"Whaddaya Mean? We Only Get to See 5 Minutes of It?"

Posted by Bruce Miller
Many years ago, my dear friend Cynthia Theakston, working in group sales at Theatre IV at the time, came up to me after I'd made some stupid mistake or other and asked, gently, "Now Bruce, what have you learned from this?"

I hear Cynthia's voice every now and then to this day.

There are two things I've learned from my recent decision to add previews to the beginning of the run of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels:

1. Follow my instincts. It was the right thing to do. The cast and crew felt significantly safer and cared for. And the preview performances are going off without a hitch.

2. Define the word "preview" next time. Richmond theatregoers at large don't know what it means.

I'll estimate that two-thirds of the three hundred or so callers who've contacted us at the box office misunderstood what we meant by a "preview" performance. In hind sight, I should have known this. At least in Richmond, "preview" is an insider word.

You know those five-minute promotional teasers you see during the first-half hour of your 21st Century movie-going experience? Many people today call them "trailers," which is their proper name. People of my generation, however, spent decades calling them "previews." If I'm not thinking, I'd probably still call them "previews" if and when I ever had the opportunity to talk about them.

When we announced in the paper that we were re-designating the early performances of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels as "previews," a LOT of ticket holders thought we were going to be showing them a 15 or 20 minute "trailer" of the show, rather than the entire production.

Now we know. We should have defined the word "preview" in the press release we sent to the paper.

A "preview," in theatrical lingo, is a FULL, 99% finished performance of the show being presented, not a snippet. Most folks attending these Dirty Rotten previews tell us that they can't see anything that needs fine-tuning.

Wikipedia defines a theatrical "preview" as follows: "Previews are a set of public performances of a theatrical presentation that precede its official opening. The purpose of previews is to allow the director and crew to identify problems and opportunities for improvement that weren't found during rehearsals and to make adjustments before critics are invited to attend. The duration of the preview period varies, and ticket prices may be reduced."

We've long discussed having previews before all Barksdale productions. What do you think? Should we incorporate "previews" into the schedule of every show we do, and sell them as a subscription option in our brochures?

--Bruce Miller

Ambition

Posted by Bruce Miller
A fabulous time was had last night at the first preview of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The show's not quite all that it's going to be yet, but it's highly entertaining, on the road to dazzling, and pretty damned impressive, I think, for a homegrown production in a community the size of ours.

Did I make the right decision to delay Opening by a week and convert this weekend's existing performances into Half-Price Previews? Others will make that decision, not me.

Last night was the first time we were able to run through the show without stopping. The set changes are complicated, to say the least. Night before last, our world-class stage manager, Ginnie Willard, wisely stopped the show five times. Safety is her number one concern, and God bless her for that.

On Wednesday night, when I made the decision to delay Opening immediately following Act One, Ginnie stopped the show maybe ten times.

Here's my bottom line. I will never ask a cast and crew to jump to full performance level in a show this complex before they've had the chance to run through it several times without stopping. Call me crazy, but please don't call me reckless.

I greatly appreciate all the kind comments from audience members last night who loved the show and couldn't see any reason why I changed the first week to previews. I too thought the show went really well. I couldn't be more proud of our directors, stage managers, cast, orchestra and crew. I also think the entire team was more able to do their best work because they knew the pressure was off.

Everyone, including last night's audience, knew that Ginnie was fully empowered to stop at any moment if she felt anything less than fully in control. That knowledge, I believe, leant a lot of freedom to the proceedings. The cast was able to relax and have fun--because they knew they were safe.

Which leads me to my other bottom line. I'm not going to ask any audience to pay full price for a performance when there's a likelihood that the stage manager will have to stop the show. By next Friday, that likelihood will be reduced to close to zero. At that point, let the full price performances commence!

So how did we get in this situation? We're a live theatre. We're ambitious. We make art. These things happen.

I'm not going to place blame on anyone, but for those who want to place blame, I'm happy to offer this opinion. When a show isn't ready on time, nine times out of ten it's because of deficiencies in planning and budget. Both of those key components are controlled by the producers. At Barksdale, that's me and Phil Whiteway--please excuse my bad grammar.

I'm happy this morning. And proud. And excitedly looking forward to a fun and prosperous summer. I'm glad that Barksdale continues to be ambitious, to bite off more than we reasonably can be expected to chew. I'm crazy about our audience, 95% of whom are supportive and caring, fun-loving and adventurous. I'm grateful to be working in a theatre community like ours, where the vast majority of theatre artists actively route for each other's success.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is off to a promising start. The critics will weigh in next Friday and I can't wait. Let the good times roll!

--Bruce Miller

Half-Price Previews Added to "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"

Posted by Bruce Miller
At last night’s rehearsal for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, I made the decision to delay the Opening of our summer musical by one week. Dirty Rotten will now open on Friday, June 24. The performances scheduled for Fri June 17, Sat June 18, Sun June 19, Wed June 22, and Thurs June 23 all will take place as originally planned, but they are being converted to Half-Price Previews.

As much as we would prefer not to change plans mid-stream, about once every three or four years it becomes advisable to do just that. Delaying the Opening of a show that isn’t quite ready is a national, responsible practice. The last time it happened to us was a few years back with our revival of The Wizard of Oz. The last time a delayed Opening at another theatre affected me personally was earlier this season when, on the day I was scheduled to drive to D. C. to see the first performance of Oklahoma at Arena Stage, I received a call from the box office (I’m an Arena subscriber) advising me that Oklahoma wasn’t ready to open and therefore that evening’s performance had been cancelled.

What does it mean when we say a show isn’t ready? Theatre is a collaboration, and when a production goes smoothly, all partners in that collaboration are able to work effectively, quickly and in sync with each other. Sometimes, especially with complex shows like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the creative partners need an extra few days to get in sync. Maybe the costumes, lights and sound are ready, but the set and props haven’t quite caught up. We’re making art here, not widgets.

Whenever production elements approach completion at slightly different times, it causes actors and/or musicians to lose focus. Last night, I could tell that our terrific cast was unable to concentrate fully on their performances because they were still somewhat unsure as to what exactly was going on behind or beside them. There are two turntables in the show, countless flies, giant panels that move on from stage left and right, several hundred costumes, a free moving giant staircase completely dependent on working hydraulic casters, and a singing/dancing/running cast and crew of close to thirty.

As of today, these talented, hard working theatre pros still have not had a single run through of either act during which the stage manager hasn’t had to stop the proceedings cold. Last night, when one of the hydraulic casters on the giant staircase blew out with a loud pop and hiss in the middle of a set change, I knew it was time for me to step in and give this terrific cast and crew just a little more time.

I can’t ask or expect talented actors to place all their focus on their performances when, for safety’s sake, they still have to direct some of their focus on the two ton unit that is barreling toward them from off stage left.

The show will go on tomorrow night, and I’m confident that audience members who choose to attend the Half-Price Previews will have a great time. But I’ll feel a lot better knowing that the pressure has been lessened, and all involved will now have the chance to participate in several successful run throughs before knocking it out of the park on Opening Night.

If you are holding tickets for one of these Half-Price Previews, and would like to exchange for a later performance, please call our box office at 282-2620. Of if you decide to come and be part of the exciting process, be ready just in case the stage manager has to holler “Stop!” Also, please know that we are endlessly grateful for your understanding and support. Best of all, if you paid full price, a $25 voucher is on its way covering more than half of your original purchase price.

Special thanks to all the talented artists involved with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for continuing to be just as dirty, rotten and scoundrel-ous as any producer could want. When you Break a Leg on Opening, I pray it will be metaphorical.

--Bruce Miller