Ryan Trupp Photography | The Blog

If you ask me to tell you what I know of Romania, it isn’t much.  But what little I do know comes from being a long time friend of Andreea Mincic, a New York Scenic Designer from Romania who I had the pleasure of meeting back in grad school.  Andreea is a great friend and her work never disappoints.

Which is why I was so excited when she contacted me to photograph her latest design for a production of Red Over Red produced by 31 Down with the Incubator Arts Project (Formerly the Ontological Theatre).  It opened last night and runs through August 7th.  If you are in the area, definitely check it out.

Red Over Red

Written by Shannon Sindelar and Ryan Holsopple
Directed by Shannon Sindelar
Sound by Ryan Holsopple
Live Projections by Ryan Holsopple and Mirit Tal
Scenic Design by Andreea Mincic
Lights by Jon Luton
Costumes by Ramsey Scott
Crash sound by Tim Cramer

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I think we’ve all been effected by the recent pictures of the devastation in Haiti and Chili.  Well, Eric Louie, Rachel Weiss, Ashley Delegal, Taibi Magar, and Sean Thorne all felt like they needed to do something to help.

They came up with NOU SE ZANMI, A Benefit for Haiti which was held in Joe’s Pub last Friday night.  Nou Se Zanmi, which means “we are friends”, brought together a number of amazing young New York theater companies and artists to create new songs and scenes all in response to the recent events in Haiti.  I don’t think there’s a specific number yet as to how much was raised, but the house was totally packed which was really wonderful to see.

All proceeds from the evening went to benefit Partners In Health, which has been working on the ground in Haiti for over 20 years.   Donations can still be made by following the link here to Partners in Health.

The Living Newspaper performing “Tanbou Silans (Silent Drums)”

Ensemble Studio Theatre/Young Blood performing “A Chorus of Voices”

Ensemble Studio Theatre/Young Blood performing “A Chorus of Voices”

Ensemble Studio Theatre/Young Blood performing “A Chorus of Voices”

Hoi Polloi performing a selection from “Three Pianos”

New Georges performing “Pastries, Not Prozac”

New Georges performing “Pastries, Not Prozac”

Loki performing “Summertime, Year-Round”

Loki performing “Summertime, Year-Round”

The Movement Theatre Co. performing “WHOA”

The Subjective Theater Company featuring Dyalekt, & DJ Milk Money performing “Square Peg Syndrome”

New York Neo-Classical Ensemble performing “Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind”

New York Neo-Classical Ensemble performing “Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind”

At Play Productions performing “Private Beach”

The Coterie & Matt Gould with Uzo Aduba performing “Old Woman”

The Coterie & Matt Gould with Uzo Aduba performing “Old Woman”

The Coterie & Matt Gould with Uzo Aduba performing “Old Woman”

The Living Newspaper performing “Tanbou Silans (Silent Drums)”

The Living Newspaper performing “Tanbou Silans (Silent Drums)”

The Living Newspaper performing “Tanbou Silans (Silent Drums)”

The Living Newspaper performing “Tanbou Silans (Silent Drums)”

Well, we pulled it off!  I just got back a few days ago from working on FIFA Congress in the Bahamas.  This was a yearly international Congress for football (soccer) and I’ve been assisting Jesse Poleshuck to design a stage that could accommodate an Opening Ceremony and an official Congress meeting the next day.  This is a group of 208 member nations (more than both the Olympics and the UN) that get together every year and vote on the rules and regulations.  We were also asked to design the decor for the banquet dinner for the delegates afterwords.  Everything was built and coordinated by Hudson Scenic and Hudson Theatrical which did amazing job pulling this project off.  Their attention to detail was unbelievable.  Take a look at some of the process shots and pictures of the Atlantis Resort here.

Working and taking pictures in the Bahamas was a lot of work but was also a lot of fun.  However, I am very glad to be back home with Ashley.  Paradise just isn’t the same without your significant other to share it with.

Scenery Design: Poleshuck Design Inc.
Lighting Design: Brian MacDevitt

FIFA Opening Ceremony

The entrance of the the Royal Bahamas Police Force Marching Band.

208 children holding up 208 soccer balls with flag stickers, one for each member nation present.

Entertainment between speeches

Banquet dinner

Bahamas Youth Choir performing at the Banquet

Congress the following day

As many of you know, I balance my time between my two passions: photography and theatre.  I’ve always felt that, in my life anyway, one always feeds the other.  I love photographing people and I love designing 3 dimensional environments for the theatre.  It’s wonderful when both of these worlds come together and I am able to photograph a theatrical event that I helped create.  I am currently working as the associate scenic designer at a wonderful resort in the Bahamas called the Atlantis on FIFA Congress which is a yearly international soccer meeting.   This is a project I’ve been a part of on and off since December and we are finally here in the Bahamas putting it together.  Opening Ceremony is in a couple of days but I thought I would show some of the process shots of the crew building the set.  I feel so privileged to be a part of such a wonderful event with such beautiful surroundings.  If you ever get the chance, you must check out this resort.  The Atlantis Bahamas is like no place I’ve ever been before!

A view of the Atlantis Hotel

Snapped a picture of this flower while I was on a walk outside during break

The Atlantis has some wonderful Aquariums.  I could spend all day in front of the jelly fish.

Current arrangement of the Opening Ceremony on stage.

I have been working with Jim Youmans on his scenery design for the revival of West Side Story which opens on Broadway  at the Palace Theatre February 23.  I was thrilled to be asked to photograph production photos for him.  The show is beautiful and it was so exciting to see on stage.  The story is just as relevant as it always has been and I think this is a perfect time for it to be brought back to Broadway.

This process was especially exciting for me as I was brought in to help with the drafting for the shop as well as doing a lot of work on the scale model.  Seeing it full size on stage was a little bit disorienting for me as it didn’t look any different from the model, except the people on stage were now real size and moving around on their own!

Thanks as always to Ashley for helping me juggle lenses.  If it weren’t for her, I would have spent my time fumbling around in the dark missing the whole show!

Scenic Design by James Youmans
Costume Design by David C. Woolard
Lighting Design by Howell Binkley

I just finished working on the scenic design for Carousel up at the Hartt School and thought I would share some pictures I snapped at final dress last night! The trick with designing this musical: creating, guess what, a carousel on stage. The shop and painters did a great job with this one!