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| scene from "The Royal Tenenbaums" performed by Nancy Ellen Shore and Henry Packer |
For the last several weeks there was a theatrical event in Central Park that made for an amazing and unusual sketching opportunity. Private Moment, directed by David Levine, consisted of performances of scenes from eight classic movies set in the precise locations where the scenes were originally filmed.
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| scene from "The Out-of-Towners" performed by Matthew Schneck and Autumn Dornfeld |
Actors would perform their scenes over and over all day long for six hours a day twice a week, unannounced. Watching these, I couldn't help thinking of the story The Invention of Morel by Adolpho Bioy-Casares. Finding the performances was like some marvelous grown-up Easter egg hunt. There's a recurring art show in Williamsburg at Crest Hardware where all the art is made from hardware or about hardware and it's displayed in the aisles with the merchandise. You walk around looking at things & asking yourself "is this art or hardware?" After awhile it doesn't matter because you see that the hardware is beautiful. This was like that-- searching the park for actual theatre, studying people, wondering if I found it yet, pretty soon it's all theatre, all imbued with that dignity and majesty. But the actual scenes and performances were terrific. The dedication and hard work of these actors was amazing to behold.
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| scene from "Bullets Over Broadway" performed by Caroline Hewitt and Mickey Solis |
I managed to see all but one of the performances and managed to sketch four of them. How I wish there'd been time to really delve into this!
I sold a couple of these drawings to the director for $75 apiece. The rest are available on a first come basis, as are most of the sketches on my Tumblr (tiny drawings are cheaper). Direct all inquiries through my website.
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| scene from "Cruel Intentions" performed by Xandra Clark and Camara McLaughlin |
