Theatre Gym Veteran JB Steinberg Discusses "Kimberly"

This week we're posting a three-part interview with Jill Bari Steinberg, one of Richmond's finest. JB is currently starring as the truly dysfunctional Aunt Debra in Kimberly Akimbo, by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay Abaire, running for two more weekends at Theatre Gym, the 81-seat studio theatre space in the historic Empire Theatre complex. Kimberly is directed by Anna Senechal Johnson, and produced by Cadence Theatre Company in partnership with Barksdale's Theatre Gym. Theatre Gym used to be the name of Theatre IV's initiative through which facilities and other services were shared free-of-charge with independent artists who wanted to co-produce outstanding, contemporary, provocative theatre. Today, Theatre Gym is the name of not only the initiative, but also the facility itself. The 81-seat studio space is no longer named The Little Theatre--it's now Theatre Gym. New signage will be coming soon! Jill Bari is practically a founder of Theatre Gym. The Barksdale Buzz was pleased to catch up with her to discuss present and past experiences.

Q - Thanks for talking with us, Ms. Steinberg. I'm told you grew up in Portsmouth. What brought you to our fair city?

A - I came to Richmond for VCU and stayed. My first professional Richmond production was Boys' Life, directed by Dan Ruth and produced by Keri Wormald. For a couple wonderful years Dan and Keri had a small stage company called Shadowcast Theatre Works. It was a great experience. The show was performed upstairs at what was then the Paradise Cafe-- now it's the deLux Diner & Lounge--one of the many Richmond theatre spaces that have come and gone.

Q - Has Richmond theatre changed that much over the years?

A - I think we have more theatre companies around now. That's a good thing in that it gives more people a chance to develop their craft.

Q - You've performed a lot in Theatre Gym. What's the experience like?

A - I love Theatre Gym because of its intimacy. In its early days, Theatre Gym provided a venue to a lot of actors and directors when not many other spaces were open to them, a way to produce something yourself to show the world what you had to offer. I feel like I grew up there in an artistic sense, having acted in My Children! My Africa!, How I Learned to Drive, Heathen Valley, The Cripple of Inishmaan, A Devil Inside, and the initial run of The Syringa Tree--as well as working behind the scenes on Jack and Jill and Raised in Captivity.

The intimacy of the space is great, but it also offers challenges. For some reason, people in the front row think it's OK to rest their feet on the stage. I guess it's nice that they're so comfortable there, but it drives me crazy. One night during The Syringa Tree, a gentleman's cell phone rang, which would have been bad enough but he decided to answer it, and then, while talking to his friend, he proceeded to walk across the stage to the actors' exit door. All 24 characters in my head wanted to scream at him. But I stayed cool, ignored him and continued the play.

One of my funniest moments on stage happened during A Devil Inside (pictured to the right). My character was dead after throwing herself under a moving train. Bill Blair and Bridget Gethins were playing a scene next to my decimated body. Bridget was supposed to shoot Bill at the end of the scene, and then he dies--I think just about everybody in that play died in the end. Anyway, Bridget goes to shoot Bill and the gun doesn't make a sound. So Bill grabbed his chest, started to collapse with a final death groan and haltingly shouted, "Oh! A silencer!!"

My poor little train-ravaged body started shaking with laughter and I couldn't stop. Since the audience was only three feet away, someone had to have noticed. Now if only I'd had that silencer when the guy with the cell phone walked across stage...

(To be continued... Photo captions: middle photo--Jill Bari with her husband Steve Organ; bottom photo--the cast of A Devil Inside: [back row, left to right] Steve Perigard, Bill Blair, Rick Brandt, [front row, left to right] Jill Bari Steinberg, Bridget Gethins, and an actress whose name Bruce can't remember, 'cause he doesn't think it's Donna Coghill but he might be wrong. Can someone help us please?])

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

Theatre Gym Returns with Cadence's "Kimberly Akimbo"

Posted by Bruce Miller
With Thursday's preview and Friday's opening night performances of Kimberly Akimbo, our fabled Theatre Gym series will rise again like a phoenix from the ashes. Kimberly Akimbo is produced by Cadence Theatre Company in partnership with Barksdale's Theatre Gym. Directed by Anna Senechal Johnson, this quirky comedy by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire stars four of Richmond's favorite actors: Irene Ziegler, Debra Wagoner, Richard Koch, and Jill Bari Steinberg, joined by recent Theatre VCU grad Matt Mitchell.

Theatre Gym began in 1991 as an indie initiative of Theatre IV. Through our Theatre Gym program, independent theatre artists were given the opportunity to produce edgy work of their own choosing for adult audiences. Theatre IV provided free-of-charge use of the Little Theatre, box office services, and access to our set, costume and prop inventories. One hundred percent of ticket revenues went to the independent producer, and artists were paid a percentage of those revenues rather than a set fee.

Outstanding Theatre Gym productions included My Children! My Africa! by Athol Fugard, The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh, Jails, Hospitals and Hip Hop by Danny Hoch, Oleanna by David Mamet, How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel, The Syringa Tree by Pamela Gien (pictured with Jill Bari Steinberg to left), Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks, Italian American Reconciliation by John Patrick Shanley, Heathen Valley by Romulus Linney, Life Under Water by Richard Greenberg, Lobby Hero by Kenneth Lonergan, Keely and Du and Jack and Jill by Jane Martin, Rules of the Lake by Irene Ziegler, Boom Town by Jeff Daniels, SubUrbia by Eric Bogosian, Jesus Hopped the A Train by Stephen Adly Guirgis, The Dead Monkey by Nick Darke, Abundance by Beth Henley, and Raised in Captivity by Nicky Silver, and many others.

One of our 1990s Theatre Gym productions was A Devil Inside, an early work by then novice playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, directed by Anna Senechal in her pre-Johnson years. Anna was and is friends with Lindsay-Abaire's wife, Chris, and Theatre IV's Theatre Gym was one of the first companies in the nation to produce his work. Twenty years later, Lindsay-Abaire would win the Pulitzer for Rabbit Hole. Now, once again, Anna Senechal Johnson (pictured to the right with Cadence's cast of Fool for Love) will be directing another of his plays, Kimberly Akimbo, in partnership with Theatre Gym.

There are two major changes in Theatre Gym now vs Theatre Gym then.
1) It used to be that the initiative was named Theatre Gym, but the performance facility was named the Little Theatre. Now, both the initiative and the facility are named Theatre Gym.
2) It used to be that each Theatre Gym production was co-produced by a different independent producer. In 2011-12, and we hope beyond, all Theatre Gym productions will be produced by Cadence Theatre Company in partnership with Barksdale's Theatre Gym.

Barksdale still provides the performance venue, box office services, and access to set/costume/prop inventories free of charge. We also provide limited PR and lots of producing advice. All ticket revenues are still used to pay the artists involved with the production.

Theatre Gym has been on hiatus for the last several years, initially because of interior damage caused by a leaking roof, and then because we were just too busy with other projects to add anything else to our plates. By partnering full-time with Cadence Theatre, we hope to be able to keep the program going without over-burdening our already ridiculous workloads.

If you would like to be a part of history re-making itself, please join us for Kimberly Akimbo, opening this Friday evening. It's going to be a great show, and herald the long-awaited return of an important and innovative Richmond theatre initiative.

--Bruce Miller

Of Fall, Hot Tin, and Names Above the Title

Posted by Bruce Miller
Fall is really here. The calendar says we have to wait till Sept 23, but I'm not buyin'. The 2011-12 theatre season is well underway, marked by the openings of Central VA's first comedy of the year (Lend Me a Tenor), drama (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), and musical (Keep on the Sunny Side).

As Lucian Restivo from Stage B posted Friday on Facebook, "it's cardigan and scarf weather," and he couldn't be happier. After the dog days of summer, I'm right there with him.

I made my reservations for Hot Tin and I'm really looking forward to it. It's definitely one of the new season's highlights for me. I loved Who's Afraid last season from the same Rusty Wilson / Firehouse directing / producing team. Hot Tin is a great play--a masterwork--and Rusty's assembled an unbeatable cast: Alan Sader, Laine Satterfield, Adrian Rieder, Jackie Jones, Larry Cook, Dean Knight, Andy Boothby, Laura Rikard, Stephanie M. Hill, and three talented no-neck-monsters.

Susie Haubenstock wrote a great review, and I've heard nothing but glowing word-of-mouth. If you don't have your tickets yet, I encourage you to get them. I suspect they'll start selling out most performances pretty soon.

I'm excited that Rusty will be directing In the Next Room or the vibrator play with Cadence in Barksdale's Theatre Gym next summer.

This coming Friday, we'll open Becky's New Car, a very clever and contemporary new comedy from Steven Dietz, at Hanover Tavern. We're trying something new, and if you have a reaction, I'd love to hear it.

Bouncing off my desire to celebrate and promote Richmond's "stars" with a little more fanfare, Billy Christopher Maupin, who is not only directing Becky's but marketing it as well, decided to place Melissa Johnston Price's name above the title in our promotional materials--not our standard practice.

At first, I buzzed B C and asked him not to do that again without checking with me first. I was worried about setting precedents and all that. But then I decided that this will be a good experiment.

Melissa Johnston Price is certainly a local star, holding a prominent place in the pantheon of Virginia's most revered actors. And the character of "Becky" certainly is the leading role in the play. Why the heck not let the ticket-buying public know that this is a special opportunity to see an exceptional artist in a terrific part?

Sometimes I think we Richmond producers need to set aside all timidity and begin to blow the horn a little louder about Central Virginia's brightest and best. If we don't, aren't we failing to create the public excitement we need to create in order to grow the overall Richmond audience?

What do you think? When we're lucky enough to have a star in a major role, should we put his or her name above the title? You can communicate with me publicly as a comment to this post, or privately as an email.

I can't type my email directly cause little robots that do nothing but surf blog posts 24/7 pick it up and start sending me even more spam. Or so I'm told by our IT gurus. So here's today's puzzler. My address is: b.miller@ the name of either of our theatres followed by the word Richmond.org.

Thanks.

--Bruce Miller

Why "Lend Me a Tenor" Made It onto our Signature Season

Posted by Bruce Miller
All right. I won't start out with a fib.

I wanted the first show in our 2011-12 Signature Season to be Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams. When Carol Piersol told me about her idea for a Tennessee Williams Centennial Festival in Richmond, and invited Barksdale to join in with the Firehouse and Triangle Players, I was VERY excited and I wanted to participate. (The pic of Marlon Brando and Kim Hunter, to the right, appears on the Firehouse website as a sort of Festival logo. You can visit http://www.williamscelebration.org/ for more information.)

I knew Summer and Smoke was the perfect show for us to enter into the Festival, because:
a. it's my favorite Williams play,
b. it's been on my list of plays I'm very eager to direct for a long time, and
c. Barksdale co-founder Stu Falconer left his job as stage manager of the landmark Off Broadway production of Summer and Smoke when he moved to Richmond in 1953 to co-found B'dale.

But life is made up of tough choices. Another project that will be taking place during the coming year, about which I am equally passionate, is our upcoming partnership with Cadence Theatre Company, and our co-pros of Kimberly Akimbo by David Lindsay Abaire, August: Osage County by Tracy Letts, and In the Next Room or the vibrator play by Sarah Ruhl.

Once Phil, Tracy and I started adding up every nickel and dime that will make up our $5 million annual operating budget, it became clear that I had to choose between partnering with Firehouse and Triangle on the Tennessee Williams Festival or partnering with Anna Johnson on the Cadence co-pros. Obviously, I chose the latter.

But I can't wait to see the great programs planned for the Tennessee Williams Festival, and I encourage everyone to give this exciting Richmond event your full support, even if Barksdale is unable to be involved.

What those pesky budget figures made obvious was that I needed to open our 2011-12 Signature Season with a comedy instead of a drama. The simple truth is this: at Barksdale (maybe everywhere), comedies sell more tickets that dramas. Besides, for the last 58 years, our mission at Barksdale has been to create in Central Virginia national caliber productions of the GREAT comedies, dramas and musicals--past, present and future. I'm proud that we produce our fair share of each.

And I LOVE comedies. Who doesn't. Especially great American comedies like our opening production - Lend Me a Tenor.

When exploring comedies written for the stage, there are several time-honored traditions to celebrate, one of which is farce.

A farce seeks to entertain its audience by placing likable (if often misbehaving) characters within improbable and exaggerated situations. The stakes are high; discovery and disaster seem imminent. The characters negotiate their treacherous circumstances, often at break-neck speed, using trickery, mistaken identity, disguised persons or voices, and verbal humor of varying degrees of sophistication. Physical comedy, linguistic nonsense, slamming doors and broadly stylized performances are staples of theatrical farce.

Not counting our musicals (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, for one, includes many aspects of farce) Barksdale's previous farces include:
* Boeing-Boeing (a French farce written in 1960; revived at Hanover Tavern earlier this summer),
* Is He Dead? (written by Mark Twain in 1898; produced at Willow Lawn in 2010),
* No Sex Please, We're British (an English farce written in 1971; produced at Hanover Tavern in 2006), and
* Scapino! (an English adaptation of a 1671 Moliere classic, adapted in 1971; revived at Willow Lawn in 2005).

The last time we staged a contemporary American farce was our 1993 Hanover Tavern production of Arthur Kopit's wacky Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Momma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad. Wow. Who knew it had been nearly two decades since Barksdale produced a contemporary American farce.

In our current sociopolitical environment, American farces seem particularly apt. That's why I decided it was time to end our 18-year fast. As I reviewed the GREAT contemporary American farces, Lend Me a Tenor was right there waiting for me at the top of the heap.

I'm excited that the show is now about to open. I hope to see you at the theatre.

--Bruce Miller

Open Call Auditions - October 1

Posted by Bruce Miller
At Barksdale, our commitment is and always has been to professional theatre artists based in Central Virginia. The vast majority of the actors, directors, musicians, designers, stage managers and crew members whom we employ live in Greater Richmond. Changing this commitment is not under discussion.

One of our major goals for the next five years is to grow Barksdale into one of the preeminent regional theatres in the United States. We're well aware that this is an ambitious goal. We're excited to set our sights high.

As a component of strategic planning, we've been surveying our major stakeholders (ticket buyers, donors, volunteers, independent artists, colleague theatres), asking them for their input into the future of our nonprofit company. Virtually 100% of the people we've talked to agree that Barksdale should continue to seek national caliber excellence and recognition.

When we asked for suggestions of specific strategies Barkdale should pursue, the vast majority agreed that we should seek to attract nationally successful artists to Richmond to comprise 5 to 10% of our workforce, thereby adding to our national profile and providing local professionals with opportunities to network with guest artists who work at the national level.

Last season, four of our mainstage productions featured the talents of national professionals:
White Christmas - actors Kevin Earley, Daryl Joe, Kathy Halenda (RTCCA nomination), Ben Houghton, Freddy Kimmel, Michelle Lookadoo (RTCCA nomination), Andrea Rivette;
Legacy of Light - actors Patricia Duran, Tamara Johnson (RTCCA nomination), Ricardo Melendez;
The Bluest Eye (co-produced with Theatre VCU) - actor David Raine and director April Jones; and
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - actors Rachel Abrams (RTTCA nomination) and Jeff McCarthy (RTCCA nomination).

Approximately 150 Richmond-based theatre artists worked with these 14 national guest artists to create Barksdale's ten mainstage productions in 2010-11.

If you would like to be cast in one of Barksdale's twelve 2011-12 mainstage productions (this figure includes our three co-productions with Cadence Theatre Company), we hope you will register for and attend our auditions on October 1. We will be conducting three multi-show auditions during the coming 12 months, open to both union and non-union actors. We ask all actors interested in working at Barksdale to participate in at least one open audition each year. The three auditions will be held in October, January and May.

The Saturday, October 1 Open Call will take place at the historic Empire Theatre, 114 W Broad Street, from 10 to 4, by appointment only. Pre-registration is required, and can be obtained by calling 804-783-1688 Opt. 3, Monday through Friday, 9 to 5.

We are seeking actors age 18 and up for the following productions: Always…Patsy Cline, God of Carnage, August: Osage County, The Stinky Cheese Man and other fairly stupid tales, Scorched Earth, Seussical, and Spring Awakening. The role of Patsy Cline will be played by Debra Wagoner. Three roles in August: Osage County have also been pre-cast (contact Cadence Theatre for more information). All other roles are open. Exact dates of these productions can be found on the websites of Barksdale Theatre, Theatre IV, and Cadence Theatre. All roles are paid.

Our offices are closed today, Labor Day, Monday, September 5.

Auditioning actors should prepare either:
1) a brief song (bring sheet music in your key; accompanist provided), or
2) a brief monologue, or
3) 16 bars of a song and a brief monologue.

All actors should bring a resume and headshot stapled together.

For more information; call 804-783-1688 Opt. 3.

Hope to see you there.

--Bruce Miller

Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Awards

Posted by Bruce Miller
The nominations for the RTCCAs (popularly pronounced Artsies or Ratcocs, depending on the sassiness of the one doing the pronouncing) were posted on Dave's Theater Blog late Monday evening. Many also refer to the actual awards as "hockey pucks," because of the circular design of the handsome acrylic trophies that are handed out. Meaning no disrespect, I've chosen a Canadian hockey puck to illustrate this article because: A - I couldn't find a photo on line of an actual Artsy, and B - well, I'll let you speculate about B.

Because I swim in the technological backwaters, I knew nothing about the announced nominations until Tuesday morning when I read a nice message that Jacquie O'Connor wrote on my Facebook wall. Our Managing Director, Phil Whiteway, received some sort of message on his blackberry, or whatever phone thing he has, on Monday night. From all reports, the phone of our Associate Artistic Director, Chase Kniffen, began ringing furiously shortly after Dave's initial posting.

I'm so out of the loop that it sometimes startles me.

Anyway, what a nice surprise to discover that Barksdale and Theatre IV are parties to 48 nominations--49 if you count our connections to Neil and SaraBelle November. I greatly appreciate all this recognition.

I really really really don't envy the Richmond theatre critics and the challenges they face in trying to come up with this list of nominees. I think it's great that they're giving kudos to theatres and theatre artists in Richmond. As an economic sector, we need all the attention we can get. But their job is next to impossible. With so many worthy performances, how can anyone possibly choose one set of theatre artists over another. All I can say is, I'm glad I don't have to do it.

My job is an easier one. I get to Monday morning (Wednesday night?) quarterback and make some additional "nominations" of performances that I admired, performances that didn't make it on to the final roster selected by the critics. My "nominations" represent nothing more than one humble opinion--which ain't worth squat. Like the critics, I'm sure I too will leave out people I really liked and am now forgetting, but since these nods of mine carry no weight whatsoever, I hope everyone will put up with my whimsy.

I also get to toss out some comments that have little to do with anything, but interest me nonetheless. It's a blog. So sue me.

First off, I loved everyone in the acting and design teams of the three shows I had the privilege to direct this season: Boleros for the Disenchanted (the wonderful and nominated Carmen Zilles is pictured to the left, next to the wonderful and not nominated Michelle Guadalupe), First Baptist of Ivy Gap, and On Golden Pond. Since I'm completely biased in their favor, I won't single out any one of them individually for recognition here. Except one. I know Joe Inscoe is nominated several times for other performances, but not to nominate him for On Golden Pond?? I thought he was exceptional. I'm just sayin'.

I'm a little surprised (but delighted) to see that Souvenir is considered to be a musical. At the end of the day, I don't care if the critics call it a musical, a non-musical, or an egg salad sandwich--I'm really glad that the excellent work that went into this show was recognized.

I already wrote to Jase Smith individually, and told him I thought his direction of Rent represented his best work thus far and deserved a nomination. I also think that Terence Sullivan was terrific in Rent. In my opinion, he was the major new "discovery" of the year. I thought Durron Tyre was incredible in Rent and deservedly nominated, but I don't think the character of Tom Collins is a lead. In my little world, Durron should be up for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical.

In like manner, I was surprised to see that Ford Flannagan's wonderful performance in Putnam County Spelling Bee was nominated in the Leading Actor category, while Debra Wagoner's performance in the same show in a role that was actually larger than Ford's was recognized in the Supporting Actor category. It seems like both of them were outstanding supporting actors to me.

And speaking of directors--I was, a couple paragraphs back--I thought Molly Hood (pictured to the left) did a terrific job with Twelfth Night. Here again, I applaud each of Barksdale's and Theatre IV's directors, but I'm biased so I won't single them out.

I enjoyed noting that The Sound of Music was abbreviated SOM and Servant of Two Masters was abbreviated SOTM. It reminded me of the previous season when Barksdale did Children of a Lesser God and Stage 1 did Children's Letters to God almost simultaneously. Good times. It made me try to think of other plays we might have produced last season with titles that could be abbreviated with some variation of SOM. But I came up with bupkis. It's late at night.

I think the strongest category may be Best Supporting Actor in a Play. All five nominees are equally deserving. And I can think of more than a few others who turned in equally impressive performances in this category--too many to single out. I'm excited that there's a new category for original work--something lacking in the past.

Maybe next year the critics can consider recognizing a break-through performance by someone previously unnoticed, or maybe a "Most Outstanding Debut" category. I thought Laurel Maughan, who is new to our ranks, contributed greatly to Twelfth Night. In the veteran category, I though Jackie Jones was particularly noteworthy playing Golda Meir in her one woman show at the JCC. Somewhere in between, Joe Carlson impressed, I thought, in Grapes of Wrath, carrying a difficult show on his emerging shoulders. Joe will contribute greatly to Richmond theatre's future, should we be lucky enough to hang on to him.

I'm so pleased that Hanover Tavern received some recognition this year; the Tavern was completely shut out in years one and two. I know there will always be those who feel under-appreciated, just like all of us at Hanover Tavern felt in 2008 and 2009. But I think the critics do an outstanding job trying to recognize good work everywhere, and trying to maintain a balance.

Richmond theatre lives and dies by its breadth and depth, and the critics work hard to find examples of excellence almost everywhere. Our theatre community would be greatly diminished without the estimable talents found at our dozen colleague nonprofits: African American Repertory Theatre, Cadence Theatre Company, Carpenter Science Theatre, Chamberlayne Actors Theatre, Firehouse Theatre Project, HATTheatre, Henley Street Theatre, Richmond Shakespeare, Richmond Triangle Players, Swift Creek Theatre, Sycamore Rouge, and the brand new Theatre in Battery Park.

Last but not least, I'd like to tip my hat to the kids in The Sound of Music--maybe in the best ensemble category. They were amazingly talented, professional and accomplished throughout a lengthy run, and were at the very heart of Central Virginia's most popular show of the past season.

So, those are a few random thoughts, signifying nothing. Again, I think the critics are doing a great job and I don't envy them. There's no way they could satisfy everyone. So I salute them, and thank them for their service.

--Bruce Miller