Celebrating Twelfth Night

Posted by Bruce Miller

Today is Jan 5, the day to wish each of you a very joyous Twelfth Night, that most theatrical of holidays.

Or is today the day?

That irresistible—or irresponsible, depending on your point of view—carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas” first reared its lyrical head in the early 1780s in England, and most of us today associate Twelfth Night with the Twelve Days of Christmas. The Twelve Days of Christmas is that period on the Christian calendar that separates Christmas from Epiphany. The Twelve Days are also known as Christmastide and Twelve-tide.

Christmas, or Christ’s Mass, marks the birth of Jesus Christ on the Christian calendar, and has been established since the Middle Ages as occurring on the Julian date of Winter Solstice, Dec 25. (See Theatre and the Winter Solstice, posted on this blog on Sat, Dec 22, 2007.) Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Day, Three Kings Day and Theophany, is a Christian feast intended to celebrate the revelation of God to mankind in human form in the person of Jesus Christ.

Some Christians believe that Epiphany marks the day when the Magi visited the child Jesus—hence the alternate Three Kings Day. (According to Biblical historians, Jesus was a toddler of two by that time, so next year you might want to consider removing those wise men from your nativity scene.) Other Christians believe that Epiphany marks the day when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan—hence the alternate Theophany. As early as the Third Century, Epiphany (or Twelfth Day) was established as Jan 6.

Twelfth Night concludes the Twelve Days of Christmas and falls on the evening before Twelfth Day. A word of caution for those of you who are keeping count—you may be pondering, if Dec 25 is the first day of Christmas, then Jan 5 is Twelfth Day and Jan 4 is Twelfth Night, not Jan 5. Ah, but you’re forgetting that in days gone by a calendar day actually began at sundown on the evening before, somewhat like the Jewish Sabbath today.

In other words, Christmas Day began at dusk on Dec 25 and continued until dusk on Dec 26. So even though Christmas Day began on Dec 25, the daylight part of Christmas Day (the First Day of Christmas) actually took place on Dec 26. This would place Twelfth Day on Jan 6 and Twelfth Night on Jan 5.

Have I confused you enough? Let me see if I can confuse you some more.

Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, or What You Will was written as a holiday entertainment in 1601. Its first performance was most likely on Feb 2, 1602, the day of Candlemas, the holiday that marked the end of Twelfth Night celebrations in 17th Century England. But then again, the premiere may have taken place one to five days earlier or later, since Candlemas, in those days and today, could be celebrated either on Feb 2 or on the Sunday that fell between Jan 28 and Feb 3.

In 1602, Twelfth Night was not so much a specific night as it was a four week festival that began on the specific night of Jan 5 and ended on Candlemas. The important point to note is that in Shakespeare’s time, as today, Candlemas was a Principal Feast of the Anglican Communion—make note all ye Episcopalians—and the observance of Principal Feasts was and is obligatory.

What we know for sure is that the world premiere of Shakespeare’s play marked the royal observance of Candlemas in 1602, concluding the festival known as Twelfth Night. The play, one of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies, was staged in the magnificent Middle Temple Hall which still stands today (see photo below). And it was staged sometime between Jan 28 and Feb 3.
So, whether you celebrate Twelfth Night today, Jan 5, or, as Shakespeare likely did, four weeks later, all of us at Barksdale hope you have a joyous one.

Once we get to Feb 2, I’ll revisit this subject with another story about the theatrical connections of Candlemas, which was not only the end of the festival of Twelfth Night, but also the beginning of Carnival, the international festival that lasts until the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday.

Let’s face it, for those who celebrate every religious festival out there, it’s just one party after another.

Joyous Twelfth Night!

--Bruce Miller

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Posted by Bruce Miller
Christmas Day, 2007

As those of you who read this blog know, P. J. Whiteway was able to come home this Christmas. Tomorrow, Dec 26, he flies back to Iraq. As we celebrated last night at our traditional Miller/Whiteway Christmas Eve dinner, I couldn’t get this carol out of my head.

Christmas Bells
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

Then from each black, accursed mouth,
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearthstones of a continent,
And made forlorn the households born
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

And in despair I bowed my head.
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep,
“God is not dead nor doth He sleep.
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, goodwill to men.”

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day—
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

It's good to remember that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote this poem on Christmas Day, 1863 at the height of the Civil War--a war that Longfellow heartily opposed, as poets in all times are apt to do. Verses three and four aren’t often heard today, but they certainly provide the lyric with context.

And the war itself was not the only sorrow on Longfellow’s mind. His dear wife of 18 years had died 30 months earlier when her dress had caught fire and he had been unable to smother the flames. Their oldest son, Charles, was a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac and suffered life-threatening wounds only 18 days before Henry heard and immortalized those Christmas bells.

And yet, despite his personal and our national grief, Longfellow managed to follow verse five with verses six and seven.

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

May all of us hear … may all of us be that “voice.” May all our thoughts and hopes and songs combine to create that “chant sublime,” finally bringing peace back to our broken world.

Merry Christmas. And may God bless us every one!

--Bruce Miller

The Few, The Proud, The Toy-Givers

Posted by John Steils

Barksdale and Theatre IV have been proud to participate this year in the annual gift campaign of the U. S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation, filling two giant boxes with holiday presents for needy children. The large empty crates arrived in the lobbies of Barksdale at Willow Lawn and the historic Empire Theatre (downtown) just after Thanksgiving. This morning, both containers, now filled to overflowing, were picked up by two of our nation's finest.

Many thanks to the generous staffers, theatre artists and audience members who made this campaign such a success. It’s just another example of the invaluable contributions made to our community by Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV.

Merry Christmas and a Past Due Happy Hanukkah!

--John Steils

Sketchy Behavior Makes Merry Masterworks

Posted by Bruce Miller

Do you ever wonder what performers do while they’re waiting in the wings? Here are two answers from the closing night of Home for the Holidays.

While anticipating their entrances at tables off right, our meistersingers were apparently less than riveted by the performances of their fellow songbirds. It was their fifth performance after all, and they had limited view.

From all accounts our vocal Vulcans allowed their eyes and thoughts to wander from the stage, finally finding some errant piece of trash and deciding to draft upon it a graphic storyboard for All Those Christmas Clichés. This beautiful Lynn Ahrens / Stephen Flaherty classic-in-the-making (that's Lynn and Stephen pictured above and to the left) was masterfully performed each night by Janine Serresseque. The Ahrens / Flaherty duo also wrote music and lyrics for Ragtime, Once on this Island, Seussical the Musical, and A Man of No Importance--source of Audra's song, Princess. Last night during the show, the cast created a visual homage to the evocative lyrics of All Those Christmas Clichés. Their artwork is pictured below.

Janine warmly amused the house with her “local” rendition of the song: “I’ve spent Christmas in Mechanicsville, Christmas in Midlothian, Christmas in Varina and Luray.” I don’t believe those noble neighborhoods are depicted in our cast-created artwork, but many of the Christmas clichés mentioned in the song are.

For a fun party game, see if you can locate: “a tree full of toys and tinsel,” a “wreath on the red front door,” “elves in the yard,” a “sentimental card dripping glitter on the floor,” “plywood reindeer,” a “horse-drawn sleigh,” “a turkey with all the trimmings,” “Johnny Mathis,” “perfect skaters,” a “fruitcake with sugar glaze,” “snow,” a “choir,” “candles in the window,” “chestnuts roasting on the fire,” “a house filled with noise and laughter,” “a street bathed in twinkling light,” “bells,” “drums,” “mistletoe,” “sugar plums,” “kids to tuck in tight,” and last but not least, “that guy in the bright red outfit.” I think five or six may be missing, but then I've never been good at these games.

Vigorous debate arose during the closing party as to whether or not Santa was still wearing his fur-trimmed pants. Hmm.

The second masterpiece created by our Michelangelos of melody—actually I think it was a single Michelangelo (or Michelangelette)—is a pen and ink portrait on cocktail napkin entitled “Crabby in the Front Row.”

Yes, dear readers, if you don’t know by now that actors notice each and every facial expression in the audience, then you don’t know actors. Only the purest of artistes—the ones who swear they never read reviews—will deny noticing and reacting to misanthropic pusses spreading gloom and doom down front.

The estimable Robyn O’Neill has long stated that audience members should have to audition for Rows A, B and C. And here’s why. Each singer, one after the other, was literally abuzz last night with chat about the “grouch on the front row.” Unbeknownst to those of us sitting behind her, an apparently discontent woman sat not three feet from our singers, glaring up at them all night long doing her best impression of Grumpy of Seven Dwarfs fame. No wonder her anonymous visage prompted this cocktail napkin characterization.

Time to turn that frown upside down, dontcha think?

So if you’d prefer not to be immortalized on disposable paper by the cast of an upcoming theatrical production, then SMILE next time you’re sitting within fifteen feet of the stage, or anywhere else in the theatre for that matter. At the very least, look vaguely pleasant. I can’t tell you how much we ALL will appreciate it.

And here's a fun fact to recall when trying to summon up that requested good cheer. The preliminary results are in, and it appears that you audience members for Home for the Holidays (99.9% of whom weren’t ill-tempered or cross) swelled the coffers of the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund by approximately $3,400—we’re still doing the final tabulation. That’s enough to make anyone happy, and a wonderful holiday gift to Richmond's theatre community. Many, many thanks to all involved.

Merry Christmas and a belated Happy Hanukkah!

--Bruce Miller

Three Notes and Two Beautiful Women

Posted by Bruce Miller

What was the best thing about last night’s Home for the Holidays benefit cabaret? Betty Ann Grove (pictured in her heyday to the right) was there—all smiles, looking like a million bucks and back in Richmond once again. We almost lost her to New Jersey, but turns out this Broadway Baby is a true Richmonder after all. When it came time to return home for the holidays, Richmond was the home that called to her the most.

You may remember that not too long ago we said “God Speed, not Goodbye” to Betty Ann (Oct 7, 2007), as she moved to the Actors Home in New Jersey. It was one of those moves that was supposed to be forever. Years ago, when Betty Ann was starring on Broadway, her dear mother had moved into the Actors Home and lived quite happily within commuting distance of NYC. And so Betty Ann thought that she too would be happy there.

But that was then. “When I got there, I couldn’t find anyone who would smile,” Betty Ann said last night. (That's B A again in the pic to the right, beaming down at her TV co-star Bert Parks.) More importantly, her “family”—that’s all of us, my friends—and her heart were here in River City. After making this discovery, she quickly called her old landlords in Richmond and re-leased the same apartment that she had released not more than a few weeks ago. “If I’d called two days later it would have been gone,” she said. She trundled her downsized possessions back to town, bought a replacement sofa at The Dump, and re-established the old homestead.

We couldn’t be more thrilled. I’ve already made her promise to sing a number at next year’s benefit cabaret.

What was the weirdest thing that happened last night? Well, it all began just as we were about to open the house. A nice older gentleman who arrived early to see the show walked up to one of our veteran actresses, who shall remain nameless. (It was not Audra Honaker or Janine Serresseque, pictured to the left). The actress looked gorgeous by the way in her sparkling cabaret get-up. “Has anyone ever told you you’re aging?” he asked. Both the actress and I, who happened to be standing nearby, thought we had misunderstood. “Excuse me,” she said.

“I’ve been watching you on stage and on television for years and years,” he continued. Then he proceeded to recall performances and commercials from the 70s, 80s and on. Our beloved actress smiled and nodded along, and as I remembered those same performances that he was recalling, I couldn’t help but look at her and think how unbelievably young and beautiful she was. “So, I just can’t believe you’re aging,” he said.

“Ageless,” she blurted out, diplomatically determining to keep that beautiful smile on her face. “I’m going to take it that what you’re meaning to say is ‘you’re ageless.’ And thank you for that.”

“I can’t believe you’re aging,” he repeated, with a huge admiring grin.

I’m convinced he was trying to be complimentary. Obviously he hasn’t spent a lot of time around actresses. Or a dictionary.

On a third note, our hearts go out to Durron Tyree, whose grandfather passed away yesterday morning. Durron has had to bow out of these final two performances to be with his family. We miss him. He was one of the four new voices in this year’s cabaret, and added immeasurably to the performance. I hope he’ll join us again next year.

Tonight’s Home for the Holidays benefit concert is SOLD OUT! Thanks to one and all for making this year’s fundraiser a HUGE success.

--Bruce Miller

Home for the Holidays Helps Habitat for Humanity

Posted by Phil Whiteway

Last night’s (Sat Dec 15) late night performance of Barksdale’s Home for the Holidays benefit cabaret was another huge success! Many thanks to those of you who answered the call and showed up to partake of the fun and fellowship. Approximately 40 theatre regulars purchased tickets for the 11 pm performance on Barksdale Willow Lawn’s lobby stage. I couldn’t make it last night, but Bruce and his son Curt were there managing the house. From what they tell me, a grand time was had by all.

(Curt especially loved Jill Bari Steinberg [pictured to the right]impersonating Erin Thomas Foley talking about what might befall Jill Bari if she ever auditioned for a part that Erin really wanted. Just listening to Curt's rendition on the phone made me double over laughing.)

If you want to take part in this super-entertaining program (and I hope you do), be advised that only two shows remain. Home for the Holidays will hold its farewell performances this coming Monday, Dec 17, and Tuesday Dec 18, 7:30 pm both nights in the Barksdale Willow Lawn lobby. Tickets are $25 for the general public and $20 for Barksdale or Theatre IV subscribers. All proceeds go to benefit the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund, governed by RAPT (the Richmond Alliance of Professional Theatres) and managed by The Community Foundation.

If you come on Monday night, you’ll not only be helping the Theatre Artists Fund, you’ll also be lending your support to the Richmond Chapter of Habitat for Humanity. As many of you know, Habitat is an outstanding nonprofit organization that uses mostly volunteer labor to build affordable housing for working families of limited means, making it possible for them to own their own home. It’s an exemplary cause.

When leaders at Habitat read about Home for the Holidays in the paper, they thought it would be a perfect match for their cause. They called me, said that they’d like to purchase approximately 35 tickets as holiday recognition for their hard working Board, and asked for group rates. Ordinarily the group rate is $20. But for an outstanding nonprofit like Habitat, I lowered the rate to $15, making it possible for them to attend and stay within their budget for a holiday gathering.

As of this writing, 15 tickets remain for Monday night’s performance, and 21 tickets remain for Tuesday evening. I'm really hopeful that these final tickets will be sold! Please join us if you can. Our volunteer singers are among Richmond’s finest. Brett Ambler, pictured to the right, is one of the ten multi-talented performers. They provide a WONDERFUL, heartwarming, fun and lively show … and a GREAT way to give back to the theatre community we all know and love.

Hope to see you there on Monday or Tuesday evening. I’d love nothing more than for Bruce and Chase to have to work through their dinner break setting up overflow seating!

Merry Christmas and Happy Post-Hanukkah.

--Phil Whiteway

Great Spirit, Great Music, Great Cause

Posted by Bruce Miller

Singing to raise spirits and charitable funds is a time honored Christmas tradition.

I’ve just returned from our first Home for the Holidays cabaret. The 16 or so patrons who attended tonight really had a grand time, but I confess I’m disappointed because it appears that the crowds this week are going to be small. As of this writing, we only have 14 reservations for tomorrow evening (Tuesday, Dec 11 at 7:30).

I sure would like to see that change.

The show itself is wonderful. Brett Ambler, Corey Davis, Audra Honaker, Katrina Lewis, Jason Marks, Robyn O’Neill, Fernando Rivadeniera, Janine Serresseque, Erin Thomas, Durron Tyree and Tony Williams sing and play their hearts out for 90 minutes, entertaining with a combination of holiday favorites and Broadway standards. Jan Guarino is sick this week (say a prayer for her recovery by Thursday’s Swingtime Canteen), but tomorrow Cathy Motley-Fitch will be filling in for her. The singers are all volunteering their talents to raise money for the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund. And yet only a few folks are turning out for these first two performances.

Tomorrow (Tuesday’s) show will be a pay-what-you-can performance, and 100% of ticket revenues will go to the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund, governed by RAPT (the Richmond Alliance of Professional Theatres) and managed by the Community Foundation. So if you can’t afford the $25 suggested donation, please come tomorrow (Tuesday) evening—and bring five or six of your friends. It’s a GREAT way to jump start the holiday spirit, and it’s an even better way to support the volunteer performers, who would much prefer to be singing to a full and enthusiastic house than a room half-filled with empty tables.

If don’t understand what the Theatre Artists Fund is all about, and therefore don’t feel inclined to support it, let me try to change your mind. In the past ten years of so, there have been five times when the theatre community came together on an emergency basis to help one of our members deal with a life threatening situation.

We raised $6 thousand or so to keep a roof over the head of one of our colleagues during the final months of his life when he was too sick to work but was nonetheless evicted from his apartment. We raised $8 thousand or so to prevent a lifelong theatre administrator from losing her home when her husband was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, had to stop working, but needed to be out of work for six months before his disability insurance kicked in. We raised several thousand to install a new furnace in the home of a beloved director who was returning from open heart surgery to an unheated home in the dead of winter.

In every instance I’ve counted myself blessed to be a part of a community that cared so much about taking care of its own. The Richmond Theatre Artists Fund lets us begin to meet these emergency needs before they happen. It lets us raise funds on a strategic rather than a crisis basis. The Fund doesn’t exist to help someone out when they’re between jobs and having trouble paying their cable bill. The Fund exists to meet the critical needs of our brothers and sisters when accident or illness stops them in their tracks. No matter how much insurance we have, none of us can protect ourselves from everything. God willing, the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund will be there to help with emergency expenditures when we need help the most.

Isn’t that worth a few bucks and 90 minutes of your time? Don’t you want to support your colleagues who are giving up seven nights in December to try to help others?

Upcoming shows are tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7:30, this Saturday at 11 pm, and next Monday and Tuesday at 7:30. All performances are in Barksdale’s Willow Lawn lobby. Please call the Barksdale box at 282-2620 to make your reservations.

I hope you’ll join us for this wonderful, joyous and very worthwhile performance.

--Bruce Miller

Home for the Holidays - Then Back to Iraq

Posted by Phil Whiteway
Home for the Holidays, our annual benefit cabaret for the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund, begins tonight. I can't wait. At every performance of last year's wonderful show, our emcee (some crazy guy named Bruce Miller) dedicated the song "I'll be Home for Christmas," sung by Cathy Motley-Fitch, to my son PJ and the men and women of the Virginia National Guard. He noted that Peej was shipping out for Iraq in March and would likely be spending Christmas 2007 on the desert sands with Uncle Sam. That's what we all thought at the time.

Wonder of wonders, it has not come to pass!

PJ is flying home for a two-week leave sometime today, tomorrow or the day after, and he'll be with us at least through Christmas Eve--maybe even Christmas Day--before flying back to his service in Iraq. Each soldier gets a couple weeks R & R during the year. PJ put in for December, and it's looking like he'll get his wish. After returning to his base, he'll have three more months, we think, until he comes back home to the U S of A for good in mid- to late-March.

At least that's the plan. The US troops play their cards pretty close to their armored vests. But we're told that most National Guard units have been deployed only for 12 months rather than 18.

Thanks to all of you who have been keeping PJ and his fellow soldiers in your prayers. We hope you'll keep it up. We're certainly grateful to have him home for the holidays, and he's pretty psyched too.

At the top of this post is what I like to think of as his "Christmas Card," posted on his MySpace or FaceBook--I can't remember which one. The caption reads:

"Just visiting the neighbors and hanging out with the kids!"

To which we add the first line of that familiar church school carol:

"Let their be peace on earth, and let it begin with me."

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

--Phil Whiteway

Celebrating Hanukkah On Stage and Off

Posted by Bruce Miller

Hanukkah begins at sundown tomorrow, Dec 4. To all of our Jewish friends, Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah is one of those holidays that falls on a different day each year. In 2008, Hanukkah will begin at sundown on Dec 21. In 2006, Hanukkah began on Dec 15.

Hanukkah is an eight day celebration that is also known as the Festival of Lights. It always begins on the 25th day of Kislev, the eighth or ninth month on the Jewish calendar, depending on the year. The Jewish calendar is based on both solar and lunar years, and so some years there’s a leap month preceding Kislev, just as in our standard calendar there is a leap day (Feb 29) every four years.

Hanukkah is a relatively minor holiday in Jewish tradition. However, Hanukkah is also the Jewish holiday that occurs closest to Christmas. Therefore, in the United States, Hanukkah has gained added attention. This is appropriate perhaps because the Hanukkah story tells how Jewish culture has struggled to survive in a non-Jewish world.

In about 165 BC, the Greco-Syrian emperor Antiochus IV (pictured on the coin to the left) ruled over the Jews in Judea, the territory now known as Israel. He tried to force the Jewish people to accept Greek culture, making it unlawful for them to practice their own religion or study the Torah. Jewish fighters known as the Maccabees tried to protect their people from the Greek enforcers. After three years of fighting, the Maccabees (led by Judah Maccabee, pictured to the right) finally regained control over the temple on Mount Mariah in Jerusalem. While preparing the temple for rededication—the Hebrew word “Hanukkah” means “dedication”—they relit the temple lamp, but found only enough oil to keep it burning for one day. Miraculously, the lamp burned for eight days.

Interspersed with all the comic mayhem, Moonlight and Magnolias tells a more contemporary story about how Jewish culture has struggled to thrive despite its minority status in the United States. And so it’s not too far fetched to say that, while Moonlight and Magnolias may not be a “Christmas play,” it is, at least thematically, somewhat of a “Hanukkah play.”

When you visit the Barksdale Willow Lawn lobby, we hope you’ll make note of the Hanukkah display that shares the lobby stage with Barksdale’s traditional Christmas tree. Staff members solicited suggestions from our friends at the Weinstein Jewish Community Center regarding how best to include recognition of the Jewish faith in our lobby during the holiday season.

The Hanukkah display features an electric menorah (fire regulations prohibit using real candles) and two decorative Hanukkah platters on blue and white cloths. The central "servant candle" of the menorah has been lit since the opening of Moonlight and Magnolias. Beginning Dec 4, we will light one of the eight other candles of the menorah each day, until the eighth day of Hanukkah when all of the candles will be blazing.

We know you’ll enjoy the side-splitting comedy of Moonlight and Magnolias. We hope you’ll also appreciate the Hanukkah display that now graces our lobby, extending welcome to loyal theatergoers of all faiths.

--Bruce Miller

A Penchant for Movies on Stage

Posted by Billy Christopher Maupin

After last week's successful opening of A Christmas Story (and a smash hit, it would seem, with ticket sales for today already exceeding 200 tickets for A Christmas Story alone!) at Theatre IV's historic Empire Theatre, Barksdale Theatre's Bifocals Theatre Project opens It's a Wonderful Life - A Live Radio Play this Thursday on Barksdale Theatre at Willow Lawn's Lobby Stage at 1PM, with lunch served at 12:30PM. Tickets for that are already looking like they may sell out (with under twenty seats available for either performance- Thursday or Friday).

Bifocals Theatre Project generally features artists ages 55 and older; this production features Robert Albertia, Tom Bass, Woody Eney, Joel Grow, and Donna Knicely, as well as two younger faces, Chase Kniffen and Ali Thibodeau, filling out the cast as George and Mary (respectively, of course).

Next week, the cast will take it on the road(!) touring to retirement communities and the like. How exciting!

Also, after Friday's performance, audience members are invited to hang around for the first-ever Bifocals Holiday Party!

So get thee to the phone and order your tickets today! They're only $10 for lunch and show and $5 for show only. (I just looked at ticket sales again, and we've sold eight more tickets in the time that it took me to write this blog...so get them today!)

For tickets to It's a Wonderful Life- A Live Radio Play, Swingtime Canteen, Moonlight and Magnolias, or A Christmas Story, call the Barksdale Theatre Box Office at 282-2620 or the Theatre IV Box Office at 344-8040. Join in the fun!

--Billy Christopher Maupin

Heaving Hedgehogs in Hanover

Posted by Bruce Miller

After a 12 noon meeting in Ashland on Wednesday, Phil and I decided to drop in on our Swingtime Canteen company at Hanover Tavern before their 2 pm matinee. Our gorgeous ladies were in their costumes and our dashing men were stepping up to their piano, bass and drums in an effort to begin the show, when word came down from Michelle (of the restaurant that bears her name) that she had just been called by a bus group of 45 South Carolinians. They were traveling up 95 and would be about 25 minutes late for the performance. Could we hold?

Three groups comprised most of the sold out house that day. The Henrico Rec and Parks group and the Red Hat Ladies were already sitting patiently in their seats. And right smack dab in the middle of all of them were 45 empty seats for the gentle folk from Charleston.

Situations similar to this happen from time to time, and Phil and I frequently are called upon to do our “dog and pony show.” I’ve never been sure which one of us is the dog and which the pony. Perhaps we’re both donies. Or pogs. But our goal is to keep the on-time audience members happy until the “held up in traffic” audience (usually arriving by the busload) actually shows up.

When it’s a children’s theatre audience, and Christmas, I haul out my audience participation versions of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the Snow Bear Boogie, etc. We put our right paw in and our left paw out, and we parents jangle our car keys to Jingle Bells until the errant playgoers finally make it into their seats. At Easter-time I’ve been known to resort to Little Rabbit Foo Foo.

With an audience of spirited senior citizens, it’s not quite that easy. Making antlers with our hands every time we get to the word “reindeer” doesn’t seem to float their boats. So Phil and I took to the stage and announced that we’d be happy to answer questions about the history (fascinating, actually) of Barksdale Theatre and Hanover Tavern.

After breezing through my less than encyclopedic (but fairly accurate) knowledge of Patrick Henry and Hanover real estate circa 1776, the questions started getting tougher. “Who is the Montgomery Room named after?” (The Montgomery Room is the dining room in which the group had just eaten lunch, and I don’t have a clue how it earned that moniker.) “Did Thomas Jefferson really visit Hanover Tavern and which room did he stay in?”

I felt myself missing Nancy Kilgore.

Nancy, God bless her soul, knew all the answers. And when she didn’t, she was an unrivaled expert at making them up. She was at her most dazzling when the “real” answer was either fleeting or unknown. Watching Nancy lead groups through the Tavern and/or other historic Hanover properties was like watching Maggie Smith captivate the tourists visiting an historic British manor house in Lettice and Lovage.

In that wonderful play by Peter Shaffer, the character of Lettice, hilariously played on Broadway and in London’s West End by Dame Maggie, repeats the same historical narrative to a different group of tourists four times, and each time her docent declamation becomes more fantastical and compelling. In the final iteration, she has the tourists spellbound with a tale of British gentry vaulting down the grand staircase holding aloft platters brimming with baked hedgehogs.

I must admit I resorted to a bit of hedge-hogwash myself when I described the fiddle contest that Henry and Jefferson are alleged to have had "just on the other side of that door" during the Christmas season of 1759. We know from his journal that TJ visited the neighboring estate of Nathan Dandridge that year on his way to William and Mary. Who’s to say that the fiddling legend is untrue?

Of course, the Hanover Tavern in which Patrick Henry worked and played actually burned to the ground sometime in or just prior to the 1780s, and the one we know and love today (at least the northern section in which the theatre is located) was not rebuilt until 1791. But that’s not the way that Nancy Kilgore told it. And if I have the choice of being true to history or true to the memory of Nancy’s wildly enthusiastic embrace of the Tavern’s spirit, I’ll pick the latter any day of the week.

After all, as Nancy once said, “Once you’re sitting in those seats, darling, you’re not in a museum, you’re in a THEATRE!!” Here here.

--Bruce Miller

Images (from the top): Hanover Tavern, Swingtime logo, Rudolph in Claymation, the new Thomas Jefferson gold piece, Nancy Kilgore in Stop the World, Maggie Smith in Lettice and Lovage, Patrick Henry.