The Empire is Alive with the Sound of NEW Speakers

Posted by Bruce Miller
Owning the historic Empire Theatre, which will celebrate its Centennial (100th Birthday) this coming Christmas Day, is a privilege and a blessing--an expensive privilege and blessing. We've been raising funds quietly over the last several years to make home improvements to the only performance facility we own outright. Both Willow Lawn and Hanover Tavern are rented spaces--but even there, we pay for all the light and sound equipment.

In April of 2008 we replaced our old analog sound board with a new 40-channel, digital Yamaha LS9-32, and immediately heard our sound quality improve. Cost - $9,000.

In March of 2009 we replaced a dozen 15-year-old house mics and six tour mics (all wireless) due to the national DTV transition that rendered all our old frequencies useless. Our new mics are Sennheiser Evolution 100s, with a price tag of $18 K.

In June of 2009 we spent an additional $9 K (K means thousand for those who don't recognize the abbreviation) to replace an additional 18 tour wireless mics with new Sennheiser Evolution 300s.

In October of 2009 we replaced two handheld mics (originally purchased for a long ago production of Beehive) with Sennheiser Evolution 300s - another $1,400.

In the spring of 2010, we purchased a new Meyer MM-4 Frontfill Speaker System Amplifier, Processor for right around $2,200.

And yesterday we installed and tweaked a new Nexo Geo S8 Tangeant Line Array as our central cluster, including nine boxes, an amp and a processor. Total cost for this week's purchase--$22,000. The new speakers add stunning clarity and cover all our seating areas, including our hard-to-reach Governor's Box (available on command for all of Virginia Governors and Lieutenant Governors, current or past) and our Congressional Box (available on command for our Virginia and U. S. legislators).

We think you'll notice and appreciate the difference when you join us for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels this summer! The magnificent Empire truly benefits from being Central Virginia's only theatre built for the human voice before the age of sound amplification. Nonetheless, the new speakers help to make every word and note crystal clear.

In addition, we recently spent $22 thousand on lighting upgrades, with another $100 thousand needed and coming soon. More about that later.

All of this equipment, with the exception of the Meyer speakers, was purchased locally (Backstage Inc.), and all installation was performed by local professional labor (mostly our resident staff), significantly benefiting the Greater Richmond economy.

Special thanks to our old pal, Fred Brumbach, formerly of Backstage Inc., currently of On Stage Gear, for his invaluable consultation. And, of course, extra special thanks to our irreplaceable Tech Director, Bruce Rennie, and our exemplary Sound Manager, Derek Dumais, for working together to make all of this happen.

--Bruce Miller

Announcing Barksdale's 2010-11 Signature Season

Posted by Bruce Miller
"Brilliant" - defined by TheFreeDictionary.com as "Full of light. Shining." Exactly how I feel about the five plus one shows in Barksdale's 2010-11 Signature Season.

Somewhere near the top of the list of my most important responsibilities is selecting which plays we will produce. Play selection is not something I do alone or in a vacuum. Suggestions come from virtually everywhere (Board members, subscribers, single ticket buyers, teachers, theatre artists of all stripes, contributors). I honestly appreciate and benefit from all the ideas you throw my way.

Direct input into the process comes from Phil Whiteway (of course, he's the one who has to pay the bills), Chase Kniffen (he will assist me in selecting the artistic teams that will bring each title to life), Sara Marsden (she'll sell the tickets), Judi Crenshaw (she has to articulate the strengths of each title to the media outlets and the general public), plus Joy Ross Davis (group sales), Sue Griffin (costumes), Bruce Rennie (tech director), and several others.

At the end of the day, the buck stops with me. If you hate (or love) a play produced by Barksdale, I'm the guy to blame (or congratulate).

From the millions of titles that exist (surely the world must have given birth to at least several million comedies, dramas and musicals by now), there are perhaps a couple hundred titles that make it on to one or another of the lists that always float around the Barksdale offices. From this wealth of great work, five or six titles ultimately emerge. The criteria against which each title is assessed are:

* is it a "great" play (Barksdale's mission is to produce "the great comedies, dramas and musicals--past, present and future")

* do we have the capacity, based on existing resources, to produce a first class production (our mission charges us to create "national caliber productions")

* will our production be fresh, unique and alive

* will it captivate the audience

* does it have the potential to expand our subscription base (lots of lengthy and very personal discussion here; remember, the productions that have passed this test include everything from Guys and Dolls to Intimate Apparel to Boleros for the Disenchanted to The Little Dog Laughed to Cyrano de Bergerac to Melissa Arctic to Is He Dead?)

* does it add to the diversity and breadth of our work and offer new opportunities to our artists and audiences (we try very hard not to produce on our Willow Lawn season the same type of play over and over again)

* is there or will there be a considerable font of energy created around this title among our artistic leadership and family

* is there a unique "hook" that will allow us to extend this energy to single ticket buyers, group sales leaders, and playgoers / playmakers at large

* does the season feel good as a whole--is the total greater than the sum of its parts

* would the season make our founders (Pete, Muriel and Nancy) proud; will it engender pride among our Board of Trustees and staff

This year there was a special emphasis on a final criteria.

* Will it make money?

With the continuing sluggishness in the economy, the significant declines in governmental and corporate support, and the increasing competition coming from CenterStage and the "Broadway" season, there is no margin for financial error. I know that admission is not very high-minded. I'm just being honest.

Five titles (with a sixth subscriber option) have run this gauntlet and emerged with colors flying. I'm very excited to announce Barksdale Theatre's 57th Signature Season!

Shipwrecked! An Entertainment - by Donald Margulies
White Christmas - Music & Lyrics by Irving Berlin, Book by David Ives & Paul Blake
Legacy of Light - by Karen Zacarias
Contemporary Broadway comedy - title TBA
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - Music & Lyrics by David Yazbek, Book by Jeffrey Lane
The Bluest Eye - by Lydia Diamond, based on the novel by Toni Morrison

More to come tomorrow about each of these wonderful shows. I hope you'll subscribe!

--Bruce

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

Three Theatres - Three Times the Fun

Posted by John Steils

I'm just getting used to my new Barksdale and Theatre IV home. Or I guess I should say "homes." I arrived in September after a year-long internship with a single-theatre company in the mid-West, and I was glad to discover that I now had three theatres to explore.

My first exposure was to the historic Empire and it was love at first sight. What a magnificent performance facility. One step inside the door and you feel like you're in a Broadway house that's been transported to Broad Street. As Virginia's oldest theatre, the Empire is one of Richmond's greatest treasures. I loved Stuart Little (I've never seen an actor and puppet become "one" more than David Janeski and young Stuart), and I can't wait for A Christmas Story, Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter, Peter Pan and Guys and Dolls!

I'm reading all the hoopla in the Times-Dispatch about restoring the Carpenter Center. I won't pretend to understand it all, but apparently it's been a crazy ride. That makes me all the more impressed that throughout the last 20 years Theatre IV has owned, restored and maintained the landmark Empire without, I'm told, so much as a paragraph of controversy.

As much as the Empire is a treasure, Barksdale's Willow Lawn home is a jewel. Tom McGranahan--a treasure himself--told me that he used to work in that exact area when he was a Procter & Gamble sales rep and the vast second-floor space that is now an attractive theatre was then a storeroom for the five-and-dime.

The Barksdalians (Barksdalers?) who were responsible for the design and execution of this transformation did an amazing job. I went to see The Member of the Wedding and couldn't have loved it more. It's a perfect, intimate theatre. From the outside, you think it's going to be this tiny shoebox of a space. But then you go up the stairs and enter this huge lobby and fully equipped 204-seat theatre. It's an ideal home for those of us who like to see every expression and hear every word.

I was picking up some fliers from the development office two days ago, and walked into the theatre expecting to revisit the beautiful set for The Member of the Wedding. Instead, it was like entering a jungle. Bruce Rennie, Matt Landwehr, Derek Dumais and Joe Bock were in the middle of the new light hang for Moonlight and Magnolias, and they had disconnected all the lights so that they could re-position and re-connect them to match Lynne Hartman's light design for M & M. Light cables--I think they called them "pigtails"--were dangling down from hundreds of unconnected instruments, making it seem like a small battalion of carnivorous vines (or snakes, being the day before Halloween) was getting ready to attack from the ceiling above the stage.

My first visit to Hanover Tavern was for Deathtrap, so I think I'll always be a little frightened if I have to go out there by myself. When the lighting flashed at the end of Act II, revealing that freaky cigar store Indian that stood at the foot of the stairs, I thought I was seeing a ghost. Jeannie Kilgore told me that Muriel used to swear there was a ghost in the Tavern. Now that Halloween has come and gone, I'll be brave enough to find out more.

If you haven't purchased your tickets yet for A Christmas Story at the Empire (you remember that movie with the leg lamp?), Moonlight and Magnolias at Willow Lawn (a hilarious backstage story about the making of Gone with the Wind), or Swingtime Canteen at the Tavern (a recreation of an actual USO show from the early 40s), please call today.

Whichever show and whichever theatre you choose, you're sure to have a great time! And you'll be doing your part to keep professional theatre in Richmond alive and well.

--John Steils

The Paul and Phyllis Galanti Education Center at the Virginia War Memorial

Posted by Bruce Miller

On Thursday evening, Phil Whiteway and I had the privilege of joining hundreds of Richmond’s finest to honor our very dear friends Paul and Phyllis Galanti, pictured on the February 1973 Newsweek cover to the left. As many of you know, Paul was a POW in the Hanoi Hilton for seven years during the Vietnam War. The story of Paul’s captivity and Phyllis’s international efforts to force the North Vietnamese to abide by the Geneva Convention provided the subject matter for the original musical Four Part Harmony, which received its World Premiere at Theatre IV in 1993.

On Thursday evening, it was announced that the new Education Center that is to be built at the magnificent Virginia War Memorial is to be named in honor of Paul and Phyllis Galanti. This is a tribute that is both fitting and well deserved. Phil and I could not be more proud of our friends. Phyllis has been an exemplary Theatre IV Board member for upwards of 25 years, and Paul has stood beside her in support every step of the way.

Ross Perot made the keynote speech at Thursday’s celebration, standing at the foot of Memory, the inspiring statue that is the War Memorial’s centerpiece. He spoke movingly of Paul’s heroism and Phyllis’s exemplary national leadership of the POW wives. Perot’s impassioned tribute and Phyllis’s and Paul’s gracious responses brought tears to many eyes, including mine.

In a time when the subject of torturing prisoners of war is once again making headlines, it was viscerally moving to be in the presence of men who were subjected to such torture (many of the American POWs were present) and a woman who fought with all her might on the national and international stage to ensure that the torturing of prisoners would not continue unopposed.

K Strong, who played a role based on Phyllis in Four Part Harmony, was also present and beaming with pride. Bruce Rennie, our highly respected Tech Director, was on hand to oversee the effective operation of sound and lights. Former Theatre IV Board President (and recent Theatre IV Board returnee) Bill Garrison and his wife Mary were in attendance, as were Barksdale stalwarts Tom and Carlene Bass.

The Galantis’ adult sons, Jamie and Jeff, were there, of course, to honor their parents, along with Jeff’s new bride. Jeff and his wife are in the photo to the left, along with Phyllis. Mayor Wilder, Dr. E. Bruce Heilman (my good friend and U of R Chancellor), and countless legislators and dignitaries added gravitas.

During our college days at U of R, Phil and I joined hundreds of thousands of students of our generation in wearing POW bracelets on which were etched the names of American servicemen who were being held captive in Hanoi. We pledged not to remove these bracelets until the POWs came home. The name on Phil’s bracelet was Cdr. Paul Galanti. When Paul came to speak at the University after his release, Phil, who had just completed his first summer as a Navy officer candidate, had the honor of giving Paul the bracelet he had worn for so many years. (That's Paul and Phil in the photo above and to the right.)

Because I’m about to mention politics, I’ll now speak only for myself. I am a liberal-leaning Democrat, and deeply embrace the principles that inform my political thinking. Paul and Phyllis Galanti are conservative Republicans, and embody heart and soul the tenets that lead them to their political beliefs. I hope I’m not being presumptuous in saying that, for over 30 years, the Galantis and I have been the closest of friends. I could not have more respect and affection for Paul and Phyllis than I do. Even when we disagree on politics, perhaps especially when we disagree, I treasure our relationship and will always value and honor their character and opinions.

The remarkable tribute that is being paid to Paul and Phyllis Galanti with the naming of the new Educational Center at the Virginia War Memorial is well deserved. I know first hand that both of them are leaders and citizens of the highest caliber. It was my honor to join them on Thursday for the unveiling of plans for the War Memorial expansion.

--Bruce Miller

We're All in This Together

Posted by Bruce Miller
I just returned from Opening Night of Disney’s High School Musical and I'm proud as a peacock. I’m proud of Chase Kniffen (Director), K Strong (Choreographer) and Sherri Matthews (Music Director) who’ve done such a fantastic job assembling a talented cast of 38 actors from 20 different schools (and home schools) and turning them into such a cohesive ensemble.

I’m proud of my talented wife, Terrie Powers (set design), and my equally talented colleagues and friends Sarah Grady (costume design) and Lynne Hartman (light design). The show looks terrific, and moves without a hitch. OK, maybe there were two tiny hitches tonight, but who noticed? These three artists make the show look like a million bucks, on a budget less than 2% that size.

I’m proud of our unsung heroes, and let me first mention our amazing Tech Director, Bruce Rennie. And as I mention his name, I want to say the word “hero” three more times. In show after show, Bruce makes miracles happen behind the scenes. The company doesn’t provide him with nearly enough support staff or expertise. Still, somehow, he always gets the job done. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think there was magic involved. Theatre IV and Barksdale simply could not exist without Bruce Rennie.

The company may not provide Bruce with enough support staff, but the ones we have provided are exceptional in their commitment, talent and hard work. Derek Dumais (Sound Engineer), Adam Tiller (Electrician and Light Board Op), and Wendy Vandergrift (Assistant Tech Director) are invaluable members of the staff. Amy Gethins Sullivan, Kim Parkin, Tia James and Terrie Powers (Painters); Nathan Meadows, John Valerie, and T J Spensieri (Carpenters); and Joe Bock and Virginia Varland (Electricians) have worked tirelessly to create the eight to ten different locales that the show requires.

Most important, I’m proud of our talented kids. But more about them later. In this post, I offer my most heartfelt thanks to the amazing adult leaders noted above. Every cast and audience member owes you a standing ovation.

They’re flying; they’re soaring—and to quote a cliché, you are the wind beneath their wings.

I thank you all for a job well done.

--Bruce Miller

"Into the Woods" Earns Rave from T-D

The first critic has spoken, and declared Into the Woods to be a “MAGICAL” summer hit! Susan Haubenstock’s assessment appeared in Monday morning’s Times-Dispatch (April 18), and the review’s headline and sub-headline said it all: “Barksdale gets Ambitious, Scores” and “Work on Sondheim Classic is Dazzling in All of its Facets.”

Stephen Sondheim is almost universally recognized as the greatest Broadway composer and lyricist of the final third of the 20th Century. Described by Frank Rich in the The New York Times as "the greatest and perhaps best-known artist in the American musical theater," he is one of the few people to win an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards (seven, more that any other composer), multiple Grammy Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize. His most famous scores include (as composer/lyricist) A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, A Little Night Music (my favorite musical), Follies, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, and Into the Woods, as well as the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy (probably my second and third favorite musicals).

The stellar cast we have assembled for Into the Woods is second to none. “The performers are a true ensemble,” writes Haubenstock, “with Steve Perigard’s low-key baker and Rachel Abrams as his spunky wife perhaps at the center. Robyn O’Neill is vibrant as the witch, and Rita Markova makes a lovely Cinderella. Russell Rowland and Zak Resnick are both hilarious as lascivious wolves and roving-eyed princes; Ford Flannagan’s narrator reminds one of Joel Grey with his lightness and grace. Drew Seigla plays Jack (of beanstalk fame) as naive but lovable, and Jacqueline Jones is his brash, exasperated mother.”

“But the scene-stealer here is Audra Honaker as Little Red Riding Hood, who earns a laugh with every line and applause with every exit. The character is written funny, to be sure, but Honaker’s deadpan performance ratchets every gag up from chuckle to guffaw.” Haubenstock goes on to praise our brilliant director and choreographer (Robin Arthur), our music director (Jimmy Hicks) and our designers (set – Mercedes Schaum, costumes – Terry Snyder, and lights – Lynne Hartman). To those well deserved kudos, I’d like to add a special thanks to our indefatigable production crew, led by my greatly respected and invaluable colleagues: Bruce Rennie, Tech Director; Richard Koch, Production Manager; and Ginnie Willard, Production Stage Manager.

As Haubenstock suggests, Into the Woods is a hugely ambitious production for a theatre of our size. Phil and I feel privileged to be producing such a rewarding show, and to have the opportunity to work with such talented theatre artists.

For the full review of Into the Woods, go to: Richmond Times-Dispatch review

FOLLOWUP-Read another rave from Richmond.com, go to: Richmond.com review

To puchase tickets, call our Box Office today at 282-2620. I know you’ll enjoy this glorious production.

Special thanks to the Title Sponsor of Into the Woods, Village Bank, who helped make this production possible.

--Bruce Miller