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[0:00] Jayke Workman: You guys, I just finally watched the Barbie movie for the first time. Why am I feeling so many feelings? Oh my god, did you hear? Did you hear? Did you hear guys? Hi, Jake is a god, oh my god, you guys! What is up, everybody? My name is Jayke Workman, and this is Oh My Pod, you guys, a musical theater and pop culture podcast. You guys, this week was a big week. I turned 27 years old. I performed at 54 Below in an incredible new show called Out by my amazing friend Jaren Barney, and I had the immense pleasure of getting to see the new play, Dracula, a Comedy of Terrors, at New World Stages off Broadway, thanks to my amazing friends at the Broadway Podcast Network. You guys, this show is absolutely hilarious.

There are incredible quick changes, incredible effects and costumes, and the comedy's insane. And let me tell you, there is some sexy vampire body. Also, Queen of Broadway, Ellen Harvey is just casually playing a thousand different parts. I mean, it is so freaking funny. I cannot recommend it enough. You guys run to see Dracula, a Comedy of Terrors off Broadway. And you guys, with that, let's dive right into this week's Broadway World recap. First, it was just announced that the new show Lempica will open on Broadway in the spring of 2024, starring Queen of the Universe, Eden Espinoza. It is a new musical about the life of the acclaimed artist, Tamara DeLimpica, and it's directed by the incredible Tony-winning director Rachel Chafkin.

They are set to start rehearsals in January of 2024, and performances will begin in March. So this is definitely gonna be an exciting new season of theater, and I cannot wait to see if Miss Eden Espinoza is up for a Tony Award for her leading role in this show. Next, you guys, we just got another thrilling casting update. None other than Rachel McAdams is set to make her Broadway debut in Mary Jane at the Manhattan Theater Club this spring. I actually kind of can't believe that this is her Broadway debut, only because she's such an acclaimed actor, and I feel like the stage would lend itself so beautifully to the way that she tells stories. So I'm super excited to catch this show and to see Rachel McAdams make her Broadway debut.

The show is directed by Ann Kaufman. It's written by Amy Herzog, and it's at MTC. I mean, come on, Manhattan Theater Club is such an iconic institution of the theater. So congrats, Miss McAdams, on your Broadway debut. I cannot wait to see. And next, you guys, adding to the incredible list of new shows for the Broadway spring season, Water for Elephants is coming to Broadway in 2024. If you're not familiar, this is an incredible, critically acclaimed novel that is now going to be transformed into a Broadway musical playing at the Imperial Theater. And you guys, the spectacle alone looks like Pippin to me. I mean, you know, there are elements of the circus and this traveling show lifestyle in the story, and I'm so intrigued to see how they are going to create the lives of animals like elephants on stage.

I mean, we got to see some really incredible puppetry with Life of Pi on Broadway, and I'm wondering if they will carry on that trend for Water for Elephants. It looks absolutely stunning from their previous runs and their previous promotional material, so this is one definitely that I will not be missing. And the 2024 Spring Broadway season continues with the announcement of Kelly O'Hara and Brian Darcy James leading Days of Wine and Roses on Broadway after an incredible off-Broadway run. I am so excited that these two incredible performers get to bring the show to Broadway and to be eligible to be nominated for Tonys because Lord knows Miss Kelly O'Hara will be nominated! And if she's not, it's a crime.

So congrats, Miss O'Hara and Mr. Darcy James. I cannot wait to see you both shine in Days of Wine and Roses on Broadway. Next, you guys, we are jumping across the pond because it was just announced that Jerry Mitchell is going to direct The Devil Wears Prada in London. This show has been met with scrutiny. I wish I could say that I was not among those who were a little apprehensive when it was announced that The Devil Wears Prada was going to be created into a musical, but I was definitely a little skeptical at first. However, in the hands of one Jerry Mitchell, I kind of feel like it could really be amazing. It's obviously an iconic movie, which was based on a book, so I really, really hope that they are able to turn it out in London, iron out the kinks, figure out what works and what doesn't, and then hopefully jump back across the pond and make a Broadway splash.

So we'll see, you guys. That's all. Oh, and speaking of The Devil Wears Prada, lastly, in our Broadway World recap, you guys, it was just announced that Meryl Streep has said she is interested in returning to the screen in Mamma Mia 3 as Donna Sheridan. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a slut for Mamma Mia. Obviously the musical, but also the musical movie starring Queen of the Universe, Meryl Streep. I was so disappointed that she was barely in the second one. I was like, come on, Meryl, you make the movie. So her actually coming forward and saying, yes, I am interested in actually participating in the third installment of the Mamma Mia franchise. Girl, I cannot wait. My little gay heart is aflutter.

Thank the gods. And you guys, this has been the BroadwayWorld Recap. Oh, my pod, you guys, I am so excited to welcome my next guest to the show. He is the premier Broadway production photographer and the sweetest man you ever did meet. Please welcome Mr. Matthew Murphy.

[6:44] Matthew Murphy: Hello. I'm so happy to be here.

[6:47] Jayke Workman: Thank you for being here. I am so excited to ask you a million questions. But my very first question is where are you calling from?

[6:56] Matthew Murphy: Ooh, I'm actually calling from Beacon, New York. So during the pandemic, my husband and I did what so many New Yorkers did, and we kind of fled to upstate, and so now we split time between Harlem and Beacon, so I'm currently in Beacon.

[7:11] Jayke Workman: Fabulous. A little upstate getaway.

[7:14] Matthew Murphy: Exactly. I just spent like two weeks in Poughkeepsie. Is that near Beacon?

[7:20] Jayke Workman: I don't even know.

[7:20] Matthew Murphy: So Poughkeepsie is that Poughkeepsie is the end of our train line, so it's like two stops past us.

[7:25] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, look at me. I rolled right through and I didn't even know.

[7:28] Matthew Murphy: Right? Should have said hi.

[7:30] Jayke Workman: Yeah, Beacon has turned into this like kind of amazing Broadway offshoot where it's like all of these people from the Broadway community during the pandemic moved up here, and so it's really nice because we have like a whole friend group up here, and so many of the people that you see on stage and so many people that are creating things are also living up here. So it's very cool.

[7:50] Matthew Murphy: That's amazing.

[7:52] Jayke Workman: And how lucky and fortunate that you are to be able to escape New York for a moment.

[7:58] Matthew Murphy: Oh my gosh, clean actual air.

[8:01] Jayke Workman: Exactly. We went hiking yesterday, and we get to actually just get outside and sit in our backyard under the stars.

[8:08] Matthew Murphy: With your little dogs.

[8:09] Jayke Workman: Feel very spoiled with our puppies.

[8:11] Matthew Murphy: Yep. Very, very spoiled. Love.

[8:13] Jayke Workman: Well, I am so excited that you're here. I have a million questions for you because I have been a fan of your work for quite some time. It's sort of like, you know, Broadway's sought-after thing to have your photo taken by none other than Murphy Made.

[8:32] Matthew Murphy: Listen, that's I even just hearing that I still kind of can't believe it, and I feel so unbelievably honored to do what I do. So hearing that anybody wants to see the photos or get their photo taken is more than I ever could have asked for, for real.

[8:44] Jayke Workman: Yes, of course. I mean, it's deservedly so, truly. Your work is incredible. And I know that you have a background in dance and performance, which I am so excited to ask you about. But first, I would just love to know what led you to first pick up a camera.

[9:00] Matthew Murphy: Oh my gosh. Well, as you just said, I had a background in dance, so I was a ballet dancer with American Ballet Theater back when I first moved to the city, which at this point is like 20 something years ago.

[9:11] Jayke Workman: Yes, you could say with me.

[9:13] Matthew Murphy: Exactly. And I basically did what so many dancers do, which is that my body was kind of like, you know what, we're gonna call it now. It's time to do something different. And so I had always taken photos for like I had a blog back in the day when I was a dancer when blogs were like very first a thing.

[9:32] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[9:33] Matthew Murphy: And so I took a lot of photos from my blog just on a point and shoot, and it wasn't until I stopped dancing that I was like, you know what? I actually want to pursue photography a little bit. So I picked up a camera, I ordered one on Amazon, I got my Canon 30D to start out and walked around the West Village and took photos of kind of anything and everything that I could.

[9:52] Jayke Workman: Love.

[9:53] Matthew Murphy: And look at you now. I mean, listen, it's been a lot of saying yes to every potential job. I mean, when I look back at some of those early gigs that I had, I'm like, oh wow, that's I was doing so much random stuff early on, as we all do when we're starting out in a career, right?

[10:10] Jayke Workman: Totally, totally. And I mean, I can only assume that your background and you know, your experience as a dancer can only inform the way that you are able to capture not only like movement and choreography and dance, but anyone.

[10:26] Matthew Murphy: I mean, like body awareness is such an interesting thing because when you don't have it and you're trying to have a photograph taken, it can be very difficult to capture the case. And for me, yeah, I mean, I operate so much from a sense of movement, even when I'm doing portrait shoots with people, it's like little moments of activation, little bits of movement just to keep it alive. And I've always been so drawn to photograph movement, and that's kind of how I originally started when I was first shooting, was doing a lot of shoots of the dancers of ABT because I was still kind of connected to that crew at that point. And yeah, I mean, anytime I can photograph dancers, I'm thrilled. Thrilled, thrilled, thrilled.

[11:08] Jayke Workman: Yeah, iconic. And I mean, truly, some of your photos of the dancers in and out of the Broadway community are iconic. I mean, you have like put your sort of Murphy Made stamp on what it means to photograph movement and choreography, both with like current campaigns and promotional material for things like Sweeney Todd. I mean, everyone was like gagging over that photo of Josh Groban and Annaleigh with all the entire ensemble behind them. I mean, it's like tell me what was the avenue from you know taking portraits and shooting, you know, your friends from ABT and all of that, to becoming someone that like basically every Broadway show goes to to create their promotional material.

[11:58] Matthew Murphy: You know, it was one of those things that when I first started out, as I was saying, I kind of said yes to every job that came my way, but I was really connected originally to not only American Ballet Theater because I had danced there, but a lot of the kind of downtown dance world because my sister is a dancer and she, you know, I was photographing her and her friends back in the, you know, when I was very first starting. And so it was a lot of photographing downtown dance. I got connected through, you know, I always tell people just kind of like, put yourself out there and ask for the opportunity, and the worst thing that can happen is that somebody says no or doesn't get back to you. And I was really lucky that early on a couple of instances like that ended up really playing out in my favor.

And the first one was when I introduced myself to an editor or to a photographer at the New York Times when I was at a dance performance. And I, you know, was young and dumb and was willing to just say whatever. And so I literally was like, I would love to photograph for the Times as you know, as if that's just like an easy thing to do. And she was incredible, and she literally was like, give me your info, let me connect you with the editors there. And so I went in and I had a meeting with this really, you know, kind of hard-edged editor at the New York Times, which, you know, I was maybe like 23 at the time.

[13:16] Matthew Murphy: Um, you know, I had a portfolio of images that now that I look back on, I'm like, oh god, what was I thinking? Submitting this. But you know, there is a benefit to being young and dumb sometimes. And so I think I just put myself out there and I got that job as a freelancer there, and that really led me to photographing a little bit more in the Broadway community. Um, and the person that, you know, I've I've I've I'm can never thank him enough, but the person that like really, really, really put me in the Broadway community is Jerry Mitchell. He was like, he is my fairy godfather of everything full out and fabulous. And he uh, you know, he he and I got connected originally through Broadway Bears, which obviously is like the dance event of the season, you know, every every June.

His creation, his baby. Um, and it was through that that he kind of got the little idea to put me in front of the producers for Kinky Boots. And that was actually my first official show as a Broadway photographer was Kinky Boots, which even saying that sentence out loud is so wild to me, because it could have been my first show could have been anything, right? It could have been a flop that came and went in, you know, two months. It could have it could have been such a blip for me, and then I would have had to, you know, figure out another way in. But the fact that Kinky Boots turned into this like Tony winning smash, it really helped in a massive, massive way for me. And what a fabulous opportunity too, because it's like the queerest, most like beautiful, open, happy show, you know, like and obviously like to be connected with Jerry Mitchell.

Like, that's just that's so wonderful. He's yeah, he's been it's funny because when I tell this story to people that have worked with him or have been given opportunities by him, everyone's just like, yeah, that's Jerry. That he just, if he believes in you and he wants to give you an opportunity, he's just like, I'm gonna make it happen. And, you know, you feel the pressure of like wanting to do a good job, but he's so supportive, so encouraging, so collaborative, and was so patient with me, right? Because I was coming at it from the dance world, and I I mean, if I'm really being honest, I think probably when I first did my photo shoots for Kinky Boots, I didn't even know what a photo call was for a Broadway show.

Like I had no, you know, I remember like instructing the casts and and talking them through when we were shooting some of the initial setups, and I was like, I don't even know what I literally was like, I don't know what I'm doing, really. Like, who am I communicating with? Who is the, you know, it was I I was really kind of faking it till I make it mentality, and had a lot of really kind people around me at that time that were willing to say, we'll help you, we'll figure it out, like let's give it a go. Totally. I mean, you there's no denying that like your your playbill list of credits is 65 shows long. Like now you know what you're doing, clearly. So it's just even hilarious to like hear you say, like, well, I just kind of point and click and uh you know did what I did.

It is though looking back on it, I'm like, what? What was I I again young and dumb and willing to just like give it a try, and so I was I'm really grateful that I didn't get in my own way at that time. I was just kind of like, this is so cool. I was such a Broadway fan from childhood, and so the fact that I was at all involved in the Broadway world was like such a pinch me moment, and it's still something where I like I look back on all the times that I came to New York as a kid, and I'm like, I never could have envisioned that this would be my life.

[16:53] Jayke Workman: Yeah, I mean, that's that's what I uh wanted to ask you about next was your upbringing. Obviously, I am so excited to hear about um you know your process and and how you take on new productions, but before that, I would love to know um was your upbringing, you know, like connected to the arts. Obviously, you were a dancer, so like, and you you mentioned that your sister was a d is a dancer as well. So what was what was your upbringing like?

[17:22] Matthew Murphy: You know, I was so lucky. I was actually just talking to my mom about this when I was uh my husband and I were home in Montana a couple weeks ago, and uh literally my mom is a dancer, my dad was an actor, he's a director and a teacher now, my mom is a teacher, my sister's a dancer. You know, we come from a family that we all were so lucky that to not only we just all loved to do the same things. And so, like as a kid, all of my summers were spent coming to the city. I would, I would just I was originally born in New York, but we went to Montana and I came back a bunch for dance workshops, and it was like we'd come and I would just go for a week and I would see eight shows in that week. I would dance all day.

You know, I would sit in like the you know old Broadway dance center and like watch Savion Glover rehearsing for Bring in the Noise. And you know, it's like I had all these moments as a kid that were just so supported by my family, and so I've been completely made possible by the fact that my family never batted an eye at the fact that I wanted to be involved in the arts, you know. It was kind of it would have been way more confusing if I hadn't been. Um and so for me, the dance world was just kind of what what the natural calling was was uh you know, I was kind of cliched story of like didn't have a babysitter, grew up in the dance studio, just kind of like watching my sister and my mom take and teach.

And um, and so you know, by the time I was probably 10, I was in the ballet world, and the dance world is wild where you have to like choose so young if that's what you're gonna pursue. And I again was so lucky that my parents knew that you know, we had lived in New York for such a long time when they were younger that they knew that I needed to like get out of Montana, get the right training. Um so I went originally, I went to high school for ballet at North Carolina School of the Arts. And that was really what set me on the path to like join ABT and to move back to the city. You know, I moved back when I was 16 and uh and joined ABT when I was 16. And so even say again, saying that now I'm like, that's wild that any 16 year old should be making a choice that big to be like, I'm gonna pursue this professionally now.

[19:34] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[19:34] Matthew Murphy: Um that level, my God. Yeah, no, it was it was it was the coolest, wildest, like, you know, late teens, early 20s experience I ever could have asked for. I mean, I was dancing alongside like people that I had grown up, you know, idolizing, and so to get to call them colleagues at that age was was st it still blows my mind, and um, and I'm so grateful that I did it, and it was something where once I left the ballet world, I think I was able to like look back on it with a little bit more fondness. It's so it's such a hard profession. Um but I know that like every single skill that I learned and honed in that world has only benefited me as a photographer, you know, it's all of my origins as a photographer are dance related. So I feel very, very fortunate to have had the family support and the vision of my parents to kind of like help me make these career goals happen.

[20:36] Jayke Workman: Sure. And did you did you sort of have a sense of um maybe more freedom in your identity as like a young queer person when you were able to leave a place like Montana and enter into a world of like just extreme possibility like New York City?

[20:54] Matthew Murphy: Oh yeah, I mean I I remember I came out young, you know, I was maybe I think I was 14. I came out in like ninth grade. And I remember when I came out, literally my parents were just like, yeah, like, duh. They were just sort of like, yeah, they were like, You've literally been doing sideshow in the basement for the past like two years. You've been playing like Daisy and Violet and ref. Like they're like, we're not surprised at all. Um and so yeah, I felt I felt so supported by them, and and it, you know, it's it's hard to even imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't had the family that I have. They're incredible. And they like they literally took me to see like I was saying, like, eight shows when we'd come for a week, and I would just see like every new musical that was out.

And I mean, they had to, you know, work hard to make that happen for us financially, and I'm so grateful that they did because now when I collaborate with certain people, I'm like, oh, I remember I remember seeing the original cast of Who's Tommy, I remember seeing Crazy for You. Like, I remember all of these amazing moments that most kids from Montana, especially, didn't have the chance to experience, right?

[22:04] Jayke Workman: Totally, yeah.

[22:05] Matthew Murphy: That's fantastic. And and you're right, you are so like lucky to have had that be your experience. Well, I'm just so inspired by sort of your pathway from being a performer yourself and then forging this entirely new, you know, career for yourself. Um, and and obviously keeping it very close to home with the arts and um not only being a photographer, but being a photographer for the Broadway community. It's so amazing. And I think that there really is something to be said for your own knowledge of not only your own body um and how it interacts with other bodies in space, but um, you know, understanding lines of a dancer and having that vocabulary to be able to communicate very easily and quickly with the subject that you are capturing. I think that's so cool, and um just so inspiring. I I would love to hear how you take on a show as the production photographer. What is the what's the initial offer that they that they give you?

[23:10] Matthew Murphy: Yeah, so it it kind of depends show to show and it depends on you know, play versus musical and size of musical and all of these different things. But most of the time I would say that the process is that uh either I get approached by the show and ask to quote about, you know, asked to basically provide an estimate for how much it would cost to have me come in and shoot it, or a lot of times still, like I I feel so fortunate to have shot as many shows as I have shot, but I also still really go after the shows that I want to shoot. And so it's like I know that there's something coming in. I'm not gonna be shy to like I I email the press reps, I talk with the producers, and I'm like, hey, just putting it out there.

Like I I really want to be considered for this. Like it's something that I think I'd be a good fit for. And um, I just think like I was saying earlier, you can't you can never it's never a bad thing to put yourself in a position where you're like, I want to work for you, I want to do a good job on this.

[24:05] Totally. Um and so for a show, a lot of times if like once I get hired, I'll come in, hopefully I'll be able to peek at a rehearsal or you know, get a sense of the show from the rehearsal studio to the tech process in the theater. Um and then I almost always shoot one or two dress rehearsals, and from there we kind of either get a set of images that will work for previews, and then we'll do a setup call once the preview period is over, or we'll, you know, a lot of times now it's like we'll shoot it twice for dress rehearsals and then we'll end up shooting a setup call with a video team as well, where we're all kind of getting as many assets as we can within one afternoon. So it's, you know, on average, I would say I'm shooting a show three times, like two, you know, two to three times, um, to get that batch of you know 20 images that you'll see released right before opening.

[24:58] Sure.

[24:58] Jayke Workman: And that covers everything where it's like front of house, you know, souvenir programs, CD books, vinyl, uh, you know, it it basically is then used for kind of anything and everything.

[25:09] Matthew Murphy: Sure. Do you feel the sense of pressure of like, okay, these are the images that are going to sort of like have a legacy with this specific show?

[25:18] Matthew Murphy: I do, I mean, it's it's it's kind of an adrenaline rush, right? It's like uh there is a sense of pressure. I do feel that as I've gotten older and more experienced, I have more tools in my toolbox to deal with any kind of potential uh obstacles or roadblocks that are going to come up during a shoot, which there inevitably are things that go wrong during dress rehearsals or things that you miss and you can't dwell on the fact that you missed that shot, you just need to keep moving on and get the next one. And um, you know, I've coming from a dance background, I'm definitely a perfectionist, and so I can be hard on myself, but I try to be uh I try to tap more into the excitement of it rather than the pressure.

You know, I I always go like there is it is always something where like the minute a show is starting, like if it's like an the overture is playing. I feel like I always have a kind of zoom out moment where I look back at like 10-year-old Matt, and I'm like, you would like if you could tell yourself when you were 10 that you're getting to see like a final dress rehearsal of a new musical that nobody else has seen yet, like you're getting you're getting this access before like the majority of the audiences, and you're seeing these like star performances in their like gestation period, you know, it's it's wild.

[26:35] Matthew Murphy: Um that's always the the like moment right when the lights are going down, it's always the kind of moment where I'm like, oh shit, this is happening, this is so cool. How lucky am I? Like what what new thing am I gonna discover tonight?

[26:47] Jayke Workman: Totally. And I I would imagine that there's kind of a sense of like you know, it's your responsibility to show the world what this show is wanting to say. And I I wonder, is there how much collaboration do you have, or or maybe even like who would you have collaboration with in order to know for sure that like okay, this is the way that they want the show to look. This is the way that like they want the mood and the tone of everything to be, and they want like specifically these setups. Like, do you do you speak to the director? Do you speak to like the PR reps? What is that like?

[27:26] Matthew Murphy: It's a real collaborative process, right? It's you know, it's all of those people. It's usually my first contact is usually with like press agents and ad agencies, so those are kind of my go-to people to talk about what images are the goals to capture and kind of what they're trying to how they're trying to sell the show. Um but then as soon as I get to the theater, you know, it's I'm always touching base with the director and the choreographers, always touching base with the amazing lighting teams because they are the people that literally make the photos happen. So I'm always like, I gotta go and give them as much love as possible because they are such brilliant artists, and I feel so fortunate to get to capture their work.

Um and you know, sometimes with a show, they're trying to sell it as like exactly what it looks like. And sometimes with the show, they're like, we're trying to avoid what it looks like, and we need to make it look a completely different way because that's what's gonna get it, you know, a button in the seat.

[28:09] Um and you know, the nice thing is at this point, a lot of the times I've worked with a handful of the team members by the time I go into the theater, so I have a little bit of a shorthand with the directors and the choreographers, and certainly a shorthand with the press teams and ad agencies at this point. So it's a real all hands on deck. I love it.

[28:47] Jayke Workman: That's so cool. And do you feel like you have also like a little wiggle room in terms of your own like creative, you know, license?

[28:57] Matthew Murphy: Yeah, I think that like one thing that I always try to do is basically like get them the shot that they think that they want, and then show them a shot that is maybe better. Better, you know, that is maybe more exciting, or you know, my number one goal with the show is always to figure out a way to capture what it feels like, not necessarily just what it looks like. I want you to have a kind of emotional visceral reaction to the image. It's not purely for documentary, you know, it's not purely to document the show, even though there is like the archival purpose of it as well. Um I really am just trying to kind of get as much variety as possible. I'm also like so protective over how cast members are portrayed, and I really like my number one goal is to always get a photo that everyone is happy with, right?

It's like I want every single ensemble member to feel that they are in the right dance position, that they're in like that their lines look clean, that they sure, you know, no one's being misrepresented.

[30:03] Um, which sometimes I'm more successful with than others. Not one person has their eyes closed.

[30:09] Jayke Workman: Yeah, and it's hard because there are definitely times where like you have to send in the photo that you're like, oh god, I'm sorry. Like, I'm I do everything possible to avoid that, but there are times where you're just like, Oh, there's not another option, and we have to just go with this.

[30:24] Matthew Murphy: Sure. But I'm definitely always operating from a place of like going through with a fine-tooth comb and making sure that everyone would want to, you know, see that blown up on the side of a bus. Like it quite literally will be.

[30:39] Jayke Workman: Yeah, sometimes it is, and sometimes you're just like, you're like, Oh, there it goes, okay.

[30:43] Matthew Murphy: And that everybody looks good.

[30:44] Jayke Workman: Everybody looks good.

[30:45] Matthew Murphy: Okay, we're happy.

[30:46] Jayke Workman: Yes.

[30:47] Matthew Murphy: Well, you mentioned it um earlier, but would you break down what a photo call is for people who may not even know, you know, like when you're in a show, specifically a new show, or sometimes a long-running show that just needs new PR like promotional material or whatever. Um, you know, we need as actors, but also as producers and creators of shows, we need photos that represent our show.

[31:13] Jayke Workman: So, how do you go about setting up a list of shots in in a photo call?

[31:19] Matthew Murphy: Yeah, so a photo call is a really collaborative process where you know there's usually the press team has certain needs that they need for the uh for the review photos to run. The ad agency might have like completely different needs because they're trying to come up with a campaign based around certain things. The directors might have certain shots that they're really hoping for. The you know, the biggest thing with a photo call is that usually gives us a real chance to like control the environment, to shift the lighting, to you know, modify spacing, to pretty much just adjust every detail so that it comes across as polished as it can on a photo because during a dress rehearsal, nine times out of ten, we're running the show straight through, and I'm not able to stop and finesse anything at all.

[32:07] And so for a photo call, you know, my famous phrase at a photo call is one more time, which usually means like 27 more times. Um we'll be doing one of the dance numbers, and we might just instead of running the whole thing, we might be like, okay, we need the shot where um, you know, like some like it hot. It's like we need the shot where the you know the guys are tossing the girls up in the air, and so we're gonna just do that, you know, six times in a row.

[32:33] Right.

[32:33] Matthew Murphy: Yeah, just to make sure that we can make sure every single person is as polished as possible. Um, it's a lot of lighting adjustments at a setup call. That's usually the kind of biggest priority for me is making sure that everything is balanced for the camera because it's a real different thing than being balanced for your eye. So it's just like it's like fine-tooth comb time. You know, it's like go through every single possible detail and always add a lot more haze. That's always my like, I'm like, give us as much haze as possible.

[33:01] Jayke Workman: Smoke!

[33:06] Matthew Murphy: Yeah, exactly, exactly. And so the my favorite thing now is like most of the lighting teams and stage managers, they all know that I'm gonna come in and ask for as much haze as possible. So they're just like run it, keep it, keep it going. I'm like, oh, if that's my legacy, I'll be happy. Thank you.

[33:21] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[33:22] Matthew Murphy: So do you bring your own lighting setups ever when you are doing a photo call? Do you have to sort of like map that out or like bring your own like triggers and strobes and everything with you? Or is it very much like we're only using the lighting that is used in the show?

[33:38] Matthew Murphy: Nine times out of ten for production photography, I'm using the lighting that is on the grid for the show. There are minimal times where I might bring like a big bounce board of some kind to help kind of fill in a little bit more light on people. There have been very rare occasions where like we did um when we first shot Karen Olivo for Moulin Rouge in Boston, we did a kind of like editorial production photo that was this release photo of her in the red dress that we modified with actual strobe lighting. So we brought in you know two different lights and we built it in with the stage lighting so that we were kind of giving it a slightly more kind of editorial angle than if it was just stage lights.

[34:27] Um but most of the time I'm working with the designers there and and the lights that are actually built into the show.

[34:34] Jayke Workman: Cool.

[34:34] Matthew Murphy: That is so cool. So then I would love to know what the difference is between doing, you know, production shots that are set up, like a shot list, and you know, you just want to like bang out as many as possible in an afternoon, like you mentioned, and then having, I would imagine, more creative freedom with like the image to promote a show. Like when you think of like a marquee or like you said, like the front of house, like all the photos that are um like the brand. Like you shot the iconic Hamilton star silhouette photo.

[35:12] Jayke Workman: Like, what is how how is that different than shooting the actual experience that the audience will take in?

[35:22] Matthew Murphy: That's usually, you know, that's usually something where the creative directors of the ad agencies will have worked with the client over the course of weeks and months to come up with a game plan for exactly how they want to market the show. And then I'm usually brought on board once they have a concept in mind, and they you know, a lot of times with us, it tends to be that we come in to shoot shows that are really movement-based. So if the campaign needs to have a lot of movement in it, we tend to go in and do that.

[35:52] Um in those situations, I'm in a studio with the cast. We are uh doing all of the lighting ourselves, you know, that's all with strobe lighting, all with you know, whatever modifiers that we need to bring in. Nine times out of ten, the campaigns are not shot at the theater, they're shot in photo studios in New York. But uh, you know, with something like Hamilton, they were so clear from the very beginning that they wanted it to be this kind of like iconic emblem that worldwide could be used to the I mean, the minute you see that star, you're like, you know it's Hamilton, it doesn't need to say Hamilton, you know it.

[36:35] And so that was like the number one goal from the beginning with that shoot was to make sure that we were coming out of it with something that was like an iconic mark, basically, that would worldwide be able to signify the show. We shot so much different material that day. Like we, you know, it wasn't just the shot of Lynn on the star, but we basically got them as much material as we could to give them an arsenal of images that they could use throughout the years. And it's like all of a sudden when that was on Disney Plus, they kind of did a revamped version of the star where it was like you could see a little bit more of the detail of who the actors were, you could see a little bit more of like what the actual original photo looks like. But then you know for all of the merchandise and all of the campaigns, it's always been a very like stark uh you know the black and gold yes uh stamp essentially.

[37:18] Jayke Workman: Cool. Well so then how much of your experience or how much of your artistic license goes into post photo shoot and you know editing and photoshop and everything?

[37:48] Matthew Murphy: I mean your your images sort of like run the entire spectrum of like very naturalistic just like what I've captured is what you see in the frame and then you know you you have shot things like like Phantom of the opera for example when you you were shot the like the when they came back after the pandemic um and obviously those photos are like ethereal and mysterious and magical like how much of the post you know actual shoot do you have control over?

[38:21] Matthew Murphy: For production photos almost entirely it's it's within our control. You know like my team is doing the retouching we're usually working with uh the press office to fine-tune any details that they have notes on, but we're really handling all of it. For the ad campaigns, nine times out of ten, that's something that's happened that's uh handled by the actual ad agencies and the creative directors and the art directors there, and they've usually got like the highest end retouchers that you can have. And so I always like to have eyes on it, and I like to be able to make sure that we're signing off on it, you know, as much of it as we can, but the majority of that is handled outside of like the Murphy Made world.

[39:04] Matthew Murphy: At Murphy Made honey. But it's wild because there are times you know, we try, but there are times where like I won't be necessarily as in the loop on a shoot afterwards, and I'll like turn the corner in Shubert Alley, and all of a sudden I'm like, oh, that's out. That that's done. You know, I'll just make it.

[39:24] Jayke Workman: Yeah. No, I mean I had that happen recently with uh there are a couple new buses in Midtown. There's like one of Funny Girl that I didn't even know that there was gonna be a bus for Funny Girl, and I was walking down the street and I was like, Oh, there goes that photo of Leah that we took, and had no clue that that was gonna be there.

[39:41] Matthew Murphy: There it is. Surprise. Does that ever affect you at least? I mean, that just must be so lovely. There's my work. Yeah, every single time. I mean, you know, I was just home in Montana, like I was saying, and I was going through old photos with my parents, and we found like an old, you know, those disposable camera rolls that we all used to take when we were kids if you're as old as I am. Um, and so with a thumb in either corner. Exactly, exactly. Um, and so I found a whole roll of photos that I'd taken that were literally just it was an entire roll of pictures of billboards of Broadway shows that like when I was 10, I just walked around Times Square and just like literally any billboard that I saw, I took a picture of, and then I would tape it to my wall in Montana.

And that's the part of me that gets activated whenever I have a moment where I'm on the street and I look and I see a bus with a photo on it, and I'm like, what the heck? Like I would never I still don't believe it. It's like it's still it still feels so um kind of mind blowing that that I've been given the chance to to capture and create for this community that I love so much that I've been so obsessed with since I was a kid. Yeah. And yeah, so it never that never ever gets old. And you know, the minute that it does get old, I should I should have a real frank conversation with myself.

[41:07] Jayke Workman: Well, and I would imagine too that your connection to the world of musical theater is obviously extended through your beautiful husband, Ryan Scott Oliver, who is a fantastic lyricist and composer. Um, and so that I would imagine also sort of allows you to bounce things off of each other in terms of like, okay, if you know, if I was gonna go about shooting a show like this, what do you think I should do? Or like what is that like to have like a partner who's so in the know in terms of like the world of musical theater?

[41:41] Matthew Murphy: I feel like we're so lucky because we're obviously so like immersed in the same world, but because we do such different things, it's like we are able to always be each other's sounding board and and number one fan, and like and just be the best support system that we can be for each other. So I mean, he listens to me talk through details of every shoot as it's happening, and you know, is always he's got such a savvy business mind that like he is so so invaluable um to help out with just some of the things that my I mean he's got such a freaky brain where he literally is like simultaneously so creative and so business oriented like he he has like real like really has like both sides of it with which I feel like is not you know most people like I'm much more of a creative brain person and the business side of it is always something that I'm learning more and more on the job and Ryan's brain is just like so honed to both of those worlds and so he yeah he is very patient with me and very uh you know he's always got brilliant ideas and and I get to give him my little notes on on shows of his and you know like we get to go back and forth and I always get so spoiled though because like he's actually in the room next door I know he's working on a new show and he's working on some demos for it and like it's another thing that if I could tell my younger self like oh you're gonna be married to this brilliant composer and you're gonna get to hear like songs that no one has heard for the first time and like yeah I I mean that's wild to me like that's so cute that's so amazing well I have not had the pleasure of meeting Ryan yet but I am singing in um the concert version of the new musical out by my friend Jaron Barney Ryan is helping produce oh my gosh yeah for the new yeah for the new actor therapy uh yes developments that they're doing yeah it's so exciting yes indeed so I'm so excited to meet him I oh my gosh yay.

[41:59] Matthew Murphy: Well, I would love to know too if there are I mean, you have kind of shot every I always anytime I talk to photographers and I say you've shot people, I'm like, okay, I I need to re-break that but I know, I know, I know. You have taken photos of so many people. And you know, time and time again, I mean, you've taken photos of people who have probably like the same people in different shows, like 20 different times. But are there ever people that you are like starstruck by or nervous to photograph?

[44:18] Matthew Murphy: Oh, completely. You know, I think the people that I get most nervous about or kind of starstruck by are people that I was like that I idolized as a kid. Sure. You know, like anyone that I grew up listening to or or saw them in shows when I was younger, those are the people that I normally am like fully, you know, like pinching myself geeking out about when I'm working with them.

[44:42] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[44:43] Matthew Murphy: Um, but I think the the cool thing about the community is most of the time, you know, I like n I can count on one hand the amount of like bad, you know, quote unquote like bad experiences I've had with people, because I feel like it nine, you know, like it's it's just such a supportive community, and they're usually really excited to be photographed and excited to collaborate, and um and so you get over the kind of nerves and the star-struck quality pretty quickly.

[45:11] Jayke Workman: Sure. Do you try to at least do you have a sense of like I have I have like a physical guard in front of me that is the actual camera? Like it's not just me like waving at everyone.

[45:20] Matthew Murphy: Like it's yeah, I have a job to do.

[45:24] Jayke Workman: It's yeah, it's good to be, it's good to have like a task at hand and and to tap into, you know, just saying, like, I'm here to collaborate, like, this is what I do. I know that I can do it well. Like, let's come out of this session or this show with the best photos that we possibly can. Like, that's always everybody's goal, right? And so people are hungry to take direction and collaborate and and you know, just create together.

[45:52] Matthew Murphy: Totally. I mean, I I even remember the first time I had my like production photos taken of when I was in Chicago. I was like, I this is out of my hands. So you do whatever you need to do. And please boss me around, tell me what will look best because I don't know, clearly. That's like.

[46:13] Jayke Workman: Well, and half the time what looks best feels bizarre, and so it's like you just have to you have to give over control a little bit and just trust the process to the best of your ability.

[46:24] Matthew Murphy: I mean, but it's just wild. You you go from like, I guess I could just take photos of my friends because this is something that I'm doing, and then you're photographing Patti LuPone in Company. Like, what the hell? Like, where do you where do you go from there?

[46:41] Matthew Murphy: No, I mean, that was yeah, she was one where I was like, what is happening? This is so wild that I'm just on stage, like with Patti LuPone with balloons, yeah, just hanging out for the afternoon.

[46:54] Jayke Workman: Yeah. So are there specific things um maybe in in other photographers' work or or videographers' work that inspire you and and um like continue to push you to develop your craft as a photographer? Or like what what do you look for most in in other people's work?

[47:18] Matthew Murphy: I mean, you know, I'm I'm such a movement person that I think I'm always you know, in awe of photographers who are able to capture movement in an exciting way and maybe an unexpected way. Um I'm kind you know all of us get into the kind of like techy part of it where I get really uh analytical about how they lit something or I will try to kind of like look at the catch lights and in the eyes of somebody and figure out like what the reverse engineering of yeah of the like setup exactly what did they use? Um and I think with like some of my career idols, I think the things that I look for are people who are able to do uh like commercial entertainment photography and I know like if you're shooting a campaign for a movie I know how many cooks are in that kitchen and I and I know how many opinions it take it takes to get a final image out there. So if if you can manage to find something that feels really artistic and commercial at the same time like that's always the kind of sweet spot to me as a as an observer and a fan of other people.

[48:29] Jayke Workman: Sure. I mean you obviously don't just shoot musical theater you uh shot the most recent um RuPaul's Drag Race promos which is in the city.

[48:40] Matthew Murphy: The no all stars for all sorts of all stars but so tell me what is the difference um in shooting people like that versus you know a musical or a play I mean the nice thing with the Drag Race campaign was that it was it was one collaborating with um a brilliant friend of mine who I worked with a lot on Broadway campaigns before he went over to Paramount. Uh his name's Robert Pistotnik, and so he was our creative director for that shoot. And so there was a comfort to that that room that was really invaluable to me. Um the nice thing with the Drag Race campaign was that they're all such performers and they're all like it is very it's a very you know direct line to the musical theater world, right?

It's like sure it doesn't take too much to to figure that out. But um, you know, there was definitely a sense of with that, like a little bit more pressure I put on myself for sure. Um just this you know, this hope that I was going to be able to show off what I could do to the best of my ability in this new capacity.

[49:49] Matthew Murphy: And I was actually surprised because that was one of the shoots that I was so nervous leading up to it, and my number one goal for the shoot was other than obviously getting killer photos. My number one goal was that I wanted to be really present for all of it, and I felt like you know, it was a three-day shoot, and I felt at the end of it, I was like, you know what? I was actually really here for this. Like, I I remember it, I was present in the room, I wasn't judging myself, I was just here and enjoying it, and I was really proud of that.

[50:22] Jayke Workman: Cool. That is so cool.

[50:23] Matthew Murphy: And I I think there must be something specific, though, about trying to capture drag queens, because drag performers sort of create their own lighting on their face with their makeup. They're like, this is my nose, these are my cheekbones, this is what my body looks like with the padding and the silhouettes and everything. So you have a very specific task of capturing it the way that they have already painted it onto their bodies to completely to convey it to the audience.

[50:57] Matthew Murphy: I mean, the cool thing about it being all-stars was that they all know themselves so well already by that point, and they have such a specific brand, and they know exactly what they're selling. So it's like they know their angles, they know the way the way they want the light to hit their face. Um there was truly no better compliment that I received during that entire process than uh Trinity, who is like one of my all-time favorite queens. She she tweeted something when the campaign came out and was basically like, oh my god, finally, like this campaign is so fierce, you know, like and look at this lighting. They like all these queens look amazing. Or you know, something that was basically just very complimentary of the fact that she liked the photos. And I was like, wow, Trinity, who I know is full of opinions. If she's giving us the stuff of approval, I was like, I will take that as the major win in my book.

[51:46] Jayke Workman: Hell yes.

[51:48] Matthew Murphy: But you know, on this on set, it's like there's each of them, you know, had there was like a couple wardrobe assistants that were there with us that day that were just basically specifically there to like maintain the looks as we were kind of moving through the shoot. But we also had an iPad that they were, you know, a monitor that they were looking at, so they were seeing it come in in live time where they were like making adjustments to any number of things that they you know that they wanted to perfect on set. And we shot each of them for about an hour, so I mean we had a lot of time.

[52:18] Jayke Workman: Wow, that is a lot of time.

[52:20] Matthew Murphy: Yeah, yeah. I mean, we we spent we spent a decent amount of time with each of them for sure.

[52:25] Jayke Workman: Sure, which I would imagine is lucky for you, but also so lucky for them because they get to ease into the shoot and get more comfortable over time, and that's awesome. Well, you mentioned earlier your Murphy Made team. Obviously, Murphy Made as a brand is like sort of who you are and how you are accessible on social media and all of that. But um you it's not just you and I would love to hear about um you know your team of people and and how many people work together to create your image and your brand.

[53:01] Matthew Murphy: Yeah, so I mean I feel so unbelievably lucky because basically at this point Murphy Made is me and Evan Zimmerman, who is an unbelievable photographer. He actually is the one that took the Sweeney photo that you were talking about earlier; that's an Evan photo, which is like he is so unbelievably talented and he's also become kind of like king of motion blur, which is my favorite. Like he did all these photos for the Met Opera that have all this incredible motion blur, and the Sweeney photo obviously has that incredible motion blur.

[53:48] Matthew Murphy: And, you know, he's so brilliant and basically at this point we go out and we'll either shoot shows together. A lot of times we've shot Sweeney together, we shot Back to the Future together. So what's cool about that is it gives us a little bit of freedom to take some of the pressure off but also play a little bit more. Like I think that Sweeney photo came out of the fact that because it was both of us, we were able to try new things that we wouldn't necessarily be able to try if it was just one of us shooting it.

[54:19] Matthew Murphy: Yeah. Um, and so finding Evan was one of the coolest things that ever happened to me as a business owner and as a photographer, and I'm constantly learning from him and constantly inspired by him. We are really lucky that we have not only the two of us as photographers, but we've got a retoucher named Peter Zelensky who has been, I mean, I actually wish that I knew how many photos Peter has retouched for us. He could probably tell us, but it's like, you know, thousands.

[54:51] Matthew Murphy: Thousands, thousands and thousands by this point, and he has been with me since I started, basically. Like he was one of the first people that I worked with as a retoucher, and he has stuck by my side and put up with the most insane requests at the most insane hours of the day.

[55:10] Matthew Murphy: And it's due tomorrow. I mean, it's tomorrow would be luxurious. It's usually the, it's due 20 minutes ago.

[55:17] Jayke Workman: Right.

[55:18] Matthew Murphy: You know, he's like the king of getting things done in a crazy fast amount of time, and also the king of like, I'll look at a photo, and one of the ones that I always remember is we had a cast member in a show once who had like a, I think they had like broken part of their foot or something, and so they were wearing like a cast for the photo call.

[55:39] Matthew Murphy: And the photo that ended up getting selected, the press team was like, and can you remove the cast? And we were all like, what? Like, huh? You want us to completely rebuild her leg?

[55:47] Jayke Workman: Out of the... create a leg.

[55:51] Matthew Murphy: Yeah, and Peter was like, I'll do it. He's like, I'll figure it out. And he like literally made this crazy leg that you would never know was photoshopped. But I just is like, yeah, he kind of like cherishes the challenge, I think.

[56:06] Jayke Workman: Wow.

[56:07] Matthew Murphy: He's that kind of Photoshop nerd where he's like, what new tool can I use, and what new thing can I do?

[56:15] Jayke Workman: Yeah, that is amazing.

[56:17] Jayke Workman: Do you have a single favorite photo that you've ever taken?

[56:23] Matthew Murphy: Ooh.

[56:25] Matthew Murphy: Or maybe not just one photo, because that's hard, but one production that you feel most proud of.

[56:35] Matthew Murphy: Ooh, that's hard too. Um, I would say probably the production that I feel most proud of because of how much we've worked on it and how much we helped kind of create the brand of it, is probably Moulin Rouge.

[56:49] Matthew Murphy: Fabulous. Like, we worked on that from the very beginning. We were in Boston. We, you know, created the campaign with the ad agency RPM. We have photographed it all over the world and, you know, all over the country, and done ad campaigns and coffee table books, and I got to do an amazing series with them during the pandemic, where it was like the first time that I went back into a theater during the pandemic, and I photographed some of the cast members that by that point had really become close friends of mine.

[57:18] Matthew Murphy: I got to capture this hopefully once in a lifetime moment. You know, like let's hope that was the only time we're all gonna go through that.

[57:26] Matthew Murphy: Yeah, um, and I just felt very special. It's felt very special to get to be part of the process at so many different stages with that show. And I also from the very beginning of my career, Alex Timbers has been someone who gives me so much to work with as a photographer.

[57:46] Matthew Murphy: It's like I know if I'm going in on a show of his that it's just gonna be a feast, and so anytime like getting to work on Here Lies Love with him. Um, Rocky was one of my first shows, and that was with Alex, and getting to have a shorthand with somebody that's as much of a kind of creative juggernaut as he is is something that I always really cherish for sure.

[58:07] Jayke Workman: Totally.

[58:08] Jayke Workman: I mean, I have to say the those most recent photos of Miss JoJo as Satina.

[58:14] Matthew Murphy: Oh stunning.

[58:16] Jayke Workman: The titties, the waist though.

[58:17] Matthew Murphy: I mean I was like, come on.

[58:20] Jayke Workman: And she was giving you those like husky vocals, they were everything.

[58:23] Matthew Murphy: And Moulin Rouge has been really fun too because it's something that Evan and I both work on together a lot. Like he's been doing a lot of the new ad campaigns for it. I've been doing a lot of the production photos for it, and so to get to feel that it's really this like team Murphy Made moment has been super special.

[58:41] Jayke Workman: Wow, that's amazing.

[58:43] Jayke Workman: Well, Matthew, before I let you go, the time has come where I must ask you a series of rapid fire musical theater questions, which I ask every guest.

[58:57] Jayke Workman: It is not trivia, it's personal questions just for you. But they have of course been adjusted because you are a photographer. Are you ready?

[59:06] Matthew Murphy: I am ready.

[59:08] Jayke Workman: Here we go. Sondheim or Andrew Lloyd Webber?

[59:13] Matthew Murphy: Sondheim.

[59:14] Matthew Murphy: Always a Sondheim baby from when I was a kid.

[59:18] Jayke Workman: Sweeney Todd.

[59:19] Jayke Workman: Sweatpants or jeans?

[59:22] Matthew Murphy: Jeans.

[59:24] Jayke Workman: Do you have a favorite musical?

[59:27] Matthew Murphy: Ooh.

[59:30] Matthew Murphy: Yes. I would say it, I would have to go with like, you know, Sunday in the Park with George or Sweeney or Into the Woods. Any of those kind of original Sondheim ones that I became obsessed with as a kid.

[59:42] Jayke Workman: Sure.

[59:42] Jayke Workman: What about do you have a least favorite musical?

[59:47] Matthew Murphy: Ooh.

[59:49] Matthew Murphy: Do I have a least favorite musical? Did you take the promo photo?

[59:52] Matthew Murphy: Yeah, I'm like, I'm like, do I have one that I can actually answer? Um, I mean, not really to be told this is a little bit of a cop-out answer, but I am such a fan of musical theater, and I am such a fan of like flop musical theater. I've been obsessed with flops since I was a kid.

[1:00:08] Jayke Workman: Totally.

[1:00:09] Matthew Murphy: And so I feel like it really, it is almost impossible for me to not find something that I really like about a show.

[1:00:17] Jayke Workman: I love that answer.

[1:00:17] Jayke Workman: That's what Barrett Weed said, and I was like, you are amazing.

[1:00:21] Matthew Murphy: Yes.

[1:00:22] Jayke Workman: Um, are you a morning person or a night owl?

[1:00:26] Matthew Murphy: Ooh, becoming more of a morning person, but I'm kind of a mid-afternoon person.

[1:00:32] Matthew Murphy: That's what I'm definitely like done.

[1:00:35] Matthew Murphy: Exactly. I'm definitely the one that's like, I want to sleep in, but then I also am the first person to fall asleep. Like my husband hates watching movies with me because I'm always like asleep the minute it starts.

[1:00:45] Jayke Workman: Love that.

[1:00:46] Jayke Workman: Um, this I think is an interesting question, which I do ask everyone, but since you're a photographer, I think there's like a specific, you know, flavor that you might add. What is the craziest thing a director has ever asked you to do?

[1:01:02] Matthew Murphy: Uh, there's two things that come to mind. One was working with Alex Timbers on Rocky. I remember photographing that show, the final boxing match was really wild because the boxing ring rotated and I was like right up against it, and then I was on stage with people, and so that was one where I was like, Oh, I should probably be getting hazard pay for this because I'm like gonna get trampled.

[1:01:31] Matthew Murphy: Um, then another one that comes to mind is, this is not a director, this is a, I'm gonna modify the question a tiny bit. This is a press rep for a show. Had me get in a cherry picker one time to shoot the Phantom of the Opera Tour because of the way that the set is built.

[1:01:47] Matthew Murphy: And so it was literally like the crew put me in the cherry picker. They like raised it all the way to the top of the stage, and they were like, okay, don't.

[1:01:54] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, you were Jackie Burns defying gravity.

[1:01:57] Matthew Murphy: Fully, fully, fully iconic.

[1:02:02] Jayke Workman: Um, coffee or tea?

[1:02:05] Matthew Murphy: Coffee, Trenta coffee, Trenta cold brew from Starbucks, all the time.

[1:02:09] Jayke Workman: Trenta, come on.

[1:02:11] Matthew Murphy: I be drip, honey.

[1:02:12] Jayke Workman: Um, what is the hardest show that you have ever photographed?

[1:02:18] Matthew Murphy: Ooh.

[1:02:20] Matthew Murphy: Ooh, it would have to be something really dark. What would be like what would be one of the darker shows that I photographed? Ooh, one of the one that was actually King Kong was actually hard because of like the technical elements involved, but it was that was a really fun show to shoot, and I also got to shoot that alongside Joan Marcus, which was like such a dream come true.

[1:02:40] Matthew Murphy: Crazy. That was really hard just because it was really dimly lit, it was such a beautiful show, but it was really hard to photograph was Girl from the North Country.

[1:02:41] Matthew Murphy: Because it was really, really dark, and that is just tricky as a photographer is to try to figure out how to make it look as beautiful as it looks to your eye, but it's like technically just tricky to figure out.

[1:03:05] Jayke Workman: Totally.

[1:03:06] Jayke Workman: What about, um, is there a show that has your favorite costumes that you have ever photographed?

[1:03:13] Matthew Murphy: Ooh.

[1:03:15] Matthew Murphy: Oh my god, that's such a hard question. I want to be able to answer it. Wait, let me actually, I'm you can edit this out for a second. I'm gonna, I just want to look at something really fast because I feel like, oh, it's staying in honey.

[1:03:26] Matthew Murphy: I mean, I mean, I feel like the Moulin Rouge costumes are absolutely to die for. Like, I remember in Boston, yes, literally, like in Boston when I think they added the dress that she wears in the last like scene of the show, the kind of watercolor dress.

[1:03:46] Matthew Murphy: I wanna say that they added that in Boston, and I remember when they added it being like, are you fucking kidding me? That is like the most stunning thing I've ever seen in my life.

[1:03:54] Jayke Workman: Yeah.

[1:03:54] Matthew Murphy: Just the color work on it is so incredible.

[1:03:57] Jayke Workman: Gorgeous.

[1:03:58] Matthew Murphy: Yeah.

[1:03:59] Jayke Workman: Well, my last question for you is what is one thing that you would tell young baby Matthew Murphy?

[1:04:09] Matthew Murphy: Ooh, that's so hard. Um, take like take every chance you have in the theater to be very grateful for this opportunity because I think the pandemic really showed me like, oh, this thing that we thought was gonna be just the way it was forever, all of a sudden was so disrupted.

[1:04:29] Matthew Murphy: And I think coming back from the pandemic, I've been so much more aware of just like how lucky we are to get to do what we do, how lucky we are getting to how lucky we are to be able to collaborate with people.

[1:04:41] Matthew Murphy: Um, it's always better to have fun. So just enjoy the people you're around and be really nice to your stage managers.

[1:04:50] Matthew Murphy: Period. Stage managers save everything.

[1:04:54] Matthew Murphy: I mean, truly, it's like anytime I see people being rude to a stage manager, I'm like, are you kidding me? Like they hold your life in their hands.

[1:05:02] Jayke Workman: Yes, yes.

[1:05:03] Jayke Workman: And they're incredible people.

[1:05:07] Jayke Workman: Well, Matt, thank you so so much for being on the pod. You are just an absolute delight. Would you tell the listeners where they can find you on social media to keep up and see all of your beautiful images?

[1:05:20] Matthew Murphy: Absolutely. We are branded across the board as @MurphyMade.

[1:05:27] Matthew Murphy: MurphyMade.com.

[1:05:29] Jayke Workman: Yes, honey.

[1:05:30] Matthew Murphy: Oh my god, it's my absolute dream to one day be Murphy Made in a show.

[1:05:35] Jayke Workman: It'll happen.

[1:05:36] Jayke Workman: We're gonna do it.

[1:05:38] Jayke Workman: Thank you so so much for being on the pod. You are just a treat.

[1:05:40] Matthew Murphy: Thank you.

[1:05:43] Jayke Workman: It's amazing.

[1:05:45] Jayke Workman: You guys, that's it for another episode of Oh My Pod. You guys don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe anywhere you listen to the pod.

[1:05:51] Jayke Workman: And you can follow the show on Instagram for all of your guest updates at O MyPody Guest.

[1:05:57] Jayke Workman: Thanks so much for listening. Talk soon.

[1:05:58] Jayke Workman: Bye.

[1:06:01] Jayke Workman: Oh my god.

[1:06:02] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, you guys.