"Chicago," "nor.mal" and "Well." Oh My!

Posted by Bruce Miller
I'm just winding up another great theatre weekend right here in River City. I had the pleasure of flying solo to the Opening Night of Chicago at TheatreVCU on Friday. Hannah and I made it to the second weekend of nor.mal at Stage 1 on Saturday (I was at the Fairy Tale Ball for last week’s nor.mal opening). Tonight I caught the first dress of Well, which we open at Willow Lawn this Friday.

I love going to theatre in Richmond, and found lots to admire in these three productions.

At VCU, Maggie Marlin co-starred with Kim Exum, lending their triple-threat talents to the showgirl femme fatales, Velma and Roxie. This summer Maggie will be starring with us in the titular role of Thoroughly Modern Millie. Mike Rieman charmed his way into the hearts of America as the song-and-dance attorney, Billy Flynn. And Jake Ashey stole the show as Amos, Roxie’s long suffering husband.

Patti D’Beck’s creative and energetic choreography showed off the strengths of her talented cast. And Ron Keller’s terrific set provided all the visual jazz (and pizzazz) anyone could want. Patti and Ron directed / choreographed and designed last summer’s Guys and Dolls, and will reprise their roles in this summer’s Millie.

At Stage 1, despite nagging laryngitis, Julie Fulcher acted her heart out as a mother trapped in a downward emotional spiral. Knowing as I do that Ford Flanagan (who plays the dad) shies away from dance roles, I’m pleased to say he looked right at home in the “boxing” choreography given to him by Chase Kniffen. Ali Thibodeau and Dave Amadee turned in persuasive performances as the brother / sister teens. Dave is that commodity that is all too rare in professional theatre: a handsome, masculine young man who can act, sing and dance. He has a career ahead of him if he wants it.

Sandy Dacus did her usual masterful job as music director. And Debra Wagoner proved yet again that she has a voice made for musical theatre. The new music created for nor.mal, like a lot of new theatre music, combines dissonance with unusual harmonies and unexpected intervals to create a contemporary feeling. Those who sing this music best have perfect intonation, hitting pitches dead on rather than sliding into them or approximating them. Debra Wagoner gives a master class in nor.mal in how to do just that.

Chase loves this new and complex musical, and deserves special congratulations for daring to bring such a challenging work to Richmond audiences.

We at Barksdale deserve some of those same congratulations. Well by Lisa Kron is not your usual comedy. Ms Kron is an established memoirist—an acclaimed master of the one-woman show. In this first Virginia production of her new Broadway hit, she plays fast and loose with the form, inviting her mother to join her onstage, and hiring several guest actors to play the roles of people from her past.

Watching the show is like peeling back the layers of an onion. It’s fun and funny, with a quirky sensibility. Jenny Jones Hundley and Jody Strickler are gonna be great as Lisa and her mother. And before the evening ends, there will be more than a few sniffles as mother and daughter resolve their issues with warmth and humor.

Next weekend I hope to make it out to Pulp, Altar Boyz (Mill version), and, of course, the opening of Well. Hope you too will make the effort to support professional theatre in Richmond. Call a box office, buy a ticket or two, and then go spend some time where the acting is.

Hope to see you there.

--Bruce Miller

Word of the Week - HOCUS

Posted by Hannah Miller
This week’s theatre artist is WAYNE BRADY, born on June 2, 1972, which means he celebrated his 36th birthday last Monday. As opposed to last week’s stage luminary Charles Winninger, Wayne Brady is at the height of his career and well known to millions for his Emmy Award-winning TV performances on Whose Line Is It Anyway?. His Word of the Week is HOCUS.

Brady was born and raised in Orlando, and began his entertainment career when he was 16 as a “character” actor playing Tigger at Walt Disney World. For the next seven years he was very involved in central Florida theatres, performing in stage productions of A Chorus Line, Fences, A Raisin in the Sun, Jesus Christ Superstar and I’m Not Rappaport.

Success at the local level encouraged him to move on to a larger market. He spent a short time in Las Vegas and then relocated to Los Angeles in 1996, where he was almost instantly successful in both theatre and television. He performed at the prestigious Mark Taber Forum in its production of Blade to the Heat. He also was cast in guest starring roles in TV series including I’ll Fly Away (which also featured Joe Inscoe, now starring in Greater Tuna at Barksdale Hanover Tavern), Home Court and In the Heat of the Night.

In 1998 he hosted the VH-1 series Vinyl Justice, and the following year began his appearances on Whose Line Is It Anyway?. In 2001, he wrote, produced and starred in The Wayne Brady Show, a sketch comedy series that had a short run on daytime TV. This experience led to a more successful talk show by the same name that ran for two seasons and earned four Emmy Awards, two of which went to Brady himself for Outstanding Talk Show Host.

Brady’s national popularity grew based on his talent as an improv artist, singer, actor and comedian, but mainly based on his friendly, out going personality and down-to-earth charm. In 2004, Brady was spoofed on Comedy Central’s Chapelle’s Show for "not being black enough." Cast member Paul Mooney made fun of Brady, saying “White people love Wayne Brady because he makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X.” Soon thereafter, Brady spoofed his white bread image by appearing on the show as a drug-dealing psychopathic pimp.

Also in 2004, Brady made his Broadway debut, starring as Billy Flynn in the long-running musical hit, Chicago. In Act II of the Kander and Ebb classic, smooth and flashy lawyer Flynn sings his show-stopper, Razzle Dazzle, in an effort to convince Roxie that she has nothing to worry about at her murder trial. “It’s all a circus, kid,” says Flynn. “A three-ring circus. This trial—the whole world—all show business. But kid, you’re working with a star. The biggest!”

The lyrics to Razzle Dazzle include all kinds of fun words that vied for Word of the Week. Splendiferous, vociferous, flummox, finagle, bamboozle, unassailable and whammy. But after looking up the etymology of each of these fun-to-say words, I wound up settling on HOCUS, as in hocus pocus, because it has the most interesting history.

The two-word phrase "hocus pocus" seems to have entered the language a century or so before the word HOCUS as a stand alone. In medieval times, the Latin words spoken by priests in the Eucharist included “hoc est corpus meum,” meaning “this is my body.” The same words, in English, are used by my minister today at the beginning of Communion, quoting what Jesus said at the Last Supper as he broke the bread for his disciples.

According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, vagrant students who wondered Europe often earned their keep as jugglers or fools. Wanting to surround themselves with an air of the supernatural, they invented the nonsense phrase “hax pax max Deus adimax,” based loosely on “hoc est corpus meum.” They used this phrase to draw attention to their act as it was about to begin.

As the centuries progressed, the phrases “hax pax” and “hoc est corpus” combined and transformed into “hocus pocus.” In 1634, a book entitled Hocus Pocus Junior – The Anatomy of Legerdemain was published in England. The author was anonymous, but over time, he became known simply as Hocus Pocus, after the popular book’s title.

Soon the words “hocus pocus” became well known by the public at large, and were universally accepted to mean pretty much what they mean today:
· nonsense words or phrases used as a formula by quack conjurers, or
· a trick performed by a magician or juggler, or
· any type of foolishness used to disguise trickery or deception.

By the 19th century, the word HOCUS was appearing on its own as a verb in the popular work of Dickens and Thackeray, and even earlier in the works of less prominent writers. Then as now HOCUS means:
· to fool or decieve, or
· to add a drug to food or drink.

So, if you feel like HOCUSING someone, or believe that you yourself have been HOCUSED, thank Billy Flynn, Kander and Ebb, Wayne Brady and Word of the Week for providing a new verb to ably describe your action or state.

In 2006, Barksdale was honored when Wayne Brady showed up at Willow Lawn for a performance of The Full Monty. Turns out Wayne is close personal friends with Harrison White, the L A actor who lit up the stage every night in the role of Horse. Wayne flew into town to see his buddy Harrison in the show.

And that’s the truth, with no HOCUSING involved.

--Hannah Miller

Chicago Goes to Edinburgh via Short Pump

Posted by Bruce Miller

The Mills E. Godwin High School Drama Department, under the direction of Mac Damron, is taking their new production of the Broadway musical Chicago to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh Scotland this August. But before they go—and to raise funds that will help them to get there—the school is presenting two performances here in Richmond for the general public.

Now here’s the sad part. I knew the shows were this week, but I thought they were Thursday and Friday or Friday and Saturday. In preparation for writing this blog post, I actually read the fine print on their flyer. The two Richmond performances are Tuesday (tonight) and Friday.

So, it’s too late to catch tonight’s show, unless you want to hot foot it over to Godwin and enjoy the curtain call. But there’s still time to get your tickets for Friday evening’s performance!

Of special note, this Godwin production stars Caron Sinnenberg as Roxie. Caron played Fern with Theatre IV in Charlotte’s Web, and last summer appeared in the ensemble of Grease, co-produced by Barksdale Theatre and Steward School. Also featured in the Godwin production are three other Barksdale and Theatre IV alum: Grace Adams and P J Llewellyn from Grease, and Marissa Vermillera from The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

The Friday performance costs $16 at the door, or tickets can be purchased in advance in the Godwin H S Commons, noon to 2 pm, everyday now through Friday. The show takes place at Godwin H S, 2101 Pump Road. Curtain time is 7:30.

It should be a great show, and a great chance to support more of Metro Richmond’s student actors. All of us at Disney’s High School Musical send a big "Break a Leg" to our friends in Chicago!

--Bruce Miller