Great Family Fun This Weekend

Posted by Bruce Miller
Lights Up - Youth Open House at CenterStage is a free event for you and the children in your life. It takes place this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, and everyone is invited! The mini-festival will occur, of course, at CenterStage, marking the public opening of the Genworth BrightLights Education Center.

Theatre IV and Barksdale are proud to be resident companies of CenterStage, and we're excited about helping to produce and present the free performances and workshops that are part of the weekend's festivities. Other resident companies that are participating include African American Repertory Theatre, Elegba Folklore Society, Richmond Ballet, Richmond Shakespeare, Richmond Symphony, SPARC and Virginia Opera.

The Jazz Society is also a resident company. They will not be joining in this weekend because all events are designed to involve children and teens, and the Jazz Society has no performers in and presents no workshops for this age group.

Theatre IV and Barksdale have invited two of our partnering companies to share our allotted time slots: The Latin Ballet of Virginia and the Richmond Boys Choir. African American Repertory Theatre has done the same with one of their partners, City Dance. The Richmond Symphony also will be working in one activity with a community partner, the Richmond Philharmonic.

I served on a steering committee of three that has been working hard for several months to pull the Open House together, with lots of leadership and help from CenterStage staff and volunteers. Area arts educators have also been key leaders in this effort.

To give credit where credit is due, the bulk of the work was done by the other two members of the steering committee--Aimee Halbruner, Director of Education and Community Engagement with the Richmond Symphony, and Brett Bonda, Director of Minds in Motion with the Richmond Ballet. These two outstanding artists are cornerstones of our community's arts leadership.

Events will begin on Saturday, Jan 23, with an afternoon of fun and informative arts workshops, master classes, lecture-demos and live performances for children and teens. Attendees must register for the activities of their choice. Registration begins at 10:30 a.m. in the Carpenter Theatre lobby. Everything is free, but on-site registration is required, on a first-come first-served basis.

The interactive fun will begin at noon and continue throughout the facility until 5 pm. Theatre IV and Barksdale will be offering the following:

I Have a Dream: The Life and Times of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - A live performance of one of Theatre IV's acclaimed touring productions, co-produced with the Virginia Historical Society. In the Gottwald Playhouse, Saturday, 1:30 pm. Most appreciated by audiences age 9 and up.

Let's Make a Hat! - A hands-on workshop conducted by our brilliant costume shop. Participants will use everyday materials to construct fun and festive hats. In room 3137, Saturday noon. Most appreciated by children of all ages.

Puppets on Parade - Using Theatre IV's extensive puppet collection, kids will learn about hand puppets, marionettes, rod puppets and body puppets. In room 3140, Saturday noon. Most appreciated by children of all ages.

Careful Combat - Produced in association with Richmond Shakespeare and co-led by Slade Billew, our fight coach extraordinaire, this workshop will teach kids how professional actors can appear to fight on stage, with nobody getting hurt. In room 3140, Saturday 3 p.m. Most appreciated by kids age 11 to 14.

Master Class: Musical Theatre Dance - Our brilliant director and choreographer, Leslie Owens Harrington (Crowns, Annie Get Your Gun, Peter Pan, Anything Goes, many others) will offer a 75-minute intensive class for experienced dancers ages 16 to 18, covering tap, jazz and myriad other musical theatre styles. Pre-registration required by this Friday. Interested participants should contact Christina Billew at (804) 783-1688 x 1132 or c.billew@theatreivrichmond.org. Non-participants can observe the class as well. On the stage of the Carpenter Theatre, Saturday 3:30 p.m.

In addition to the open house activities, a concert program featuring many of Richmond's most talented young performers (ages 6 to 21) will be presented in the Carpenter Theatre on Saturday night at 7 and Sunday afternoon at 3. Both performances are free. To obtain tickets or more information, visit the CenterStage website at http://www.richmondcenterstage.com/. Free tickets will be awarded on a first-come first-served basis.

The wonderful Sabrina Squire will be our host for both performances. Bo Wilson leant his impressive talents to the short script that will hold each performance together.

Young artists from Theatre IV will present the opening number from Seussical the Musical, accompanied by the Richmond Youth Symphony.

Theatre IV and Barksdale are proud to participate in the leadership of exciting arts education events like this one. Hope to see you at CenterStage this Saturday and Sunday!

--Bruce Miller

Curtain Up, Lights Out, Fun's ON!

Written by Tracy Coogle
Last Friday night was anything but quiet. Sixty-five Girl Scouts, 20 or so chaperones and scout leaders, plus about 15 volunteers and theatre teachers all packed into the historic Empire Theatre for Theatre IV’s first ever professional children’s theatre camp-in.

Barksdale has worked in strategic partnership with Theatre IV, the Children's Theatre of Virginia, since 2001. As a general rule, Barksdale works with teens, adults and seniors; Theatre IV works with children, families and schools. And now scout troops too.

This theatre camp-in was designed as a fun way to introduce young girls and boys to the wonderful world of theatre. The program meets Girl Scout and Boy Scout badge requirements, and (shhhhh….don’t tell the kids it was educational) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (the performance presented at the camp-in) also address several SOLs.

Friday night was all girls and all scouts. The evening began with all the kids checking in and getting their sleeping assignments. Many brought bag dinners and giggled and chatted excitedly, waiting to enter the theatre.

At 6:45, all 100 of us were seated in the beautiful, 98-year-old Empire for our own private performance of the creepy October classic, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This is the same show Theatre IV takes on tour around the country. Did you know Theatre IV tours to 32 states?!

Following the performance, the cast answered a barrage of questions from the excited girls, ranging from the theatrical—“How do you change costumes so quickly?”—to the personal—“What’s your favorite food?” I think the cast enjoyed it as much as the Brownies and Girl Scouts..

Following the Q&A, the kids were sent out to the first of five workshop stations: Stage Combat, Lights and Sound, Acting, Mask Making, and Stage Makeup. The teachers at each station were theatre professionals—actors, teachers, technicians and designers. Since Theatre IV is the Children’s Theatre of Virginia, we have a LOT of outstanding resources at our disposal.

After the first three busy, fun-filled stations, the girls all went to their assigned sleeping spaces, rolled out their sleeping bags on the floors, and went to bed. Bedtime was 11, lights-out 11:30. So that I could “keep an eye and ear” on the lobby (I’m a light sleeper when I’m working with kids), I decided the Box Office would be the best place for me to sleep…WRONG!!! City buses come by every five minutes!

We repeat the program tonight, and I’ve already staked out a cozy, out-of-the-way spot in the balcony. Bring on the ghosts and spiders; I don’t care as long as they’re quiet.

This morning (Saturday), my fellow volunteer Stephanie and I set up breakfast tables at 6:00 am. Christina and Slade Billew picked up the coffee (hallelujah), milk, juice and bagels (yum) from Panera, a generous sponsor of our sleep over program.

The girls ate between 7 and 7:45, packed their bedrolls, and then went on to the two final stations.

Two girls were nearly in tears and threatened to quit their soccer teams when they had to leave the theatre early to attend soccer games. One leader said it was “the best overnight camp-in we’ve ever attended!” I responded, “Great…since this is our first, we welcome any constructive comments that we can apply to future camp-ins.” The scout leader stared in disbelief. “No,” she said, “you must be wrong. This can’t be your first. It’s so well run and organized!”

I assured her that this sleep over was indeed our first, and it began as just a fleeting suggestion on a train ride home from New York last March. (Thanks, Bruce & Phil, for humoring my crazy idea!!)

But trying to be objective, I have to say I agree with her. As an observer and “extra pair of hands” volunteer, it was the best-run camp-in I had ever seen. I lead two Girl Scout troops, and co-lead a third—so I have 7+ years of kid camp-in experience!

All the well-deserved kudos go to Christina Billew, our head teacher and organizer. Her children’s education background, acting experience, and the fact that she grew up with Theatre IV made her the perfect staff choice to run this event. None of us realized HOW perfect. I was very impressed with her level of detail, organizing every little aspect of the evening.

We have our second camp-in tonight, and this time, MY troops and three daughters get to attend. I’m really excited to be returning. I love my job!

--Tracy Coogle, CPA and Controller of Theatre IV and Barksdale Theatre, recipient of 40 Under 40 recognition from STYLE Weekly, 2009

The Queen of the Night

Posted by Bruce Miller

Last night was a very rewarding Opening Night for Souvenir at Hanover Tavern. Many, many thanks to:

Debra and Jonathan for their terrific performances,
John and R. L. for their knowing stage direction, light design and musical direction,
Sue for her world-class costumes,
David for his masterful tech direction,
Slade for his invaluable electrics work,
Joe for his expert stage management,
Chase and Dee for their backstage magic, and
all the amazing theatre artists and administrators who are making this charming production possible.

This true story of Florence Foster Jenkins and Cosme McMoon is inspiring as it challenges our assumptions regarding what is art, which artistic performances have value, and who gets to decide.

As much as we in the audience find ourselves doubled over with laughter at Madame Flo (as Cosme calls her) and her vocal stylings that surely must be sending countless Pamunkey pups running for the hills, we simultaneously find ourselves falling in love with her confidence and generous spirit.

If none of this makes sense, then come see Souvenir, a delightful evening that takes you back to NYC during the glory days of American musical performance. When Cosme begins the show talking about Cole Porter, Elsa Maxwell and the Aga Khan, it took me back to the glory days of the original production of Randy Strawderman’s Red Hot and Cole in the mid-70s, when those same names were recalled on stage during the opening of that most famous of Barksdale world premieres.

If you would like to learn more about the real Ms Jenkins or Mr McMoon, you can sample their recordings at:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B000003F97/ref=pd_krex_dp_001_001?ie=UTF8&track=001&disc=001

and/or you can read the transcript of a radio interview conducted with Mr McMoon in the early 90s in Berlin:

http://listproc.ucdavis.edu/archives/mlist/log0402/0004.html.

The photos used in this blog post are of the real Florence Foster Jenkins. To see Debra Wagoner’s gracious, hilarious homage to Ms Jenkins, buy your tickets to Souvenir today. Like Boleros for the Disenchanted, it’s not to be missed.

--Bruce Miller

"Fully Committed" Indeed

Posted by Bruce Miller
We had a GREAT Opening last night for Fully Committed, the hip and hysterically funny comedy that will be playing through August 30 at the historic Hanover Tavern, directed by the very talented Steve Perigard and starring the one and only Scott Wichmann (pictured in the Eric Dobbs photos above).

In attendance for the auspicious Opening, laughing their socks off, were Barksdale / Theatre IV All-Stars including Tom and Carlene Bass, the production’s wonderful light designer Slade Billew and his wife and the production’s soon-to-be stage manager Christina Billew, Traci Coogle with Empire Theatre portraitist Pat Cully, Judi and Bill Crenshaw, Catherine Dudley, Tony Foley, Phyllis and Paul Galanti, and the production’s masterful costume designer Sue Griffin accompanied by Wayne Shields.

Also serving in the guffaw brigade were invaluable ushers Bev and Danny Hobson, Audra Honaker, Jeannie and Christina Kilgore (our house manager and ticket taker extraordinaire), Tom and Carmella McGranahan, Marie McGranahan and Gayle Turner, the production’s sound op Andrew Montak, Steve Perigard (of course) and Robert Throckmorton.

The production’s terrific scenic designer Terrie Powers (accompanied by yours truly and our two kids: Curt Miller, now working as Theatre IV’s groundsman and Hannah Miller, now working in our group sales dept) further filled out the ranks, joining the irreplaceable Essie Simms, Jill Bari Steinberg (or is it Jill Bari Organ these days?), and Wendy Vandergrift (the production’s stage manager) accompanied by her husband Michael.

Thanks to one and all for coming.

I always scoff at theatregoers who leave a show saying things like, “How did he ever learn all those lines.” For those of us who’ve done this a few times, 99 times out of a hundred learning the lines is the easy part.

Not so with Fully Committed.

The play takes place in the subterranean bowels of one of the snobbiest four-star eateries in Manhattan. Scotty plays Sam Peliczowski, the looking-for-work actor who mans the reservation hot line. Usually Sam shares his basement “office” with the reservations manager and a second phone operator. Today, both co-workers fail to appear, and Sam is on his own.

The hit script by Becky Mode, who by the way is an old college classmate of Robert Throckmorton’s, requires the show’s sole actor to portray 42 different characters—everything from a very soft spoken and polite Japanese woman to a boisterous lounge singer who’s been banned from the restaurant forever. So Scotty is changing characters every few seconds.

But the dazzling part—the unbelievable part, to my mind—is that in many, many instances each of the individual lines that Scotty has memorized has virtually nothing to do with the lines that precede it or the lines that follow. The phone to the outside world is constantly ringing, as is the direct line to the chef’s office AND the intercoms connecting the reservations dept to the maitre d’hotel, the business manager, and the kitchen. Scotty shifts from one disconnected conversation to another with such precision, I’m honestly in awe of the brainpower that must be involved. Because of the lacks of connection, I can’t even imagine how difficult these lines were to learn.

But with Scotty’s capable cognition, it all comes off without a hitch, managing to be both hilarious and heartfelt at the same time. If you love theatre, this performance is simply not to be missed.

The non-theatre question on everyone’s lips is this. Is Scott really joining the military? Answer: Yes, the Navy Reserves. Follow-up question: Is he really leaving Richmond theatre for an extended period of time? Answer: If he gets his way, yes.

Knowing that our nation is at war, and simultaneously knowing that he is no way compelled to join the fight, Scotty nonetheless feels duty-bound to answer the call. He refuses to let the war be another person’s burden. He has enlisted in the Navy Reserves. He has asked the Navy to deploy him to the front, most likely Afghanistan, as soon as his four months of basic training are over. He expects this request to be honored, and he is very excited about having the opportunity to serve.

That’s one hell of a guy. Again, I’m in awe.

But for the next six weekends, Scotty and his comic genius are all ours.

Hope to see you at the theatre!

--Bruce Miller

John's Joy - "The Perfect Richmond Holiday Play!"

Posted by Bruce Miller

John Porter's rave review of Sanders Family Christmas was finally aired on WCVE-FM, and it was worth the wait. It seems to be the radio station's policy to air one review a week, so when shows open one on top of another, you have to wait your turn.

Rather than excerpt, I'll quote the entire review, since it is not available elsewhere in print. Many of you may have missed the radio broadcast.

Thanks, John, for your kind words. Here's the review!

. . . . . . . . .

"Sometimes writing these theatre reviews is easy, and sometimes it is much more difficult. This is one of those easy times, because it is my privilege to talk about Sanders Family Christmas, which is now playing at Barksdale Hanover Tavern. It is very close to being the perfect Richmond holiday play.

It’s a musical, with great seasonal tunes. It looks back at an earlier time—the United States entry into WWII—with nostalgia and reverence. The cast and crew are greatly talented and they know how to put on an entertaining show.

If you’re looking for deep truths revealed through a dark, twisted, psychological drama, you’re probably going to be disappointed. But if you’re looking for a fast show featuring good music, a little story telling, and a warm and fuzzy glow afterwards, then by all means, you’ve come to the right place.

The stellar cast includes Drew Perkins, a strong actor and great musician, as Burl Sanders, the leader of the gospel singing family, who has arrived in the snow to sing songs and witness during the holiday season. Julie Fulcher plays Vera, his equally talented wife and partner in the family business.

Eric Williams is Stanley, the brother, who despite his shady past has moved on to enjoy fame singing on the radio and in the movies. The twins, Denise and Dennis, are played with gusto by Emily Cole and David Janeski, and they manage to wring out their own separate identities despite being lumped together all the time. This may be Dennis’s last appearance with the family, as he is shipping off to boot camp right after the holidays.

The oldest child, June, is warmly played by Aly Wepplo, who despite her character’s self-professed inability to play or sing still joins in with great support and occasional sign language, if anyone needs it. Her wide-eyed innocence is heartwarming, and Ms Wepplo shows a great deal of promise in this role.

Lastly, the Rev Oglethorpe, who has arranged this evening, is delightfully played by Billy Christopher Maupin. His portrayal is of an earnest young man who will do anything to keep his church open, and who is very sincere in his affection for one special member of the Sanders Family. Don’t worry; it becomes very obvious very quickly.

Director Bruce Miller has once again made his job easier by putting together a winning cast and a very capable design team. The old country church that has been created by set designer Terrie Powers and David Powers is comfortable, cozy, and gives you the feeling of a landmark held together more by love and prayer than by brick and mortar.

Lights are by Slade Billow, and costumes are by Sue Griffin, who once again does a terrific job with her creation.

Sanders Family Christmas is solid family entertainment from beginning to end, and features some of Richmond’s best talent performing in an intimate space in the country.

For this critic’s money, you just can’t go wrong with that combination.

For WCVE Public Radio, I’m John Porter."

--Bruce Miller

Susie's Sizzle - "A Warm Holiday Treat"

Posted by Bruce Miller
I know I'm not supposed to care about reviews. But the truth is, I rush to read Ms. Haubenstock's opinion the minute I wake up on a Sunday morning following a Friday opening night.

I form my own opinion about whether a show has opened well or not before the first set of bowing actors return to an upright position. And that opinion seldom changes based on the opinions of the critics. I respect what the critics have to say, but sometimes I agree and sometimes I don't.

I'm a producer as well as a director. And any producer who tells you s/he doesn't care about reviews is pulling your leg. Historically, a good review in the Times-Dispatch is worth about $20,000 at the Barksdale box office. And for this I'm not supposed to care?!

Anyway, I was thrilled to read Susan Haubenstock's review this morning of Sanders Family Christmas. It's a review that will sell tickets. And it will make all the artists involved, including myself, happy because she says nice things about everybody. I read the review, and immediately felt a 20,000 lb. weight lift from my shoulders.

In order to meet budget, Theatre IV and Barksdale combined need to sell about $70 K worth of tickets and tour shows and raise about $30 K in contributions every week of the year. Our $5.2 million annual budget covers the cost of a staff of 40 or so who are paid every two weeks, over a hundred theatre artists who are paid for performances, the mortgage and/or rent payments on four major facilities, and significant other expenses. Meeting budget is not an easy task in today's economy. Susie's nice review will help in all quarters.

Here are the quotes I'll be hanging in the Tavern lobby:

“Lovely!
Runs away with the audience’s hearts
Expertly Handled ~ Just Right
Old hymns and beautiful harmonies warm the soul
The humor is gentle; the laughs are big;
the smiles don’t quit
A Warm Holiday Treat!”

--Susan Haubenstock, Richmond Times-Dispatch

Best of all, in my opinion, every word of the praise is deserved. This great cast and design team manage the impossible--they deliver a very corny and sentimental script with the utmost sincerity, winning laughs and tears while maintaining complete respect and affection for their oversized characters. And on top of all that they play a whole orchestra of bluegrass instruments and sing fit to beat the band.

Aly, Billy Christopher, David J., Drew, Emily, Eric, Julie, Brad, Catherine, Christina, David P., Jeannie, Slade, Sue and Terrie are the BEST. I loved the show on opening night, and I believe it will be a huge hit.

If you have the chance to see it, and if you have an open heart, I think you'll have a grand time.

I hope to see you at the theatre!

--Bruce Miller