A Richmond High School Theatre Lover Takes Her First Trip to the Tonys

Posted by Lizzie Holland
As most of you know, the 62nd Annual Antoinette Perry Awards were held on June 15th at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. This year I was fortunate enough to attend the awards with my family, and it was so much fun! I am one of Barksdale’s high school theatre enthusiasts (that's me in the picture to the right), and Bruce asked me to write about the experience. So here goes.

(Note: Bruce nabbed all the photos from my Facebook and wrote all the bizarre captions himself, since I left for camp yesterday. All of the photos were taken at stage doors after I went to see the shows. None were taken at the actual Tony Awards. They don't allow you to bring a camera into the awards ceremony. Go figure.)

My dad and I have always joked about going to the Tonys and this year he was actually serious enough to buy tickets the day the nominations came out. (That's not my dad in the photo to the left. That's Mark Rylance, winner of the 2008 Best Actor Tony for Boeing-Boeing.)

I was so excited, but I really didn’t know what to expect. I’ve been watching the Tony Awards on TV ever since I can remember, now I was going to be a part of the whole experience. Here’s what it’s like to attend the Tonys as a non-famous person.

First we bought our tickets, which go on sale each year the day the nominations come out, which this year was May 13th. We got our seats online, but you also can get your seats by calling the Radio City box office. It was easy. We wound up in the front row on the top balcony, which was still close enough to get a good look at all the nominees (including Martha Plimpton, pictured to the right, Best Featured Actress nominee for Top Girls.)

I got more and more excited as we waited for the day when it was finally time to fly up to New York. We arrived at Radio City Music Hall at 6:30 pm. If you are a ticket holder, you must be in your seat by 7:00. The down side to having a ticket is that you have to enter the theatre on the opposite side of the building from the red carpet, so you can’t see any of the celebrities before the show. (After the show, however, you might be lucky enough to spend some time with Raul Esparza, Best Featured Actor nominee for The Homecoming.)

The whole theatre is two-thirds full by 7:30, when the pre-show starts. The pre-show is when the “not glitzy enough for prime time” awards are given out, such as Best Book, Best Lighting, Best Sound, and Best Costumes. True theatre fans know that these awards are just as important as Best Actor or Actress, but they explain that there’s no possible way to fit all of the awards and performances into the three-hour TV time slot. (That's Laurie Metcalf in the picture above and to the right, Best Featured Actress nominee for November.)

Personally, I thought the pre-show was the best part. Michael Cerveris and Julie White hosted the pre-show and they were hysterical. (That's Daniel Evans in the photo to the left, nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for Sunday in the Park with George.)

At 8:00 pm, the doors closed and the televised Tony Awards began. This year, the prime time show kicked off with the opening number from The Lion King. It was fantastic (and that means a lot coming from a girl who doesn’t prefer Disney musicals). Then Whoopi Goldberg took the stage and began hosting the awards!

If you have the right Broadway connections (like Brian d'Arcy James, pictured to the right, 2002 Best Featured Actor nominee for Sweet Smell of Success), I'm told, you don’t need to buy tickets to be inside Radio City on the big night. You can sign up to be a “seat filler,” which is free! The producers never want the TV audience to see an empty seat in the theatre, and Radio City is HUGE. Every time someone gets up to accept an award or go to the bathroom, a “seat filler” rushes in and temporarily fills the vacated seat. This is an awesome opportunity because you may get to sit next to some hotshot actor, director, etc., or perhaps their significant other.

However, from the top balcony, the job of "seat filler" looked very tiring. You get tired just watching the next-in-line “seat filler” jog down the aisle the second someone who was seated gets up (someone like Eve Best, Best Featured Actress nominee for The Homecoming, pictured to the left), and then have to leave the seat minutes later when the seat holder returns and taps them on the shoulder. At that point, the “seat filler” runs back up the aisle and gets in line all over again.

Ironically, once the TV cameras turn on, everything starts happening so fast … the cameras roving and the “seat fillers” running and the scenery shifting … the awards themselves became a blur. After it was all over, I couldn’t even remember who won what. On TV, it’s definitely about the awards and speeches. But in person, it’s all about watching the crew run around at the last second to make the magic happen. (Speaking of "magic," that's Jonathan Groff above and to the right, Best Actor nominee last year for Spring Awakening.)

Something that a lot of people keep asking me is, “What happened during commercials?” The answer is clips--lots and lots of clips! We saw many old Broadway commercials for past mega-hits, featuring the original casts of Rent, Gypsy, and Equus. My favorite clip was one about the “Broadway League.” This is a baseball league for the members of Broadway shows. The clip was a little dated because it had interviews with Mathew Broderick when he was still in The Producers.

When there were no clips being shown, everyone seemed to realize it was an impromptu “stretch break.” Lots of people, including stars (like Norbert Leo Butz, pictured above and to the left, 2005 Tony-winner as Best Actor in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), rose from their seats and greeted their colleagues while also stretching their legs. We in the galleries gazed down upon them.

It was very cool being able to see everything that went on off camera. Since there were three connected stages, something was always happening on one or both of the side stages while the crew was taping a performance on the main stage. (That's Mary McCormack, above and to the right, Best Featured Actress nominee for Boeing-Boeing, and star of the new hit TV series In Plain Sight -- is she having a good year or what?!)

All in all, the Tony Awards were great fun—a once in a lifetime experience. (And who better to experience it with than Christine Baranski, pictured to the left, two-time Tony winner for Best Featured Actress in The Real Thing - 1984, and Rumors - 1989, and currently hysterical in Boeing-Boeing.)

It was terrific being able to see everything that went on that was not televised. But beyond all the hubbub with cameras etc, there was not that much extra to see. I do recommend going though, especially if you can get cheap(er) tickets and don’t mind sitting in the nosebleed section. Next time I go, I plan, of course, on being nominated!

Now will someone please cue Kelli O’Hara singing Cock Eyed Optimist.

--Lizzie Holland

Word of the Week - HALLOING

Posted by Hannah Miller
On Saturday March 22, the world wished a very happy 78th birthday to STEPHEN JOSHUA SONDHEIM, so this edition of Word of the Week is created in his honor. This week’s word is HALLOING.

Stephen Sondheim is one of the most respected composers and lyricists of the 20th century. He has won more Tony Awards than any other composer on Broadway. Sondheim developed his love for theatre and music after attending his first musical at the age of nine. He was hooked when the curtain rose and a piano was revealed.

Never fitting easily with his parents, Sondheim spent many afternoons learning from his “surrogate father,” Oscar Hammerstein II, of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame. The Hammersteins and the Sondheims lived near each other on the upper West Side of NYC. When Sondheim wrote By George, a musical for his high school, Hammerstein spent an entire day teaching him what he could do to make the musical better. In Sondheim’s words, he “learned more about songwriting and the musical theatre” in that one afternoon “than most people learn in a lifetime.” Sondheim continued his apprenticeship with Hammerstein until he left New York to attend Williams College in Massachusetts.

In 1957, Sondheim made history by writing the lyrics to West Side Story, and then to Gypsy in 1959. Though both of these shows brought him great success as a lyricist, Sondheim knew that what he really wanted to do was compose. Three years later, he received that opportunity and wrote both music and lyrics for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, another hit. His string of commercial success was broken in 1964 when he wrote Anyone Can Whistle, which lasted for only nine performances.

Sondheim went on, of course, to write other history-making hits such as Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures and Sweeney Todd, all in partnership with director Hal Prince. He was disappointed by the short run of their next show, Merrily We Roll Along. Following this commercial flop, he considered quitting theatre to write murder mysteries. Instead he switched directors, breaking with Prince and teaming with James Lapine (pictured with Sondheim to the left), who not only directed his subsequent musicals but also wrote the books. The first Sondheim/Lapine triumph was Sunday in the Park with George (my favorite musical), based on the artistic genius of French painter Georges Seurat, the father of Neo-impressionism. Sunday in the Park is one of only seven musicals to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Other Sondheim/Lapine musicals include Into the Woods (produced at Barksdale last summer), Passion, and Assassins.

I study voice with Amy Hruska, and one of the songs she has me singing currently is Green Finch and Linnet Bird from Sweeney Todd. Inspired by the beautiful warbling of caged birds, the character of Johanna sings:

Green finch and linnet bird,
Nightingale, blackbird,
How is it you sing?
Whence comes this melody constantly flowing?
Is it rejoicing or merely HALLOING?
Are you discussing or fussing or simply dreaming?
Are you crowing?
Are you screaming?

When I first sang the word HALLOING, I assumed it meant something like “saying hello.” But this is Sondheim, so of course there are other layers of meaning. In 16th and 17th century England, to hallo or halloo was to shout an exclamation in a hunt when the quarry was spotted. In Coriolanus, Act I, Scene 8, Shakespeare writes, “If I fly, Marcius, halloo me like a hare.” Considering the plot of Sweeney Todd, certainly the birds were halloing when they spotted Johanna—or perhaps when they spotted the Judge.

Our word hello, issued as a greeting rather than a shout, dates from the mid-19th century, and fell into popular usage when Thomas Edison proclaimed it the appropriate way to greet someone when answering a telephone. Alexander Graham Bell preferred the phrase Ahoy, as used on ships. But by 1889, telephone operators were known as hello-girls due to the public acceptance of the Edison-inspired hello.

Today, Sondheim continues to write, create and inspire young admirers like me. His 2003 original musical Bounce has failed thus far to receive a NYC production. But in 2007, he composed incidental music for the Public Theatre production of King Lear, directed by Lapine. In that same year he had a bit part as himself on The Simpsons episode Yokel Chords.

--Hannah Miller

Everything's Coming Up Halenda

Posted by John Steils

Kathy Halenda, the wonderful Richmond-raised actress who starred in Barksdale’s recent productions of Mame and Disney’s High School Musical will be lighting up another stage about an hour down the road next week. Kathy is starring as Mama Rose in the national tour of Gypsy (see photo), stopping for one night at Charlottesville’s Paramount Theatre.

Her national reviews thus far have been unanimous raves:

“Gypsy has at least three things going for it -- the beautiful melodies of Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim's witty lyrics, and American stage veteran Kathy Halenda, a woman big-voiced enough to sing the U.S. national anthem at Fenway Park, and bold enough to make us care about the original stage mommie dearest.” – London Free Press

“Great sets, great costumes and a great Rose!” – Binghamton Sun-Bulletin

“Everything’s Coming Up Rose!” – New Haven Advocate

“Halenda—taking charge the moment she arrives onstage—brings exuberance, energy and physical bravado to her character, making Rose larger than life. The other actors rarely show as much depth as she does, and rarely command such attention.” – Yale Daily News

Also appearing in the national tour of Gypsy is another Barksdale all-star. Rachel Abrams plays Mazeepa (the stripper with the helmet to the right of the photo). Rachel starred with Barksdale during each of the last two summers. She played Janis Joplin, Connie Francis and others in Beehive in 06, and the Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods in 07. In Gypsy, she’s also understudying Kathy as Mama Rose.

Called “the greatest of all American musicals” by the New York Times, Gypsy is the story of a quintessential stage mother, her dreams for her children, and the daughter who dared to live her own dream. From the first trumpet blast to the last hot spotlight, this classic Broadway show packs a powerful wallop, serving up one popular standard after another—songs like “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “Let Me Entertain You,” “You Gotta Have a Gimmick,” and “Together Wherever We Go.”

The Paramount performance will be Wednesday, November 7 at 8 pm. A group from the cast of Mame is planning on going up, and we hope lots of Richmonders will drive to C’ville to welcome Kathy back to her home state.

Gypsy was written by three virtuosos of American musical theater: Arthur Laurents (book), Jule Styne (music), and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics). The original production starring Ethel Merman and directed by Jerome Robbins was an instant hit when it opened at the Broadway Theatre in 1959. Subsequent revivals have garnered a total of three Tony Awards and featured such talents as Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly and Bernadette Peters in the role of Rose.

Tickets are $58.50, $61.50, $64.50, and $69.50. (Barksdale's prices are starting to look pretty good, aren't they?) Half-price student rush seats and group discounts are also available. Tickets are currently on sale online and through the Paramount's box office at 434-979-1933. Also, as of this writing, Chase Kniffen has a couple or three great seats that he needs to sell. You can reach Chase at C.Kniffen@BarksdaleRichmond.org.

--John Steils

"Birdie's" Strouse Has Roots in Richmond

Posted by Bruce Miller
While writing the Bye Bye Birdie blog, I promised that I'd soon write about Richmond's connections to legendary composer Charles Strouse. Here goes.

In 1961, Charles Strouse made American musical theatre history when he composed the first Broadway score to be written in the rock and roll vernacular. Seven years before Hair, Bye Bye Birdie became Broadway’s first "rock musical." Of course the rock 'n' roll of Birdie is of the Elvis Presley / Bobby Rydell / Connie Francis variety, with several pop numbers and a bit of salsa thrown in for good measure.

Nonetheless, the songs in Bye Bye Birdie (including the title tune, One Last Kiss, Honestly Sincere, Lotta Livin’ to Do and One Boy) sounded a lot more like what we were listening to on our transistor radios in 1961 than had the songs from Broadway’s biggest hits of the preceding five years (My Fair Lady [56], West Side Story [57], The Music Man [57], and Gypsy [59]).

If Charles Strouse had stopped with Bye Bye Birdie, he would have earned his place as a significant Broadway composer. But he didn’t stop. He went on to write ten more Broadway musicals since Birdie, and several musicals that never made it to Broadway. Best of all, he’s still going strong.

All of this is important to Richmond because, to a degree that can be applied to no other major Broadway composer, Richmond has some strong connections to Charles Strouse. To a certain extent, we can honor him as one of our own.

Since Birdie, Charles has written diverse and amazing musicals, collaborating with impressive co-creators:

1962 – All American, starring Ray Bolger, with a book by Mel Brooks. It was Brook’s second Broadway musical, preceding by nearly four decades Brooks’ masterwork, The Producers, which won more Tony Awards (12) than any musical in Broadway history.

1964-66 – Golden Boy, starring Sammy Davis Jr. in Broadway’s first musical to feature an inter-racial marriage. The book was written by none other than the great American agitprop playwright from the 1930s, Clifford Odets, who died during the Detroit tryout, prompting the engagement of “co-writer” William Gibson.

1966 – It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman, starring Jack Cassidy and Linda Lavin, produced and directed by Hal Prince. Considered by many to be ahead of its time, the campy, pop-art sensibility of It’s a Bird was obviously copied in the hit ABC-TV series Batman, which began to air only months after It’s a Bird closed. Moreover, Robert Benton and David Newman, co-authors of the It’s a Bird book, went on to co-author the Superman movie with Christopher Reeve.

1970-72 – Applause, starring Lauren Bacall, with a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green

1975 – The Member of the Wedding, featuring incidental music by Strouse, with Virginia’s own Glenn Close understudying Mary Beth Hurt in the role of Frankie Addams!!

1977-83 – A little something called Annie. ‘Nuff said.

1980 – Charlie and Algernon

1981 – Bring Back Birdie, featuring Richmond’s own Porter Hudson, who, as John Hudson, choreographed Theatre IV’s production of Cabaret at the Empire Theatre only months after Bring Back closed

1983 – Dance a Little Closer, featuring Richmond’s own Diane Pennington in the role of Shirley, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner

1986 – Rags, starring Teresa Stratas and Larry Kert, with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

1991 – Nick & Nora, starring Barry Bostwick, Joanna Gleason and Christine Baranski, with book by Arthur Laurents and lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr.

2005-06 – Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, featuring songs by many composers including Strouse

In addition to the two Richmonders who performed in Strouse musicals on Broadway, one of Richmond’s powerhouse talents, Katherine Tracy (pictured to the left in the title role of the Mill's 1980ish production of Mame), served as Charles Strouse’s personal assistant in NYC for a couple years later in the 80s. After her tenure with Strouse, Katherine returned to Richmond to work as Marketing Director of Theatre IV, and then Managing Director of Barksdale. At least partially through Katherine’s contacts, Barksdale produced in 1993 the Strouse revue, By Strouse, and the world premiere of the new Strouse musical, Bojangles, based on the life of Richmonder Bill Bojangles Robinson, with a book by Richmond playwright Douglas Jones.

On the Theatre IV side, I asked Charles if I could adapt his musical teleplay of Lyle Lyle Crocodile for live touring, and he graciously agreed. For several years, Theatre IV produced the national tour of Lyle Lyle Crocodile, with music and lyrics by Charles Strouse and book by yours truly. During one of the first trips I made to New York to work with Charles on my tour adaptation, he invited me to a backers’ preview of Nick & Nora. It was so cool to sit in the studio with all these Broadway types, listening to Barry Bostwick, Joanna Gleason, Christine Baranski and Debra Monk stand around Charles at the piano, singing his Nick & Nora songs for the first time.

Sometime in the mid-90s, Charles and Bernard Waber, author of the Lyle books, had a parting of the ways. Thereafter Theatre IV had to negotiate with Waber’s agents directly. The version of Lyle that we perform today no longer benefits from the Charles Strouse music and lyrics. Now I’m the sole author of all three – book, music and lyrics. Which is cool. But I certainly enjoyed my years in the sun as a partner of Charles Strouse.

There’s one reason why working with Charles, albeit on a limited basis, was so much fun. Despite being the composer of two of the “Top Ten Most Frequently Produced Musicals in America” (Bye Bye Birdie and Annie), Charles Strouse is about as nice, genuine and generous a guy as you’ll find. I’ll always treasure our too brief association.

So, the next time anyone does a Charles Strouse musical in Richmond, all Richmond theatre aficionados should take some pride in knowing that on several occasions, Charles has been down here and Richmond artists have been up there to collaborate on new musicals. In some significant ways, Richmonders can claim Charles Strouse as an honorary member of River City.

--Bruce Miller

All Halenda's About to Break Loose

When director Chase Kniffen was casting the two adult roles in Disney’s High School Musical, he decided to keep it all in the family. All in the Mame family, that is. Chase played grown-up Patrick in Mame last winter, and his character’s surrogate parents were Auntie Mame herself (Kathy Halenda) and her new husband, Uncle Beau (Michael Hawke). Starting tonight, Halenda and Hawke join the rehearsals for DHSM, playing the supporting roles of Mrs. Darbus, the over-the-top high school drama teacher, and Coach Jack Bolton, the “keep your head in the game” basketball coach and dad of leading guy Troy.

This is a textbook example of type casting in both cases. No one ever accused either Mrs. Darbus or Kathy Halenda of being restrained and demure. And both Coach Bolton and Michael Hawk are somewhat gym obsessed.

Bringing Halenda back to town was not cheap, but Chase convinced me she’d be worth every penny. It didn’t take much convincing. Not only is Kathy perfect for the part. More importantly, she’s perfect for keeping the cast’s spirits at a constant high and providing our 38 high school actors with a first-hand example of what true theatre professionalism looks like.

Kathy has been working in the theatre nonstop for the last 30 years. Immediately prior to Mame, she was the first Singing Ringmaster in the history of New York’s prestigious Big Apple Circus. Immediately following Disney’s High School Musical, she’ll be off to star as Mama Rose in the national tour of Gypsy—a 12 month gig.

Many actors with Kathy’s national credentials let it be known by their behavior and attitude that they expect to be treated like a star. Kathy’s not cut from that cloth. When you’re looking for someone to work hard, stay up late, come in on time, keep everything ahead of schedule, and respond to every up-and-down of the rehearsal process with nothing but positive energy—Kathy’s your gal. She held the Mame cast together like glue during a really difficult tech rehearsal period, with never a harsh word for the process or anyone involved.

Leads always set an example that other cast members emulate. The example set by Kathy in Mame guaranteed that we’d have a happy and healthy cast throughout the 11-week run. And indeed we did.

We can’t wait for our high school theatre students to get a taste of Kathy’s moxie and charm. If providing these kids with examples of true professionalism is part of our responsibility—and it is—then Chase scored a hundred when casting Halenda.

And as for Michael Hawk, you couldn’t find a nicer guy. He has talent to spare, and a coach-like physique to boot. He’s another one who moves easily from one show to the next. While performing in Disney’s High School Musical, he’ll also be in rehearsals for Urinetown at Swift Creek Mill Theatre.

So don’t miss Disney’s High School Musical. And if you notice two actors on stage whom everyone else seems to be looking up to, know that we’ve cast two of our nation’s finest troopers to set the perfect example for the 38 students who comprise the rest of the cast.

--Bruce Miller