"Break a Leg!" "Grrrrrrrrrr!!"

Posted by Bruce Miller
Happy Friday the 13th--a perfect day to think a little about superstitions in the theatre.

Over the years, I've heard of 10 to 20 irrational but nonetheless traditional beliefs that seem to have been passed down from one theatre artist to another over the centuries. There are certainly three that are observed with regularity right here in River City. Let's talk about the best known first.

Throughout the ages it’s been considered bad luck to wish an actor “good luck” before a performance. If you want theatre artists to have a successful Opening Night and/or run, superstition requires that you wish them ill fortune rather than good. Whether in London, New York, Richmond, or anywhere else in the English-speaking world, the accepted way to wish an actor bad luck (when you really want them to have good luck) is to say “break a leg.”

I’ve heard many explanations as to why this particular phrase for bad luck was chosen as the standard. My favorite explanation goes back to the Elizabethan age and the Blackfriars Theatre, the first indoor venue for Shakespeare’s plays.

In 1597, during Shakespeare’s prime, Richard Burbage (that's him to the right) inherited the Blackfriars from his father. Richard Burbage was the principal actor with the Lord Chamberlain’s Men (Shakespeare’s company), the wildly popular troupe that performed with great success in the Globe. For years the Blackfriars had been home to the Children of the Chapel, a juvenile performing company. In 1608, Burbage and several partners took over management of the Blackfriars, kicked out the kids, and opened the elegant theatre in the winters for use by the King's Men—the new name given to Shakespeare's company after King James ascended to the throne in 1603.

The big difference between the Globe and the Blackfriars, other than the fact that the Blackfriars was an indoor venue, was that the audience at the Blackfriars was often considerably more well-to-do than the groundlings who paid a penny to get into the Globe. When a show met with approval at the Blackfriars, delighted patrons tossed coins onto the stage during curtain call, aiming at the feet of the actors who pleased them the most. When this happened, the showered-upon actors humbly dropped to one knee to accept the accolades (and scarf up the tokens of appreciation), therein “breaking” the line of their legs.

With this kowtowing for coinage custom in mind, a well-wisher says “break a leg” to fulfill the requirement of wishing bad luck, all the while knowing that there is a double-meaning to the phrase, a positive subtext that actually means “I hope the audience loves your performance enough to throw money at your feet causing you to break the line of your leg to pick it up.”

No one throws money anymore, more’s the pity. But once in a while someone throws flowers, which springs from the same tradition. Of course, when we produced The Full Monty, women in the audience often threw panties. Seriously.

Another theory regarding the etymology of the phrase “break a leg” comes from the Yiddish Theatre that was so popular in New York’s Lower East Side in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In those early days, the Yiddish Theatre District that centered on Second Avenue in what is now the East Village equalled Broadway in both quantity and quality.

A favorite phrase for good luck in Yiddish is “Hatsloche un Broche,” meaning “success and blessing.” Knowing that wishing good luck was verboten backstage, Yiddish actors resorted to the similar sounding German phrase “Hals- und Beinbruch,” meaning “neck and leg fracture.”

The wishing-of-bad-luck superstition seems to cross all barriers of language and ethnicity. On the Opening Night of Boleros for the Disenchanted, our Latino actors, in keeping with Spanish theatre tradition, wished each other "¡Mucha mierda!"—which translates roughly as “Lotsa shit!”

In Stanislovski’s day, the great actors of the Moscow Arts Theatre wished each other "ни пуха ни пера" (ni puha ni pera). This literally means "neither down nor feathers." It was the traditional Russian blessing uttered to a hunter before he trekked into the woods, rifle in hand. Apparently Russian hunters fell into the same category as actors, and the only appropriate way to wish them “good luck” was to wish them something horrible. Wishing them “neither down nor feathers” was the same as saying “I hope you come home from the hunt empty handed.”

Sure enough, when an acclaimed Russian company was in residence in our historic Empire last fall performing The Humpbacked Horse, hardy calls of “ni puha ni pera” rang out prior to curtain from the dressing rooms and the darkened corners of backstage.

Whether you are a hunter or an actor, Russian or English, tradition states that you never say “thank you” when someone appropriately wishes you “bad luck.” In Russian, they reply “к черту" (k chertu), which literally means "go to the devil." At the Comédie-Française, when someone wishes you “Merde!” on Opening Night, you are supposed to respond with a robust growl. In Italy, after hearing the blessing “In bocca al lupo,” which means “In the mouth of the wolf,” an actor's recommended response is “Crepi!” or “Crepi il lupo!”, which translates as “May the wolf die!”

With so many Opening Nights fast upon us, we should all be getting our blessings, curses and guttural rumblings ready. And when you shout one out to a beloved theatre colleague, be prepared to hear a response something akin to a friendly, grateful growl.

Coming soon, superstition #2—The Scottish Play.

Till then, see you at the theatre!

--Bruce Miller

Mystery Solved! Juli Hits the Big Time

Posted by Bruce Miller
Many thanks to Duke Lafoon (and Juli Robbins’ family friend Sara) for responding to my last blog post. Turns out that the Juli Robbins who is now costarring with Duke in A Wonderful Life at Westchester Broadway Theatre is the same Juli whom I fondly remember as “the girl that I marry” in Barksdale’s 2003 hit production of Annie Get Your Gun. She's pictured to the left.

In Annie Get, I decided to ask a woman from the ensemble to join in the number "The Girl That I Marry" with Russell Rowland (Frank Butler) and Robyn O’Neill (Annie Oakley). I wanted someone who was petite and picture perfect to represent the ideal “sweet young thing” whom Annie Oakley imagines when Frank Butler describes the girl of his dreams. I picked Juli because she was, and is, about as adorable as a woman can be.

“The girl that I marry,” sings Frank Butler, “will have to be as soft and as pink as a nursery. A doll I can carry, the girl that I marry must be.”

In true Annie Oakley fashion, Robyn began referring to Juli, good naturedly, as “pretty perfect little Juli.” As in … when I would say something like, “Robyn, when you come out in this ball gown to meet Frank for the first time in years, I want you to dazzle him.” To which Robyn would reply … “Well why don’t you bring on pretty perfect little Juli?”

I guess you had to be there. But it was all good clean fun, having to do with the fact that Juli was remarkably pretty and fully capable of sweeping every guy in the room off his feet without even having to try.

It’s great to know that Juli’s many talents are gaining recognition now in markets larger than Richmond. From what I can gather from a quick Google search, Juli’s last two years have been pretty busy as she continues to build a career on both coasts.

On Feb 9, 2007, she opened in a revival of the Off-Broadway hit Song of Singapore at the International City Theatre in Long Beach, CA. When that show closed in March 2007, she moved immediately into the role of Lady Anne in the national tour of Camelot, starring Michael York (originally) and Lou Diamond Phillips (replacement), produced by McCoy Rigby Entertainment, the professional production company of Cathy Rigby and her husband.

She stayed with the national tour for more than a year, finally leaving to play a featured role in the World Premiere of a new opera version of Paradise Lost at Boston Court in Los Angeles (see photo immediately above and to the right). After the opera closed in September, Juli was cast in another production of Camelot, only this time she won the leading role of Guenevere and appeared opposite the King Arthur of Broadway leading man Robert Cuccioli (Jekyll & Hyde) at the White Plains Performing Arts Center in New York (see the photo below with Cuccioli and the photo two above with other cast members). That show closed in October, and she opened opposite Duke in A Wonderful Life in November at the Westchester Broadway Theatre just a few weeks later.

I continue to think it’s GREAT when a rising Richmond star establishes a national career. Just as we were able to lure Duke back for Doubt (and David Winning for The Full Monty and Susan Sanford for The Little Dog Laughed, etc. etc. etc.), perhaps we will one day welcome a nationally prominent Juli back to Richmond for a return engagement.

Until then, see you at the theatre!

--Bruce Miller

Appearance of Theatres Fails to Pass Muster

Posted by Bruce Miller
I received the following unsigned letter in my office this morning. It’s worth sharing.

“Oct 2, 2008

Dear Mr. Miller:

I write to you without including my name in the interest of simplicity, and hope that I do not offend.

I have found much to love and enjoy in the numerous Barksdale productions that I have seen over the past few years. My first was The Full Monty; the most recent was Guys and Dolls. Doubt was, for me, the most powerful.

When attending Barksdale productions, I feel you should know what a big impression the atmospherics of the Willow Lawn and Empire venues have made on me, and I do not mean in a positive sense.

The Willow Lawn lobby cries out for re-modeling. It puts one in mind of a neglected moose lodge. Its current appearance is jarring and does not do justice to, or reflect, the level of excellence on stage. This is not an expensive proposition and could be solved with some cans of paint and a few trips to Ikea. It needs light colors, modern lighting and sleek, updated furniture. You have talent on your technical staff who would no doubt do a fabulous job of re-modeling.

The Empire Theater is obviously a treasure and beloved by Richmond. I remain mystified, however, by the abject and, frankly, embarrassing appearance of the outside presentation of the theater. It looks abandoned and neglected. The marquee must be lit up! The front of the Empire Theater needs to be lit up to look alive and welcoming! Right now, it looks like it is closed and waiting for demolition. The presentation window boxes which face the street are not lit and do not feature the posters of the show that is currently playing. I cannot understand this. It’s as though what is going on inside the theater is beside the point based on what the outside of the theater is telling the public. One of the presentation windows has broken glass. This makes a very bad impression of neglect.

I realize that keeping a theater in running order is very expensive. The solutions to the above problems, however, do not require huge investments of money.

Best of everything and keep up the otherwise very good work.”

I agree with much of what is included in this letter, and appreciate receiving it. I’ll respond in a subsequent blog posting. Please feel free to offer your opinions.

Hope to see you at our rundown theatres!

--Bruce Miller

"Guys and Dolls" Lights Up Downtown

Posted by Bruce Miller
The figures are in for total attendance at Guys and Dolls this summer at the historic Empire, and if I were a bell I’d go … well, you know.

11,421 people came streaming downtown to catch our sizzling summer hit. In comparison with other recent winners, 11,307 rushed out to get a peek at The Full Monty, and 10,418 believed that Mame charmed the husks right off of the corn. Both of those musical blockbusters were at Barksdale Theatre at Willow Lawn.

Convincing all of Barksdale’s large and vibrant audience, many of whom live in the suburbs, to venture into downtown without a parking deck was not without its challenges. We offered valet parking (free to subscribers, $5 per car to everyone else), hired an off-duty policeman for each performance, and engaged in a LOT of positive and proactive communication.

It worked! Not only did a great many suburbanites make the trek back to the heart of our city, even better, they had a wonderful experience! To the best of our knowledge, there was not a single frown-inducing moment during the ten-week run.

Now I know, a lot of you come downtown all the time and are sitting back now saying, “What’s the big deal? Who doesn’t love downtown?” I’m with you. I’ve been down here on Marshall (my office) and Broad (our theatre) pretty much every day since 1986.

But the perception persists among many of those who have yet to become downtown denizens that once you cross Belvedere all hell breaks loose. Shoot, a lot of folks misperceive that all hell breaks loose once you cross the Boulevard.

Thankfully, this summer, a wonderful time was had by all. That bodes well for Barksdale Theatre and next summer’s Empire run of Thoroughly Modern Millie, for our many downtown neighbors, and for the CenterStage facilities set to open a little farther downtown only one year from now.

Our good neighbors at Tarrant’s Cafe and Bistro 27, two of the eight outstanding restaurants that have opened within two blocks of the Empire, wrote us letters to express their appreciation for our bringing the big summer musical down to the Arts District. “In one summer,” wrote Ted Santarella, owner and chef at Tarrant’s, “Barksdale Theatre has single handedly brought thousands of new faces to our neighborhood. Speaking with other merchants, particularly restaurant operators, we have not only seen an increase in foot traffic into our businesses, but felt the positive impact on our bottom lines. Barksdale has brought a new market of customers who ‘haven’t been down here in years,’ and may now return on their own to enjoy another evening out.”

Carlos Silva, owner and chef at 27 (pictured to the right), agrees: “I have been enjoying the benefits of your play (Guys and Dolls). Every weekend my restaurant is full between 5:30 and 7:30. Normally on a Saturday the crowd doesn’t start to grow until 8:00. Thanks to you, I have a full turn of tables before my usual crowd arrives. My revenue has increased across the board.”

When we joined the first urban pioneers and invested $2.3 million in the historic Empire way back in 1986—and gambled our future—this is exactly the type of neighborhood transformation and downtown revitalization we imagined. It’s been a long time coming, but the Richmond Arts District, which runs for five blocks along Broad and Marshall from Henry Street on the west to Art 6 on the east (just a few steps beyond Foushee), is now one of Greater Richmond’s hottest neighborhoods.

We’re proud to have been here from the beginning, and to be contributing still to the vitality of this community. We now know that nothing but great things are on the way for this upbeat corner of downtown Richmond!

--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

The Real Transylvania Mania

Posted by Bruce Miller

Very quickly (it's past my bedtime), I attended TheatreVCU's production of Dracula this evening, written by Steven Dietz, directed by Barry Bell, and produced by David Leong. It was an exciting, impressive and creepy ride.

I especially appreciated the five leading men: Brandon Crowder as Dracula, Joe Carlson as Renfield, Joseph Sultani as Seward, Landon Nagel as Van Helsing, and Andrew Donnelly as Harker. All five inhabited their characters with distinct personalities and histrionic expertise, creating some heart-pounding suspense.

Of the five, Landon Nagel is the Barksdale vet, having played the minister and other roles in The Full Monty a couple summers ago.

Ron Keller's set, Toni-Leslie James's costumes, Mike Mauren's lights, and especially Thomas Vecchione's sound were all chill inducing. Ron Keller is another Barksdale and Theatre IV vet, having designed The Laramie Project and supervised the designs of countless other shows at Willow Lawn, including our upcoming productions of Doubt and The Little Dog Laughed.

The two leading ladies, Jaci Camden and Marie Weigle, spent most of the show as young lovelies, but became more interesting after becoming "unclean." Barry Bell staged it all with style, classical titillation, and a fun sense of the unexpected.

More than half the seats were empty this evening, which is a terrible shame. Students can attend for only $7 (adults are something like $18). This evening was further proof that even when exciting theatre is presented super-cheap in their own backyard, it's really difficult to convince the majority of university students to come to the theatre.

The last two performances will be tomorrow evening (Friday) at 7:30, and, if you want to be really creepy, Saturday evening at MMIIDDNNIIGGHHTT - AHH HHAA HHAA!! (That's me using my deep Transylvania voice with lots of reverb.)

Anyway, for an eerie good time, you won't go wrong with this new edition of Dracula. The VCU theatre department is full of talent. And you can't beat the price.

--Bruce Miller

Broadway Stars with Barksdale Roots

Posted by Bruce Miller

I wrote a couple weeks ago about accompanying my daughter and three of her high school friends on a Broadway weekend, and I promised to return to this topic soon to discuss the shows we saw. Tonight’s blog entry is about the first musical of this fall’s trip – The Phantom of the Opera.

Phantom may be the longest running show in Broadway history, but I’d never seen it before last month. I hadn’t even seen the movie. When I go to New York, I almost always choose plays and musicals that I think we may produce one day in Richmond. Because of Phantom’s reliance on a huge production, it never made my list.

So it was a thrill for me to see it with my daughter and her friends, three of whom were also seeing it for the first time. The arrangements of the music and the relative simplicity of the special effects (by 2007 standards) reminded us that the show originally opened in London in 1986. But the classic story, the haunting melodies and the solid production values still captured our imaginations.

The most exciting aspect of our visit with the Phantom, at least for me, was the chance to point out proudly to my four teenage charges the two Phantom cast members who have strong roots with Barksdale and Theatre IV – Kris Koop (pictured below and to the right) and George Lee Andrews.

Kris moved to Richmond immediately after graduating from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music in 1987 to work as a touring actress with Theatre IV. She couldn’t have been nicer or more talented. In 1988, she starred as Cinderella in our first production of that Rodgers and Hammerstein classic—our first major musical in the historic Empire. Later that year, she joined Barksdale’s cast of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and toured with Joseph when it left the Tavern for other venues around the country.

Since 2001, Kris has understudied Phantom’s female leads, and she's played Christine and Carlotta on several occasions. It’s an ideal, top-of-the-heap Broadway job. When not filling in for one of the two leads, Kris appears in the ensemble.

Kris is perhaps most respected in Broadway circles for the leadership she has provided to the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS fundraising efforts. She began volunteering for BC/EFA as soon as she moved to NYC. She and her husband, Steve Ouellette, House Manager at the Neil Simon Theatre, live in Queens. When she finally got the call that she was cast in Phantom, she was working fulltime at BC/EFA, and she still works there today. One of her special projects has been pulling together The Phantom Cooks, Part Deux, the charity cookbook that thus far has earned over $80,000 for BC/EFA.

Everyone in the Theatre IV and Barksdale family should be so proud of Kris and her exceptional Broadway accomplishments both onstage and off.

George Lee Andrews (pictured in his Phantom costume to the right) has been in the cast of Phantom since its Broadway opening in 1988, almost 20 years ago. Guinness, literally, is taking note. Today he plays the role of Monsieur Firmin, one of the two new owner-managers of the Opera House.

Ten years before George began his record-breaking run in Phantom, he played Cole Porter himself in the ill-fated Los Angeles professional premiere of Barksdale’s mega-hit, Red Hot and Cole.

And George’s Barksdale connections don’t end there. Hannah Zold (pictured to the left), who appeared at Barksdale and Theatre IV most recently in Into the Woods, The Wizard of Oz, Mame, and The Full Monty, has been close pals with George and his daughter, Shannon Lee, since Hannah and Shannon worked together in The Lost Colony in 2002. Lee is the actual family name; Andrews was added as a stage name. When Shannon Lee married one of Hannah’s best buds from college, Aaron Galligan-Stierle (who will be playing Papa Who in Broadway’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas once the strike allows him to), papa George Lee officiated at the wedding ceremony and Hannah Zold was the soloist.

The photo to the right is of Hannah Zold (leaning in from the right) and Jennings Whiteway in the Barksdale lobby during Hannah’s visit to Richmond a couple weeks ago. The weekend after this photo was taken, Hannah was back in NYC, hanging with the Lee clan, including her Phantom pal George.

It’s great to be able to remind the teens who are forging their first associations with the Barksdale and Theatre IV families in 2007 that many of the major theatre artists in today's national headlines are also a part of the historic Barksdale and Theatre IV clans.

To view a 2004 video of Kris and George and their Phantom cast mates, visit http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Video.aspx?ci=502222.

All of us have reason to be proud and to celebrate the phenomenal success of two great Barksdale and Theatre IV alum – Kris Koop and George Lee Andrews.

--Bruce Miller

Another Ten Bop to the Top in "DHSM"

My daughter and I just returned from seeing SPARC’s summer production of Little Shop of Horrors at the Firehouse Theatre. A large group from Disney’s High School Musical went to today’s matinee and had a terrific time. SPARC has pulled together a GREAT cast—9 impressive actors with exceptional talent! Five are VCU students, two are current or recent students at Meadowbrook H S, and two are adults. These great actors deserve their own blog post, and I’ll try to write one in the next few days.

In this entry, let me continue recognizing the exceptional high school students who sing and dance their hearts out in Disney’s High School Musical.

Alex Godschalk just graduated from Steward, so in DHSM he has the home court advantage. He makes the most of it. Alex plays one of the "brainiacs," and he has a great moment when the character of Chad congratulates him with a high five, compelling Alex's character to transform from an up-tight academician to a hip-hop savvy homeboy. It’s one of the biggest laughs of the evening. Next fall Alex will be beginning his tenure as a theatre major at Elon.

Julia Greer is one of our wonderful cheerleaders. Chase, K and Sherri have done a great job creating a cheerleading unit that functions as a team, not as a group of individuals. So it’s hard for me to help you pick out Julia from the rest of her clique, all of whom pretty much dress, move and smile alike, just like they're supposed to. Julia is a rising freshman at Collegiate, and appeared with SPARC last summer in Dear Edwina.

B J Gruber is our heartthrob skater dude who secretly longs to play the cello. He participates in the drama program at Godwin H S, and is the only cast member to start the show off on wheels.

Christie Jackson just graduated from high school and is looking forward to beginning her theatre studies next fall at Madison. If you take note of the skilled acrobat with red hair, you’re noting Christie.

Charles Johnson is a rising senior at Highland Springs H S and received his vocal training with The Greater Richmond Children’s Choir. He’s on our basketball team in DHSM, and enjoying all that dribbling in Getcha Head in the Game.

Kouryn Lupino is a rising senior at Godwin H S, and attended the Center for the Arts at Henrico H S for two years in the musical theatre program. She’s pretty irresistible on stage, and you’ll recognize her as the one who wears a knit cap over her long dark hair.

Hannah Miller is a rising junior at Trinity H S and a returnee from our cast of Grease last summer. She recently appeared in The Wizard of Oz at Theatre IV, and takes dance at the Richmond Dance Center. You’ll spot her in DHSM as the one who is directed to “be the bear” in drama class, and has a beaming smile throughout the ensemble numbers.

Dylan Moon is a proud member of our second pair of siblings, a distinction he shares with his big brother Zac. Last summer, Dylan played the son, Nathan, in The Full Monty at Barksdale Willow Lawn. Last winter he was a floating head in Flowers for Algernon at Swift Creek Mill.

Na’imah Nelson spent her freshman year at the Center for the Arts at Henrico H S, and will soon be a sophomore at Hermitage H S. She received additional training from the Richmond City Dance Theatre, and is pleased to have joined the cheer squad in DHSM.

Paul Newell is a rising junior at Deep Run H S and is a proud alum of Christian Youth Theatre. You can identify Paul as the referee in the climactic basketball game at the end of our show.

And that brings me to the end of this entry. There’s more to come soon regarding the final ten talented teens in our High School Musical entourage. Each one is worth applauding, and we're blessed that all of them have agreed to be in the show.

--Bruce Miller