Matthew Costello Remembers Hutch

Posted by Matthew Costello (pictured below)
Thanks, Bruce, for inviting me to take part in this tribute to Hutch. You have spoken eloquently about this extraordinary man and he deserves the honor you give him. He was my mentor and a great friend.

Mallory Freeman once told me of his high regard for Hutch and recalled Hutch’s outstanding performance in The Royal Hunt of the Sun at the Virginia Museum Theater in the 1960’s. "He is an Actor’s Actor," he said.

Hutch was an inevitable force in the Richmond theatre community and also in the community-at-large, having served the Boys' Club for so many years and had the vision to spearhead and guide the International Food Festival. There are many other contributions for which he will be remembered. I am truly grateful that his life touched mine with such deep blessing.

I met Hutch shortly before the Experiential was formed. He was directing a production of Does the Tiger Wear a Necktie? at Barksdale at Hanover Tavern, and it included many of the young actors from the Boys' Club with whom he had worked in previous years. He asked me to fill in for the role of Tonto. We rehearsed in that basement at the Boys' Club and for the following years, as the Experiential took off, I felt it was my theatrical home.

It was indeed in 1975 that the Experiential Theater opened its doors. Hutch once shared with me his progression from Stanislavski to Grotowski and then his exposure to the "environmental" theatre ideas of Richard Schechner which led to the inception of the Experiential.

As I recall, its first production was of Of Mice and Men. Hutch’s son Jody (now deceased) played Lenny. I played George. We had the opportunity to reprise the roles a few years later in a second production. To my knowledge this was the first of only two plays that were ever repeated in Experiential’s history.

I was fortunate to appear in many shows there, among them: Hamlet ESP, The Diary of a Madman and the first Experiential production of The Seagull, where I played Treplyov to Jenny Brown’s Nina.

It was twenty years later after Hutch had revitalized the Experiential banner that he produced The Seagull again at the Windy River Winery in Beaverdam. Indeed Erin Thomas was stellar as Nina. I was Trigorin in that production and Justin Dray played Treplyov.

I also remember the early Experiential productions of Alice in Wonderland and Ubu Roi.

It was, I think, 1978 when that first incarnation of the Experiential settled into a pregnant pause. Demands of his family life and the duties with the Boys' Club were in need of his attention.

In 1996 Hutch asked me to "direct" him, that is be his "third eye," in a production of Darrow for the Defense that he performed at Firehouse Theatre under the Experiential banner.

He later produced the earlier mentioned seasons at the Windy River Winery, starting in 1998. I remember The Importance of Being Earnest (Erin was in this as well), Playboy of the Western World with Justin Dray and Tom McGranahan, and Night Must Fall with Justin (again) plus Stephanie Kelley and Sara Heifetz.

I hope I have helped to fill in some of the history here. I know I have failed to mention many of the performers who worked onstage for Hutch. My apologies.

In the late 1990’s I had mounted a website for the Experiential. It’s long been removed and I’m not quite sure where it is in the mountains of archives in my studio. It is my intention to find it and to try to assemble a better history.

--Matthew Costello

In Memoriam: W. R. Hutch Hutchinson

Posted by Bruce Miller
There were/are a couple handfuls of great men in Richmond theatre. These men will long be remembered for extraordinary talent and for modeling selfless commitments to theatre as an art form. For them, theatre was much more than an avocation or job. It was a calling.

Richmond theatre would be nowhere without them.

These men were committed not only to the art form but also to Greater Richmond. They pursued their callings here by choice. They were leaders and servants, forward thinkers and caretakers of the past.

Among those who have died, Barksdale co-founder Pete Kilgore certainly belongs in this fraternity of honor, as do fellow Barksdale legends Fred Haseltine, Mallory Freeman, Jay Lundy and Kim Strong. (Fred and Mallory also acted extensively and provided leadership at Virginia Museum Theatre; Kim acted at Swift Creek and acted and provided leadership at Theatre IV).

William Robert Hutchinson, whom everyone knew as Hutch, died on Thursday. Attention must be paid. Anyway you look at it, Hutch was one of the few who earned the honor of being among the Great Men of Richmond Theatre.

There’s a nice tribute piece in this morning’s Times-Dispatch. Unfortunately, some of the Richmond theatre history noted in the T-D is incorrect.

Hutch’s greatest contribution to Richmond theatre history, in my opinion, was his founding and artistic direction of the Experiential Theatre, and his creation of The Empty Space theatre facility in the basement of the Boys’ Club facilities located at the intersection of Robinson and Kensington.

The Times-Dispatch says, “In 1995, three years after retiring from the Boys’ Club, he founded the award-winning Experiential Theatre in the club basement. After a short run, the group folded, but Mr. Hutchinson continued to rent the venue, dubbed The Empty Space, to other experimental groups for several years.”

I don’t pretend to have the exact dates in front of me, but I know the T-D dates are about two decades off. Hutch founded the Experiential about the same time Phil and I founded Theatre IV, which was 1975. I hope Matthew Costello will weigh in with a comment—I’ll phone him on Monday—because when Matthew was in his early 20s he was very involved with the Experiential and with Hutch.

The Experiential had a huge impact on theatre in Richmond, and then slowed down in the late 70s or early 80s. By approximately 82-83, Theatre IV was renting The Empty Space for its adult audience season.

It was during our watch, and I report this with a significant feeling of guilt, that The Empty Space was shut down by the Richmond Fire Dept. due to inadequate sprinklers and egress. The facility had stayed “under the radar” during the Experiential days, but the increased scrutiny brought about by Theatre IV’s use of the space brought about its undoing. About six years later, the Fire Dept. also shut down Stanley’s Backstage for the same reasons after Theatre IV assumed residency there.

Hutch was not retired from the Boys' Club when he founded the Experiential and created The Empty Space. He was very much large and in charge. By the time he retired in ’93, and then began new theatre ventures in ’96 (perhaps reviving the name Experiential--I can’t remember), he was producing at the Windy River Winery. I hope Erin Thomas, who was in Hutch’s production of The Seagull at the Winery, will weigh in with some accurate info. Stephanie Kelly, who was a good friend of Hutch's, may also be able to shed some light.

I’ll be writing more about Hutch, the Experiential, and The Empty Space in the next few days. I’ll try to get the facts straight. It’s important to me that Richmond theatre history is honored, or at least accurately recorded. Please feel free to pass on any and all info you may have about Hutch. He's deserves our remembrances.

Hutch was an amazing, hard working and inspiring talent. With affection and respect, we will dedicate our upcoming production of Children of a Lesser God (which Theatre IV originally produced in The Empty Space in the early ‘80s) to Hutch’s memory.

--Bruce Miller

Cinco July-O

Posted by Bruce Miller
For many years, Lanford Wilson’s Fifth of July was my favorite play. And now I have two glorious new reasons to love this particular box on the summer calendar:

Tom and Carmela McGranahan were married today, and
Sophia Elizabeth Foley was born at 5-something this morning.

How can things get any happier than that?!

Tom and Carmela’s wedding was nothing short of wonderful. Saint Benedict’s Catholic Church was beautiful; Carmela and her daughter/Maid of Honor looked beautiful; the Reverend Michael Renninger delivered a beautiful (and funny) homily; shoot, even the grin on Tom’s face was beautiful.

Lots and lots of Barksdale friends were in attendance. And when the service was over, everyone adjourned to the lobby of Barksdale Willow Lawn, where the reception was beautiful.

It was one of the nicest weddings I’ve ever been to, which is appropriate, since Tom is one of the nicest men I’ve ever known. Everyone at Barksdale wishes Tom and Carmela nothing but joy.

And then, to know that on the very same day, Erin and Tony Foley (or is it Erin Thomas-Foley and Tony Foley? – I’m not sure) … anyway, to know that Erin and Tony welcomed their beautiful baby into the world only hours before Tom and Carmela shared their first kiss as man and wife … these two blessed events make Cinco July-O cause for unending celebration.

Sophia Elizabeth Foley was born at the crack of dawn, two weeks early, healthy and happy and weighing in at 5 lbs. 9 oz.--or, as Andy Boothby told me, 5 ft. 9 inches. All of us wish nothing but the best for this beautiful new family.

Tonight I visit the tech rehearsal of Shirley Valentine, and if those proceedings can be one one-hundredth as beautiful as the morning and afternoon, we’ll be in great shape! I can’t wait.

My camera was dead today, so if anyone has additional photos of the nuptials, email ‘em to Jessica Daugherty and she will post 'em. Thanks.

--Bruce Miller

Keeping Up with Kevin

Posted by Bruce Miller
Kevin Hoffman, pictured to the right with Erin Thomas, Susan Sanford and Matthew Costello in Barksdale's 2003 production of Proof, just won a significant shot at the big time. We couldn't be happier for him.

After earning his BFA in Acting from Elon University, NC, Kevin came to Richmond to appear in Proof. He did a terrific job. Since then he's been pursuing his career out of NYC. After two soap opera gigs on All My Children and As the World Turns, lead roles in four independent films, four NYC stage acting credits, ten regional theatre gigs, and one theme park stint with Universal Studios in Orlando, Kevin is about to take a big step forward.

He has just been accepted into the prestitious Old Globe/USD MFA Acting program starting in the fall. This nationally recognized actor training program only accepts seven students each year to participate in a two and a half year training period focusing on classical theatre while performing at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. It includes a full tuition scholarship, living stipend, as well as an expenses paid trip to London to study in the second year.

Needless to say, Kevin is ecstatic. We wish him all the best.

--Bruce Miller

Home for the Holidays Helps Habitat for Humanity

Posted by Phil Whiteway

Last night’s (Sat Dec 15) late night performance of Barksdale’s Home for the Holidays benefit cabaret was another huge success! Many thanks to those of you who answered the call and showed up to partake of the fun and fellowship. Approximately 40 theatre regulars purchased tickets for the 11 pm performance on Barksdale Willow Lawn’s lobby stage. I couldn’t make it last night, but Bruce and his son Curt were there managing the house. From what they tell me, a grand time was had by all.

(Curt especially loved Jill Bari Steinberg [pictured to the right]impersonating Erin Thomas Foley talking about what might befall Jill Bari if she ever auditioned for a part that Erin really wanted. Just listening to Curt's rendition on the phone made me double over laughing.)

If you want to take part in this super-entertaining program (and I hope you do), be advised that only two shows remain. Home for the Holidays will hold its farewell performances this coming Monday, Dec 17, and Tuesday Dec 18, 7:30 pm both nights in the Barksdale Willow Lawn lobby. Tickets are $25 for the general public and $20 for Barksdale or Theatre IV subscribers. All proceeds go to benefit the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund, governed by RAPT (the Richmond Alliance of Professional Theatres) and managed by The Community Foundation.

If you come on Monday night, you’ll not only be helping the Theatre Artists Fund, you’ll also be lending your support to the Richmond Chapter of Habitat for Humanity. As many of you know, Habitat is an outstanding nonprofit organization that uses mostly volunteer labor to build affordable housing for working families of limited means, making it possible for them to own their own home. It’s an exemplary cause.

When leaders at Habitat read about Home for the Holidays in the paper, they thought it would be a perfect match for their cause. They called me, said that they’d like to purchase approximately 35 tickets as holiday recognition for their hard working Board, and asked for group rates. Ordinarily the group rate is $20. But for an outstanding nonprofit like Habitat, I lowered the rate to $15, making it possible for them to attend and stay within their budget for a holiday gathering.

As of this writing, 15 tickets remain for Monday night’s performance, and 21 tickets remain for Tuesday evening. I'm really hopeful that these final tickets will be sold! Please join us if you can. Our volunteer singers are among Richmond’s finest. Brett Ambler, pictured to the right, is one of the ten multi-talented performers. They provide a WONDERFUL, heartwarming, fun and lively show … and a GREAT way to give back to the theatre community we all know and love.

Hope to see you there on Monday or Tuesday evening. I’d love nothing more than for Bruce and Chase to have to work through their dinner break setting up overflow seating!

Merry Christmas and Happy Post-Hanukkah.

--Phil Whiteway

Great Spirit, Great Music, Great Cause

Posted by Bruce Miller

Singing to raise spirits and charitable funds is a time honored Christmas tradition.

I’ve just returned from our first Home for the Holidays cabaret. The 16 or so patrons who attended tonight really had a grand time, but I confess I’m disappointed because it appears that the crowds this week are going to be small. As of this writing, we only have 14 reservations for tomorrow evening (Tuesday, Dec 11 at 7:30).

I sure would like to see that change.

The show itself is wonderful. Brett Ambler, Corey Davis, Audra Honaker, Katrina Lewis, Jason Marks, Robyn O’Neill, Fernando Rivadeniera, Janine Serresseque, Erin Thomas, Durron Tyree and Tony Williams sing and play their hearts out for 90 minutes, entertaining with a combination of holiday favorites and Broadway standards. Jan Guarino is sick this week (say a prayer for her recovery by Thursday’s Swingtime Canteen), but tomorrow Cathy Motley-Fitch will be filling in for her. The singers are all volunteering their talents to raise money for the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund. And yet only a few folks are turning out for these first two performances.

Tomorrow (Tuesday’s) show will be a pay-what-you-can performance, and 100% of ticket revenues will go to the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund, governed by RAPT (the Richmond Alliance of Professional Theatres) and managed by the Community Foundation. So if you can’t afford the $25 suggested donation, please come tomorrow (Tuesday) evening—and bring five or six of your friends. It’s a GREAT way to jump start the holiday spirit, and it’s an even better way to support the volunteer performers, who would much prefer to be singing to a full and enthusiastic house than a room half-filled with empty tables.

If don’t understand what the Theatre Artists Fund is all about, and therefore don’t feel inclined to support it, let me try to change your mind. In the past ten years of so, there have been five times when the theatre community came together on an emergency basis to help one of our members deal with a life threatening situation.

We raised $6 thousand or so to keep a roof over the head of one of our colleagues during the final months of his life when he was too sick to work but was nonetheless evicted from his apartment. We raised $8 thousand or so to prevent a lifelong theatre administrator from losing her home when her husband was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, had to stop working, but needed to be out of work for six months before his disability insurance kicked in. We raised several thousand to install a new furnace in the home of a beloved director who was returning from open heart surgery to an unheated home in the dead of winter.

In every instance I’ve counted myself blessed to be a part of a community that cared so much about taking care of its own. The Richmond Theatre Artists Fund lets us begin to meet these emergency needs before they happen. It lets us raise funds on a strategic rather than a crisis basis. The Fund doesn’t exist to help someone out when they’re between jobs and having trouble paying their cable bill. The Fund exists to meet the critical needs of our brothers and sisters when accident or illness stops them in their tracks. No matter how much insurance we have, none of us can protect ourselves from everything. God willing, the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund will be there to help with emergency expenditures when we need help the most.

Isn’t that worth a few bucks and 90 minutes of your time? Don’t you want to support your colleagues who are giving up seven nights in December to try to help others?

Upcoming shows are tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7:30, this Saturday at 11 pm, and next Monday and Tuesday at 7:30. All performances are in Barksdale’s Willow Lawn lobby. Please call the Barksdale box at 282-2620 to make your reservations.

I hope you’ll join us for this wonderful, joyous and very worthwhile performance.

--Bruce Miller

Holiday Happenings Kick Off This Week

Posted by John Steils

If you’re looking for a way to jump start your holiday celebration, you need look no further than Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV. Our upcoming roster of eight different productions and special events is bound to include something smile-inducing for you and yours. We’re YOUR theatre, so please join in the fun.

1. Home for the Holidays
This is Barksdale’s third annual benefit concert for the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund. Not only will you enjoy a great 2-hour evening of entertainment from some of Richmond’s finest theatre singers, you’ll also be supporting a great cause. This year’s line-up of super-stars includes Brett Ambler, Corey Davis, Jan Guarino, Audra Honaker, Katrinah Lewis, Jason Marks, Robyn O’Neill, Fernando Rivadeniera, Janine Serresseque, Durron Tyree, and Tony Williams at the piano. Erin Thomas is our emcee. Performances are on the starlit Barksdale Willow Lawn lobby stage, with attendance limited to 80 guests sitting cabaret-style at reserved tables. Click for more details.

2. Bifocals Theatre Project
If you’re 55 or older, or if you know a theatre lover who is 55 or older, you really should connect with Barksdale’s Bifocals Theatre Project, our fun and fast-moving initiative designed to serve Greater Richmond’s senior theatre artists and audiences. On Thurs Dec 6 and Fri Dec 7, our Bifocals troupe will present a half-hour version of the radio drama It’s a Wonderful Life, directed by Bob Albertia, and featuring the acting talents of Bob himself plus Tom Bass, Woody Eney, Joel Grow, Donna Knicely, Chase Kniffen and Ali Thibodeau. The performance will take place on the lobby stage at Barksdale Willow Lawn. Seating for lunch (optional) begins at 12 noon, and the performance begins at 1 pm. Attendance is limited to 80 guests, and tickets must be reserved in advance. Following the Friday performance will be the annual Bifocals Christmas Party, which is open to all theatre lovers 55 and over, free of charge. Click for more details.

3. Indonesian Shadow Puppet Performance and Concert - FREE
Also this Fri Dec 7, in partnership with the Modlin Center for the Arts at Bruce and Phil’s alma mater (the University of Richmond), Barksdale will present free performances of a traditional Indonesian shadow-puppet performance featuring Dr. Andrew Clay McGraw (ethnomusicologist and music professor at the University), Gusti Putu Sudarta, Dalang (shadow master and musician), and John MacDonald (gamelan musician). Free performances will be at our historic Empire Theatre, conducted as a part of First Fridays. Call Catherine Dudley for more information, 643-2477. And while visiting the historic Empire on First Friday, be sure to enjoy the art photos of Jay Paul, now on display in our lobby gallery. Click for more details.

4. Stretchin’ at Barksdale – only $12 for a GREAT concert
Stretchin’ at Barksdale is our free-wheeling, grab-a-beer-and-chill-to-the-music concert series, presented on Sunday evenings in the “living room” lobby at Barksdale Willow Lawn. This Sun, Dec 9, 6 pm, national rising star Justin Townes Earle, son of country superstar Steve Earle, will be taking the stage with Richmond great Susan Greenbaum. B J Kocen is our impresario and emcee. It’s the best deal on the best music in town. If you enjoy live music in a laid back “at home” atmosphere, you’d be crazy to miss it. No reservations. Purchase tickets at the door. Click for more details.

5. Rostov’s Coffee & Conversations - FREE
Get outa here! You’ve NEVER been to a Coffee & Conversations event??!! Well, there’s no time to start like the present. Next Tues, Dec 11, 9:30 am, join us in the lobby of Barksdale Willow Lawn to hear all the backstage stories directly from the horses’ mouths. Our three leading men of Moonlight and Magnolias will answer all your questions and reveal all the backstage insights you’ve been dying to know. And if you can, come a little early. Rostov’s delicious coffee, hot tea and pastries are available for a suggested donation of $3. No tickets or reservations required. Click for more details.

6. A Christmas Story – Empire Theatre
A great, hilarious play, suitable for the entire family age 6 to 106. You can read review quotes elsewhere on the blog, or call the Theatre IV box office for more info. 344-8040.

7. Moonlight and Magnolias – Barksdale Willow Lawn
A laugh-fest comedy about the making of the screenplay of Gone with the Wind. You can read review quotes elsewhere on the blog, or call the Barksdale box office for more info. 282-2620.

8. Swingtime Canteen – Barksdale Hanover Tavern
A joyous, toe-tapping, boogie-woogie recreation of a USO show from Christmas 1944. You can read review quotes elsewhere on the blog, or call the Barksdale box office for more info. 282-2620.

See you at the theatre!

--John Steils

Retraction and Apology

Posted by Phil Whiteway

First, let me apologize to all parties involved. With nothing but good intentions, we at Barksdale have facilitated the publication of incorrect information. We regret that it happened. If we have confused or offended anyone, we’re sincerely sorry.

We have great affection and respect for Cynthia McMullen. This misstep is our fault, not hers. We apologize to her as well.

In her On the Aisle column in Sunday’s Times-Dispatch, she listed 23 talented and beloved performers in the cast of this year’s Home for the Holidays benefit cabaret, noting that the roster was “subject to change.” The problem is, twelve of the 23 outstanding singers listed will not be appearing in the holiday cabaret, and nine of them hadn’t even been contacted. Also, the names of two of the performers who will be taking part in the cabaret didn’t make it onto the list.

The annual Home for the Holidays cabaret raises money for the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund, sponsored by RAPT (the Richmond Alliance of Professional Theatres) and managed by The Community Foundation.

After spending yesterday trying to figure out what went wrong, we now understand our error. There were three computer lists of performers created during the planning of this year’s cabaret. The first list included many of our favorite theatre singers with established reputations and name recognition. The second list included up-and-coming performers who are still relatively new or unknown to the ticket-buying public. (We created this second list because we wanted to add some "new blood" to this year's cabaret.) The third list was narrowed down from the first two, and included the names of the performers whom we invited to participate in Home for the Holidays 07.

In an inner-office communication, a staff member mistakenly emailed the first list of established singers while intending to email the third narrowed down list. The mistake went forward from there without anyone realizing it. When Debra Wagoner declined the invitation to perform due to a scheduling conflict, her name was removed from the list, as requested, but it was removed from the wrong list.

So the list that wound up being distributed to media outlets was the list of some of our favorite theatre singers with established reputations, minus Debra Wagoner. A couple of other favorite theatre singers were also not on the list, for a variety of reasons.

We apologize. As soon as we realized our mistake, it was immediately corrected in the form of updated information being sent out and published in the paper. Individual notes of apology are being written. We regret that our clogged schedule creates situations ripe for error. We try hard to open shows and distribute accurate information all around.

The finalized list of performers, as of last night, is: Brett Ambler, Corey Davis, Jan Guarino, Audra Honaker, Katrinah Lewis, Jason Marks, Robyn O’Neill, Fernando Rivadeniera, Janine Serresseque, Durron Tyree, and Tony Williams at the piano. Erin Thomas is our emcee.

It’s a great group. We’re embarrassed and sorry that other names were distributed to the media without their knowledge or consent. I hope everyone involved, whether you are an artist or an audience member, will forgive us for this blunder. I ask for your understanding and appreciate your acceptance of this heartfelt apology.

--Phil Whiteway

Why Do These People Look So Tired?

Posted by Bruce Miller

Well, all right. Scotty, Debra and Joe don’t look so tired. It’s just me.

In the old days, the Barksdale tradition for tech Sundays was for Muriel to make a huge pot of her spaghetti (with green olives, of course) to serve to the cast and crew between the afternoon and evening rehearsals.

Even though we finally arrived at a respectable recreation of Muriel’s beloved meat sauce (minus the cigarette ash that she always claimed to be the secret ingredient), we gave up trying to make the sauce itself in 2002. After two years of cooking at home and hauling the spaghetti fixins to the theatre in giant tubs, we decided enough was enough. If you want to re-experience Muriel’s magnificent abbondanza, you will find the recipe in Erin Thomas’s upcoming theatre cookbook.

Since 2002, we have made our lives easier. We now walk across the Willow Lawn parking lot and enjoy our delicious and moderately priced tech dinner at The Crazy Greek, where the flaming saganaki has become as legendary as Muriel’s spaghetti—well, almost. Our kindly restaurateur friends push several tables together and we all have a grand old time.

The photo shown above and to the right was taken just before the tech dinner for Moonlight and Magnolias. We are standing in front of The Crazy Greek and across the street from El Toro Loco at the Intersection of Insane Eateries. Debra and I are the interlopers. We heard “free meal” and we were there, rushing over from the Tavern after our Sunday matinee of Swingtime Canteen, which opened last week.

To confess, the rushing and the late hours have finally gotten the best of me. After several 100+ hour work weeks in a row, I’ve finally lost it.

Yesterday, I started the day with staff meeting at 9:15, then planned some improvements to the Swingtime sound system, then went to the JCC to seek their guidance on the proper Hanukkah display for the Barksdale lobby, and then sought out and purchased the appropriate electric Menorah (we can’t have lit candles) and other Judaica that we had decided upon. Do you know how hard it is to find a blue tablecloth in Richmond?

I met with Jackie Gann about how to best credit Gino’s Italian Restaurant as our “Doughnut Sponsor” for Swingtime. I checked in on Judi Crenshaw and John Wiley as they set up the amazing Gone with the Wind gallery exhibit in the Barksdale lobby. I received a fund development update from Phil, who had just completed a very successful day raising money. I planned my next moves on two major fee-for-service grant programs that we have in development.

At 4:30, we began a Theatre IV Board meeting (with record attendance, I’m proud to say) and I left the theatre at 6:30 feeling like I’d put in a full day’s work. I made it home by 6:45, and immediately left with Terrie to go to my son’s orchestra concert—he had a solo on the double bass.

Just as we were sitting down at 7 and the curtain was rising, Terrie’s cell phone rang. Mine was on the fritz. It was Ginnie Willard, reminding me that I was supposed to be, at that very moment, directing auditions for The Little Dog Laughed from 7 until 10. So out of the middle school auditorium I ran, and made it back to the Empire by 7:30, where I apologized profusely to the waiting auditionees.

Thankfully, Corey Davis and Jason Campbell had filled in ably in my stead.

How can you really explain being brain dead because you’ve just come out of four weeks of working 15/7 directing Swingtime Canteen while trying to juggle a hundred other responsibilities. You can't. It comes off as whining. Shoot, I’m whining now.

So, why do I look so tired in the photo? And why did I forget about my own auditions—which is about as stupid as you can get? Who knows? To quote my least favorite thing that is said to me with regularity when folks find out I’m employed by a theatre: “It must be nice not to have to work for a living.”

--Bruce Miller