"Into the Woods" Gives Back

As if doing a full length Sondheim weren’t enough, several of the rising young stars of Into the Woods, now playing on our Signature Season at Willow Lawn, are joining forces to produce and present a Musical Theatre Cabaret as a benefit for Richmond's Theatre Artist Fund.

Zak Resnick (one of our charming Princes, pictured to the left), Rita Markova (our lovely Cinderella) and Drew Seigla (Jack of “fee fi fo” fame) will be joined by Amy Hruska, Jackie Jones, Katrinah Lewis, Robyn O’Neill, Kim Reuter, Craig Smith and Hannah Zold as ten of Virginia’s finest theatre voices come together to present a harmonious evening of musical magic.

There will be two performances of the Cabaret on the lobby stage at Barksdale Willow Lawn. Performance dates and times are Saturday, August 4, 12 midnight (following the Saturday evening Into the Woods performance) and Tuesday, August 7, 8 pm. Patrons will sit at tables, cabaret style, and the house and cash bar will be open 30 minutes prior to curtain.

Tickets are $25 ($20 for Barksdale and Theatre IV subscribers and anyone holding Into the Woods tickets for August 4, $10 for our young company members from Disney’s High School Musical). All but $10 of each ticket price is tax deductible. Everybody who’s anybody in the theatre community will be there, and it’s going to be FUN. So call the Barksdale box office to make your reservations today – 282-2620.

All ticket proceeds will be donated to the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund, a program of the Richmond Alliance for Professional Theatres (RAPT) and the Community Foundation. The Richmond Theatre Artists Fund helps with the emergency needs of metro Richmond theatre artists who are confronted by insurmountable financial challenges due to major illness or some other tragedy beyond their control.

Prior to the establishment of the endowed fund, the theatre community raised emergency funds on a case by case basis. Over the past dozen or so years, theatre artists have raised tens of thousands of dollars to:
provide new housing for an actor with AIDS who lost his job and was thrown out onto the street when his condition was disclosed,

make mortgage payments for a lifelong theatre administrator who was about to lose her home as her husband (a theatre tech director) struggled for more than a year with brain cancer, and

pay for critical medications for a cherished actress fighting against terminal cancer.

So why not support a GREAT cause and enjoy a wonderful evening’s entertainment at the same time? Three cheers to Zak and company for this wonderful gift to our community. I hope to see you there.

--Bruce Miller