The Sound of Education

Posted by Bruce Miller
Chase Kniffen (director and choreographer of The Sound of Music [TSOM]), Brian Barker (set designer, TSOM), Janine Serresseque (Barksdale's liaison with Richmond Public Schools [RPS]), and I had the wonderful opportunity of conducting an after-school Educator Training Workshop last week with a dozen or so teachers from RPS. The workshop was organized and facilitated by Susan Damron, theatre resource teacher in the RPS Arts & Humanities Center.

For the last eleven years, Theatre IV and RPS have partnered as Central Virginia's only affiliate of the Kennedy Center's prestigious Performing Arts Centers and Schools program. Through this national arts-in-education initiative, we present workshops that train teachers how to use the arts to enhance instruction across the curriculum at all grade levels. Teachers receive continuing education credits for their participation.

About half of the workshops involve master educators from the Kennedy Center's roster of the nation's best arts-in-education specialists. These days, about half of the workshops are developed here in Richmond by Susan Damron and various artists and educators from Theatre IV.

Earlier this year, we created a workshop entitled Beyond the Wiz. In response to teacher requests, the goal was to enable educators with no expertise in theatre--with the exception of George Wythe, RPS middle and high schools have no drama teachers--to learn where and how to look for plays that feature African American casts and themes but have little name recognition among the general public.

We assembled a panel comprised of Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates from VCU (director, The Grapes of Wrath), April Jones - guest theatre artist at the University of Richmond, Derome Scott Smith - Artistic Director, African American Repertory Theatre (director, Black Nativity), and me. Together we discussed the history of African American theatre in the United States, and explored a large number of plays that have had successful revivals with African American casts even if they were not originally written from an African American perspective.

Each participating teacher left with a new appreciation for the wealth of material out there, an expanded knowledge of where to search for new titles, and an understanding of how to obtain reading copies of less well known scripts.

The subject of last week's workshop was Creating the Team Needed to Produce a Musical. Using The Sound of Music as our case study, I spoke about assembling the lead artists, Chase talked about how the director works with the stage manager and designers to move the process forward, Janine (who works overhire in our costume department) spoke about the various steps followed to create the costumes for a show, and Brian dazzled the crowd with his models and computer work, ably revealing how a designer in 2010 can use technology to more effectively communicate with the rest of the production team.

Throughout the entire workshop, we provided tips on how to create a musical on a budget--a subject near and dear to the educators' hearts and pocketbooks.

This afternoon, I will be accompanying the teachers on a tour of the Holocaust Museum. Again we will use TSOM as our case study, and discuss how to use theatre to enhance instruction across the curriculum by showing how TSOM is being used throughout Greater Richmond's school systems to teach the history of WWII.

This Friday evening, the teachers who have been participating in this workshop series will all come to see The Sound of Music, and take a behind-the-scenes tour after the show.

For decades, education has been at the heart of our work at Theatre IV and Barksdale. As early winners of the Excellence in Arts Instruction Award from the Virginia Dept of Education and the Virginia Commission for the Arts, we're proud to be a valued partner with public and private school systems throughout the Commonwealth.

Hope to see you (and the students in your life) at the theatre!

--Bruce Miller

"Moonlight and Magnolias" Makes Many Merry

Posted by John Steils

The first review is in for Moonlight and Magnolias. Under the headline Having a Ball with ‘Gone With the Wind’, it appeared in this morning’s Times-Dispatch. The beautifully written kudos are penned by Celia Wren.

“An amiably romping production!” Wren exclaims. “Hutchinson’s comedy takes a behind-the-scenes look at the frantic 1939 creation of the screenplay for Gone With the Wind.”

David Bridgewater and Scott Wichmann are praised as “theatrical powerhouses.” Admiration is awarded to Joe Pabst’s “comic poise”. Director Steve Perigard’s “witty sight gags (sound gags, too)” and Brian Barker’s “handsome set, with its peach-colored walls and sleek art deco furniture” also earn Wren’s approbation.

Even the seldom appreciated, at least in print, props department received a nod. “In an ongoing joke,” Wren writes approvingly, “Selznick’s office becomes increasingly messy—so a special nod must go to this production’s properties mistress, Lynn West, for coping with the piquant slovenliness.”

“A key asset of director Steve Perigard’s staging is Wichmann, whose dry interpretation of Hecht ballasts the show’s farcical elements. Bridgewater takes a far hammier approach to Fleming: In one particularly droll sequence, he minces, his head in a kerchief, imitating Scarlett O’Hara’s maid. At another point, he does a mean Clark Gable imitation.”

Having a Ball with ‘Gone with the Wind’ seems to us to sum up everything perfectly. We’re delighted that the critics and audiences seem to be having such a wonderful time. We hope you’ll call for YOUR tickets soon!

--John Steils

(Photo credits: Our Moonlight and Magnolias poster by Robert Meganck. David O. Selznick [producer] with Vivien Leigh after she won her Oscar for GWTW. Ben Hecht [screenwriter]. Victor Fleming [director].)

Moonlight Makes Movie Memory Magic

Posted by Bruce Miller

I just returned from the Opening Night of Moonlight and Magnolias, and I’m psyched at the prospect of having a second holiday hit on our hands. While Swingtime Canteen continues to leave ‘em cheering in its second week at Hanover Tavern, Moonlight and Magnolias is rocking the house with laughter at Willow Lawn.

In the photos that follow, Jennings Whiteway and Michael Hawke prepare a sumptuous Magnolia-themed buffet for the Opening festivities.





Brian Barker, our extremely talented set designer, celebrates the evening’s success with his lovely wife.






Joy Williams, who is a laugh riot as the all-sacrificing Hollywood secretary Miss Poppenguhl, lets her hair down (or at least takes off her wig) to join in the party. And Wendy Vandergrift, our intrepid stage manager, puts her feet up on the on-stage desk for a much needed post performance break.












Former Theatre IV board member Charlotte McCutcheon enjoys the cranberry brie with managing director Phil Whiteway.






Bruce Rennie, the best theatre tech director in Virginia history, finally gets a moment to relax before launching into tech for A Christmas Story, which opens next week at the Empire.





Neil and Sara Belle November can’t stop smiling at the raucous comedy. Co-star Joe Pabst accepts the compliments of our volunteer coordinator Jean Hartley.












Our ever faithful light console operator, Linwood Guyton, shares credit for a job well done with our exceptional light designer, Lynne Hartman.







Co-star Dave Bridgewater enjoys discussing the play with Daren Kelly, who just returned to town after an acting gig with Yale Rep. Our fascinating Gone with the Wind lobby display can be seen in the background.

Keri Wormald (director of our upcoming Doubt) and Steve Perigard (director of Moonlight), discuss the evening’s success with acclaimed actor and director Robert Throckmorton.




And last but not least, longtime supporter Beth Sinnenburg enjoys raising a glass with our third hilarious co-star, Scott Wichmann.

For a great evening’s entertainment, come to Moonlight and Magnolias to see a hilarious new comedy about the making of the classic movie, Gone with the Wind. It’s a wonderful way to add a full share of laughter to your holiday activities.

See you at the theatre!

--Bruce Miller

Finding the We of Me - Opening Night at "The Member of the Wedding"

Posted by Bruce Miller

I've just returned from the wonderful Opening Night of The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers at Barksdale Willow Lawn. Along with James Joyce's The Dead, The Member of the Wedding is that rare commodity on our Signature Season--a highly theatrical evening that is language- and character-driven rather than plot-driven. I love the variety and depth that it adds to our roster. I especially love this production.

Scott Wichmann has directed an evocative evening that emotionally transports us back to the sultry Southern summers of Carson McCullers' early adolescence. The Member of the Wedding is a part of our continuing Women's Theatre Project, and the story it tells is certainly born in a woman's heart.

At least one vibrant post-show discussion revolved around whether McCullers' classic tale is the story of Berenice Sadie Brown, the big-hearted domestic brilliantly played by Katherine Louis in a star-making performance, or the story of Frankie Addams (or F. Jasmine Addams as she prefers to be called), the lonely and precocious 13-year-old played with staggering sensitivity by real-life 13-year-old Lexi Langs.

Part of the magic woven by McCullers, Wichmann and our two outstanding actresses is that the evening somehow manages to focus alternately and simultaneously on both. It's almost as if the soul of the play combines both women into one: half adult and half child, half grounded and half lost, half privileged and half trodden down. Not unlike Carson McCullers herself (pictured above and to the left with the original Berenice, Ethel Waters).

Joining in the standing ovation awarded the production were steadfast supporters Mr and Mrs Reid Ashe, Tom and Carlene Bass, Page Bauder, Rosanna Bencoach, Dr. John and Mary Jane Board, Cammie Carlton, Carrie Galeski, Bev Kniffen, Charlotte and Andy McCutcheon, Suzanne Pollard, Essie Simms and Isabella Witt. That's the back of Charlotte's head in the photo above and to the right talking with director Scott Wichmann at the post-show party.

Other theatre artists in attendance included Jan Guarino and her children Nora and Zack (Jan is starring in our upcoming Swingtime Canteen at Hanover Tavern); Julia Greer, Hannah Miller and Ali Thibodeau from the cast of Disney's High School Musical (Julia and Hannah are pictured to the left); Annie Hulcher from Annie Get Your Gun; Alex Samawicz and his date (Alex played trumpet in Into the Woods); Melissa Johnston-Price and her daughter Meg (Melissa rushed in from rehearsal for Spinning Into Butter at the Firehouse); Terrie Powers (our designer extraordinaire at Hanover Tavern); Stacy Reardon (actor alum from The Full Monty and The Wizard of Oz); and Russell Rowland fresh from his Princely duties in Into the Woods.

Hard working staff members on hand included Emily Cole Bitz, Andy Boothby, Judi Crenshaw, Catherine Dudley, Jackie Gann and her newlywed husband Bobby, Jean Hartley, Lucas Hall, Chase Kniffen, Sara Marsden, Billy Christopher Maupin, Steve Perigard, Joy Ross, Janine Serresseque, Wendy Vandergrift, Jennings Whiteway (responsible for the wonderful party), Phil Whiteway (laughing with our leading lady at the post-show celebration), and Ginnie Willard.

Providing all the luster were the stars of the evening: director Wichmann; designers Brian Barker (sets), Derek Dumais (sound) and Lynne Hartman (lights); stage managers Bo Wilson and Jody Smith Strickler; console operator Lynwood Guyton; props master Lynn West; and cast members Katherine Louis, Lexi Langs, Eric Evans, Carl Calabrese, Christine Schneider, David Bridgewater, Jill Bari Steinberg, Alec Stephens III, Tony Cosby (WELCOME HOME TONY!), Erin Kate Bradner, Katy Burke and Zac Wilson. That's Eric, Zac and Lexi in the photo above and to the left, at the post-show party.

No one can say what the critics will think, but please know that Phil Whiteway and I are very proud of this production. We hope you'll join us soon for this compelling, soul-stirring and uniquely American classic.

--Bruce Miller