We Got a Horse Right Here

Posted by Bruce Miller
Overnight, everything changed.

Yesterday afternoon I wrote about our favorite budding sports jocks, Scotty Wichmann (or Wickman as they like to say on Sports Radio 910) and Mark Persinger (or Pershinger as they prefer to spell it on WRNL). You can read the previous post to catch up. When I wrote it, they were in the lead in the voting for Best Walk-On Announcer, and deservedly so.

Then this morning, my eyes still blurry with sleep, I noted with dismay that our Bleacher Creatures had dropped, dare I say plummeted, to a struggling second. Either luck was NOT being a lady or someone else’s fans were BUSY last night. The illustrious team of Joe Thomas and Kellen Owings—all right, I gave them a listen, they were OK, but up against Scotty and Mark? I mean COME ON!! No contest!!!—has now catapulted into first place, holding down (through nefarious means, no doubt) 27.01% of the vote. Yeah, that's them pictured to the left.

Our boys are now the brave underdogs, hanging on to 22.95% of the vote—more than 4 percentage points behind the new front runners. And to make matters worse, Michael Strange (a solo act with some appeal but still no match for de Guys) is charging forward with 19.64% of the voters, barely 3 percentage points behind Detroit/Jule and nipping at their heels. That's Michael to the right.

So spread the word to everyone you know. Vote now, vote often, and let’s support our Guys. Mark commented that the best address to reach the voting booth is http://www.sportsradio910.com/pages/walkonweek.html. So use it now and let’s return our home team champions to the top of the heap.

--Bruce Miller

Sports Jocks Prove Loesser is More

Posted by Bruce Miller
On Sunday, July 13, two of our Guys set aside their Dolls for the moment to host their own hour-long sports talk show on WRNL Sports Radio 910 as part of the station’s annual Walk on Week. Who says actors aren’t manly and multi-talented? The Guys, of course, were those sports aficionados extraordinaire, Scott Wichmann and Mark Persinger, who play Nathan Detroit and Big Jule respectively.

If you’ve ever spent more than a minute around these two nuts, you know they can talk sports with the best of ‘em. Now you can be their athletic supporters by going to http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnNwb3J0c3JhZGlvOTEwLmNvbS9wYWdlcy93YWxrb253ZWVrLmh0bWw= to listen to all of the fine sports announcer wannabes and vote for the jocks you think come closest to hitting the jackpot. After you listen, I bet you’ll be as impressed by Scotty and Mark as I was.

What you can hear on line is the first 15 minutes or so of their banter. Scotty and Mark are so comfortable you'd swear they do this professionally. They're on a tear about Brett Favre, retiring (or not?) quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. I'm admittedly not a sports guy, but even I thought it was interesting.

The way the vote is running currently, Scotty and Mark are a full 5% points ahead of their closest competition. But let’s not leave anything to chance. Listen to all the entrants (we want to be fair after all), and then vote for your favorite.

If Scott and Mark win—and they certainly should come close—they will be given the opportunity to host again in August, which would be their second chance to live a dream-come-true.

Good goin’, Guys! You’re makin’ us all proud.

--Bruce Miller

"The O C" Knocks 'Em Dead at Tavern

The first review is in (Sunday, July 1, Richmond T-D) and The Odd Couple is a smash hit!

“Hilarious!” raves Susie Haubenstock in this morning’s newspaper. “Neil Simon’s beloved 1965 play still has the ring of truth. Barksdale Theatre’s second Hanover Tavern season validates their premise: classic comedies and mysteries are reliable crowd-pleasers. No playwright is more trustworthy than Neil Simon. And no Neil Simon play is more foolproof than The Odd Couple.”

If this iconic masterpiece of good humor is in fact foolproof, that’s a good thing, because we surely have a passel of fools working their hindquarters off on this production. Divine fools, to be sure. Fools who, like Neil Simon, have the ability to see what is true in life, and then make merciless fun out of it.

If you can’t laugh at life’s ups and downs, what can you do? The Odd Couple, as everyone in the English-speaking world must know by now, is about two men who are recently divorced, who decide to move in together and immediately begin to drive each other crazy. Both men are lemons, but leave it to Neil Simon to make lemonade.

“Scott Wichmann is great as always,” praises Haubenstock, “with the combination of physical comedy and neurotic dialogue, and his ear-clearing snorts are unlike any other sounds made by man.”

“Bridgewater plays Oscar as a sort of combination Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton from ‘The Honeymooners.’ His quiet moments on the phone with his ex-wife are as believable as his air-freshener attack on Felix.”

Rounding out our lunatic cast are four exceptional poker buddies – Jeff Clevenger, Steve Moore, Mark Persinger and Derek Phipps – and two delightfully ditzy British coquettes – Jennifer Frank and Jen Meharg.
“The four poker buddies are totally convincing,” continues Haubenstock in her hit-making assessment, “especially Jeff Clevenger, who speaks with the music of Brooklyn. The Pigeon sisters are wacky and hysterical. Gwendolyn (Jennifer Frank) is especially alarming in her scary bouffant wig, and it’s fun to see Jen Meharg, Wichmann’s wife, play Cecily opposite him.”

With additional kudos going to Joe Pabst for his expert direction, Terrie Powers and David Powers for their well designed set, and Heather Hogg for her magnificent ‘60s costumes, the T-D review is glowing to say the least.

But Haubenstock reserves her biggest praise for Neil Simon himself, and justifiably so. “It’s no accident that this play has spawned a hit movie, a TV series and numerous adaptations over the years—it’s a modern classic. Pabst’s program note suggests that Simon will eventually join George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart in the American comedy pantheon, and surely he’s right about that.”

“The American comedy pantheon.” You can’t beat a review like that.

Congratulations to all involved. And if you don’t have your tickets yet for this summer-long fun fest, please call our box office today.

Bridgewater and Wichmann to Star as Felix and Oscar

The most hilarious mismatched roommates in the history of Broadway comedy are coming back to Hanover Tavern in this brand new production of one of America's favorite comedies. Directed by Joe Pabst (last seen at Barksdale in Brooklyn Boy), The Odd Couple will open June 29 and run through August 12, with extension probable.

And who will be filling Felix's shiny wingtips and Oscar's grubby sneakers? None other than Barksdale and Theatre IV All-Stars (and audience favorites) Dave Bridgewater (last seen at the Tavern in Over the River and Through the Woods) and Scott Wichmann (last seen as the Cowardly Lion in Theatre IV's The Wizard of Oz).

Other cast members include the two delectible Pigeon sisters (Jennifer Frank and Jen Meharg) and the four poker-playing buddies (Jeff Clevinger, Steve Moore, Mark Persinger and Derek Phipps). All indications are that The Odd Couple is going to sell out fast, so please call the box office to make your reservations TODAY!

Last produced by Barksdale in 1973, Neil Simon's irrestibly funny play tells the story of two friends (one divorced and the other recently separated) who decide to share an apartment … with sidesplitting results. Don't miss the sheer pleasure of rediscovering all over again the reasons we all first fell for this rousing American classic.