank you... I'm very happy that I bought the bottom of the dress this year.." I know the speech by heart.

Each year I watched Chita Rivera perform on the Tonys.

Each year I loved her more.

I saw the movie SWEET CHARITY and fell in love some more.

A year before moving to New York Chita Rivera and the Rockettes came to Dallas in the tour of CAN CAN. My friend was working backstage.

She asked me if I wanted an autograph.

Yes.

I gave her my album of THE RINK.

I still have that autographed record album.

I was so happy to hear that Chita Rivera was a fun gal, backstage.

Shortly before moving to New York, I saw Chita Rivera do her number from KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN on the Tonys and, that was it, I was, forever, captured in her web.. oh, no. Pun intended. I watched her win another Tony award and I cheered when it happened.

The first show I saw when I came to New York was Kiss of the Spider Woman.

I keep seeing Chita Rivera in shows and I keep falling in love.

Pat took me to see NINE. During the Follies Bergere number, Chita Rivera chatted with the audience. The first person she talked to was me. I laughed and I cried. I met her backstage after and I got down on my knees at her feet and she laughed and laughed and pulled me back up to my feet and hugged me.

When Bobby McGuire called me to ask me to do these pictures, I thought I would have apoplexy. I was so nervous. I was so scared. I don't think I have ever been so honoured before - even shooting my friend, the great Judi Dench wasn't the same as taking pictures of Chita Rivera DANCING.

I may never recover from this day. I will be on cloud nine and grateful for the rest of my life.

Chita Rivera is THE greatest dancer I have ever seen dance.

And a darn nice lady too.

Chita Rivera is a lady and a star.

THIS was a GREAT day.

The Picture Down The Hall Part Eleven

That's my friend, Jennifer Houston, again. In my online albums and bloggings, where I am choosing to showcase my favourites, the photos I consider my best, I can promise you that she will turn up a lot.





There is a lot to show off.





This photo was actually done in my home, right in front of the altar where I chant.





I like that.




While working on a book of photos (that was never published but really SHOULD be) of people in their favourite places around New York, I got to shoot the wonderful Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Avenue Q). She is so much fun and such a delight to be with and to work with. I loved her choices for her favourite places!

This picture, to me (as a New Yorker) is ALL about New York (and I think every New Yorker will agree with me).

This is one of my favourite photos (of MANY that I have taken) of Howie Michael Smith (also of Ave Q), who also happens to be one of the handsomest men I have ever met, let alone photographed.



My best friend, Tom. Anyone who knows Tom will back me up when I say that, in this photo, I got it right. He makes this face all the time -- I don't know what it means; but it's him.

Did I mention that we dated awhile and he is one of the loves of my life? If you have seen pics of my husband and you look at this photo of Tom, you will note what good taste I have in men.

The Picture Down The Hall Part Ten

This was one of those days when I wanted to make some art and I called up my three closest friends and made them model for me. It was a marathon photo shoot in a ritzy hotel suite and the photos were romantic, sexy, interesting... they were a lot of things.

This one really got me goin.

My girlfriend, Jennifer Houston (seen in the threesome photo directly above, too) is also a most prolific songwriter and exciting singer. We spent a lot of time, over the years, creating art together, for any reason or excuse we could find. She is also the greatest baker I know (see her baking at http://www.thischickbakes.com/ ). Since she is a baker and a musician, I thought it would be appropriate to do this photo of her two worlds colliding. Her music is also available on itunes, by the way -- see: Jen Houston and the cd is called West 83rd St.

I don't shoot weddings. I have but I don't like to. Sometimes you have to - for whatever reason.

I'm always happy when the people who want me to shoot their weddings want black and white film and artistic shots.

It was a last minute idea that I had .. just before she and her ring bearing son from a previous marriage left the room to walk down the aisle, I threw up a light and asked the boy to sit down on mommy's dress. Everyone seemed happy with the idea.

I like happy.

I asked my best friend and his husband to sit for me; and when they did, they arrived wearing shapeless, dingy summer t shirts. That wasn't going to work. I had just the thing - a white tennis sweater that I had, happened, to buy four of.

Aren't these boys elegant and romantic?


There really isn't anything else to say about this photo; except for this --

Xavier

Have Mercy.

The Picture Down The Hall Part Nine

I dialed the number. The unmistakable voice answered.


"Mr Crisp?"


"Yes?"


"My name is Stephen Mosher. My friends told me I should call you."


"why did they ask you to do that?"


"I'm a photographer and I'm working on a book to raise money for AIDS organizations and.."


"I'll do it."



This was one of the great days, one of the great shoots.




Vacationing with a group of friends on a lake in Vermont, I saw two best friends sitting on the pier talking. We all knew that one of the two would probably die soon of viral cardio myopathy. I used my telephoto lens to take this photo, one that is treasured by both myself and the surviving friend.



This photo is so special to me that it hangs on the wall in my home office.

Shortly after coming to New York, I landed a gig shooting the tenth anniversary concert of Sunday in the Park With George. It turns out that it is my favourite musical ( it and NINE ), so I was elated. It turns out that I have always wanted to shoot a photo of Bernadette Peters. It turns out I revere Mr Sondheim.

So you see; I couldn't be happier.

One of my all time favourite pics, this shows the way it should be between sisters.

These are my niecese, by the way.


During my time in Dallas I did photos for almost every small theater around. One of the theaters was doing Streetcar Named Desire; but the director wanted to keep their Blanche Dubois under wraps until the audience got there. So all the photos we did were of Stanley and Stella Kowalski.

This is an unused photo from that session and one of my most beloved.

I have known Jake Speck since he was ten. Getting to do the engagement photos of he and Emily was an extraordinary gift for me. To talk about how much this man, this couple, means to me would be a bore for everyone reading it; so I'll just let the photo do my talking.

A small theater in Dallas was doing SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL - set in a new time period. They brough Jonna McElrath in for a publicity sitting and this picture of some Bette Davis esque diva became a staple in my portfolio. That was some 18 years ago.

The photo is still in my portfolio today.

We needed just the right amount of sun to get this photo of David Salih. It was, therefore, planned that we shoot at sunrise; not a time of day David tended to like at that period of his life.

It was totally worth it, though.

The Picture Down The Hall Part Eight

This photo of Nancy LaMott may be the image most associated with my name - with my work legacy. My husband has other ideas; he says the Bernadette Peters photo from the Sunday in the Park with George concert is the one. Other friends say it is my Judi Dench headshot.

I don't know... I really do think this is the one.

I've tried, more than a couple of times, to write out the story of my and Nancy LaMott. Every time I get half-way through it, I stop.

Maybe one day I will be able to finish it.

For now, I will say what I say whenever I discuss this photo: I love it because it is in her eyes - she trusted me.

That's my husband of 23 years and the best picture I ever took. This is my favourite photo. Ever.


My friend Paul is a character actor. He is also a character. One of the most original and unique people I have ever known, I guessed that, when he asked me to do a portrait sitting with him, we would create interesting art together. He arrived at my home with the chair, the robe, the duck shoes, an egg and some other props (which I cannot remember at this moment) -- I intend to find the negatives from this shoot and print up some of those other wonderfully interesting photos.

This picture is one I love so much (of a friend I love so much) that it hung in my home for a number of years until it came time to showcase a different friend and different work of art.

It still hangs in my heart, though.

These four women are my sisters. We met playing siblings in a play during my acting days and we have remained siblings for over two decades. They have been decades filled with fun, laughter, tears, adventure and love. As I showcase my favourites of the works of art I have created, they will be seen, and often.

This photo is the most well known photo I did of them; it always sparks a smile and conversation from viewers. It hangs in my home office.

A big part of my time behind the camera has been spent doing actors' headshots. As a headshot photographer I have ranged in my talent from very bad to extremely good. I have a system, a philosophy, an outlook; it is based on getting an honest representation of the actor.

This is not only one of my greatest headshots, it is one of my personal favourites.

During one of the many photo shoots I have done with one of the talents I respect most in this world, I had a chance to turn a real life situation into art. This was REALLY happening during the shoot. Karen Mason had a makeup stylist, a hair stylist and a clothing stylist. The gown for this shot wasn't hers and didn't fit her - it was brought expressly for the shoot. While everyone was pampering her and making her ready, I had the idea to ask them to turn around so the camera could capture the truth behind the making beautiful of a great star.

This photo hangs in my office at home.



I asked Max Von Essen to sit for me. He said yes and asked me what to bring. I said " A white t shirt, a black button down and a grey turtleneck." He had the first two but not the grey. So I dressed him in my favourite turtleneck from my chest of drawers.

As you can see, he is so comfortable in his own skin that what he is wearing ceases to matter.

My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Jerry Herman Files -- Mack and Mabel

MACK AND MABEL, I have been told, is Jerry Herman’s favourite of his scores. I don’t know if that is true or not, having never been told this by the man himself; but I do know that it is one of MY favourite scores. I have also been told (and read) that Mack and Mabel was a complicated show, one with many obstacles to overcome – obstacles that it has never been able to overcome. I don’t know about that either. I only know that, from the moment the Overture begins to final strains of music on the cast album, I am made happy by the listening experience that is Mack and Mabel. Mr Herman manages to capture the mood of the era and of the artform that was silent fim making (Movies Were Movies), as well as staying true to the traditional Broadway belt (Big Time). In this score you find the traditional Herman ballad (I Won’t Send Roses) and one of the greatest torch songs ever written (I think it is in the top 5) – Time Heals Everything. My favourite, though, is the excitingly dark Tap Your Troubles Away (I don’t know how it was done on Broadway but when I saw a production of the show in the 80s, there was a murder and the company came out and tap danced around the dead body while this song was belted out by the local version of Lisa Kirk).

I don’t know or care why Mack and Mabel was a flop. It’s one of the best cast albums you are likely to find. And for extra pleasure, you can dig up the concert version with the likes of Debbie (Shapiro) Gravitte, George Hearn, Stubby Kaye, Tommy Tune, Frances Ruffelle, Denis Quilley, Paige O’Hara, Robert Meadmore and with Georgia Brown doing Time Heals Everything. Oh, and Jerry Herman. It’s a good one!

Food For Thought - Salad Simplified

I eat a LOT of salad. I love lettuce. My dad used to get after me for eating iceberg lettuce, telling me that there are other lettuces that taste better and have more nutrients. He was right. I like all of them, too. I use all of them, at one point or another – sometimes all at once. I suggest you use whatever lettuce or lettuces YOU like.

I tend to use Romaine more than any other. It’s easy and it’s crunchy. Tastes good, too. You can buy it fresh and clean it yourself or you can buy the pre washed and packaged romaine hearts. I cut off the end and throw it away and then I just slice my way up until it is nothing but strips. Sometimes I use one or two heads, depending on how hungry I am or if it’s just me or if it’s me and Pat. All those lettuce strips go in a big bowl; and you are ready to start.



I think people make too big a production out of salad. We're so afraid of lettuce, so afraid that it isn't enough, that it doesn't taste enough, that it won't satisfy that we put SOOOO much - TOOO much - in our salads. You cannot possibly taste every item in that salad; it's too much. Sensory overload. Why use up all that food when it is nothing but a mishmash mush of stuff that you can't really taste? And all that dressing.



We don't need it.

I take four hard boiled eggs, chop one – yolk and all. Then chop the other three after removing the yolk. Four eggs whites, one yolk – chopped up.

Get some peanuts. Raw is good. Roasted is good. Salted is not good. Use a half a cup. You don’t need more than that but if you are going to use more because there are two or three of you, go ahead – but please remember that moderation is a beautiful thing.

Get some sunflower seeds. Raw or roasted; not salted. It’s so bad for you. About a quarter or a half a cup of these will do, depending on number of people. MODERATION!

I keep grilled turkey in my fridge. I cook it, seal it, put it in the fridge and that way it is there when I need it. You NEED that convenience. I take a couple pieces of this turkey and slice it up and throw it into a small pan with a DRIZZLE of olive oil that’s been heated up a little. Just toss them around for a minute or so while they warm up.

Peel and chop up an orange in big chunks.

Take your pepper mill and grind over the lettuce a few times.

Add all the other ingredients – the egg, the seeds, the nuts (peanuts are a bean, though)…

When the turkey is hot, throw it into your salad. Mix Mix, Toss Toss. Toss Toss Mix Mix.

Last up: the oranges.

You won’t even notice that there isn’t any salad dressing.

DE LISH.

The Picture Down The Hall Part Seven

I have shown this photo so many times and told the story fo often that I feel like a broken record... Straight shot: Linda was a Monroe impersonator and spent an afternoon with me, recreating her on film. I have been a Monroe devotee since I was eleven, so it was a big job and a big thrill. She brought a film crew to shoot the session and at one point someone asked her to say something into the camera like Marilyn. She said she needed a moment to get the character and voice. She put her head in her hands and I took this photo. Years later, Eli Wallach was looking at my portfolio and thought this was really Marilyn Monroe.

Yay, me.
While in London, we were given the great honour, the immense pleasure and the outright thrill of going backstage to do a portrait of the great Maggie Smith after a performance of TALKING HEADS. She could not have been more gracious, more friendly or more funny. She sat and talked to Pat while I took her photos in her rose coloured dressing room and, when we left, she hugged me. Twice.

Twice.

One of my greatest collaborators, artistically, is this man, who is so dear to me that I view him as an adoptive son. He even callse me Pa, affectionately. Together, we created great art (including a photo I show, often, of him in a bubblebath with a black eye and boxing wraps).

On this day, my birthday, I came out of the gym at seven am and it was raining. I had an idea, rushed home and grabbed him and said "how fast can you make yourself pretty?" He got ready very fast and I ran to the store and bought a cake and asked for a container of extra icing.... green.

All that sweet green icing flowing down...

In Los Angeles is a wonderful theater called The Blank Theatre Company. They do plays - they make art. For many years I made art with them as their photographer. During those years I got to do this poster shot for the play LOOT. It has remained a special fav of mine.


I got to meet and shoot pics of the one and only Lily Tomlin, one summer day around three in the afternoon. She had been working all day and began our shoot with an apology for being so tired and a wish that she might be able to give me what I need.

She is so magical, so wonderful, so inimitable that the shoot took a matter of minutes and, as you can see, she got her wish.

The Workout Room Underneath Cable Crossovers

By attaching the handles to the bottom of the cage and doing your crossovers from below, you target the portion of the pectoral on the OUTSIDE. It's what makes the pec rounder, over by the bicep.



You make your arms like parentheses ( ballet arms is another good way to describe it ) and let the weight pull you out a little, then squeeeeeze the handles together right in front of your sternum - but out, not close to you. During the motion, allow the bicep to brush real close to the pec. When the cables meet in front, SQUEEZE.



Make it hurt. Notice the difference between sore and pain. Sore is good. Pain is injury.



Breathe on the exertion.



I like to do 4 sets of as many as possible.



I shoot for 25 but usually make 15 - 20, depending on the weight.

My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Jerry Herman Files -- Jerry's Girls, La Cage Aux Folles

This is silly, I admit it, but I just love JERRY’S GIRLS and I have from the moment I first bought the record album and played it for the first time. I mean, really, how can you NOT love this musical revue (especially if you are a gay man) ? It’s Carol Channing (one of the great Broadway legendary divas), Leslie Uggams (one of the great Broadway diva voices) and Andrea McArdle (it’s ANNIE, dudes, and one of the, The, THE voices) singing Jerry Herman? It’s a great romp, full of delicious performances and great, fun arrangements (not to mention songs I hadn’t heard before – when I got the record in the 80s). Showtune? What fun. Two a Day? Fabulous. And there are, of course, those wonderful Jerry Herman songs we all know (those of us who listen to musical theater) and love so much. Yeah. I admit it: I am into Jerry’s Girls.

As a side note: I picked up an audio bootleg of the show when it was done on Broadway with Chita Rivera and Dorothy Loudon taking over for Misses Channing and McArdle and THAT is a fun listen, too! I have some of the tracks from that bootleg in my Ipod, most notably the wonderfully biting and satirical song HAVE A NICE DAY in which Dorothy Loudon (I hear she was dressed as a Salvation Army worker in the show) sings a list of racial epithets while preaching we should all have a nice day. It is one of my favourite songs and I wish more people knew it (I hear it was cut from La Cage Aux Folles – written for the father of the girl marrying Albin and Georges’ son).

Mwhavelous!

I was in a hospital bed. I had been there for days, recovering from a suicide attempt. The year was 1983 and it was the stretch of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Friends had brought me a tiny Christmas tree to decorate my room. I had a nightstand that was loaded down with books and magazines and a medium sized boom box. Next to the boom box were stacks of cassettes. I was to be confined to that hospital bed for at least two weeks while the doctors figured out the best course of action to help me deal with the depression and despair that lead me to swallow 36 sleeping pills, washed down by a Texas Tea sized glass of Ronrico and green Kool Aid. The stacks of books and magazines and cassettes would come in handy during that 2 week period. I do not remember the names of all the cassettes that were there for me to listen to. Only one stays in my memory: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES.

The musical had opened on Broadway and was a huge hit. I had bought the cassette and was listening to it all the time. The mere fact of the show was of great importance, it is true; but the score was a complete perfection – the upbeat happy numbers (complete with taps on the cast album!), the witty comedy numbers, the touching ballads and, of course, the anthems. From I AM WHAT I AM to THE BEST OF TIMES, Jerry Herman was there, telling this 19 year old that there was no reason to be hurting myself, no reason to be spending my holidays in a hospital bed trying to overcome the unhappinesses I was feeling. I had the opportunity to be myself and to be that, proudly. I had a second chance to turn the bad times into the best times. I could overcome this moment in my history and have the kind of life I dreamed about.

Yes. In my hospital bed I listened to La Cage Aux Folles a LOT.

George Hearn has remained one of my favourite performers on Broadway, one of my favourite boy voices in the entire history of musical theater; and the song SONG ON THE SAND would (in the not too distant future) become the song that my husband and I called ‘our song’.

Compliance

What you are looking at is art.

I know it is art because I created it.

It took a long time in my life for me to be able to say, proudly and without feeling pretentious, that I am an artist. These days I not only feel like an artist; I know I am an artist. I have only to look at my work to know this. I have only to listen to the compliments from people to know this. Most of all, though I know this because it is a part of me. It is who I am.

In the last month (give or take a week or two more than the four it takes to make up a month), I learned what it is to be an artist who is censored - something I always wondered about.

I accept full responsibility.

I am accountable.

I posed for some nudes. I was proud of them; proud of the way I looked in them. I wanted to show them off so I posted them on Facebook AFTER cropping all of them above my junk (do you know what I'm talking about?). This wasn't good enough. Someone complained and I was kicked off Facebook for indecency.

I am responsible.

Facebook has rules. Play by the rules. It's their playground.

Once I was reactivate by the kind people at Facebook, I determined to not put up my sexy ass photos again.


I just didn't think my own artistry was offensive.

I had a photo album of pics I have done of the human body. Nothing dirty; just the beauty of the human body. These photos went for a long time without any concern. That's them, by the way. The ones you have been looking at of the boys who look like a statue by Michelangelo -- that's them. They have been on my Facebook profile for over a year, with no complaint.

Then I decided to add some photos I did -- photos of which I am extremely proud.

But.... and this is a big but...

They are photos of a gay couple.

And the gay couple is naked.

Are they fornicating?

No.

Are they performing acts of felatio on one another?

No.

Are they tongue kissing each other?

No.

They are in love and they are wrapped in one another's embrace.

Naked.

Nude.

We'll say nude. Nakes have staples.

Well - the photos pushed someone's button and someone's envelope; I was kicked off Facebook.

I don't like being off Facebook. I LOVE Facebook. It connects me to my peeps... my friends, my family, my fans. I don't EVER want to be kicked off Facebook again.

So I went into my Facebook albums and removed every single photo that I thought MIGHT get me kicked off Facebook again. I might even remove more, later today. In the meantime, here, in this story, you may see the racy, controversial photos that I had to remove to keep me online.

And I would (and will) remove more -- as long is it keeps me online.

Life without Facebook was very rough on me for the last week. NOBODY communicates any other way! I felt invisible.

So, in order to keep from being invisible, I killed my children - and quickly.

Thank heaven for Blogger, where art is allowed to live and breathe.

The Picture Down The Hall Part Six

One of my closest friends and most frequent artistic collaborators over the years, Lisa-Gabrielle was visiting New York from Texas and agreed to spend a day being photographed for a seris of pictures I was doing in which I recreated the looks of old Hollywood stars. This photo was meant to be a Jean Harlowe photo but the blonde wig we had didn't work. So we styled her own red hair, changed the makeup plot and we got something completely original.

And I love Love LOVED it.

Here, by the way, is Lisa_Gabrielle in colour, in one of my favourite Real Time shots. You see, I did the photos at the wedding for she and her husband. This was in the limo after the ceremony. It's just a snapshot done photojournalism style; but, to me, it has always said all there is to say about their love affair.

My beloved friend, Nancy LaMott, was a part of my life for only a couple of years before she succumbed to cancer. She gave me one of my first gigs in New York and she gave me one of my greatest friendships. She gave me a lot of things; aside from her friendship and the artwork we created together, my favourite thing Nancy gave me was the way she trusted me. She said this thing to me, once, that I have never, ever, forgotten:

"Nobody's ever photographed me the way you do, Stephen."

Sometimes, in moments of self doubt and dispair, I hear her voice and those words, once more.

I will listen for them forever.

When I was living in Texas I knew this flawless beauty. She was one (is one) of my most treasured friends and was, happily, always there to play with me when I had my camera and a roll of film. Her beauty is timeless; so I borrowed a period costume from the Dallas Theater Center (it was made for Les Liaisons Dangereuses) and we did a shoot on the grounds of the chapel at Southern Methodist University (SMU). Many of the photos were wonderful but, at one point, the wind was blowing and blowing and we kept waiting for it to subside. Finally, Ellen gave in to it and struck this pose and art was born.

I consider this photo of Kristen to be (one of, if not the) greatest black and white headshot I ever did.



During my college days, I was continually grabbing costumes from the costume shop and Kelly (and her famous hair) and trying to be(come) some hot fashion style photographer.

This was always one of my favourite pics from those sessions

The Picture Down The Hall Part Five

It was a gift. An absolute gift.

My friend, Guy Smith, is a famous lighting designer. He lights everything from parties to events, from concerts to plays. He has lit some of the world's most famous entertainers -- people like Jennifer Hudson, Michael Buble, Idina Menzel, Kristine W, Deborah Cox. I don't know his resume by heart but I think he has even lit Mariah Carey. I will need to get the full list from him. One year, at the Pier Dance for Gay Pride in New York, he told me that he was lighting Jennifer Lopez and did I want to bring my camera? No. I didn't want to bring my camera. I wanted to go and party. I wanted to dance. He said, ok: but it's J.Lo. I thought better of it and I was placed right at the foot of the stage to shoot some of my favourite photos in my life.

Guy Smith is an absolute gift.

Jimmy Nelson came to me, an actor, for headshots. But before the first meeting was over, we were fast friends. We were to become more than just friends; he became one of my alltime best artistic collaborators. Throughout my body of work, within the list of photos I call My Best Work, Jimmy appears. This isn't just one of my favourite photos of Jimmy, one of my favourite photos period: it is one of my favourite headshots.

My Grandmother raised me on Hollywood Glamour. She had worked at Paramount Studios with Edith Head and my grandfather had worked for Mae West. As a child, I was constantly being shown photographs of old movie stars and having the silver screen glamour described to me. That is why, when I began to work in photography, I worked very hard at recapturing that style in certain areas of my work.

Working with James Beaman during his days as a female impersonator was a true joy for me. His much lauded shows as Marlene Dietrich and as Lauren Bacall provided me with hours of pleasure as an audience member and even more hours of satisfaction as a photographer. This one is my favourite of all the photos we did. I felt like my grandmother was beside me, as I took it (which was, natch, impossible since she had died some ten years earlier). Nevertheless, she was there.

I was in the home of a gay couple, celebrating their recent commitment ceremony (this was long before even one state had legalized gay marriage). One of the couple was a photographer and he had huge mounted photos of his own work all over their home. I stood, gazing up at the picture of their hands, really loving it. It was so delicately lit, so exquistely shot. The two of them walked up to me and I said "What a beautiful picture of your hands. I just love it. Who shot that?" They stood on either side of me and looked at me, with emphasis, and said:

"YOU did."

I had done the shoot, given them the film and never thought of it again.

What a nice surprise.

And what a nice compliment I paid myself.




An actress called me on the phone and said she was a strange and extraordinary woman and needed a headshot to reflect that. I told her I specialized in individuality. It took a year to arrange the shoot and, when it happened, it lasted from six pm to almost midnight. It was one of the most fascinating photo shoots of my life and it yielded artwork that I have treasured.

When I did this photo of Genevieve, I was thinking "In a hundred years, this picture will be on postcards in art museums".

Years later, I ran into her at a play and she threw her arms around me and said "THAT photo you did of me has become ICONIC in the industry."

I was very glad to hear her say that. The fact is, I had already known it because agents, casting directors, managers, directors, actors... many people... had said to me over the years, "YOU took that picture??!!!"

She was right. It was and is an iconic image in New York show business circles.

That photo of Genevieve in her big hat is one of my proudest moments behind the camera.

During the 3 decades I spent behind the camera, one of my favourite types of gig was shooting theater. It was especially rewarding to shoot theater as it was being performed -- set up photos at photo calls are lovely but present very little challenge. Photographing actors in performance is a different game - the emotion is raw and real and the action has to be captured as it happens. It is a challenge and I love a challenge.

It was particularly rewarding when I had the chance to shoot my loved ones (most of my friends are actors) at their work.

This picture of Morgana Shaw (in performance) as Crystal Allen in THE WOMEN is a photo that has become associated with my name. For that I am extremely happy.

The Workout Room Kneeling Bicep Curls

Attach handles to the weights in the cage, hold onto them and kneel in the center.

Let the handles pull your arms up and to the side; just curl the hands into your temples, then let them open again.

It's just like opening and closing something - a door, a drawer, anything.

Open, close, open, close.

Breathe.

Squeeze the muscle while working it.

It is all in the bicep.

I like to do 4 sets and shoot for 25 reps.

I don't always make it but if I stop for 5 seconds and continue the set, 25 can be done.

My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Jerry Herman Files -- Hello, Dolly! , Parade

The first record I ever bought was HELLO, DOLLY! It was the movie soundtrack. I had seen the film on tv and had to have that record. In the ensuing years, I would learn that it wasn’t just about that movie, that there had been a play, first. I learned all about the theater and musicals by simply starting out at the library, checking out the record Hello Dolly (both the Carol Channing and Pearl Bailey versions). I read the play (checked out at the library, again) and I grew up with that musical. I saw productions of Hello, Dolly over the years and watched the movie again and again. When I moved to New York I had the chance to see the original, Carol Channing, on Broadway – four times. I never tired of listening to any recording of Hello, Dolly; and that is why I have the OBC in my Ipod, the revival cast, the Pearl Bailey recording and certain tracks performed by Mary Martin and Ethel Merman. All these are in my Ipod, as well as that first record album. It can be said: I dig Dolly Levi.

I’d like to write more about Hello Dolly here; but I am actually working on a tribute story to Jerry Herman and I want to save all my deeper thoughts for that story.

I will say this: My favourite tracks from all these cast albums are these:

OBC Motherhood
Revival Cast album: I Put My Hand In, Ribbons Down My Back and So Long Dearie
Pearl Bailey Cast Album: Before the Parade Passes By
Ethel Merman: World Take Me Back
Movie Soundtrack: Just Leave Everything To Me, Put On Your Sunday Clothes

And even though it is NOT in my Ipod, the French recording starring Annie Corday is quite groovy (if you are into that kind of thing – not everyone likes foreign cast albums; and that is another story altogether)….


JERRY HERMAN’S PARADE, I didn’t know. I knew a couple of songs that ended up in Jerry’s Girls, years later; and I had heard the show spoken of in the documentary, as well as having read about it a little in the Jerry Herman book of lyrics by Ken Bloom and Mr. Herman. So I dropped the cd into the tray the other day and said to myself, this will be good – it’s Jerry Herman.

Didn’t like it.

Not sure why I didn’t like it but I didn’t. I actually think it may be a combination of the fact that these aren’t his best songs, I don’t like comedy numbers (and Dody Goodman is the star of the show, so you know there are a lot of those suckers in there) and being driven to distraction by Charles Nelson Reilly’s vibrato. I love CNR, deeply and sincerely, but that vibrato is just more than I can handle. Now, I didn’t delete all the cd from my Ipod because there are a couple of tracks I like enough to play from time to time – the songs I already knew from Jerry’s Girls and three of the ballads and a clever number called A Jolly Theatrical Season. I just had to cut some of the numbers where I felt Jerry was trying his hand at being avant garde.

I like my Herman musicals musical.

The Picture Down The Hall Part Four

I was given an opportunity to shoot a cover photo for HX Magazine. I never had my picture on the cover of a magazine before. I've been IN magazines and newspapers -- I've even been the cover story of a magazine; but I never had a photo I took on the cover. It didn't matter to me that it was a local gay magazine, rather than PEOPLE or VANITY FAIR. It was still the cover and it had to be flawless. I was told the photo needed to be an iconic image of male beauty. So I called my friend Gabe.

I went to college with Marci. She and I ARE Will and Grace. I have heard it said that a good friend knows your parents' names; a true friend has their phone number. So when Joe and Ruth were in town, I asked Marci if her parents would sit for me, with her. What I love about this photo is that, to me, you can see each of the individuals; you can also see the family as it operates as a unit. To break it down, further, would be an unwarranted invasion of Marci's privacy and that of her family. Suffice it to say, a picture is still worth a thousand words; and knowing the back story, I feel like I got those thousand in this pic.

I was an actor for a moment. I stopped acting when I was in my 20s and focused on what had, previously, been a hobby - photography. During my days as an actor, I often had the opportunities to play with my friends. This photo of Deborah is the result of some borrowed costumes and an afternoon running around my apartment complex (that's right, this ghetto of a parking lot was right outside my back door) in Dallas.

I have always loved the resulting picture.

I do not remember how I came to have the job of doing the poster art and publicity pictures for the original New York production of VISITING MR GREEN. I only know that I was thrilled beyond belief to get to photograph the man that I think is the greatest living American actor. I know there are other actors who are more awarded and more high profile; but I am a lover of the American theater and Eli Wallach was, is and always be a legend to me. He is also one of the nicest people I ever met in my life. And speaking of nicest people, the gig introduced me to David Basche, who scores an A+ in my book. He has it all - looks, talent, integrity and humanity. I loved that job.

Working with Daphne Rubin-Vega was so much fun and so unexpected. I never dreamed she would call me and I never dreamed that when she got to my studio she would tell me she wanted to do something different - something that wasn't in keeping with the Mimi image from RENT, something that broke away from her work as a rock singer, something that said she was more than THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW. This, by the way, was just after she was nominated for the Tony Award for acting in a play - not a musical. Daphne was growing up and wanted some glamourous, grown up, gorgeousness to celebrate.

I think this is my favourite celebrity portrait I ever did. It is my favourite because the woman in this family isn't a celebrity; she is a wife and a mother. People don't see celebrities the way they are (most of the time). They see the star, the famous, the iconic. When Judi Dench is with her family, she isn't an Oscar winner, a Tony winner, an Emmy winner and Olivier Winner. She isn't M from the James Bond movies. She isn't all of those things that the public sees or thinks of when they think of Dame Judi Dench. At the moment this picture was taken, she was Mrs Williams, Mom and Granny.

And she was, and is, my friend.



One of my greatest artistic collaborators is this man who I, lovingly, call "son". It should be said that I have no children by bloodline -- but I have many friends for whom I act as a patriarchal figure. This young man is one of my family by choice. We spent years working as artist and model; and though he is living in Los Angeles and works with greater, more noted, famous photographic artists.

But I got there first.

My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Jerry Herman Files -- Dear World, The Grand Tour

I think I was in the 5th grade when I found the record album of DEAR WORLD at the local library and checked it out to take it home and listen to Angela Lansbury. I had been in love with her since Bedknobs and Broomsticks; then I discovered MAME and it became a love that would last me the rest of my life. I knew who Jerry Herman was because of HELLO DOLLY! And MAME; but I didn’t know what the hell this play was – The Madwoman of Chaillot. It sounded TERRIBLY dramatic and romantic! So I took the record home and read the liner notes on the back and, for the longest time, that was all I knew about Dear World – and I won’t pretend that was easy stuff to understand for a 5th grader.

It didn’t matter.

From the moment the overture on the record started, I was hooked. Dear World became one of my greatest pleasures, one of my dearest listens, one of my best friends. I still listen to the score from Dear World from beginning to end (though I will admit that there are certain playlists in my Ipod that single out the songs I Never Said I Love You, Kiss Her Now, And I Was Beautiful and that spectacular overture. Of course, over the years I have gotten to know the original play Madwoman of Chaillot and I have read all the historical data on Dear World and know that it is considered a troubled show. Too bad. I love Dear World and listening to it always leaves me happier than I was before.

I actually didn’t know THE GRAND TOUR until recent years. My girlfriend Marci introduced me to the song I’ll Be Here Tomorrow and I thought it was the most wonderful tune. In fact, I learned the song to sing it on one of my cds – that’s a different story though. Having discovered (been introduced to) this wonderful song, I figured I should know the rest of the score, too. And you know what? I loved it. The songs are so beautiful and melodic (and I am not sure you will find a better female interpreter of Herman’s music than Florence Lacey, in spite of his obvious association with bigger stars). Misters Grey and Holgate are at the top of their respective games on this recording. I was listening to the cd around the house and had to go look up the name of who was singing Marianne and when I read it was Ron Holgate I said “well, of COURSE it is!” The show, I don’t know about – I actually did not do my reading up on it, I just turned on the cd and listened to it and knew that I would listen to it, from start to finish, again.

Of course, now I will probably get one of my things about the show and go read up on it.

I love the underdogs, the forgotten gems.

The Picture Down The Hall Part Three

I love shooting family portraits. When you put together people who have a relationship and who love each other, you aren't the focus of their attention -- they are. So you get to be a kind of fly on the wall, watching them interact with one another, stealing (borrowing) moments from their day, their life. The picture of Gregg Edelman and Carolee Carmello with their children is one of my favourite stolen moments.

I also love shooting photos of gorgeous people and that picture of Chris has, long, been one that I love; not unlike the man, himself.

David Campbell is a famous singer and actor but when I met him he was a young man on his way to hit the heights. He always had star quality, as you can see in the Times Square photo of him in the rain. I have so many pictures of David - the file of Campbell negatives in my safe is probably two inches thick. He's famous to everyone else; to me he is just Campbell - my spiritual brother.

I have done so many photos of Brady in my life -- that's the great thing about having friends who are either artists or good looking or both; you can always count on them to be your models without pay. This headshot of him in his blue t shirt has always been on for which I had a special fondness; not just because I think it's a good photo (which I do) but also because I can see trust in his eyes when he looks at me.

For a photographer, that trust is the key.

While doing a photo shoot with a man and a woman in Central Park ( headshots for each of them), I had them sitting inside Bethesda Fountain (my favourite place to go). It was winter and the fountain had been drained; however, it had been raining and there were enormous puddles of water in the bottom of the fountain.

That is when I had this idea for the photo of Chris and Laura's feet and the puddle.

Ben Wright and Theo Clinkard were not a REALLY new couple when I met them - I think they had been together a couple of years at this time. I loved working with them because they had no pretenses, no wishes to hide who they were or the feelings they shared.

For a good couples' photo, a lack of pretense is paramount.

The Picture Down The Hall Part Two

The photo of the Beauty Shop ladies is one of my favourite days behind the camera. The writer and performer Faye Lane asked me to accompany her to Texas to do some photos of her for a show she was writing about her youth, spent growing up in her mama's Beauty Shop. We spent a pleasant afternoon with her family and with the ladies her mama did hair for, all of Faye's childhood; the ladies who became the kind of family that people have down south -- the kind of family to be found in the works of playwrights like Beth Henley and Robert Harling. The man wearing my very own turtleneck came to me, a bartender, having been told by numerous friends that he should model. We spent a few hours photographing him around my home, capturing various looks for his (inexpensive!) portfolio (I specialized in creating portfolios for people who couldn't afford them). He told me later that this is the photo that got him his agent. For this picture I styled his outfit and his hair -- only to discover later that what I used on his hair wasn't hair gel but shaving gel. I had grabbed the wrong thing off the bathroom shelf.

I did a lot of headshots in my time. Here are two of my favourites -- one indoor, one outdoor; one famous person, one not yet famous person; one younger than me, one older than me; one boy, one girl. I just really love these photos because I feel like they truly captured the essence of Mike and of Miss Ann Reinking.

One of my happiest gigs was shooting the recording sessions for the Papermill Playhouse production of Stephen Sondheim's FOLLIES. The cd was released and called FOLLIES: THE COMPLETE RECORDING. None of my photos appear in the cd because the producer of the cd refused to pay me my asking price, preferring, instead to offer me an insulting amount of money after I had worked for three days. I was learning, in those days, how to stand up for myself; to that end, I took my toys and went home. That is to say, no money, no pictures. So it wasn't a totally happy experience.

But I wouldn't give it back for anything.

Just look at the photo of Ann Miller recording I'm Still Here (it's at the top of the page, ya'all).

The Workout Room Overhead Tricep Extensions

Using a curl bar (ok, ok, Pat and I like to call it a wavy bar), get an inside grip and hold it over your head.

Lower it slowly behind your neck and extend up, never fully extending - that is, the elbow never locks.

If you dip deep in the back and raise up to parial but not full extension, the muscle is engaged the entire time.

No room for resting.

I like to do 3 sets of 25 reps. Pick a weight that isn't so heavy that you can do that -- but with time and practice, you'll be able to go up in weight!

Remember - lighter weight and better form is better than heavy weight and bad form.

The Picture Down The Hall

In a previous blog entry I mentioned that my website designer had gone MIA and my site hasn't been updated in a few years. The only way people can see my recent or favourite or most popular photographic creations is to be one of my Facebook friends... or Myspace friends (I still have a Myspace page but I forgot my password and no matter how many times I click on that FORGOT PASSWORD? button, they don't send me my password - so I cannot access that page either).

Well; I figure it is time for me to making my work available to anyone who might want to see them.

Modesty prevents me from thinking that people are out there looking for my works; but if somebody is, all they need to do is come to my blog. Where else would you find me? My words, my photos, my thoughts and opinions... here they are, right here at The Stephen Mosher blog.

Today I'd like to show you some of my favourite creations.

At the top of the page is a photo I made for a model/actor. We were doing a portfolio for him and I borrowed the dog, bought the pie, bought the milk and created this picture that I call ALL AMERICAN. The model ( a fitness trainer as well ) would not let that pie near his mouth. I admired his dedication to his body.

The young man on the sofa is my best friend, AJ; we met when he was working in show business and I was creating a portfolio for him. He eventually left the biz and became a corporate - or. He never stopped sitting for me, though; I have spent the better part of a decade (plus!) having him as my model without pay. It's a great collaboration.



The beauty with the red lips is a gorgeous actress with whom I worked on a couple of occasions. Usually we were creating new headshots for her; but each time I worked with her, I kept her in the studio for a few extra rolls of film. When you have a model who looks like her, you don't let them get away too quickly.

Rounding out today's featured photos is a picture I did of my close friends, two of my favourite people and one of my favourite couples.

I think it is one of the most romantic pictures I have ever made and I am, deeply, proud of the love and honesty in it.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Hope you'll come back to see more.

Cheers.

Ste Mosher

Big Brother is Watching

I have been censored.

Again.

By Facebook.

Again.

I don't understand.

No, truly. I don't understand. I don't know what's going on. Do they have little closed minded Facebook Nazis who patrol the profiles of artists and kick them offline if something remotely sexy turns up on their profile? Because my friend, Thomas Synnamon is a photographer who shoots beautiful photos of men in a state of undress; they are sexy pictures, to say the least -- but nary a penis has turned up in any of those photos. I'm not even sure a buttock has appeared in any of his photos. Nevertheless, he has been booted off Facebook a few times now.

Speaking for myself -- I haven't actively or with knowledge posted any penises, breasts, vaginas or sexually active photos on my profile. Once, I accidentally posted a photo of Pat, shot in the nude, where his junk was showing. I was so busy looking at his face that I didn't notice that his penis was peeking out from the back of his inner thigh. It was deleted by Facebook and I apologized profusely, shame facedly, earnestly. The next time I came up against Facebook, I posted some photos of myself that were shot by Thomas. They are beautiful photos and I am nude in them; but I cropped them above the private parts -- however, I guess a little manly, human hair is too much for Facebook because they deactivated my account. It took much groveling and three days to get the account re instated. I swore I would not post the offending photos again.

I am an artist.

I shoot body shots for lots of people because they know I will do it with taste and respect. I also shoot what I call anatomical landscapes. These are close up photos of body parts that are shot so artistically that the viewer has to really look at them to see what they are looking at. I've been showcasing my body shots and landscapes for years on Facebook, with no trouble.

Today I posted some body shots of a couple; some landscapes of this couple -- and I wasn't even given a warning.

Facebook deactivated the profile.

Then they sent me a notification stating that they deactivated me.

The thing that confuses me is this --

I didn't show one penis. I didn't show any fornication. I showed a couple who was in love, holding each other lovingly and sexily and romantically; but not graphically sexually. There is some buttock action -- but there have been buttocks on my Facebook profile for years -- tastefully photographed buttocks, on my profile, for years.

So why now?

Is it because someone on my friends list decided to report me? It can't be a stranger because my profile is private; and I think the photo album the photos are in is private and can only be seen by my friends. So did someone on my friend list report me? And if so, why? Or is Facebook just concerned with the homosexuality in the photos? Is there someone patroling Facebook who is a homophobe? Some internet gay-bashing bigot who works for Facebook?

And what is more, why do Thomas and I keep getting the boot from Facebook when there are people who are allowed to post photos of themselves on the beach wearing butt floss bathing suits? And why are the little quizzies you can take and post to your profile that show men with erections and women with bare breasts? What is going on over there?

I don't know what's going on at Facebook. I only know that it is a system I cannot beat. If I want to showcase my artwork (of a more adult nature) I will have to do it elsewhere. I would love to do it at my website http://www.stephenmosher.com/ but my website designer went MIA a couple of years ago and we don't know how to make the changes to the site that we want to make. It hasn't been updated since something like 2005 and I want to update it, badly. It is, after all, my name, my website. I would like to change it to reflect my writing, my new photos, my health and fitness passions. Alas, I don't know how and said website designer is just gone baby gone. I'll confront that matter later, I guess.

In the meantime, since blogger allows for adult content, I guess I must begin showcasing my work here. I don't want to keep trying the patience of the team at Facebook. It IS their playground; I must play by their rules. I have tried to get a clear cut answer about what I can and cannot post on Facebook but they don't want to tell me; they prefer to refer me to their list of FAQs, which is so much information, so vague, that I cannot decipher it. So I will not, simply will not, push this envelope. I love Facebook. It hooks me up with my friends from today, from yesterday, from my childhood, from the future (I've made new friends on Facebook!). I love Facebook. I want to stick around. So if the good folks at Facebook want me to censor my artwork, I will. I can handle it. I'm a grown up. I'll stick to the benign and artistic, the non adult and non racy photos, for the sake of playing by their rules.

Nevertheless.


I can't help wondering what is wrong with these photos? These are, by the way, the pictures in question. These photos in this story are the ones I posted this morning. And by four-thirty today I was writing a pleading email to the team at Facebook, promising to lay off the grown up photos and play by their rules.

So.

What is it?

What is wrong here?




It's just a couple.

It's just a couple in love.

It's just some skin.

It's just some arms and some legs.

It's just some chest.

It's just some back.

Oh yes. It's just some backSIDE.

But it's harmless. It's benign.

It's art. It's just art.

Well.

I have always wanted to be the kind of artist who pushed buttons, who pushed envelopes. I have always wanted to be edgy. I guess. with the romantic, artistic, sexy but harmless photos of this couple in love, I have become that artist. I guess it started when I posted my Thomas Synnamon photos of my own nudity (sans junk, sans erections, sans anything offensive), that I found my voice as a controversial artist.

I'm kind of shocked!

I'm no Robert Mapplethorp.

I haven't published photos of nude children. I haven't published photos of myself engaging in sex acts. I haven't published photos of ANYONE engaging in ANYsex acts! And I certainly haven't published any photos of myself with a bullwhip up my ass. (Does everyone remember THAT Mapplethorpe photo?) I just published some harmless, pretty little photos of a couple in love.

A gay couple.


Maybe THAT is what people actually think is REALLY dirty.

I think it's beautiful.

I think it's arty.


I think it's human.

It's a good thing I didn't publish the photos of these boyz that I REALLY liked.
Maybe one day I will.

But not on Facebook.

The Workout Room Tricep Pulldowns

There are a lot of different pulldowns you can do.


What I like about this one is that the ribcage is up, shoulders are down, the elbows are out and up.


Hold the ropes and pull down and out, squeezing the tricep the entire time - at the top, at the bottom and during.


4 sets of 25 is my favourite.

Food For Thought - Chicken Meatballs

Chicken Meatballs

Like I said with the Turkey meatballs; I love these because they are easy, tasty and POPABLE. I can’t stress this enough – when you spend as much time on the go, on the road, at work, as Pat and I do, you have to have food that is ready and that you can just pop, chew, swallow and keep moving. It does, though, have to be tasty popable food – otherwise, why bother? You may as well just drink eggwhites, get your fuel and get on with it (which I have also been known to do but I am the one and only person I know who does).

So here it is and it’s easy.

You need fresh ground chicken to start (duh). Spice it up with onion and garlic (you can take the time to chop fresh onion and garlic if you want to and have the time to spare – I don’t so I buy this great imported garlic powder and onion powder from the International Grocer on 9th and 40th and use that – it is POWDER not salted onion and garlic. I do not use salt in this recipe). It’s just a matter of putting your ground chicken and the onion and garlic into a bowl and mixing with a big wooden spoon. Then I add crushed red pepper (it will become clear that I use this in almost all of my recipes – you don’t have to; some folks don’t happen to LIKE spicy). Once all this is mixed up, I add the main taste ingredient (like I say on the video clip, I don’t tell people that this is the main taste ingredient because people don’t appear to like it – however, if you use just the right amount, it flavours it and doesn’t overpower it and nobody knows any better): yellow mustard. Mix, stir, stir, mix and ta da. You are ready to go.

Use a teaspoon, not a tablespoon, and just scoop out bits of the chicken and make meatballs. Big, small, medium, whatever size – but not too big. We’re trying to eat healthily and that includes portion control.

I use my NuWave oven to cook these. You can use yours if you have one – or a grill, or a George Foreman or a broiler. JUST. DON’T. FRY. MEAT. Too much fat.

These are good hot, cold, reheated, however.

Judgement Day

It happened at Staples.

It was the Staples on 6th Avenue and 23rd Street – right smack dab in the middle of Chelsea, one of the more homo populated areas of New York (if you can say that there are more homo populated areas of New York because it would appear that the gays have taken over). Nevertheless, since before we arrived in New York in the early 90s, Chelsea has been the home to many homos and to many homo attractions – bars, clubs, gay book shops, coffee shops, clothing stores, video stores and a cinema where, every Thursday, there are screenings of iconic Gay films like Mommie Dearest and Xanadu, where a drag queen leads the pack in general merriment and Rocky Horror Picture Show type screenings of the films that we gather to watch together. So imagine our surprise when we were assaulted for being gay in the Staples at the corner of 6th and 23rd in Chelsea.

We weren’t gay bashed. We were assaulted. We weren’t called faggots or sissies or cocksuckers. We were, simply, gently, lovingly assaulted. We were discriminated against for being two men walking down the street, holding hands.

In Chelsea.

Pat and I were leaving the gym on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. It was that kind of day that happens when summer has his fingers clinging to the bark of the last tree that has green leaves on it, while autumn is up in that tree pulling those leaves off and replacing them her brown and orange ones. We were still wearing shorts and tank tops but our hoodies and sweaters with neatly folded and tucked into our bags, lest we need them. We strolled up 6th avenue, pausing to look in the windows at Bed Bath and Beyond, The Container Store, The Vitamin Shoppe, the Dvd store where we buy dvds for three, five and seven dollars, before approaching the Staples, which was on our agenda, as we were all out of blank recordable dvds for all those gay movies I tape off of Turner Classic Movies (only last week I got some good Lana Turner, some really good Angela Lansbury and even a Janet Gaynor/John Barrymore movie). We were holding hands.

We always hold hands.

Chit chat. Chit chat. Laugh, giggle, gossip. Which ones do we want to buy? What can we afford? What’s on sale?

“Excuse me, guys.”

We turned.

A nice looking, smiling young man stood to our right. He was dressed politely in something white and something beige. He wore a helmet of some kind – I imagine it was a bicycle helmet. There was a large soft guitar case (filled with a guitar, one presumes) strapped to his back. We smiled back.

“Yes?”

“I saw you guys out on the street and followed you into the store.”

Well. I thought we were looking pretty good these days but this was an embarrassment of riches. To have a stranger follow us into the Staples to hit on us for a three-way was just the ego building compliment I needed as we approached sweater weather and I would have to put my body away until the spring thaw.

“Yes?”

“I’m a Roman Catholic. I don’t know if either of you are Roman Catholics either.”

Pat announced, on our behalf: “No religion. We don’t really have a religion.”

I wear a tiny gold cross around my neck. It is not because I am a Christian; because I’m not. I believe Jesus Christ lived. I believe he was a good, nay – even a great, man. I believe he was a good teacher. I believe he was a great philosopher. I believe he was a man. If you tell me that Jesus was the son of God I will tell you that I believe we are all the sons and daughters of God. I believe in Christian behaviour – be nice. Don’t be an asshole. Be a good guy or good girl, the way Jesus was; make Jesus proud. I always wave or blow Jesus a kiss when I pass by a church. I believe in Jesus the way I believe in any of my friends, any of my loved ones. So I wear a cross; because I believe in being Christ-like.

The man in the helmet did not see my cross on its’ delicate gold chain, hanging around my neck, nestled in that little hollow where the two sides of the clavicle meet in the middle of your collarbone area.

“Well, I just wanted to say, as a Roman Catholic, that I hope you’re celebrating brotherly love and not a romantic one, when you walk down the street holding hands.”

Pat spoke up.

“Actually, we’re married.” (Our wedding is planned for our 25th Anniversary in 2011 but we have, long, considered ourselves married… so does our God.)

“That’s not possible.”

“Well, actually…” Pat started.

He never got to finish.

He never got to finish because I said, with emphasis:

“Please turn around and walk away from us.”

The man did not do as I asked, even though I asked very politely and without raising my voice. Instead, he kept talking. I did not, though, hear what he was saying. Pat wasn’t saying anything because he knew, by my tone and my phrasing, that the only voice that would be heard until the situation was resolved, was the one issuing from my lips.

“PLEASE turn around and walk away from us.”

He kept talking, rather than moving.

“PLEASE. TURN AROUND. AND WALK AWAY FROM US.”

He was talking.

“I SAID. PLEASE. TURN AROUND AND WALK AWAY FROM US.”

He was gone. The other people in the store were looking our direction and wondering what was going on. Nobody was upset, though. Nobody was turning red, nobody was breathing heavily, nobody was agitated. He had assaulted us in a very benign way and we had dealt with the situation accordingly. We, then, went back to the task of choosing and purchasing our blank dvd – r’s.

Once outside and in the light and fresh air, though, we took hands and walked to the subway, laughing in incredulous wonder at the man’s horrible choice of locations to pick to proselytize regarding the unspeakable vice of the Greeks! Not only did he pick the wrong city but the definitely wrong neighbourhood to follow two men holding hands into a store off the street to discount the validity of their union! What crust! I mean, really, go back to Utah!

I said to Pat that I was sorry for what I had done because, in hindsight, I felt like we should have said “well he’s a mormon and I’m jehovah’s witness” and proceeded to French kiss and make out in front of him. Pat told me, at that point, that he actually was interested in hearing where he was heading with his sermon on the molehill. Shucks. I felt bad, then. I was sorry to have cost Pat his curiosity fulfillment. Water under the bridge, though.

I suppose we will spend the rest of our lives trying to keep people like that (and so many others) from judging us and from trying to turn us into second class citizens, all in the name of their narrow minded (or worse – CLOSED minded) beliefs based on any number of social conditioning, racial profiling and religious brainwashing. I just think it is a shame that people who are truly spiritual, people who have a grasp on (what I consider to be) TRUE Christianity, have to have their particular social grouping judged by the vehemence of these religious fanatics who feel that it is not alright for same sex couples to love one another but it is alright for them to take God’s job upon themselves, forgetting the advice “judge not, lest ye be judged”. What is (maybe) even worse is that, not only will we spend the rest of our lives trying to get out from under their petty, bigoted thumbs; we will spend the moments when we are not actively engaged in fighting, trying to understand WHY they hate us so. We homosexuals do nobody any harm. Not as a group. There are people in every social, political (and other) group who harm humans – but they are individuals. We as a group are not harmful. We live, we love, we breathe. We create art and we make money. We help the economy (please, gays with disposable incomes are among the few bringing the economy back up, simply by shopping and going on holiday), we champion the downtrodden and we teach others how to live healthier lives (what would YOU do with YOUR gay trainer?), prettier lives (you hairdresser, designer and gay best friend who won’t let you walk around with ridiculous facial hair?). SOME of us even help the world by becoming politically active or going to work as teachers. We’re just normal people (if you believe that normal is in the eye of the beholder) and yet we get far less love than people who are actually white supremacists or redneck serial killers. I don’t even want to begin naming the names of famous Catholic politicians known for numerous extra marital affairs, famous Catholic movie stars who can’t divorce their wives while living with their famous female movie star lovers, the famous high profile clergymen involved in sexual relationships with women, not to mention the not at all clergymen involved in sexual relationships with men, young men, teenage men, boys…

No. I don’t even want to begin thinking about that.

I think I’ll focus all my attentions on my beloved friends who are attending the March for Equality in Washington this weekend (heartbroken am I that Pat and I cannot go but we are both unemployed and cannot afford the travel, the lodging, even the food – but we are cheering from home and doing what we can to support equality in every way that our bank accounts will allow). I think I’ll focus all my attentions on my beloved friends like Jacque and James who are true Chrstians and who have taught their beautiful children these philosophies, which I can only assume came directly from Jesus Christ himself:

Love God. Love People.

Never make your light brighter by diminishing someone else’s.

Now THAT is what I call Christianity.

That is what I call Love.

Agape.

My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Kander and Ebb Files -- Zorba

For years I have said that ZORBA may very well be my favourite Kander and Ebb score. After examining my cds for the purpose of my blogging, I am no longer sure. I know I love it. I know it may be their most original score. I know they certainly tapped into their inner Greek to find it. I know I listen to it often. These reasons are enough for me; I don’t need to examine it any further. Zorba is simply one of the scores I love the most, out of musical theater history. Something in that show, something in that score, speaks – nay—sings to me.

I don’t listen to the original cast album with Herschel Bernardi and Maria Karnilova. Sorry, folks. I listen to the revival cast album for four very excellent reasons. Anthony Quinn. Robert Westenberg. Debbie (then) Shapiro. And I listen to this cast album, especially, for Lila Kedrova. I have loved Lila Kedrova since, as a teen, seeing the film TORN CURTAIN. I have examined some of her other films (including Zorba the Greek) and it can be said: I am a FAN. When Zorba toured through Dallas I went to see it and had the thrill, the pleasure, the honour of waiting at the stage door to meet Miss Kedrova and get an autograph (which I had the brains to NOT sell on Ebay during a bleak financial crisis). I didn’t meet Anthony Quinn. He was great but I was there for her. She moved and moves me, so. Her tracks on this recording are pure magic. Only Love is heartbreakingly beautiful and Happy Birthday is soul touching. No Boom Boom is delightfully funny and Goodbye Canavaro is sweetness personified.

Mr Quinn – not a great singer. Who cares? He IS Zorba. His rendition of Woman is so completely complete that I don’t know if another actor who happens to be a better singer could do it more justice. I feel the soul of Zorba rolling out of the headphones or speakers into me. I love Zorba and his philosophies; I feel like many of them live inside of me. I quote, often, from this recording, these two lines:

“Let’s do it quick, here and now, like men quit: smoking, drinking or a love affair.”

“I never loved a man as much as you.”

I may vary the words or the delivery each time I say these sentences but I say them and often because I cannot find a more eloquent way of expressing these emotions, these philosophies.

It is only fitting that I finish my dissertation on Zorba with Miss Debbie Shapiro Gravitte. You see, the song LIFE IS is extremely important in our house. Pat and I live by this song. We sing it (and have been for 23 years) all the freakin’ time. We play the song all the freakin’ time. It is a magnificent anthem for those of us who optimistically live our lives for the simple sake of being alive. Unlike many people who fritter their lives away by being worried, depressed, angry, paralyzed by fear, we do what is in our power to live our lives – even if it is just to step outside of our door and raise our faces to feel the sun shine down on our skin, even for a few minutes every day. So to hear one of the all time great voices of the American musical theater sing this song is a gift, It is a gift from her, from John Kander and Fred Ebb, from Broadway. And it isn’t only this song we get to experience from Miss Gravitte on this cd – I am also thrilled by the few sentences she does of ONLY LOVE, by the full out belting arrangements she does of every number she has on this cd (oh my gosh, THE CROW is chilling). Debbie Shapiro Gravitte has worked her way into the mosaic that is my life and my personality and, like the ruby slippers, there she is – and there she stays.

I am made happy and proud by my devotion to the musical called ZORBA.

In fact, I would go back to work as an actor and learn how to sing, just to play that man.

My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Kander and Ebb Files -- Woman of the Year

WOMAN OF THE YEAR holds such an incredibly special place in my life. I don’t know what it was that made me want to see it when it was on Broadway – I imagine it was Lauren Bacall and Kander and Ebb. I loved them because of Cabaret and Chicago and I loved her because of Murder on the Orient Express. So when I was in Switzerland, reading about the happenings on Broadway that season, and I read about Woman of the Year, I told my dad I just HAD to see that show. My parents were extremely generous and gave me money to see several shows each summer that we came home to the States. So my daddy got me a ticket to see Lauren Bacall in Woman of the Year. It was my first show at The Palace, my first live Kander and Ebb, my first Lauren Bacall (I have seen her two or three times). It was one of those magical moments in life you never forget.

I listen to my Woman of the Year cast album all the time. I love every note of it, from the overture to the finale. I love every single song and I even love the way Bacall sings those songs. I listen to that cd and I relive every moment of that spectacular night back in the early 80s when I learned what true star power was all about.

There was also the little matter of Marilyn Cooper… I couldn’t fathom that kind of talent, that kind of humour, that kind of power over an audience – and it was all her power. Bacall was wonderful but it was Coopie who had the audience in the palm of her hand; it was Coopie who made them laugh harder and harder until the entire theater was screaming. It was the first time in my life (and never, since, has it gotten to be as big as it was with Coopie and the number The Grass is Always Greener) that I saw something onstage cause the audience to get more and More and MORE carried away with laughter as it went on.

I bought the record album of Woman of the Year and took it back to Switzerland with me and played it til it was all scratched up. I had to replace it a couple of times over the years until, finally, it came out on cd.

The summer after I saw Woman of the Year with Lauren Bacall, I returned to New York with my family – and that year I got to see the replacement for Lauren Bacall: Raquel Welch. Her replacing of the legendary silver screen star got international coverage and I, for one, wasn’t about to miss my current favourite musical with the woman I had loved ever since The Three Musketeers!

And guess what?

She was STUNNING. It was a glamourous and memorable night in the theater.. AGAIN. For years I have searched for a dvd bootleg of that performance. Never found one – though I WAS lucky enough to score the original cast. Yay me.

In my Ipod I have an audio bootleg of Raquel Welch’s performance.

AND I have an audio bootleg of Debbie Reynolds’ performance in Woman of the Year.

And guess what?

AMazing.

That’s right. In spite of the legendary tale of Debbie Reynolds’ disastrous appearance in this Kander and Ebb musical, I happen to have listened to every word (the bootleg is the entire show, including scenes) and it is A- Mazing.

It isn’t every show that makes it into my Ipod THREE times.

This show is special to me.

The Workout Room Wide Grip Chin Ups

I like to do my chins with a wide grip and my legs straight.

I vary how high I go - sometimes I can get quite high; but on this day I wanted shorter moves so i could keep the muscle engaged the entire time. No room for resting.

Remember to breathe!

I do 4 sets of as many as I can get in.. shoot for 20, though.

My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Kander and Ebb Files -- Steel Pier

Now let’s talk about STEEL PIER. It is considered a flop and, indeed, closed after 76 performances (this info comes by way of http://www.ibdb.com/ ). THE RINK, a score I have, previously, critiqued as being less than perfect, ran for204 performances. In spite of these stats, I am here to tell you that I LOVED and LOVE Steel Pier. Pat and I were at the gypsy run through (for those not in the know – that is the final dress rehearsal with invited audience) and we ate that show right up. We were sure it would be an enormous hit. Surprise. The critics didn’t like it, people didn’t get it and the show folded right after the Tony awards, where it failed to score one medallion. In spite of the show’s history, I get out my Steel Pier cd or I turn to the show in my Ipod, hit play and don’t stop listening until the final notes.

Much has been said about Steel Pier over the years – so much, in fact, that I have no idea what is fact and what is myth. I hear that the creators were working on a musical version of THEY SHOOT HORSE DON’T THEY and then the rights became unavailable, so they monkeyed up the storyline to make it a little different and ta da! Steel Pier was born. I can see the parallels in several characters and the storyline, so that fact may or may not be true – who can say? I don’t really care what the origin of the play is – what matters is that it was an exciting night in the theater with a rich a beautiful score.

When we saw the show, I was in love with Tony Walton’s sets (always am, though) and Susan Stroman’s choreography demanded Herculean tasks of the dancers. The stars of show put forth gargantuan effort to entertain us and, for my money, succeeded. Debra Monk gave up her usual exciting performance, Daniel McDonald charmed everyone with a working pair of eyes and ears, Gregory Harrison was gorgeous, sounded great and oozed slime as the villain, a youngster named Kristin Chenoweth captured everyone’s attention and heart,

Now I want to talk a moment about Karen Ziemba. I remember a lot of people saying “they’re trying to make her into Donna McKechnie” and that kind of twaddle. Well. She’s NOT Donna McKechnie. And they don’t need to MAKE her into Donna McKechnie. She’s Karen Freakin’ Ziemba and that’s enough. It’s more than enough. That comment was just because she had this uber dramatic song with a dance solo that made everyone think of The Music and The Mirror. This woman is one of the American Theater’s most frequently working and most beloved actresses. I hate when people don’t give her her due and allow her to be precisely who and what she is – which is a great gal and a great actor. To me, she is also a great star and anyone who wants to argue with me can come at me with pursed lips cause they will end up kissing my tan, waxed ass. Karen Ziemba was so thrilling, so wistful, so completely and utterly heartbreaking in this show that, now, when I listen to my cd of Steel Pier, I still cry a little.

This score is truly magnificent – even the instrumental dance tracks (I usually cut instrumental music from my Ipod). I can’t think of a single track that I would delete (the way I did with The Rink). There are the Kander and Ebb standard devices like the belty comedy show stopper Everybody’s Girl and that (aforementioned in The Rink entry) early-in-act-two ballad Somebody’s Older. There are the life affirming ballad (First You Dream) and the optimistic dreamer’s tune (Willing To Ride). There are the pastiche laden Leave the World Behind and Two Little Words and the character driven A Powerful Thing (which was not in the show when we saw it – it replaced another track – one that I liked better, in fact); and there is that dramatic and driven Running In Place (which I listen to when I am in an angry, defiant mood). And the title song – Steel Pier – so wonderful, so classically Kander and Ebb. Note the opening lyric “life’s a party, why don’t you come to the steel pier”. It’s right up there with “life is what you do til the moment you die” and “life is a cabaret old chum”. If there is anything Fred Ebb knew and wanted to tell the world, it is that life is meant to be lived. When I listen to the Kander and Ebb scores, I enjoy being alive a little more than usual.

I’m going to tell you why I think Steel Pier flopped. It’s because they didn’t trust their audiences. When we saw that gypsy run through – at the end of the first act, they were running The Sprints and something strange happened and the cast froze, only to start up again, in slow motion, moving backwards. Then, moments later, they started up again, going forwards, with a different outcome than what we had seen, moments before. The curtain fell. Pat and I said “what the fuck was THAT?!” WHAT? HAPPENED? We could not WAIT to come back from the intermission and find out what was going to come next. In Act Two we discover (and this is no spoiler – it’s on the cd) that Daniel McDonald’s character is dead, having returned to earth to help Karen Ziemba’s character get a hold of herself and her life. It was beautiful, truly. And we, the audience, find out he is dead at the EXACT same moment that Karen Ziemba’s character finds out. It was very effective and extremely moving.

By the time the show opened, the creative team had changed it so that the audience knows he is a ghost, or angel, or whatEVER, from the start of the show. Then what follows is a series of magical bullshits involving a pigeon and the reversal in The Sprints and him talking to God (or whomever) about these three weeks that he has before he has to go back up to heaven. Duh and Dull. It was a horrible mistake that I (personally) feel cost the show a longer run. I think that if they had trusted their audience and let them do the work for themselves, it would have been the musical theater revelation so many people experienced when watching the film The Sixth Sense.

So Steel Pier flopped and a beautiful musical and beautiful score is forever labeled a flop.

When it deserves so, so, very much more.

My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Kander and Ebb Files -- The Rink

I was in college when THE RINK opened on Broadway. I remember seeing the clips on Entertainment Tonight and, then, reading wherever one found news about Broadway, to find out more. I was mesmerized by anything regarding Liza, Chita and Kander and Ebb. So I rushed out and got the cast album and played it into oblivion. Then I watched it on the Tony awards and watched Chita get her first Tony ( to this day, when I am happy about something, I turn to Pat and say “I’m very glad that I bought the bottom of the dress” ). The thing about The Rink is that I didn’t really like all of the score. I listened to it out of devotion to the artists – but I didn’t like it as much as I did, say, Chicago or Woman of the Year. It would be a couple of years before I discovered the Broadway cast album of Cabaret (as opposed to the movie soundtrack, which I played ad nauseum). I thought some of the songs were a little doofy – a little under the standards I had come to expect of Kander and Ebb. But I played them. And I never told anyone that I didn’t think they were all very good. The good ones, though, remain among my favourite recordings.

To start with, Liza beginning that album with Colored Lights is how you start a musical, how you start a cast album. It got my attention right off; and if Colored Lights got my attention, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer kept it. I drove everyone crazy by walking around singing Don’t Ah Ma Me (still do) for WEEKS. After that, on the song list, it gets a little tricky. Between the tracks Don’t Ah Ma Me and The Apple Doesn’t Fall, it’s a crap shoot. I don’t see the point (really) in Under the Roller Coaster, Not Enough Magic and Angel’s Rink and Social Center. But I LOVE We Can Make It and After All These Years. Mildly listen-able are Blue Crystal What Happened to the Old Days – based on some tuneful melody schemes. Then, as the album passes beyond The Apple Doesn’t Fall (classic Kander and Ebb), the listener gets that early-in-act-two traditional ballad (and they are always beautiful). In Woman of the Year it is Sometimes a Day Goes By. In Zorba it is Woman. In Steel Pier it is Somebody Older. In Kiss of the Spider Woman it is Mama It’s Me. It’s a pattern and one I love. In this musical it is Marry Me and, like all the eary-in-Act-Two ballads, I think it is just beautiful. From there it seems like smooth sailing again with the dramatic Mrs A (love it) and The Rink (very fun) and Wallflower (I don’t really GET it, in the confines of the story, but I love the song). Then we get the unfortunate All The Children In a Row – not a song I love but I understand the point of it because we have to be told Angel’s story. And then, the Coda wraps up the story for the benefit of the listener, who doesn’t have the opportunity to see the story unfold on the stage and who, desperately, needs some kind of pay off. I like the coda – it’s nice. But let me tell you, as a young student of musical theater, I couldn’t figure out WHAT the heck was going on in this musical. Imagine my surprise, years later, when reading what theatrical historians and chatteratti have to say about The Rink; turns out other people don’t like The Rink at all, while some call it mediocre, at best. I can’t say I think it is mediocre – there are parts of the show that are beautiful and that I still listen to. I will admit (to my dismay) that I deleted some of the tracks from the cast album to make room in my Ipod for other music. I just won’t listen to Blue Crystal or Angel’s Rink and Social Center, not to mention Under the Roller Coaster and Not Enough Magic. I don’t care for them. And it isn’t a reflection on Kander and Ebb – not everyone gets it right every time. This IS the only Kander and Ebb original score that isn’t in my Ipod in its’ entirety.

Right after moving to New York, I saw a reading, a small production, of this play at Music Theater Works with Julie Johnson playing Angel (I don’t remember who played Anna) and I thought it was WONDERFUL. They HAD cut some songs. I think that’s because the creators realized that not all the songs in The Rink need to be heard, in the play, though they probably fit very well on a Bruce Kimmel cd, probably being performed by some great Broadway diva like Felicia Finlay or Carolee Carmello. I am sure that the fact that The Rink isn’t as good as Cabaret or even Woman of the Year causes them to love it any