With this article we thought we would focus on what one of our stage production photography clients does for its annual fundraising special event. Musical Theatre West, the premier regional theater production company in the Los Angeles Area and for that matter the entire Southern California Area each year stages a not-to-be-missed fundraising event that takes advantage of its vast entertaining and production resources.
One of the things that sets this special event apart from the myriad of other fundraising events throughout the busy social calendar year is the venue itself. The name of the event is Broadway in the Park, and as the name implies, a park setting is what the organizers are going for in terms of the ambiance. They hold the event literally in the street, they get the permits and support from the neighbors of the “Park” Estates neighborhood in Long Beach and build a production around the closed off cul-de-sac. The dinner and auctions, silent and live, take place in the cul-de-sac, but the entertainment which one would expect to be the centerpiece of the evening taking into account that the company is very used to putting on productions take place in the backyards of supporter’s homes thus giving the evening’s ambiance that park feel.
The evening starts as most fundraising special events do with a VIP party for the dignitaries and other special guests, but again the setting of the party makes it a memorable evening because of the intimacy that the guests feel by being in someone’s backyard.
It is the setting, the top-notch caliber entertainers that only a theater production company can put together, and the “hook” of offering the guests a preview of next year’s stage productions that make this yearly fundraising event special enough to be a must on the calendar. From our perspective, the backdrops and action make it one of our favorite events of the year to photograph.
