Partners In Crime

I've said many times that I was waiting for my Audrey Heburn, my James Dean, my Marilyn Monroe. People who have heard me say this have asked and been told, the meaning behind the comment. In show business there are professional marriages, perfect matches. Audrey Hepburn was dressed by Givenchy her entire life. Jodie Foster is known for wearing Armani. In many of her films, Marilyn Monroe wore Bill Travilla. Photographically linked: Katharine Hepburn and John Bryson, Audrey and Bob Willoughby, James Dean and Phil Stern, Marilyn and Milton Green.

These celebrities took with them, along the way, the artists with whom they had magical connections; sometimes their relationships with these artists made the artists famous--sometimes it simply provided a lifetime of magical artistic experiences and results. It is a relationship which I admire and which I wish for--though not obsessively so. It's not like I don't and haven't had these types of partnerships. I have spent two decades doing photos for Marci Reid and, happily, so. It has been a decade of shooting the evolution of Brady Schwind. One could chart the career and life of Jennifer Houston by going through my files. And, of course, there is evidence of my presence on this planet in The Stephen Mosher Galleries that are the homes of the Westfalls and the Englands. There have been gorgeous and fruitful relationships with several of my close friends and my camera; each time one of my friends entrusts their visage to me and all three of my Minoltas, I am flattered and proud. I have, certainly, had a photographic relationship with Tom that could be labeled magical. For all of these artistic partnerships I am, daily, grateful.

Only thing is--none of them have become Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn. There was a chance of that kind of thing with Nancy LaMott but she was, sadly, recalled and is no longer here for me to photograph. The same holds true for my partnership with David Campbell but he returned to Australia and that is a long way to fly for a photo shoot. My sessions with many people have yielded lovely results (especially with Donna Murphy and her family--now THAT is magical -!!- and I have to say that there actually IS a certain association there; I am her family photographer. THAT is a proud bit of knowledge) but most of those actors get to have their photos done all the time and by almost any photographer.

So, no Audrey Hepburn. No Marilyn Monroe. No James Dean.

However.

There is always a however, isn't there?

I think I have found a perfect artistic marriage. It has come as a complete shock to me; probably because it does not involve a camera. Oh, the person with whom I have found this perfect partnership has been in front of my camera, with astounding results! That's a part of it. The other part of it is amazing because it is completely out of the realm of work that I pursue.

Tommy Foster came to me a couple of years back and asked for my help with a cabaret show he was creating called THE METHOD TO MY MADNESS. It was the true story of his life as a crystal meth addict. It was an edgy piece of theater unlike anything ever before seen by the cabaret world and it took off like a shot. Every performance was packed and the audiences loved it and there was even a piece on CNN in which the show was featured. When Tommy brought it to me, he did so because he was working on it alone and just needed an outside vision--something a little objective. I was happy to provide it. Together we took what he had created, did a little restructuring, a little re writing and a little tightening. Together we made his cabaret show into a piece of theater. It was such a great writing experience for the two of us that he complimented me by asking me to "direct" him. I don't think cabaret shows need to be directed--but they do need an engineer; someone to drive the train. I was glad to be that engineer, giving Tommy guidance on when to move and when to be still, for dramatic effect. I had ideas and I stated them and (to my surprise--because this happens with EXTREME rarity) this artist, Tommy I mean: he listened to everything I said, he got it, he understood it and he did it. Maybe it is because I see in him something special, something unique, something real. I see what he can do and where he can go and I get him. I also don't take any shit from him. I tell it like it is, always; I think he likes that.

Well I attended all performances of METHOD TO MY MADNESS and beamed and cried like I had hatched him myself. When the final show had played, it was over and I went back to my life as the gay guru of Hell's Kitchen.

A few months ago, though, Tommy emailed me that he was working on a new show and would I help him. Sure, why not? We did a good job before...

Well. He emailed me the first draft and I hated it. I liked so little about it that I began to worry about how to get out of it. After a week of worrying about it, though, Tommy came over and sat down to discuss it and he showed me his THIRD draft. Together, within the time span of an hour, we polished that script up like it was a new penny. It was like some great writing team you see in the theatrical movies of the thirties and forties, making great art. We got on the same track and we got each other. Suddenly, I was excited about this project and couldn't wait to helm the director's spot for Tommy, once more.

I recently became Tommy's acting coach for auditions. He is (like many in New York and in the business) what is known as a struggling artist. All of his finances are tied up---in food and a roof. He cannot afford coaching and when he can, it must be vocal coaching (his voice is his gold mine). Hearing that I had been coaching the man who lived with us for a year, Tommy asked if I might do the same for him. Why not? So when he has auditions, he comes here and we work on his prep work together. We've worked on a few auditions together, now, and it is such a joy, such a treat to work with someone who listens, who is pliable and open to suggestion--someone who can take a bit of direction and apply it to the scene IMMEDIATELY and make it work. And he always calls me to tell me that the audition rocked. I did not have this experience with the last person I coached. It took forever to get him to understand what I was saying, to get him to apply it to the scene; and when we came back to the scene or monologue a week later, all the work was gone. Not so with Tommy. He listens, he takes the direction and makes it his own. As I often say: that's not nothing.

The last time we worked together it was like that scene in BROADCAST NEWS where Holly Hunter and Albert Brooks guide William Hurt through a difficult news interview; it was like great choreography or great sex. I realized, working with Tommy, that I have an artistic partner. It isn't the partner that I thought I would get...it isn't just someone in front of my camera--it's someone with whom I have a partnership that involves thought, discussion, debate and a real sense of accomplishment. And, by the way, our photographic relationship is spot on, too. Isn't it funny? And don't I already know this lesson? The plans we make, the places we look, and the surprises we find, instead..

I love a good surprise. Don't you?