Essential Event: 3rd Ward Member Matthew Murphy and Ryan Scott Oliver Combine Photography And Music For '35MM'

 

When 3rd Ward member and virtuosic dance photographer Matthew Murphy first told us about 35MM--an "evening-length multimedia musical" that he's been creating with composer Ryan Scott Oliver--the Kickstarter campaign for their project was around half of the way to its goal (and we were about the same distance from fully comprehending the unique and amazing production that they were putting together.)

Now that the Kickstarter campaign is finished, funded and then some, 35MM will take place on Wednesday, March 7 and Monday, March 12 at Galapogos Art Space in Dumbo. We caught up with Murphy again, and he helped us really wrap our heads around the piece. Read on below, check out some of Murphy's images and a video of one of Oliver's songs after the jump.

"We've lovingly coined the phrase 'Musical Exhibition' to describe 35MM," he says. The production brings the musical talents of Oliver, who is also currently writing the musical version of Freaky Friday for Disney Theatricals, and Murphy's photographic mastery, which we highlighted in January. "Full disclosure, we've been a couple for the past two-and-a-half years, so the evening really is a labor of love in the truest sense of the word," Murphy tells us.

"Originally Ryan went through my photos when we first started seeing each other and he was drawn to a handful of them so he created songs based on what he saw in the images," he says. "Sometimes the image would be literal and the story would connect immediately, while other times it would be a more abstract image that Ryan would spin a tale out of."

As those songs began to accumulate, Murphy shot more photographs for the project, and they presented the songs for the first time at Urban Stages in December of 2010. "A year later Ryan really began to shape the piece by adding musical transitions that reflect on the art of photography as a way of documenting time while also stopping time," Murphy says. "Each song is its own isolated story, but our hope is that the audience feels like for each four-minute burst they are immersed in a new world both visually and aurally."

"Some may be asking why we are doing a Monday and Wednesday evening and the reason is because we were determined to have some of Broadway's hottest young talent, which meant we had to work around their show schedules," he adds. And he's not kidding. 35MM's five-person cast features Lindsay Mendez (Godspell), Alex Brightman (Wicked), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Hair, Catch Me If You Can), Betsy Wolfe (Merrily We Roll Along, Everyday Rapture), and Ben Crawford (Shrek). "They are going to blow everyone's minds," he says.

"Our director, Jeremy Bloom, has been working with them over the past week and solidifying all of the ideas for how we will present the images," Murphy says. "We have a spectacular projection designer Aaron Rhyne who is creating an installation that will allow us to deconstruct some of the images when needed and present them in their full form at others."

Murphy himself will be finishing up the last images for the song "Why Must We Tell Them Why?" this week right here at 3rd Ward. Check out those images and video below and grab your tickets before they're gone.

-- John Ruscher

MEMBER PROFILE // Matthew Murphy's Photography Channels The Essence of Dance

Dancer: Kiira Schmidt photographed for Broadway.com's Gotta Dance!, styled by David Withrow, Hair and Makeup by Ariel Vega. Photographed at 3rd Ward.

It's not surprising that Matthew Murphy creates amazing dance photography. He's graced the same stages as the dancers that he now captures with his lens, and he's exercised the same extraordinary dedication and drive that made him a great dancer to become an equally virtuosic photographer.

"I spent my entire adolescence training to become a professional ballet dancer," Murphy says. At 17 that devotion paid off when he became a member of the American Ballet Theatre, one of the world's leading ballet companies. A few years later illness forced him to retire from dancing, but he soon picked up a DSLR and found a complementary passion. "The similarities between art forms were apparent to me from the start," he says. "They are both about exploring space and people through movement and light. My work as a photographer focuses a lot on identity and movement, whether physical or emotional." 

He may be behind the camera rather than at the barre, but Murphy still approaches his work with the heart and mind of a dancer. "I find the art of working with a portrait subject to be much like a pas de deux, where trust is more important than anything," he says. "Whomever I'm photographing has to be willing to take my hand and let me lead them. Likewise, I have to listen to their impulses because I may find that their energy leads me to a more exciting breakthrough."

Hit the jump to read more about Murphy and check out some of his excellent work.

When Murphy first joined 3rd Ward he was worried that commuting from the Upper East Side would be draining, but he's found that trek is worth it. "3rd Ward has been an amazing setting for me to expand my style," he says. "I always find myself energized to take the train out in the mornings and find new ways to use the space." He's spent time in all of the photo studios, but you'll likely find him in Studio B. "It's the most malleable for the type of work I do," he explains. "One day I'll open up the blackout curtains and let the natural light shine in for headshots, only to close them off the following day for a shoot with a dance company." 3rd Ward has also inspired Murphy to experiment and explore. "The reasonable price point of a membership has allowed me to feel more adventurous when it comes to trying new things," he says. "I've really been able to expand my work to not only include environmental portraiture but studio work as well, which is extremely valuable when creating press materials for different theater and dance companies."

DISPLACED, an exhibition of Murphy's work featuring "a series of 32 portraits that explores what happens to a dancer when you take away virtuosic movement," is on display through December 30 at Dance New Amsterdam.  He also recently started Gotta Dance!, a new portrait series for Broadway.com that features dancers styled and dressed in outfits inspired by the current show that they are in.

To kick off 2012 he'll be starting another portrait project, a "series of diptychs exploring the emphasis the ballet world places on physical perfection," and continuing his work on evening-length multimedia musical 35MM, a collaboration with composer Ryan Scott Oliver. "He has created songs inspired my images of mine, and I have created images based on songs of his," Murphy says. The two are more than half way to their Kickstarter goal to fund a cast recording and a live production in March. Help out and you can score everything from a digital download of the recording to first amateur licensing rights to put on your own production.

Check out some of Murphy's photographs below and head to his website and Facebook page for more.

Dancers: Lana Jones and Amber Scott of The Australian Ballet, photographed at Lincoln Center.

Beyonce photographed at Roseland Ballroom in New York City.

Michelle Dorrance, Hair and Makeup by Alex Michaels. Photographed outside of 3rd Ward.

Marcelo Gomes photographed for the series "DISPLACED," currently being presented at Dance New Amsterdam in Manhattan.

Dancer: Ashley Browne of Keigwin + Company, photographed at 3rd Ward.

-- John Ruscher