"Boys' Life" -- 3 Adolescent Men in the 80s

Posted by Bruce Miller
I was happy to see Boys’ Life at the Firehouse tonight. Here’s what I liked a lot:

The young and very talented cast has to top everyone's list of prime assets. Joe Carlson is one of the most talented actors in town. I hope to have the privilege of working with him one day. My buddies Landon Nagel and Maggie Marlin were both terrific, particularly in their scenes with each other. Andrew Donnelly was somewhat new to me—I’d seen him in Dracula and Shadow Play at VCU—and I thought he certainly held his own tonight with the Carlson/Nagel power team. Amy Sproul, daughter of a good friend, once again impressed me no end. I raved about Amy and Joe when they first appeared together in This Is Our Youth at Firehouse a couple years back.

Lauren English, Alison Haracznak, Carter Lowery, and London Ray were all terrific. I was particularly enamoured of the natural charms of whichever actress it was who played the character who jogs. The characters aren’t listed in order of appearance in the playbill, and I can’t remember which female character had which name.

Director Morrie Piersol is a master at getting believable, edgy performances from his impressive cast.

Eddie Slipek once again shows his great eye as a scenic designer. Bryan Harris’s sound design, Nikki Osborne’s costumes, and Geno Brantley’s Lighting Design all serve the play well.

And how about those new seats. I’m so jealous. The new seats are comfortable and attractive. I want some for Barksdale Willow Lawn. Ah well. Someday.

Once again I was struck by how complimentary Firehouse and Barksdale are. Truth be told, I would probably never pick a play like Boys’ Life for Barksdale, and Carol perhaps would never pick a play like Boleros for the Disenchanted for the Firehouse. In like manner, some audiences will prefer one of these titles over the other. With Barksdale and Firehouse offering different types of plays, Richmond audiences have the chance to see both types of theatre.

Tomorrow I’m going to see The Ugly Duckling at Theatre IV, and Saturday it’s off to TheatreVCU and Psycho Beach Party. Next week, I’ll try my hardest to catch Shining City, The New Century, and Much Ado. Later in the Fall … Irma Vep and Mahalia,

See you at the theatres!

--Bruce Miller

The Real Transylvania Mania

Posted by Bruce Miller

Very quickly (it's past my bedtime), I attended TheatreVCU's production of Dracula this evening, written by Steven Dietz, directed by Barry Bell, and produced by David Leong. It was an exciting, impressive and creepy ride.

I especially appreciated the five leading men: Brandon Crowder as Dracula, Joe Carlson as Renfield, Joseph Sultani as Seward, Landon Nagel as Van Helsing, and Andrew Donnelly as Harker. All five inhabited their characters with distinct personalities and histrionic expertise, creating some heart-pounding suspense.

Of the five, Landon Nagel is the Barksdale vet, having played the minister and other roles in The Full Monty a couple summers ago.

Ron Keller's set, Toni-Leslie James's costumes, Mike Mauren's lights, and especially Thomas Vecchione's sound were all chill inducing. Ron Keller is another Barksdale and Theatre IV vet, having designed The Laramie Project and supervised the designs of countless other shows at Willow Lawn, including our upcoming productions of Doubt and The Little Dog Laughed.

The two leading ladies, Jaci Camden and Marie Weigle, spent most of the show as young lovelies, but became more interesting after becoming "unclean." Barry Bell staged it all with style, classical titillation, and a fun sense of the unexpected.

More than half the seats were empty this evening, which is a terrible shame. Students can attend for only $7 (adults are something like $18). This evening was further proof that even when exciting theatre is presented super-cheap in their own backyard, it's really difficult to convince the majority of university students to come to the theatre.

The last two performances will be tomorrow evening (Friday) at 7:30, and, if you want to be really creepy, Saturday evening at MMIIDDNNIIGGHHTT - AHH HHAA HHAA!! (That's me using my deep Transylvania voice with lots of reverb.)

Anyway, for an eerie good time, you won't go wrong with this new edition of Dracula. The VCU theatre department is full of talent. And you can't beat the price.

--Bruce Miller