Saturday Salmagundi

Posted by Bruce Miller
It's another week's end grab bag post, but since I didn't really want to use the words "grab bag" again, I searched for synonyms and found "salmagundi," a noun, meaning "a salad plate of chopped meats, anchovies, eggs, and vegetables arranged in rows for contrast and dressed with a salad dressing (sounds good), or a heterogeneous mixture of anything, a hodgepodge." So, this post is not a Weekend Grab Bag; it's a Saturday Salmagundi!

Many thanks to singers Robin Harris, Christie Jackson, Katrinah Lewis, and Anthony Smith (who also played piano); narrator Phil Whiteway; and staffers Derek Dumais, Chase Kniffen, Bruce Rennie, and Brittany Taylor for pulling together the movie music cabaret we presented on Thursday evening for the Metro Richmond Convention and Visitors Bureau (under the title As Time Goes By) and on Friday for the Virginia State Rotary Convention (under the title Hooray for Hollywood). Both programs went very well, I thought, providing solid entertainment for their intended audiences.

Kimberly Akimbo, the inaugural production in our new Theatre Gym partnership with Cadence Theatre Company, previewed on Thursday and opened on Friday with two terrific performances. I'm going tonight (I was tied up with the cabaret on Thursday and Friday), and can't wait to see this fun, quirky, heartfelt comedy. Artistically, the show is a huge success, I'm told by people I trust, but ticket sales are sluggish. We had about 20 audience members on Thursday and 15 on Friday--five of whom were critics or their plus ones. The show runs in the Theatre Gym (81 seats) in the Empire complex now through Nov 5.

We know from lots of previous experience that reviving anything successful, like Theatre Gym, takes time. It's hard to sell tickets when three other shows (Lend Me a Tenor, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and The Merchant of Venice) are in their closing week, and Wicked and the Richmond Folk Festival are working their magic at other venues.

My hopes for the Cadence/Theatre Gym partnership are strong as ever. All of you who would like to see Theatre Gym return, or would like to support Anna Johnson's terrific Cadence Theatre Company, or who just want to see a great new show--please buy your tickets today by calling the Barksdale box office at 282-2620. Or, if you want to buy them online, you can do so at www.BarksdaleRichmond.org.

All box office receipts go to pay the salaries of the theatre artists participating (Cast: Richard Koch, Matt Mitchell, Jill Bari Steinberg, Debra Wagoner, Irene Ziegler; Director and Designers: Anna Johnson, Lily Lamberta, Matthew Landwehr, Terrie Powers; Assistant Directors, Stage Manager, House Managers, Other Staff: Tomas Bell, Brian Baez, Jason Campbell, Jay Paul Photography, David Powers, Melissa Rayford, Jesse Senechal, Susan Senechal, Claire Yenson--some of whom may be working as volunteers).

Top ticket price is only $26, with $19 tickets for Barksdale/TIV subscribers or groups of 10 or more, and $10 tickets for students. I'm hoping that tonight, tomorrow, and next weekend will do land office business. There's a special 7 pm industry performance (open to anyone) on Tuesday, Nov 1.

The Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Awards will take place tomorrow (Sunday) in the Empire Theatre at 7 pm. The orchestra is sold out, but there are still plenty of good seats upstairs in the balcony. (That's where Phil and I will be!) Tickets are only $15 for a grandly entertaining evening, and 100% of all box office receipts goes to support TAF (the Theatre Artists Fund). You can purchase tickets by calling the Barksdale box office at 282-2620, or online at www.BarksdaleRichmond.org. Click "Special Events & Programs" in the menu to the left of the home page, then click "RTCC on Oct 16" in the drop down menu.

Phil and I debated again this year whether or not to reserve a block of tickets for the theatre artists with whom we were privileged to work last season, and decided again not to do so. I've been told that Chamberlayne Actors Theatre, Henley Street Theatre (Jacquie O'Connor), Richmond Shakespeare (Grant Mudge), and Richmond Triangle Players all purchased blocks of seats to resell and/or distribute to their home teams, and some people have wondered aloud why we haven't. It appears that AART, Barksdale/TIV, Firehouse, and Swift Creek have all chosen not to try to seat their casts together.

Our rationale is this: virtually every theatre artist who works at Barksdale and Theatre IV also works at other theatres in town. We really don't have and don't seek a "home team"; we think our "home team" includes everybody. We wouldn't want any artists to be put in a position where they had to decide which theatre's section they wanted to join for this community-wide celebration. Tomorrow night, the Barksdale/TIV family will be spread out throughout the audience, just as during the season they spread themselves out amongst all of Richmond's theatres. That seems appropriate to us. We mean no insult to anyone in the Barksdale/TIV "family," each of whom we respect enormously.

We're VERY excited that two of our nominees this year are coming to the awards event from out of town--and they're both competing in the same category! Best Actress - Musicals nominees Rachel Abrams and Michelle Lookadoo have their tickets reserved. Rachel flew in from St. Louis, and Michelle took time off from her current Broadway gig (Anything Goes with Sutton Foster; Michelle is pictured to the right, backstage with the beutiful women of Anything Goes, and onstage as Hope Harcourt) to come to Richmond with her husband for the event and some fall foliage hiking in the Virginia mountains. It will be WONDERFUL to see both of these talented women with us for all the fun!

Hope to see all of you at tomorrow's festivities! Good luck and congratulations to ALL nominees! Please remember, designated drivers can get their hands stamped and receive free sodas throughout the evening.

--Bruce Miller

Another Ten Bop to the Top in "DHSM"

My daughter and I just returned from seeing SPARC’s summer production of Little Shop of Horrors at the Firehouse Theatre. A large group from Disney’s High School Musical went to today’s matinee and had a terrific time. SPARC has pulled together a GREAT cast—9 impressive actors with exceptional talent! Five are VCU students, two are current or recent students at Meadowbrook H S, and two are adults. These great actors deserve their own blog post, and I’ll try to write one in the next few days.

In this entry, let me continue recognizing the exceptional high school students who sing and dance their hearts out in Disney’s High School Musical.

Alex Godschalk just graduated from Steward, so in DHSM he has the home court advantage. He makes the most of it. Alex plays one of the "brainiacs," and he has a great moment when the character of Chad congratulates him with a high five, compelling Alex's character to transform from an up-tight academician to a hip-hop savvy homeboy. It’s one of the biggest laughs of the evening. Next fall Alex will be beginning his tenure as a theatre major at Elon.

Julia Greer is one of our wonderful cheerleaders. Chase, K and Sherri have done a great job creating a cheerleading unit that functions as a team, not as a group of individuals. So it’s hard for me to help you pick out Julia from the rest of her clique, all of whom pretty much dress, move and smile alike, just like they're supposed to. Julia is a rising freshman at Collegiate, and appeared with SPARC last summer in Dear Edwina.

B J Gruber is our heartthrob skater dude who secretly longs to play the cello. He participates in the drama program at Godwin H S, and is the only cast member to start the show off on wheels.

Christie Jackson just graduated from high school and is looking forward to beginning her theatre studies next fall at Madison. If you take note of the skilled acrobat with red hair, you’re noting Christie.

Charles Johnson is a rising senior at Highland Springs H S and received his vocal training with The Greater Richmond Children’s Choir. He’s on our basketball team in DHSM, and enjoying all that dribbling in Getcha Head in the Game.

Kouryn Lupino is a rising senior at Godwin H S, and attended the Center for the Arts at Henrico H S for two years in the musical theatre program. She’s pretty irresistible on stage, and you’ll recognize her as the one who wears a knit cap over her long dark hair.

Hannah Miller is a rising junior at Trinity H S and a returnee from our cast of Grease last summer. She recently appeared in The Wizard of Oz at Theatre IV, and takes dance at the Richmond Dance Center. You’ll spot her in DHSM as the one who is directed to “be the bear” in drama class, and has a beaming smile throughout the ensemble numbers.

Dylan Moon is a proud member of our second pair of siblings, a distinction he shares with his big brother Zac. Last summer, Dylan played the son, Nathan, in The Full Monty at Barksdale Willow Lawn. Last winter he was a floating head in Flowers for Algernon at Swift Creek Mill.

Na’imah Nelson spent her freshman year at the Center for the Arts at Henrico H S, and will soon be a sophomore at Hermitage H S. She received additional training from the Richmond City Dance Theatre, and is pleased to have joined the cheer squad in DHSM.

Paul Newell is a rising junior at Deep Run H S and is a proud alum of Christian Youth Theatre. You can identify Paul as the referee in the climactic basketball game at the end of our show.

And that brings me to the end of this entry. There’s more to come soon regarding the final ten talented teens in our High School Musical entourage. Each one is worth applauding, and we're blessed that all of them have agreed to be in the show.

--Bruce Miller