Barksdale Theatre 2011-12 Season

Robert Meganck just completed the design and illustrations for the Barksdale Theatre’s 2011-12 season.




LEND ME A TENOR
It’s 1934, and Cleveland’s premiere opera producer is on the verge of a break¬down. The tickets are sold, the stage is set, and the orchestra is ready. But, it’s about to become un disastro gigantesco, because the leading man - the greatest tenor in the world - has gone missing.





MY FAIR LADY
My Fair Lady is a musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s play, Pygmalion. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, and her transformation from a flower girl to a proper lady.





GOD OF CARNAGE
When two little boys scuffle on the playground, their progressive parents meet to sort things out in a civilized manner. By evening’s end, all hope is lost.





SCORCHED EARTH
A small, rural Virginia community is torn apart when the tiny body of a stillborn, mixed-race baby is exhumed from the graveyard, and the neighboring church is burned to the ground.





SPRING AWAKENING
Spring Awakening examines the unbridled energy that ignites the journey from youth to adulthood.

Illustrations to accompany “How Big Bear Stuck To The Sky”, a Native American Legend, will be published in the August issue of Spider Magazine.

I know it's only Rock and Roll, but I like it.

Lessons from life and Rock and Roll from someone who's old enough to have experienced a bit of both.

I know that rock and roll takes a back seat to jazz, that jazz is high art. Its musicians are among the most technically skilled, its arrangements complex, and its' melodies superior to those of the basic four beats-to-the-bar of rock and roll (although I sometimes have trouble following them). When Roy McKelvey, a jazz aficionado whose work station is right outside my office puts on jazz, I frequently find myself opening my door and turning down my music to listen to his music. I picked up a Miles Davis CD, took it home and gave it a listen, and was blown away. I put it on my iPod and went out into the yard, but it just didn't seem conducive to yard work, and I soon found myself flipping over to The Stones’, "I know it's only Rock and Roll but I like it" with a rake as a phantom guitar.

For Christmas my youngest, Seth, got us tickets to go see Man Man and Gogol Bordello. I love both bands. He got balcony seats, assuming (I believe) that I was probably too old to survive the mosh pit. When Man Man hit their first note, both of us jumped up -- an action we repeated with the second song and so on. A third of the way through the concert I looked around and everyone behind us had moved, because we were blocking their view. I took another look and noticed that the balcony was full of people who were just sitting there. I asked Seth what was wrong with these people, "how can they can just sit there". I then asked if he wanted to move out into the isle where we could jump up without bothering those around us. He said he was "down for it". Which I interpreted as he was "down for getting up".

We had great time. On the way home I thought about why I'm so attracted to Rock and Roll. Jazz, like classical music, requires that you pay attention and listen,while Rock and Roll requires you to participate. It's a full contact sport. It requires that you jump up, play an air guitar, bang your head, or dance (even if you can't dance).

The point is that whatever you choose to do, don't do it passively.

The Ghost of Christmas Present

Concept and process sketches for the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Concept sketches

The Jerry Garcia look.

Final approved sketch

Black line art

Color pallet

Complementary color pallet

Add background color

Add basic figure color

More figure color

Foreground color

Candles and torch

Add glow

Face color

Rim light

I then took the illustration to my compadre, Sterling Hundley, and told him that something was really bothering me about the illustration -- that the head seemed out of place. He looked at the printout and drew a little sketch below and suggested that I tilt the head back more.

Which I did. Drawing of new head as suggested by Sterling

New head painting

Added holly highlight

Final illustration

Jandos is back as AD of the Washington City Paper

The production of The Washington City Paper is back in DC where it belongs and Jandos Rothstein is back as its art director. Jandos along with Pete Morelewicz, who also served as AD for the City Paper, are two of my favorite Art Directors. Their comments are never compromised by personal taste, always enhance the concept, and have always made my work better.

Just Like Old Times at the Washington Times

Client: The Washington City Paper

Art Director: Jandos Rothstein

I was glad to find out that Jandos is back in the drivers seat and happy that he contacted me for the cover image of his return issue. The concept sketches and final illustration for last weeks cover are attached. The story is about the fall of The Washington Times -- The Capitol City's outspoken voice of conservative politics and leading example of yellow journalism.

sketch 1: The Rev. Sung Myung Moon "The King of the Ocean" in a paper boat going down with his ship.

sketch 2: Rev. Moon going over a cliff riding the Republican elephant.

sketch 3: A “yellow journalism” clenched fist holding a rolled up newspaper has fallen from its pedestal.

sketch 4: Moonies morning a dead paper.

sketch 5: Dog urinating on a copy of the Washington Times.

sketch 6: "Timber" the newspaper falls.

sketch 7: Pushing a paper boat on fire out to sea.

sketch 8: Good night Mr. Moon!

The Final Illustration