I'm playing with an illustration concept, using the rough pencil sketching process as a parallel for a show's rehearsal process. My dad used to say that if you wanted to sculpt something, say, a rhino, you simply carve away everything that doesn't look like a rhino. Of course that's often easier said than done, but that's what art is. Honing and focusing an idea or series of them to create something significant. That's what I'm attempting to illustrate here, moving from graphite to ink to digital. My first shot? Hamilton.
Rehearsal/Sketch: Hamilton. ©2015 Justin "Squigs" Robertson.
As those in the Broadway know know, Hamilton enjoyed an immensely popular run downtown at the Public Theatre and will be starting previews on Broadway in July (opening officially at the Richard Rodgers on August 6).
In this piece, I wanted to feature the ensemble. In the world that the show's creators have made, the ensemble is so interwoven into the story telling. Particularly in the choreography created by Andy Blankenbuehler, they are the pulse of the show. (I was very moved by Blankenbuehler's acceptance speech when he won for his work at the Drama Desk awards this year which you can see here. Art is at its best when it becomes very personal.) And of course, the ensemble folks are working their butts off. Y'all just have to see this show.
So that's something I've been dabbling in. I think this concept might make a nifty series, beginning early in a show's workshop phase (with a lot of graphite) and ending in previews (with a lot of ink and color). Anyhoo. Ideas.