The Few, The Proud, The Toy-Givers

Posted by John Steils

Barksdale and Theatre IV have been proud to participate this year in the annual gift campaign of the U. S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation, filling two giant boxes with holiday presents for needy children. The large empty crates arrived in the lobbies of Barksdale at Willow Lawn and the historic Empire Theatre (downtown) just after Thanksgiving. This morning, both containers, now filled to overflowing, were picked up by two of our nation's finest.

Many thanks to the generous staffers, theatre artists and audience members who made this campaign such a success. It’s just another example of the invaluable contributions made to our community by Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV.

Merry Christmas and a Past Due Happy Hanukkah!

--John Steils

Sketchy Behavior Makes Merry Masterworks

Posted by Bruce Miller

Do you ever wonder what performers do while they’re waiting in the wings? Here are two answers from the closing night of Home for the Holidays.

While anticipating their entrances at tables off right, our meistersingers were apparently less than riveted by the performances of their fellow songbirds. It was their fifth performance after all, and they had limited view.

From all accounts our vocal Vulcans allowed their eyes and thoughts to wander from the stage, finally finding some errant piece of trash and deciding to draft upon it a graphic storyboard for All Those Christmas Clichés. This beautiful Lynn Ahrens / Stephen Flaherty classic-in-the-making (that's Lynn and Stephen pictured above and to the left) was masterfully performed each night by Janine Serresseque. The Ahrens / Flaherty duo also wrote music and lyrics for Ragtime, Once on this Island, Seussical the Musical, and A Man of No Importance--source of Audra's song, Princess. Last night during the show, the cast created a visual homage to the evocative lyrics of All Those Christmas Clichés. Their artwork is pictured below.

Janine warmly amused the house with her “local” rendition of the song: “I’ve spent Christmas in Mechanicsville, Christmas in Midlothian, Christmas in Varina and Luray.” I don’t believe those noble neighborhoods are depicted in our cast-created artwork, but many of the Christmas clichés mentioned in the song are.

For a fun party game, see if you can locate: “a tree full of toys and tinsel,” a “wreath on the red front door,” “elves in the yard,” a “sentimental card dripping glitter on the floor,” “plywood reindeer,” a “horse-drawn sleigh,” “a turkey with all the trimmings,” “Johnny Mathis,” “perfect skaters,” a “fruitcake with sugar glaze,” “snow,” a “choir,” “candles in the window,” “chestnuts roasting on the fire,” “a house filled with noise and laughter,” “a street bathed in twinkling light,” “bells,” “drums,” “mistletoe,” “sugar plums,” “kids to tuck in tight,” and last but not least, “that guy in the bright red outfit.” I think five or six may be missing, but then I've never been good at these games.

Vigorous debate arose during the closing party as to whether or not Santa was still wearing his fur-trimmed pants. Hmm.

The second masterpiece created by our Michelangelos of melody—actually I think it was a single Michelangelo (or Michelangelette)—is a pen and ink portrait on cocktail napkin entitled “Crabby in the Front Row.”

Yes, dear readers, if you don’t know by now that actors notice each and every facial expression in the audience, then you don’t know actors. Only the purest of artistes—the ones who swear they never read reviews—will deny noticing and reacting to misanthropic pusses spreading gloom and doom down front.

The estimable Robyn O’Neill has long stated that audience members should have to audition for Rows A, B and C. And here’s why. Each singer, one after the other, was literally abuzz last night with chat about the “grouch on the front row.” Unbeknownst to those of us sitting behind her, an apparently discontent woman sat not three feet from our singers, glaring up at them all night long doing her best impression of Grumpy of Seven Dwarfs fame. No wonder her anonymous visage prompted this cocktail napkin characterization.

Time to turn that frown upside down, dontcha think?

So if you’d prefer not to be immortalized on disposable paper by the cast of an upcoming theatrical production, then SMILE next time you’re sitting within fifteen feet of the stage, or anywhere else in the theatre for that matter. At the very least, look vaguely pleasant. I can’t tell you how much we ALL will appreciate it.

And here's a fun fact to recall when trying to summon up that requested good cheer. The preliminary results are in, and it appears that you audience members for Home for the Holidays (99.9% of whom weren’t ill-tempered or cross) swelled the coffers of the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund by approximately $3,400—we’re still doing the final tabulation. That’s enough to make anyone happy, and a wonderful holiday gift to Richmond's theatre community. Many, many thanks to all involved.

Merry Christmas and a belated Happy Hanukkah!

--Bruce Miller

Three Notes and Two Beautiful Women

Posted by Bruce Miller

What was the best thing about last night’s Home for the Holidays benefit cabaret? Betty Ann Grove (pictured in her heyday to the right) was there—all smiles, looking like a million bucks and back in Richmond once again. We almost lost her to New Jersey, but turns out this Broadway Baby is a true Richmonder after all. When it came time to return home for the holidays, Richmond was the home that called to her the most.

You may remember that not too long ago we said “God Speed, not Goodbye” to Betty Ann (Oct 7, 2007), as she moved to the Actors Home in New Jersey. It was one of those moves that was supposed to be forever. Years ago, when Betty Ann was starring on Broadway, her dear mother had moved into the Actors Home and lived quite happily within commuting distance of NYC. And so Betty Ann thought that she too would be happy there.

But that was then. “When I got there, I couldn’t find anyone who would smile,” Betty Ann said last night. (That's B A again in the pic to the right, beaming down at her TV co-star Bert Parks.) More importantly, her “family”—that’s all of us, my friends—and her heart were here in River City. After making this discovery, she quickly called her old landlords in Richmond and re-leased the same apartment that she had released not more than a few weeks ago. “If I’d called two days later it would have been gone,” she said. She trundled her downsized possessions back to town, bought a replacement sofa at The Dump, and re-established the old homestead.

We couldn’t be more thrilled. I’ve already made her promise to sing a number at next year’s benefit cabaret.

What was the weirdest thing that happened last night? Well, it all began just as we were about to open the house. A nice older gentleman who arrived early to see the show walked up to one of our veteran actresses, who shall remain nameless. (It was not Audra Honaker or Janine Serresseque, pictured to the left). The actress looked gorgeous by the way in her sparkling cabaret get-up. “Has anyone ever told you you’re aging?” he asked. Both the actress and I, who happened to be standing nearby, thought we had misunderstood. “Excuse me,” she said.

“I’ve been watching you on stage and on television for years and years,” he continued. Then he proceeded to recall performances and commercials from the 70s, 80s and on. Our beloved actress smiled and nodded along, and as I remembered those same performances that he was recalling, I couldn’t help but look at her and think how unbelievably young and beautiful she was. “So, I just can’t believe you’re aging,” he said.

“Ageless,” she blurted out, diplomatically determining to keep that beautiful smile on her face. “I’m going to take it that what you’re meaning to say is ‘you’re ageless.’ And thank you for that.”

“I can’t believe you’re aging,” he repeated, with a huge admiring grin.

I’m convinced he was trying to be complimentary. Obviously he hasn’t spent a lot of time around actresses. Or a dictionary.

On a third note, our hearts go out to Durron Tyree, whose grandfather passed away yesterday morning. Durron has had to bow out of these final two performances to be with his family. We miss him. He was one of the four new voices in this year’s cabaret, and added immeasurably to the performance. I hope he’ll join us again next year.

Tonight’s Home for the Holidays benefit concert is SOLD OUT! Thanks to one and all for making this year’s fundraiser a HUGE success.

--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

Home for the Holidays - Then Back to Iraq

Posted by Phil Whiteway
Home for the Holidays, our annual benefit cabaret for the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund, begins tonight. I can't wait. At every performance of last year's wonderful show, our emcee (some crazy guy named Bruce Miller) dedicated the song "I'll be Home for Christmas," sung by Cathy Motley-Fitch, to my son PJ and the men and women of the Virginia National Guard. He noted that Peej was shipping out for Iraq in March and would likely be spending Christmas 2007 on the desert sands with Uncle Sam. That's what we all thought at the time.

Wonder of wonders, it has not come to pass!

PJ is flying home for a two-week leave sometime today, tomorrow or the day after, and he'll be with us at least through Christmas Eve--maybe even Christmas Day--before flying back to his service in Iraq. Each soldier gets a couple weeks R & R during the year. PJ put in for December, and it's looking like he'll get his wish. After returning to his base, he'll have three more months, we think, until he comes back home to the U S of A for good in mid- to late-March.

At least that's the plan. The US troops play their cards pretty close to their armored vests. But we're told that most National Guard units have been deployed only for 12 months rather than 18.

Thanks to all of you who have been keeping PJ and his fellow soldiers in your prayers. We hope you'll keep it up. We're certainly grateful to have him home for the holidays, and he's pretty psyched too.

At the top of this post is what I like to think of as his "Christmas Card," posted on his MySpace or FaceBook--I can't remember which one. The caption reads:

"Just visiting the neighbors and hanging out with the kids!"

To which we add the first line of that familiar church school carol:

"Let their be peace on earth, and let it begin with me."

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

--Phil Whiteway

Celebrating Hanukkah On Stage and Off

Posted by Bruce Miller

Hanukkah begins at sundown tomorrow, Dec 4. To all of our Jewish friends, Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah is one of those holidays that falls on a different day each year. In 2008, Hanukkah will begin at sundown on Dec 21. In 2006, Hanukkah began on Dec 15.

Hanukkah is an eight day celebration that is also known as the Festival of Lights. It always begins on the 25th day of Kislev, the eighth or ninth month on the Jewish calendar, depending on the year. The Jewish calendar is based on both solar and lunar years, and so some years there’s a leap month preceding Kislev, just as in our standard calendar there is a leap day (Feb 29) every four years.

Hanukkah is a relatively minor holiday in Jewish tradition. However, Hanukkah is also the Jewish holiday that occurs closest to Christmas. Therefore, in the United States, Hanukkah has gained added attention. This is appropriate perhaps because the Hanukkah story tells how Jewish culture has struggled to survive in a non-Jewish world.

In about 165 BC, the Greco-Syrian emperor Antiochus IV (pictured on the coin to the left) ruled over the Jews in Judea, the territory now known as Israel. He tried to force the Jewish people to accept Greek culture, making it unlawful for them to practice their own religion or study the Torah. Jewish fighters known as the Maccabees tried to protect their people from the Greek enforcers. After three years of fighting, the Maccabees (led by Judah Maccabee, pictured to the right) finally regained control over the temple on Mount Mariah in Jerusalem. While preparing the temple for rededication—the Hebrew word “Hanukkah” means “dedication”—they relit the temple lamp, but found only enough oil to keep it burning for one day. Miraculously, the lamp burned for eight days.

Interspersed with all the comic mayhem, Moonlight and Magnolias tells a more contemporary story about how Jewish culture has struggled to thrive despite its minority status in the United States. And so it’s not too far fetched to say that, while Moonlight and Magnolias may not be a “Christmas play,” it is, at least thematically, somewhat of a “Hanukkah play.”

When you visit the Barksdale Willow Lawn lobby, we hope you’ll make note of the Hanukkah display that shares the lobby stage with Barksdale’s traditional Christmas tree. Staff members solicited suggestions from our friends at the Weinstein Jewish Community Center regarding how best to include recognition of the Jewish faith in our lobby during the holiday season.

The Hanukkah display features an electric menorah (fire regulations prohibit using real candles) and two decorative Hanukkah platters on blue and white cloths. The central "servant candle" of the menorah has been lit since the opening of Moonlight and Magnolias. Beginning Dec 4, we will light one of the eight other candles of the menorah each day, until the eighth day of Hanukkah when all of the candles will be blazing.

We know you’ll enjoy the side-splitting comedy of Moonlight and Magnolias. We hope you’ll also appreciate the Hanukkah display that now graces our lobby, extending welcome to loyal theatergoers of all faiths.

--Bruce Miller

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