What is the BTW? (Barksdale Theatre Workshop)

Posted by Bruce Miller
A respondent to the previous post about TenSpot tickets made a good comment. "Hi. I'm confused. I understand the high school ticket rate; that's great. But what is the Barksdale Theatre Workshop? Is it really some type of free workshop for high school students?? Thank you."

Great question. I'm posting the answer here rather than in the comment section so that it can be seen by more people.

The BTW (Barksdale Theatre Workshop) is our outreach program designed to improve our service to high school students who love theatre. Through the BTW, we create opportunities for young actors, directors and designers to become more interested in and more connected with Barksdale Theatre.

The word “workshop” has two definitions. Quoting Merriam-Webster, a workshop is:
· “a small establishment where manufacturing or handicrafts are carried on, and
· a usually brief intensive educational program for a relatively small group of people that focuses especially on techniques and skills in a particular field.”
To help us create the BTW, we turned to our best resource, the talented and committed high school teachers who direct the drama programs in schools throughout our community. In the fall of 2005, we invited these drama teachers to Barksdale Theatre at Willow Lawn to discuss what Barksdale should be doing to serve their programs and their students. They identified five areas where we could have a positive and much needed impact. These five areas are the five components of the BTW.

In priority order, the recommendations of the teachers were:

1. Stage a summer production in which our community’s best high school theatre students could perform with Richmond’s major professional theatre. The program should be open to high school actors from all programs and backgrounds. Students should be able to audition for and participate in the program without charge. Rehearsals should be at night so that those students who needed to hold down summer jobs could participate. No other program, at that time, was filling that need. In partnership with The Steward School, we filled it, with Grease in 2006 and Disney’s High School Musical in 2007 (pictured throughout this article).

2. Create a discount program that allows high school students to come to plays at Barksdale Theatre for $10 each. The BTW TenSpot program now fills this need.

3. Create an externship that allows students interested in the performing arts to meet in a small group with our community’s top theatre, music and dance professionals in an after-school program for academic credit, learning firsthand about careers in the performing arts. In partnership with the CenterStage Foundation we have created and now operate the SOAR program (Student Opportunities in the ARts) to fill this need.

4. Expand our website to create a place where high school students can post information about the productions they’re working on and share their theatre interest with other high school drama enthusiasts—a community-wide high school theatre bulletin board. If you go to the Students section on the Barksdale website, you’ll find the pages where we’re filling that need. We’ve also created an interactive FaceBook page that hundreds of high school drama students access and contribute to each week.

5. Create Master Classes led by Greater Richmond’s best actors, directors, designers etc. and make those classes available on tour to individual drama classrooms in Greater Richmond's high schools. Also, conduct Master Classes in our theatre facilities so that students can access them on their own. We’re planning for our Master Class program to be in place by the beginning of the 2008-09 school year. The Master Classes will be unique, not duplicative of other programs currently existing in the community, such as (in alpha order) Christian Youth Theatre, HATTheatre and/or SPARC—all of which we support.

If you or someone you know is a high school theatre lover, we hope you’ll make sure they know about the BTW (Barksdale Theatre Workshop). For more information, they can email or call Chase Kniffen, 783-1688 ext. 14.

--Bruce Miller

"High School Musical" Megamix

I know I’m beginning to wear out my welcome, if there ever was a welcome, with these endless blog entries about Disney’s High School Musical. It’s a big show, and it’s important to me to give every kid his or her due. So, with respect and appreciation, I’m going to zip through the final ten actors who make our “megamix” of a cast so mix-worthy.

T J Otey is a rising junior at New Kent H S—quite a few of these kids have been dealing with a loooooong commute to be a part of this show. T J is the one who gives a quiet and slightly tone deaf audition in the audition scene, prompting Ms. Darvus to admire his tennis shoes and suggest that he help out with costumes.

Amanda O’Toole is a rising junior at Atlee H S, and she studies dance at Shuffles Dance Studio. She appeared in Pippin with SPARC, and is rallying pep as one of our cheerleaders.

Johanna Reckenbeil is in the a cappella and show choir at Godwin, and she studies dance at Richmond Dance Center, but this is her first theatrical production. She plays one of our “brainiacs,” and adds persuasive hand motions to that section of Counting on You when they sing about Rosa Parks.

Kristin Ricca is back for a second summer, having played Cha Cha last summer in Grease. There’s a really great photo of Kristin dancing with Robert Watkins, last summer’s charming Danny Zuko, about six blog posts back. Kristin is a rising junior at Deep Run H S, and a proud alum of Christian Youth Theatre and the Latin Ballet of Virginia.

Zack Rogers is also a returnee from Grease, and a rising junior at Thomas Dale H S. He has two stand-out moments in the show. He gives an ear wrenching vocal performance in the audition scene, and he finds surprising depth in the movements of a worm.

Andrea Ross is our third Grease alum in a row. She is a rising sophomore at Henrico H S’s Center for the Arts. In the audition scene, she belts out the song like a soulful American Idol contestant.
Hali E. Russell just graduated from Varina H S, and is pleased to be in her first musical. She appears as the “brainiac” who loves hip-hop.

Ariel Spagnolo is a rising junior at Deep Run H S, where she recently played Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. She’s one of our beautiful cheerleaders, and lends her acrobatic skills to several musical numbers.

Suzanne Spicer was the one that we wanted last summer, playing Sandy in Grease. She just graduated from Godwin H S, and credits much of her theatrical success to her twelve years as a student at HATTheatre.

Molly Underwood will soon be a senior in the Math and Science High School at Clover Hill. So of course she’s playing a skater babe in DHSM.

As Porky Pig would say at the end of a Looney Toons cartoon, “Th – th – th - that’s all folks!” Since I’m feeling pretty loony myself right about now, I’ll leave it at that. All of us at Barksdale and Steward are proud of everyone associated with Disney’s High School Musical. I hope you’ll make it a point to stop by in the next two weeks and take in their show.

--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

Meet More "High School Musical" All Stars

One of the interesting things about blogs is that when you write them, the most recent posting appears on top. So if you’re writing a series of six, and you post each part as soon as it’s finished, Part II will appear above Part I, and Part III will appear above Part II, etc. Readers who come along two days later will, most likely, start reading from the top and scroll their way down. So the reading experience can often feel like you’re starting at the back of the book and working your way forward.

Anyway, this is my fourth entry about last night’s triumphant opening of Disney’s High School Musical, and it makes a crazy sort of sense to read my ruminations in reverse order. After all, this is the post where I start boasting about the uber talented ensemble—the 29 gifted kids who aren’t playing the leads. In many ways, the ensemble is the star of the show.

One of our goals with the Greater Richmond High School All Star Musical is to give kids from throughout the Metro Richmond area a chance to work with and get to know each other. The 39 kids who started out in Disney’s High School Musical (we’re now down to 38 due to the departure of one actor who couldn’t make it to rehearsals on time) live in 19 different zip codes!

Our diverse talent pool includes (in alpha order):

Kristen Barney, a rising junior at Deep Run H S, is an accomplished veteran of Christian Youth Theatre and appeared with us last summer as Patty Simcox in Grease. When you see Disney’s High School Musical, Kristen is the beautiful blond who shows off her legit soprano, with exaggeration, in the audition number.

Emlyn Crenshaw, a rising freshman at Maggie Walker Governor’s School (keep your eyes open for this one, Grant), brilliantly played the role of Scout in Barksdale’s To Kill a Mockingbird. At Theatre IV, Emlyn appeared in A Christmas Carol, Honk!, Snow White and the …, and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Emlyn is the tiny one who’s accomplished dancing will catch your eye front-and-center with the cheerleaders.

Gray Crenshaw—the other half of one of our two sibling pairs—is a rising senior at Freeman H S, where she played Zaneeta in The Music Man and Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods. Last summer, Gray brought down the house with us as Frenchie in Grease. In DHSM, she’s the one girl who appears incognito as a boy in Getcha Head in the Game.

D J Cummings, a rising senior at Deep Run H S, is a vet of CYT and his high school drama department. Last summer he worked as a production assistant with a professional children’s theatre company in NYC. In the audition scene, he’s the third of the three bohemians, clad all in black. He gets his big laugh by spouting a garble of dolphin noises (or is it a nervous giggle?) for his vocal audition.

Dwayne A. Daniels II, a rising senior at Varina H S, is an active member of his school’s show choir. Dwayne has a stand-out moment during Getcha Head in the Game, sharing a duet with Andrew Schappacher, rapping “And Troy boy Troy be cuttin’ de net.” And on the title page of the script, Disney credits 13 people as lyricists.

Peter Davis is a rising sophomore at Godwin H S, where he knocked us dead as Wally in The 1940s Radio Hour and Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. If you want to identify Peter, he’s the skater dude who asks if you have to wear a costume to play the cello, and when he hears about the coat and tie, replies, “That’s uncalled for!” From off-stage, he also shouts “Come on, Wildcats,” the first line in the show.

Kelsey Donner is a rising sophomore at Westminster Academy. She just appeared at the Firehouse in RED, and is an alum of the training programs at Richmond Ballet and Bon Air Dance, and the summer theatre program at Luther Memorial. A petite blond dancer, Kelsey is one of our outstanding cheerleaders and a particularly limber gymnast in Stick to the Status Quo.

Rachel Dozier is about to begin her senior year at Godwin. She’s the second black-clad bohemian in the audition scene. Dylan Moon speak-sings “It’s hard to believe…” and Rachel continues that thought, speak-singing “…that I couldn’t see,” immediately followed by D J Cummings and his dolphin noises (or are they the blips that R2D2 would make when his hard drive is getting fried?)

Patrick Dunnevant just graduated from Godwin, and will be majoring in music composition next year at Belmont University in Nashville. In the show, he’s one of our basketball playing jocks, and during the Counting on You locker room scene, he shouts out the name of basketball legend “Thunderclap Hap Haddon.”

It’s a good thing that the magnificent Cramer Center at Steward School has such a large stage. We need it to accommodate our overwhelming overflow of talent. To learn more about the remaining twenty All Stars, scroll up!

--Bruce Miller

They're Not Called All Stars for Nothing

Needless to say, the most impressive people associated with Disney’s High School Musical, which opened this evening to a well-deserved standing ovation, are the 38 students and two adults who comprise the magnificent cast. We use the moniker Greater Richmond’s High School All Star Musical to describe this annual summertime initiative. These great kids have earned the right to be called “All Stars.” I thank them for their talent and commitment.

Dave Amadee and Nadia Harika head the terrific cast as Troy and Gabriella. Dave is a rising home-schooled senior who comes to us from extensive experience with Christian Youth Theatre—an exceptional training program. At CYT, Dave played The Beast in another Disney musical that I bet you can guess, and more recently Joseph in Joseph … Dreamcoat. Nadia is a rising junior at Deep Run H S, where she most recently performed as Ronnette in Little Shop of Horrors. She has also received training and experience at CYT, as well as SPARC and the Richmond Dance Center.

Ali Thibodeau and Chris Collins play the “second leads”—the Evans twins, Sharpay and Ryan. Ali is a rising junior at Lee-Davis H S, and a dance teacher and performer at Shuffles Dance Center. Ali’s last two shows have been Joseph … Dreamcoat at Swift Creek Mill Theatre and The True Story of Pocahontas at Theatre IV. Chris is a rising senior at Godwin H S, and he’s thrilled to be returning to the beautiful Steward stage this summer after playing Eugene with us last summer in Grease.

Filling our two major supporting roles are Eric D. Brown, Jr. as Troy’s best bud Chad, and Brittney Germaine Slater as Gabriela’s new pal Taylor. Eric comes from a very musical family, his mother being a singer and his father a drummer. He has played saxophone and percussion with the Varina H S Marching Blue Devils, sung with the Varina show choir, and performed with the Ebony Esquire Drum Corps. Brittney is a rising senior at Henrico H S, where she participates in the Honors Chorus and the Center for the Arts.

Rounding out our young featured players are Jessica Harika as Kelsi Nelson (the composer of the musical within the musical), Zac Moon as Jack Scott (the velvet-voiced master of morning announcements), and Andrew Schappacher as Zeke Baylor (the dude who loves to bake and would love even more to be Sharpay’s boyfriend). Jessica, Zac and Andrew all three appeared with us in Grease last summer.

Jessica just graduated from Deep Run H S and will be studying voice at VCU’s School of Music next fall. Zac just graduated from Collegiate and will be studying theatre next year at UNC-Chapel Hill. Andrew, one of our youngest cast members, is a rising freshman at Clover Hill’s Math and Science Center. Andrew has received excellent training at the Jessica Morgan School of Dance. When you see the show, look up on stage for the guy who’s dancing his socks off. That will be our Andrew.

Well, it’s getting to be 2 a.m., and I’m bushed. I hope the rest of the cast will forgive me if I now hit the sack and talk with you more tomorrow about the remaining All Stars who will be gracing our stage for the next three weeks in Disney’s High School Musical.

--Bruce Miller