The Case for Confidence

Posted by Bruce Miller
(This is a re-posting of a previously published blog entry.)

"At Barksdale and Theatre IV we remain cautious but confident." That's what I said at the end of the previous blog posting, and that's how Phil and I respond to queries from national arts leaders who bring up the bad news from Wisconsin. With the demise of great colleague theatres such as TheatreVirginia, Madison Rep, Mill Mountain Playhouse in Roanoke, and Charlotte Rep, we expect to entertain questions about our financial health.

The good news is this. For years, our Boards of Trustees have been working intelligently and strategically to ensure that Barksdale and Theatre IV will not follow in the footsteps of these now defunct nonprofit companies. We have engaged in prudent and responsible business planning.

What follows are the five cornerstones that support our confidence, particularly as it relates to the recent closing of Madison Repertory Theatre.

1. The Greater Richmond metro area population as of 2008 is 1,225,626--more than twice the 555,626 people who comprise the metro area population of Madison, WI. This means our population should be two times more able to sustain both the for-profit "Broadway" series co-produced by CenterStage and a nonprofit major professional theatre like Barksdale.

2. According to IRS forms 990 for the year 2008 (the most recent year available):

Barksdale and Theatre IV had combined annual revenue of $5,049,376; Madison Rep had annual revenue of $2,023,579.

74% of Barksdale and Theatre IV's annual revenue was earned through ticket sales and tour fees, and only 26% came in through contributions. Only 53% of Madison Rep's annual revenue was earned through ticket sales, and 47% was dependent upon contributions.

Barksdale and Theatre IV ended fiscal 2008 with a positive fund balance of $1,761,395; Madison Rep ended fiscal 2008 with a negative fund balance of -$424,688.

3. Theatre IV fully owns and is able to borrow against the multi-million dollar historic Empire Theatre.

4. Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV have developed highly diverse revenue streams, earning significant funds from ticket sales at three major venues and extensive touring throughout Virginia and 32 surrounding states.

5. During all the years when Barksdale and Theatre IV were asked to assist with various efforts to develop Richmond CenterStage, the Richmond leaders of CenterStage pledged not to compete with Theatre IV with regard to our core business--story-based plays and musicals for children and their families. CenterStage pledged not to book in our competitors' productions of major titles in which Theatre IV has invested millions of dollars, the productions we regularly revive from our repertoire. These major titles include Annie, A Christmas Carol, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Disney's High School Musical, Peter Pan, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, Seussical, The Sound of Music, and The Wizard of Oz.

Conversely, Barksdale and Theatre IV have acknowledged CenterStage's need to mount an annual "Broadway" series for adult audiences, and to book in non-competitive, television-based children's programs such as Sesame Street Live, Dora the Explorer, etc.

If CenterStage honors its promises, we believe that Barksdale Theatre, Theatre IV and CenterStage's "Broadway" series will all thrive in our mid-sized market. Surely that is the goal. If CenterStage's leaders are true to their word, we will have a win-win for the entire community.
As I said, we remain confident, but we are not throwing caution to the wind. We continue to do all we can to ensure the success of CenterStage, while working hard also to build up the financial health of Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV, Richmond's major professional theatre.

--Bruce Miller

Hail and Farewell to John DeBoer

Posted by Bruce Miller
Hail and farewell to our good (and new) friend, John DeBoer. (That's John pictured to the far right with Matt Hackman in Little Dog.) John left Richmond yesterday morning to make his merry way to Missoula. Montana’s gain – Virginia’s loss.

Six months ago, I hadn’t a clue who John Kenneth DeBoer was. Then, when the leading contender for the starring role of Mitchell in The Little Dog Laughed removed himself from consideration, several friends suggested I go see “the new guy” in Visiting Mr. Green. I went, I was impressed, and I called John to ask if he’d be interested in reading for the show.

And, oh yeah, if he got the part, there was this little matter of a gay nude scene. Not knowing John from Adam—and vice versa—it made for an interesting first conversation.

Since then, John and I have become fast friends. He not only starred in Little Dog, he played Damon Runyon in Guys and Dolls, and provided dialect direction for Peter Pan, Guys and Dolls and Shirley Valentine. That’s five contracts in five months. Talk about starting out with a bang.

And now, with lots of hugs and “I love you’s” following his final performance in Guys (and his last hurrah at Club Dacus), J. K. is excitedly off to face his future as a new professor at the University of Montana-Missoula. We couldn’t be happier for him. His new boss, as fate would have it, is noted Virginia theatre expatriate, Jere Lee Hodgin. Jere, a talented theatre artist and all round great guy, was artistic director of Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke for something like the last two decades of the 20th Century. Now he heads the theatre department at UM-M.

John promises to stay in touch with us, and we with him. We will miss his talent, his beaming smile, and his good humor.

Chris Stewart will be stepping into John's shoes for the final week of Guys and Dolls, but no one will take John’s place in our hearts. It was great getting to work with you, Johnny. Thanks for your fearlessness, good will, and all the laughs. We’re looking forward to hearing great things about you in the future.

--Bruce Miller

'It's Never Boring' & Director's Notes for The Little Dog Laughed

It's been a busy few weeks here at Barksdale and Theatre IV. We just opened Greater Tuna at Hanover Tavern (great review in the TD!), closed Doubt: A Parable at Willow Lawn and had a successful Virginia Arts and Letters Live event at the Empire Theatre.

On the Theatre IV side, Peter Pan and the Fairy Tale Ball preparations are in full swing. You can see more about both on the TIV blog. Amidst the chaos at the Empire Theatre today, our new touring show, The Air We Share, commissioned by GRTC and written by Scott Wichmann, finished its last rehearsal before heading off to schools tomorrow morning. And of course the move-out of our storage/shop space at Tom Perry's.

That's the Cliff Notes version of the last few weeks. Now our marketing/PR/box office focus shifts more towards The Little Dog Laughed. And now, we realize this show may be more controversial than we previously expected. I personally have been very excited about this show and consider it a great addition to the season, but it does contain some language and content that may not be for everyone. Since everyone may not have a chance to read Bruce Miller's director's notes that we will publish in the program, we thought it would be nice to post them here and perhaps answer some questions.

-Sara Marsden

"Why The Little Dog Laughed"
by Bruce Miller

In November of 2006, Virginia passed the Marshall-Newman Amendment, also referred to as the Virginia Marriage Amendment, by a 57% majority. In so doing, voters amended the Virginia Constitution to define marriage as “solely between one man and one woman,” and to ban recognition of any status "approximat[ing] the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage.”

This was the first time in Virginia history that our constitution was amended to deny the rights of certain individuals. Virginia is now the only state in the nation to ban marriage-like contracts between unmarried partners. In The Washington Post, Jonathan Rauch wrote, “Virginia appears to abridge gay individuals’ right to enter into private contracts with each other. On its face, the law could interfere with wills, medical directives, powers of attorney, child custody and property arrangements, even perhaps joint bank accounts.”

In March of 1924, Virginia’s legislature passed the Racial Integrity Act. It required that a racial description of every person be recorded at birth, and made marriage between “white persons” and “non-white persons” a felony. Just like the Marshall-Newman Amendment, the Racial Integrity Act gave Virginia the dubious honor of having the nation’s strictest laws on who could and could not fall in love, be married, or recognized as legal partners within the state’s borders.

In 1958, Mildred Jeter (a woman of white, African-American and Native American heritage) and Richard Loving (a white man) fell in love in the racially mixed, low income farmland of Caroline County, Virginia. Because of Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act, they travelled to Washington, D. C. to get married. Shortly after their return to Virginia, police burst into their bedroom at 3 a.m., arrested man and wife, and carried them away to jail. The Lovings pleaded guilty to being married; they were sentenced to one year in prison. I welcome you to visit the Barksdale blog to read more about this couple. Type Loving Virginia theatre into Google, and it will take you right there.

In 1967, Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act was declared unconstitutional by the U. S. Supreme Court, ending misogenation laws nationwide. Today, virtually all those who objected vigorously to interracial marriage in the first half of the 20th Century (major political parties, churches, general public) have changed their minds.

It may take another generation, it may take longer, but I hope, pray and believe that during my children’s lifetimes, our state’s and our nation’s prejudice toward gay couples will go the way of yesteryear’s opposition to interracial marriage. I think the more we see gay characters loving each other on our TV screens, in our cineplexes, and on our stages, the quicker that day will come.

I’m reminded of President Kennedy when he made his historic, world-uniting speech in 1963. “Ich bin ein Berliner.” I am a Berliner. Set aside for a moment the urban myth that purports that “Berliner” in German vernacular means “jelly doughnut” rather than “citizen of Berlin.” John Kennedy’s clear intention was to take his stand beside, with and among West Germans shortly after the Communist state of East Germany erected the Berlin Wall as a barrier to restrict the freedom of its citizens.

I love The Little Dog Laughed because, as freedoms are being restricted here at home, it proudly seeks to establish solidarity with gay men and women who are feeling increasingly isolated and ostracized by the so-called Defense of Marriage agenda. The play suggests that love between two consenting adults is more vital, powerful and sacred than any credo or code. It shows that building barriers to limit love is hypocritical for societies, industries and individuals who pretend to salute freedom and embrace equality. It does so with a sense of humor. If we can laugh at this hypocracy, then perhaps we can also get beyond it.

-Bruce Miller

The Making of Peter Pan

Posted by Billy Christopher Maupin

Catherine Dudley has posted the first in a series of "The Making of..." on the Theatre IV Blog, showing how our sets, costumes, etc. are designed and built right here in Richmond. It's really fascinating! Be sure to check it out!

www.theatreiv.blogspot.com