Peter Pan Comes to Lewisville
Peter Pan (Joy Dorsey Rushton) prepares to lead Wendy (Alisha Gaskins), Michael (center, Ryan McSwain) and John (Teague Loughman) to Neverland.
Flying to Neverland
The West Side Civic Theatre raised the bar again this past weekend with their splendid production of Peter Pan. The flying, singing, dancing and acting were fantastic! My (Tilley) hat’s off to the cast, crew, musicians and other volunteers for bringing us such a delightful show, especially in light of the challenges presented by the recent rain spell.
If you didn’t get to see Peter Pan over the weekend, don’t despair. The show will run again this coming weekend, June 11–13 (Thursday through Saturday), starting each night at 8:00 pm. It’s free to the public, and concessions will be available. Just bring a lawn chair, and you’re all set. Chairs may be placed at Shallowford Square no earlier than the morning of each performance.
Photo Gallery
Once I’ve edited and processed the photos from all of the performances, I’ll set up an online photo gallery for you to look through. Meanwhile, you can see a few more scenes from Peter Pan in the NEXT SECTION. Hope you enjoy them! CLICK for more scenes from Peter Pan
Jumping for Joy
After lining up in some traditional poses for the camera, these young folks decided to show off their jumping skills. They're getting ready for liftoff!
Questions
Sometimes I wonder how much the presence of my camera affects a situation. For example, were the young folks pictured above extremely happy before I moseyed up to them at Shallowford Square? Or did a wild exuberance suddenly overtake them once I pointed my camera at them? Hmmm. Actually, I suspect that both ideas are true!
The occasion of our meeting was yet another Starlight Movie Nite last Friday evening (May 8, 2009). The highly popular Disney movie, High School Musical 3, was scheduled to play at Shallowford Square. As usual, prior to the movie, I roamed the Square, talking to old acquaintances, meeting new ones, and taking photos along the way.
Observation
I’ve noticed that an atmosphere of joy always seems to pervade the Square on Starlight Movie Nites. Whether it’s kids romping in the playground area, grandparents doting over their grandchildren, or couples chilling out after a busy week — most everyone seems especially happy.
Happy to be alive. Happy to be in good company. Happy to be attending a free movie!
CLICK for more PHOTOS and a special SNEAK PREVIEW
Hello, Dolly – Final Performance
Another Fine Show
The wonderful music from Hello, Dolly is still running through my head! I love it, and I’m a little sad that the September 13 show was the final performance.
How about another round of applause for the cast and crew of the West Side Civic Theatre and the Town of Lewisville for bringing the community another high-quality theatre production! After ten years, the shows just keep getting better.
Check Out the Photos
As promised, all Hello, Dolly photos are now available for viewing in the photo gallery, including photos from the final show on September 13. Photos from each performance can be viewed by visiting the Hello, Dolly photo gallery. And be sure to check out the Photo Highlights sub-gallery that’s a collection of some of the best images from each of the shows. (NOTE: Photos in the Photo Highlights sub-gallery are NOT included in the other sub-galleries designated by the date of performance.)
Share Your Thoughts
While you’re here, please leave a comment on what you liked most about Hello, Dolly. A favorite song? A favorite moment? And if you’re part of the WSCT family, please share your favorite memories of Hello, Dolly.
For me, I loved the part of the show right after Dolly’s grand descent down the steps lined with the fine-looking tuxedoed actors. The dancing and the song, “Hello, Dolly,” were performed with such energy and feeling. Thanks for the memories!
P.S. Looking for Oklahoma! Photos?
Because this website launched in August, 2008, there are no blog posts about the musical, Oklahoma!, which took place in May/June, 2008. However, numerous photos were still taken of several of the Oklahoma! performances, and they can be viewed in the Oklahoma! photo gallery.
Be sure to check out the other Hello Dolly articles: Hello, Dolly, Hello Dolly — Second Night’s Show, Hello, Dolly — Third Night’s Show and Hello Dolly — Fourth Night’s Show.
Hello, Dolly – Fourth Night’s Show
When photographing the same event several times, one can be tempted to become complacent or bored, from a photographic standpoint. The newness is gone, and it’s easy to become mentally, or creatively, lazy.
Even with the best of performances, as the Hello, Dolly shows certainly were, I eventually found myself beset by that familiar temptation to slack off some on the photography. It’s human nature, I guess, to feel you’ve seen everything there is to see after a few times. But I know from experience that that’s rarely true, and I’ve learned that instead of letting up, I need to work harder, photographically.
On this fourth night’s production of Hello Dolly (on September 12), I pushed myself to continually look for new moments, and to try new angles and shooting positions. I challenged myself to look for the “prize” moments that I had missed during previous performances.
Constantly keeping my eye to the camera’s viewfinder and being ready to shoot allowed me to see and capture the fleeting expression in the above photo. Other times, rather than an expression, the prize moment might have been a movement or a great composition. Whatever the case, those prize moments are often fleeting — gone in an instant. If you’re not ready for them, you’ll miss them. Once I begin finding and capturing such moments, that motivates me to keep looking for the next prize moment. I can then almost feel the complacency and mental laziness within me begin to diminish.
If you’d like to see more photos from West Side Civic Theatre’s production of Hello, Dolly on September 12, please visit the Hello, Dolly photo gallery. I’m still editing the photos of the final performance on September 13, but I expect to post them by September 17. So please check back then to see those final photos.
To my delight, I managed to nab a few more prize moments during the last performance of Hello, Dolly!
P.S. Looking for Oklahoma! Photos?
Because this website launched in August, 2008, there are no blog posts about the musical, Oklahoma!, which took place in May/June, 2008. However, numerous photos were still taken of several of the Oklahoma! performances, and they can be viewed in the Oklahoma! photo gallery.
Be sure to check out the other Hello Dolly articles: Hello, Dolly, Hello Dolly — Second Night’s Show, Hello, Dolly — Third Night’s Show and Hello Dolly — Final Performance.
