100 Saints You Should Know

I had a really fun experience recently - it wasn't all fun, though; it was extraordinarly rewarding for me on so many different levels. As an artist and as a person, I could not have asked for a happier experience. My husband went back to work as an actor, after a 17 year absence from the business. He was always my favourite actor and when he retired (for reasons best known to him), it was like he took something away from me. Oh, it was absent malice; but it was taken away from me. Like when Jane Fonda retired. I took that personally. When you have a gift that God has given you, you can't take it from the world. You have to share it. Fortunately, my man decided to share his, once again.

So my husband got himself into a production of a beautiful play called 100 SAINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW. It was a one week showcase production in a small theater in New York (these kind of showcase productions happen every day - it is a way for actors to get seen, to get agents, managers, casting directors, directors .. and friends and family to see their work. This was a perfect way for Pat to get his feet wet again, to see how it felt to go back , after 17 years. It was a short commitment and the people were nice and the play is really good.

Natch, I wanted to help in any way I could, so I volunteered to do their photos.

The first step was publicity pictures. A shoot was arranged. I asked Pat what happens in the play and he told me. We had four of the cast members come to our home and I improvised photos that would look interesting but also look congruous to the storyline of the play. Some of the photos would require a backdrop while others could be done as location shots. So we started with the location photos, settig them up in our living room, our kitchen and the hallway of our building (happily, sterile enough to resemble the hallway of a very old religous hospital in New York City - the kind you see in NURSE JACKIE). It was challenging but I love a good challenge. True are requires limitation.

Once the location shots were done, we sent two of the cast members home and did the photos for the main advertising. The director had required a spacial shot in which the priest was in the foreground and the cleaining lady behind him; and that was an easy shot to envision - also to create. Just takes the right lighting. The second primary shot I wanted to do was one of the priest that was having a crisis of faith. In the play, Father Mulcahy is found with photos of naked men by famed photographer George Platt Lynes. Nobody involved with the show had a book by George Platt Lynes (they are pricey), so I used one by Bruce Weber, a famed photographer of homo erotic art.

In the end, the Bruce Weber book was considered incongruous, so the cover was photoshopped out. I was a little disappointed that it had not been able to shoot the photo with a George Platt Lynes book because THAT would have told the entire story... but like I said, true art requires limitations.

So excited by the publicity photos, I volunteered to shoot the production shots as well, which turned out to be another exciting venture. Before my on again - off again retirement 7 years ago, shooting shows in performance was one of my specialties and favourite gigs. It was so much fun to be at it again!

Clearly, the universe felt the joy I had over these photo shoots because calls have been rolling in and, apparently, I am back at work as a photographer.

But this time, it's on my own terms. On my own turf. I can decide exactly what I want my work life to be.

I control my destiny.

More than my excitement over going back to work, though, is my excitement over Pat's going back to work. It gives me such genuine pleasure, so much happines, such great joy, seeing him act again, seeing him this happy once more... it isn't really explainable. All I can say is: when you love someone, really, truly, deeply, and you see them blossom under the bloom of happiness, it is like being born, yourself.

I attended every performance of 100 SAINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW, greeting dear, sweet friends who turned out to support my husband in his new work; loved ones who wanted to show their happiness, interest and excitement at his return to the stage. I know it meant a lot to him to see so many of our friends and family at his show. I admit that I was surprised at the loved ones who showed no support at all - but that's focusing on a negativity that shouldn't be expressed publically. Best if I keep those details looked up in my heart, not forgotten but also not the focus. What's important is the people who came. Like our nieces who drove in, respectively, from states so far away that their road trips took 10 and 6 hours, each. Or a friend who rode the train two hours from South Jersey. Or all the friends who sent well wishes in the form of emails, letters and flowers. That's the kind of stuff you want to focus on. The love. That's what is important.

And the new friends Pat made while working on this show. What a wonderful group of people. Each time I saw them, all the cast and crew were sweet and friendly and hard working. And I don't know how they do it. I respect actors. I was exhausted and I wasn't even IN the play! I took two weeks off of my real life to focus on Pat and the play and all the excitement around it. (That's why there have been no blog entries from me - too tired to write!) I've magnitudes of admiration for actors and the energy they put out to entertain us all. Bravo, actors everywhere, bravo.


So. Now 100 SAINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW is over. There is no review from me. I'm not partial. I'm so proud of my husband (who received much praise from our friends and family - and it was genuine praise; everyone thought he was simply marvelous in the play) and so happy he has gone back to work in this, his chosen field.

I can't wait for the next play!