First Fridays at the Empire

First Fridays June 1 at Theatre IV's Empire Theatre! The groundbreaking for CenterStage Richmond, the exciting new performing arts complex, started off the evening. The facilities will be ready to welcome the public in 2009. CenterStage Richmond will incorporate:

* the renovated 1760 seat Carpenter Theatre (formerly the Carpenter Center, home to the Richmond Ballet, the Richmond Symphony, the Virginia Opera and an occasional touring show),

* the new 176-seat Libby Gottwald Community Playhouse (home to African American Repertory Theatre and Richmond Shakespeare),

* the wide open Rhythm Hall (with full catering facilities, casual seating and intimate acoustics, a major rehearsal space for the Richmond Symphony), and

* the Genworth BrightLights Education Center (giving local students the chance to see, participate in and learn through the performing arts).

Our own Tony Foley (star of Barefoot in the Park and Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap at Hanover Tavern) served as Master of Ceremonies for the groundbreaking. And our own Alia Bisharat, (Dorothy in Theatre IV’s The Wizard of Oz) sang "Over the Rainbow" while the groundbreaking began. The crowd then set off for the First Fridays Artwalk, most on foot following a brass band and others by trolley.

Rosanna Bencoach and Catherine Dudley, two true theatre enthusiasts, share their perspectives on the Empire’s most recent First Friday.

Rosie –

The afternoon had kicked off with the ceremonial groundbreaking
for Richmond CenterStage, which will incorporate a renovated Carpenter Center and other, new performance spaces.

Alia Bisharat, wearing the blue gingham dress and ruby slippers from her role as Dorothy in Theatre IV’s The Wizard of Oz, capped the ceremony with a lovely performance of “Over the Rainbow.”

Oversized versions of Dorothy’s ruby slippers were still perched atop the Empire marquee, immediately drawing the visitor’s attention. The display window by the main doors featured posters from Barksdale Theatre's upcoming production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods and brand-new color publicity photos from the show.

Inside, all the photos on the walls and cast board had been replaced with photos from outstanding Theatre IV and Barksdale Theatre productions from recent seasons. The newly framed color photos down the hallway brightened the space, and led to numerous “I remember that!” comments. Labels below the photos helped those who didn’t immediately recall the show or year, or hadn’t caught that production.

Visitors streamed into the auditorium for a better look at the 1911 theater, and helpful staff answered questions about the building (Virginia’s oldest extant theater) and productions. Large set pieces from The Wizard of Oz (including Dorothy’s house and parts of the Emerald City) were arranged on the stage, and the yellow brick road was still in place. (They looked much different without stage lighting.) Staff explained that they don’t have room to store set pieces for reuse, so they create them individually for each show. They’re presently busy building Into the Woods sets for Barksdale Theatre at Willow Lawn.

At one end of the lobby, a video about 10 minutes long looped continuously on a wall-size screen, showing highlights from recent Theatre IV musicals. My compliments to whoever selected and edited the clips they did a great job, capturing some the spirit -- and sheer joy -- of those shows.

But the highlight of the evening was the opportunity to see a collection of costumes from various Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV productions, up close. The display included costumes from Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Seussical The Musical, The Magic Flute, Intimate Apparel and others, gowns to hats, elegant to comical, with photos of the actors wearing the outfits in the shows. The detail in the costumes was amazing, and showed beautiful workmanship. Great care had obviously been taken in selecting the costumes and properly arranging the display. I hope that such displays will become at least a semi-regular feature of First Fridays at the Empire. (I hear that they have a treasure trove of shoes in the Empire’s attic!)

-- Rosanna B.

Blog editor’s note: Rosie is one of Barksdale Theatre/Theatre IV’s fantastic volunteer ushers. For information on volunteer opportunities, visit the Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV websites. Many thanks, Rosie, for the generous and passionate personality you share with everyone you meet!

And now, an additional note from Catherine Dudley, the staff member who coordinates Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV's First Friday participation.

Catherine -

I just wanted to let you guys all know… if you’re not coming downtown on the first Friday of every month- you’re missing out! Every event the streets are swarming with people and the energy is amazing. The restaurants are packed, the art galleries are filled to max capacity, the music is spilling out into the streets from numerous storefronts and we, here at the Empire Theatre, are proud to show off our beautiful and historic building. Some months our lobby presents live music from awesome bands around the Richmond area, and some months we have a video montage of several of our past productions playing on a large screen in the lobby. Every month there is a gallery display of some kind- photography, artwork, sculpture, costume display, etc…, but there is always a ton to be seen. The bar is ready to serve and the theatre space itself is ready to be admired. So come on down and join us every first Friday night and see what you’ve been missing! The theatre beckons…

Ruby Red Robbery

Posted by Russell Rowland

I enlisted the help of Gordon Bass to take us back to the turn of the century and the stolen slipper epidemic that swept the country in the subsequent years. Let's hope this sordid past is behind us forever. I warn you this is a first hand account and it may be disturbing to some readers.

"During the last run of The Wizard of Oz in 1999, we had very large slippers made of styrofoam, all decked out in red glitter and mounted and wired up on the top of the marquee. One morning, I arrived at the theatre to find that one of the shoes was missing! I could not believe that anyone would have the intestinal fortitude to pull off the theft of the symbol of one of the most popular movies of all times. I called the police and after some careful investagative work, they followed the glitter trail up the sidewalk and up to an apartment above the street. There, they found the pieces of the shoe and after talking to the college age occupants of the apartment, found the rest of the ruby slipper in the dumpster out back. We were able to piece it back together and back up it went. We could not have bought all the press that the theft got us! Something good out of something bad..."

Gordon Bass
Tour Manager
Theatre IV

ps. You can see the new ruby slippers in the previous blogs slideshow.
pps. For any further First Friday, Theatre IV, and sundry other Empire info check out our NEW THEATRE IV BLOG at www.TheatreIVRichmond.org/blog.html

For info on the hoodlums who took the REAL slippers from the movie check out theses sights
http://rainbowz.deltacomm.com/rubyslipperfanclub/stolen_slippers.html
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4857921

--Russell Rowland

First Friday Fun at the Empire

You really missed out on something great if you weren’t braving the slight chill on Broad Street this past Friday for Theatre IV’s first time participation in the First Friday Artwalk. The event is held on the first Friday of each month, rain or shine. This unique cultural event showcases Richmond's thriving arts community, focusing on the diverse arts and cultural venues located along the Historic Broad Street Corridor. The Empire got dressed in it’s best for the event which featured The Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra, which resides in Richmond, Virginia, where members grow gourds, make instruments and create music. They really drew in the crowds with their unique sound and dramatic look. I was behind the bar serving up drinks with another familiar face to local theatre-goers, Eddie Tavares.

In front of house giving tours of the inside of the theatre was Catherine Dudley (who also designs the sites slideshows), explaining its history and taking care of our featured artist Robert Meganck, who had his wares on display and for sale. You may recognize his name as the award-winning illustrator of the last 2 seasons of Barksdale Theatre show posters. The Empire has come under the spell of The Wizard of Oz and has sprung 2 huge ruby red slippers on top of the marquee. If you haven’t driven by recently it’s really a cool sight. Let’s hope they remain here this time (see the ps). We were servin’ up some libations behind the full bar which spotlighted the Ruby Red Slipper Sipper in honor of the night. Unfortunately we won’t be able to participate in May’s Artwalk, but we are excited to be using the space for our huge production of The Wizard of Oz. We will be back in June stronger than ever with all new artists and performances. More to come on that next month. We hope to see you there.

http://www.firstfridaysrichmond.com/
http://www.gourdorchestra.com/
http://www.meganck.com/

ps. If you’re interested in what happened to the slippers back in the day look back here for a future post explaining their mysterious disappearance.