All is "Well" at Barksdale

Posted by Bruce Miller
One of the strongest influences on my notion of what distinguishes a great theatre from the rest of the crowd comes from the 20 or so years I subscribed to Arena Stage, the granddaddy of all major professional theatres, still going strong in Washington D. C. I began my Arena journey in my junior year of college, 1970 – 71. Two of my professors and mentors were subscribers—Jack Welsh and Ruth Salisbury. They were looking for someone to round out the car pool. If memory serves, Jack fronted me the money and I paid him back bit by bit over the school year.

I renewed my subscription annually after that, working my way over two decades into the best seats in the house. For many years I continued to subscribe with Jack and Ruth (Phil Whiteway joined our intrepid group sometime in the early 70s). Later Phil and I struck out on my own, eventually recruiting our girlfriends / wives, Donna and Terrie. Dianne Graham was with us for several years. Then Phil and Donna dropped out around the time that PJ was born in the early 80s, and Terrie and I called it quits when she became pregnant with Hannah during the 1989 – 90 Season. After the kids, who had the time or money?

Anyway, one of the things I learned during this double decade experience was that some of the shows I enjoyed the most were the ones I knew the least about. They may or may not have been “great” plays—time is the only judge of that. They were “of the moment,” almost ephemeral, often loosely crafted works of whimsy and/or drama, not necessarily meant to stand the test of time. They were part of the zeitgeist. They gave us lots to talk about on the ride home.

I particularly recall History of American Film and The Marriage of Bette and Boo, both by Christopher Durang, Pueblo, Isn’t It Romantic? by Wendy Wasserstein, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window by Lorraine Hansberry, Moonchildren by Michael Weller, Status Quo Vadis by Donald Driver, Streamers by David Rabe, and Nightclub Cantata by Elizabeth Swados, among many, many others.

I LOVED the fact that Arena, under the brilliant artistic direction of Zelda Fichandler, had the daring to mix it up. Interspersed with the Arthur Millers and Thornton Wilders, with the Ibsens and Chekhovs and Brechts, would be young and current writers who were testing the boundaries and breaking the molds.

At Barksdale Theatre, my artistic decisions are influenced absolutely by Zelda’s aesthetic. I wish we had the resources to do more Millers, Wilders, Ibsens, Chekhovs and Brechts. I’m proud that we have the daring to include in each season new, lesser known (at least in Richmond) works such as our current production of Well by Lisa Kron, and our recent productions of The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl, The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane, Brooklyn Boy by Donald Margulies, Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage, The Drawer Boy by Michael Healey, and Melissa Arctic by Craig Wright.

Only by exploring new work do we grow as artists and audiences.

If you’d like to join us on the journey, we invite you to round out the car pool.

See you at the theatre.

--Bruce Miller

Playing to a Diverse Audience

Posted by Bruce Miller

For the last couple of decades, we’ve all talked a lot about the desirability of performing for a diverse audience. In many instances, what we have meant by a “diverse audience” is one that includes a greater racial and ethnic mix. This worthy and important goal is always a major component of our planning at Barksdale and Theatre IV.

There are also other ways to build diversity. At Barksdale, we work hard to achieve economic diversity. Our many discount and needs-based ticket programs are centered on our refusal to allow lack of funds to be a roadblock to anyone who’d like to see one of our shows. We have never and will never turn anyone away based on their inability to pay.

We also have developed initiatives to increase age diversity. Barksdale Theatre Workshop consists of several efforts meant to connect us with high school and university drama enthusiasts. The Bifocals Theatre Project is a popular program designed to maintain and increase the loyalty of our senior audience. Contemporary plays like The Little Dog Laughed, Brooklyn Boy, Melissa Arctic, 5th of July, etc. have been selected each year specifically to encourage more participation from audience members in their 20s, 30s and 40s.

When considering the many ways in which an audience can include diverse individuals, one should not overlook that dividing line that separates those who experience theatre as an art form from those who appreciate theatre purely as entertainment. If you are trying to attract a relatively large audience in Richmond—and make no mistake, that's exactly what Barksdale is trying to do—you will most likely find yourself trying to appeal to both camps.

Our budgets rely on selling six to ten thousand tickets to each production. Looking at the big picture, Barksdale and Theatre IV need to sell $70,000 worth of tickets and tour shows every week in order to make ends meet. When performing for audiences of this size, we know that some ticket buyers will come with a sophisticated and knowledgeable approach to theatre, and others will come for a night on the town.

Yes, I know of the instances when great art and great entertainment are found in the same show. Those are the plays and productions we cherish and cheer. I also know of the great many plays that are more likely to appeal to the “challenge and thrill me” crowd than to their “show me a good time but don’t make me think” brothers. And vise versa.

My recent blog post about the Broadway stagehands strike made me consider anew the diversity of the audience we are building. One commenter clearly felt that it was not necessary or appropriate for me to “explain” the strike negotiations because he/she and his/her peers were “already following the news.” A couple subsequent commenters supported my efforts to report on the labor dispute, admitting that they relied on the Barksdale blog to fill them in because they made few efforts to keep up with national theatre news through other outlets.

Within the Barksdale family, we're proud to have both those who take theatre seriously and those who want to have some serious fun. We welcome and try to program to both perspectives.

Amy Berlin (pictured to the left with one-time writing partner P. Ann Bucci) rightly called me to task months ago when I awkwardly compared Barksdale’s mission to produce “the great comedies, dramas and musicals—past, present and future” to the missions of Greater Richmond’s other theatres. I don’t want to make the same mistake again.

So, without comparing any one theatre to another, I’ll simply state how proud I am that Barksdale produces plays on our Signature Season at Willow Lawn as important, diverse and artistically satisfying as The Constant Wife by Somerset Maugham; Mame by Jerry Herman, Lawrence and Lee; Brooklyn Boy by Donald Margulies; Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage (pictured above with Adanma Onyedike and Katrinah Carol Lewis); Into the Woods by Sondheim and Lapine; The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers; Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson; Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley; The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane; and Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser.

And for those who want lighter fare, we offer our more commercial County Playhouse Season at Hanover Tavern—our “Pops Series,” if you like to use symphony nomenclature.

In coming blog posts, I’m going to give some thought to the various institutional pros and cons of trying to appeal simultaneously to those who are arts savvy and those who are entertainment enthusiasts. As always, I encourage your thoughts as well.

--Bruce Miller

JB Takes the Stage, and her place in STYLE Weekly's Top 40 Under 40, and the Questionnaire

Posted by Billy Christopher Maupin

The incomparable Jill Bari Steinberg, currently appearing in our production of Carson McCuller's stunning play The Member of the Wedding, was just named one of STYLE Weekly's Top 40 Under 40- the young men and women who are transforming Richmond! Which means it's high time for me to get on the ball and get Jill Bari's answers to Pivot/Lipton's questionnaire.

JB has also appeared in Barksdale's productions of Brooklyn Boy, The Constant Wife, The Syringa Tree (after a Phoebe-award winning turn in Theatre Gym's production), Fifth of July, The Man Who Came to Dinner, and The Laramie Project (in association with Richmond Triangle Players). AND she appeared in Theatre Gym's productions of My Children! My Africa!, A Devil Inside (by Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright David-Lindsay Abaire), Heathen Valley, The Cripple of Inishmaan, and How I Learned to Drive. AND at Theatre IV in Peter Pan and Babes in Toyland. AND at the Firehouse Theatre Project in As Bees In Honey Drown, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Bat Boy: the Musical.

Where have I been? It is so past time! So here goes:

1. What is your favorite word?
Such a hard question. Words are amazing. I love them all. But one of my favorites is Life.

2. What is your least favorite word?
I really love all the bad words too but Extermination is a bad thing.

3. What turns you on [creatively, spiritually or emotionally]?
Humor, wit, humility, vulnerability

4. What turns you off?
Arrogance, conceit and when somebody THINKS they are funny.

5. What sound or noise do you love?
My Father's Voice

6. What sound or noise do you hate?
Gun shots

7. What is your favorite curse word? (have it at it. I obviously won't post it for real, but in some approved somewhat censored fashion) !@#$%^ &*()_+ is hilarious but it is so hard to pick just one. I am also learning some interesting lingo from the kids in the cast of MOTW such as “What the Krunk?” and “That is so sketch!”

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
OK – This is seriously the hardest question to answer. The list is long but to narrow it down as much as possible I will say food critic, art curator or art historian, wine maker, photographer, children’s talent agent, judge on Top Chef.

9. What profession would you not like to do?
Knife throwers assistant or anything involving Clowns. (please do not post a clown pic here or it will scare me)

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Welcome Jill Bari, meet your Grandfather Bernard. We have been waiting for you for a long time.

--Billy Christopher Maupin

The Good Side of Being Big: Dan Ruth to Direct "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife" for Firehouse

Working collaboratively, Barksdale and Theatre IV have an annual operating budget of about $5 million. To put that in perspective, we’re about the same size as the Richmond Symphony, and about two times bigger than the former TheatreVirginia in its prime. In fact, we’re the largest professional theatre in Virginia history, in terms of both annual audience and annual budget.

The downside of all this is workload. If you don’t count the two weeks a year when we take vacation, we have to raise $30,000 in contributions during each of the remaining 50 weeks. That’s what it takes to raise the $1,500,000 we need each year in order to meet budget.

Equally daunting, we have to sell $70,000 per week in tickets and tour shows in order to reach our earned revenue goal of $3,500,000 per year. Needless to say, it takes a lot of work on the part of a lot of people to meet these goals. For 32 years, my workload has been about 80 hours a week. That's the challenging side of working for a large and successful organization.

But being big is good in that it gives you artistic opportunities. For recent and current productions, we were able to spend what it takes to bring in the likes of Harrison White, Dave Winning and Jay Lustig for The Full Monty, Liz Mamana for The Constant Wife, Kathy Halenda and Amy Prothro for Mame, Drew Perkins for Smoke on the Mountain, and Dan Ruth for Brooklyn Boy.

When we bring these seasoned pros into town, it helps not only Barksdale Theatre and the particular shows in which they appear, it also helps the entire Richmond theatre community. Richmond’s finest theatre artists benefit from having the chance to work and network with talented professionals from outside our community. Nothing stunts artistic growth more than working in a closed environment.

And sometimes, the artists we bring to town are then able to work for other local theatres as well. As one example, Dan Ruth (pictured above with Joe Pabst in Brooklyn Boy) began directing The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife for Firehouse Theatre Project while he was still performing in Brooklyn Boy. Now that Brooklyn's over and Allergist's Wife rehearsals are in full swing, Dan is still living in the house of Barksdale staff member Bob Albertia, and Barksdale will still be paying for his transportation back to New York, once Allergist’s Wife opens.

It was great to be able to bring Dan back to Richmond this season, and to see his wonderful work again in Brooklyn Boy. It will be equally great to see his directing expertise back in play at Firehouse. Richmond will enjoy two artistic efforts from Dan while only paying once for his housing and transportation expenses. This double-header represents an efficient use of limited community resources, and an excellent example of cooperation among two Richmond theatres. We’re proud to be a part of it.