3 Cheers for Stage 1

Posted by Bruce Miller
Our good friend and colleague Chase Kniffen announced today in the Times-Dispatch the founding of Richmond’s newest theatrical endeavor—Stage 1 Theatre Company. Chase’s new nonprofit venture will be mounting local productions of the latest and most adventurous musicals—the type of shows that make it onto a Central Virginia stage too infrequently. Stage 1 will also fulfill Chase’s long-standing dream to be an artistic director of his own company.

Stage 1 will begin this fall with an advantage that most new theatres don’t have—its own home facility. The new company will be located at 9130 Dickey Drive in Hanover County, in facilities that it will share with the current tenant, Shuffles Dance Center, directed by Peggy Thibodeau. Chase and the Thibodeaus (Thibodeaux?) are building a 99-seat intimate theatre that will perfectly suit the small, sometimes edgy musicals that comprise the centerpiece of the company’s mission.

Brand new musicals are not unknown in Richmond. Firehouse, of course, has an admirable history bringing new tuners to town (Bat Boy, Austin’s Bridge, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the current Reefer Madness), and over the years the Mill has produced acclaimed productions of Urinetown, Floyd Collins and Songs for a New World when all of those shows were hot-off-the-presses and generating lots of theatrical buzz. The Mill also produced the World Premiere of Two Bits by Tom Width and Paul Deiss.

Richmond Triangle Players has a strong track record of producing regional premieres of Off or Off Off Broadway musicals, too numerous to mention here. Both Triangle and the Mill will be bringing Altar Boys to Richmond next season in two separate (and probably very different) productions.

One of Theatre IV’s biggest hits, Quilters, was new and unknown when it first opened in Richmond in ‘86, and Blackbirds of Broadway and Four Part Harmony were well received World Premieres at Theatre IV’s historic Empire Theatre. Barksdale created and produced Richmond’s most successful World Premiere musical, Red Hot and Cole, with book by Randy Strawderman, James Bianchi and Muriel McAuley. In 2009, Barksdale will stage the World Premiere of Mona’s Arrangements, a new musical by Bo Wilson and Steve Liebman.

Violet, Oil City Symphony, Falsettos, Das Barbecu, and Weird Romance were all new and hip when they regionally premiered at Barksdale in the 1990s.

But many new shows never make it here, and now, with Stage 1 devoting itself solely to new musicals, that’s about to change. Chase’s first season includes “tick, tick … BOOM!” by Jonathan Larson of Rent fame (Nov 7-22), Children’s Letters to God (a family offering from Feb 6-21), Normal (a show Chase has been dying to direct, Apr 3-18), and Summer of ’42 (Jun 19-Jul 11).

We wish Chase and his new company all the best, and can’t wait to buy our season tickets. For more info, call 427-7548 or visit http://www.stage1va.org/.

--Bruce Miller

"Charcoal Street" is Good for the Soul

Posted by Bruce Miller
I made it out to African American Repertory Theatre’s world premiere production of Charcoal Street last night, the stirring new drama by AART artistic director Derome Scott Smith. I’m glad I did. And I’m off this morning to a 7:30 a.m. seminar with the Better Business Bureau, so I’ll write only briefly.

Charcoal Street is part contemporary parable, part dramatized sermon, part morality play—all centering on the crisis of homelessness in our society. The story focuses on two homeless brothers, teenagers who are abandoned by a drug addicted mother but manage to stay outside the system, preferring to fend for themselves on the street.

Through a talent for the visual arts, and remarkable character and concern for each other, they survive. With help from a caring art teacher and support from a committed pastor who runs a street ministry / homeless shelter, the two teenage brothers ultimately turn their lives around.

The play provides ample opportunity for Derome to quote from two of his strongest influences, the poetry of Langston Hughes and the lessons of the Bible. Several rising actors have moments to shine—most notably when the brothers are torn apart at the end of Act I and reunited at the end of Act II.

And a palpable demonstration of how the arts can unite us all brings down the curtain at the end of the play in a coup de theatre reminiscent of the final scene in Quilters.

I fought back the tears more than once.

Charcoal Street runs tonight (Thursday) and tomorrow night at Pine Camp. It's a good opportunity to experience firsthand the heart and soul of African American Repertory Theatre. I recommend it for your consideration.

--Bruce Miller

Shining as Alexandra in Arlington

The Whiteways and the Millers made it up to Signature Theatre yesterday, and had a grand time seeing Emily Skinner’s terrific performance in The Witches of Eastwick. We were dazzled by (and envious of) Signature’s beautiful new home, which opened in Arlington in January.

Within a great cast, Emily stood out as Alexandra Spofford, the earth mother among the three “witches.” Her acclaimed singing, her accomplished dancing—I’d forgotten how good a dancer Emily is, and especially her engaging acting abilities provided a warm heart and open arms at the center of what is, for the most part, a musical burlesque.
In the original 1980s Witches novel, John Updike kept the three women at its center, and had satiric fun imagining what witchcraft would look and feel like in the 20th Century. It's been a long time since I read the book, but if memory serves, the attractive man (Darryl Van Horne) who moves to Eastwick in the book seduces readers with his charms just as he seduces the three women, and it's not until we're well into the story that we knew for sure that he's not just a devilish rake, but the Devil himself.

In the musical, as in the Jack Nicholson movie from the 1990s, it’s Darryl Van Horne who takes center stage. Particularly in this production, we’re completely aware of his satanic identity from his first entrance, with all that such an identity implies. And as directed by Eric Schaeffer and performed by the very talented Marc Kudisch, Van Horne is one hell of a Devil. A full evening of snakelike tongue flicking, Elvis-like pelvic thrusting, genital grabbing and profane proclamations ensues.

There is fun to be had, to be sure, with a large number of crowd-pleasing songs and dances. The Devil is one funny dude. Eric Schaeffer is a great director—I still fondly remember his Passion, one of the highlights of the Kennedy Center’s Sondheim Celebration. In my opinion, it was a much better Passion than the original version that James Lapine directed on Broadway. And Marc Kudisch is a dazzling and magnetic actor. Maybe it was because I saw Kudisch play the Snake in The Apple Tree on Broadway only a few months ago, but I tired of all the satanic shtick before show’s end. And I kept wishing for the three women to be returned to the center of the story.

A show about the three women would be much more interesting to me than a show about how devilishly cute Satan can be. I had read a couple of reviews comparing Witches to The Music Man. To me, the much more apt comparison would be Damn Yankees.

Three cheers and countless more to Signature for their continued commitment to producing new work. What an amazing asset they are to Virginia and the nation. When we spoke with Emily after the show, she said that there was considerable interest from New York regarding a 2008-09 Broadway production. We wish all involved the greatest success.

Most of all, it was GREAT to see Emily. Having watched her grow up in Theatre IV’s productions of To Gillian on her 37th Birthday, Quilters, Biloxi Blues and several more, we’re incredibly proud of her and all that she has achieved. Watching her greet her many fans after the show, people she’d never met before, and seeing how exceptionally gracious she was with everyone, we realized why she’s one of the ones who’s made it so far. She’s not only a world-class talent; she’s a genuinely good person.

--Bruce Miller

Photos: Emily's headshot, Signature's new exterior, Signature's lobby, and the "sculpture" Emily's character creates in Act II of The Witches of Eastwick. The "sculpture" is on display in the lobby as the audience leaves the theatre.