This was the first time I'd been in a theater in over a year. We had the entire 3500 seat space to ourselves. This was my second time working with Enrique. (the first was when he was Music Director Designate, to create images for his announcement) As usual-- and especially on this day, to keep crew down-- I was working without assistants. A couple of hundred pounds of equipment, no elevators operating (the building was closed for the pandemic)-- and six flights of grand staircases. Some of my favorite and proudest shots are the ones that look the most reasonably easy-- like the one of Enrique standing on the top balcony with the proscenium framing behind. It's one of my favorite kind of shots to do-- super wide on the camera in my right hand and a 7 foot boom in my left-- the light on the end topped with my favorite Chimera Octabox with a grid to just give that little spark on his face and some of his jacket. I love creating shots where it looked like we had a crew of 5.
All of that said-- behind the scenes, taking care of Enrique, his changes and comforts were Magda and Allison, who are both the nonpareil of fun to be with, nothing to be taken too seriously, ultimate professionals. So fun to be and work with both of them.
