Steven's New Play Lights Up Hanover Tavern

Posted by Bruce Miller
Becky's New Car is the 39th play from 53-year-old American playwright Steven Dietz. When I posted this in the middle of last night, I said that I "thought" this was the first of his works to be produced professionally in Central Virginia. Never trust the memory of a 61-year old, particularly in the wee hours. I've now learned from two commenters (thank you both) that Triangle Players produced Lonely Planet by Dietz, Firehouse produced Private Eyes, and Henrico Theatre Company produced More Fun Than Bowling--all several years ago. Also, as I originally wrote, when VCU produced Dracula a few seasons back, they may well have performed Dietz's popular adaptation.

What I should have said is ... this is Barksdale's first Dietz, and all we can add is "it's about time." In 2010, Dietz was once again named one of the most produced playwrights in the nation. Excluding Shakespeare, Dietz tied with Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee as the eighth most produced playwright in America.

Dietz is married to TYA (theatre for young audiences) playwright Allison Gregory, and the couple split their time between Texas, where Dietz teaches playwriting and directing at the University of Texas at Austin, and Seattle (the setting for Becky's New Car).

Dietz has never had significant success in New York; he has never been produced on Broadway. But his most popular plays (More Fun Than Bowling [1986], God's Country [1988], Lonely Planet [1993], Private Eyes [1996], Dracula [1996], Rocket Man [1998], Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure [2006], and now Becky's New Car [2008]) have become staples in regional, university, and community theatres.

If I were a bettin' man (I've never even bought a lottery ticket), I'd wager that Becky's New Car will shortly become Dietz's most popular play ever, if it hasn't already.

Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, Dietz began his career as a director of new plays at The Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis. While simultaneously serving as artistic director of his own small company, Quicksilver Stage, he began writing his own work. In the late '80s, A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle (now known as ACT Theatre) commissioned Dietz to write God's Country. Dietz moved to Seattle while working on that production, and lived there permanently from 1991 to 2006.

His work has been recognized with the PEN U.S.A. Award in Drama for Lonely Planet, the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award (Fiction and Still Life with Iris), and the 2007 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Mystery for Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure. Two of his plays (Last of the Boys and Becky's New Car) received Best of the Year recognition from the American Theatre Critics Association.

Dietz is a frequent contributor to American Theatre Magazine. Currently he is working on 360 (round dance) - an adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's 1900 play, La Ronde.

Being tied with Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee for the eighth most produced playwright in America in 2010 is an amazing feat. If you want to see what all the fuss is about, I hope you'll join us for Becky's New Car, starring Melissa Johnston Price, David Bridgewater and Gordon Bass, directed by Billy Christopher Maupin, now playing at Barksdale Theatre at Hanover Tavern.

--Bruce Miller

Maupin Masterminds Mischief in Modern Merrymaker

Posted by Bruce Miller (liberally quoting B C Maupin)
With Becky's New Car, we're glad to welcome Billy Christopher Maupin back into the driver's seat at Hanover Tavern. B C has to be among the most turbocharged theatre artists working in Virginia today. As his German friends opine, he is mit turboaufladung. (Sorry. Sometimes these amazing things pop up in a word search and I can't help myself.)

Billy Christopher starred at the Tavern as the Reverend Mervin Oglethorpe in all three musicals in the Smoke on the Mountain trilogy. Back in 2010, he directed our heartwarming Hanover hit, Butterflies are Free.

More recently, B C earned great acclaim for his staging of Dog Sees God and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown at the Firehouse.

Billy Christopher was honored last spring by STYLE Weekly as one of Richmond's "Top 40 Under 40." In the recent build-up to the Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Awards, he is a Best Actor nom for his work in Something Intangible, also at the Firehouse. When not involved in evening rehearsals, he spends his daytime hours as Marketing Manager here at Barksdale/Theatre IV.

Billy Christopher was the one who introduced me to Becky's New Car. His director's notes indicate that when he encountered this new comedy, the attraction was immediate.

"My first professional job in the theatre was in 2000 in a production of Bram Stoker's Dracula adapted by Steve Dietz. Thus began my love affair with Dietz' work. A master of dramatic tension, zany plots, tender moments, and incredibly natural dialogue, Dietz is a rare treasure of the American theatre.

When his newest play, Becky's New Car, was published last year, it jumped to the top of my list of plays to read. And when I did, I fell in love before it was even over. I remember finishing the first act and immediately calling Melissa (Johnston Price) and saying, 'I think you might need to look at this play that I just started reading.' As soon as I finished it, I called her back: 'Melissa, you need to read this play.'

I feel so fortunate to be able to be a part of creating theatre in a community that is so rich in artists. It is such a thrill to be able to explore this wonderfully funny and beautiful play with such an incredibly talented cast, crew and design team.

I hope you enjoy the ride.

Billy Christopher Maupin"

If you're a fan of Billy Christopher's work, I hope you'll join him and his stellar cast as they put the pedal to the metal beginning September 23. You'll be glad you did.

--Bruce Miller

The Real Transylvania Mania

Posted by Bruce Miller

Very quickly (it's past my bedtime), I attended TheatreVCU's production of Dracula this evening, written by Steven Dietz, directed by Barry Bell, and produced by David Leong. It was an exciting, impressive and creepy ride.

I especially appreciated the five leading men: Brandon Crowder as Dracula, Joe Carlson as Renfield, Joseph Sultani as Seward, Landon Nagel as Van Helsing, and Andrew Donnelly as Harker. All five inhabited their characters with distinct personalities and histrionic expertise, creating some heart-pounding suspense.

Of the five, Landon Nagel is the Barksdale vet, having played the minister and other roles in The Full Monty a couple summers ago.

Ron Keller's set, Toni-Leslie James's costumes, Mike Mauren's lights, and especially Thomas Vecchione's sound were all chill inducing. Ron Keller is another Barksdale and Theatre IV vet, having designed The Laramie Project and supervised the designs of countless other shows at Willow Lawn, including our upcoming productions of Doubt and The Little Dog Laughed.

The two leading ladies, Jaci Camden and Marie Weigle, spent most of the show as young lovelies, but became more interesting after becoming "unclean." Barry Bell staged it all with style, classical titillation, and a fun sense of the unexpected.

More than half the seats were empty this evening, which is a terrible shame. Students can attend for only $7 (adults are something like $18). This evening was further proof that even when exciting theatre is presented super-cheap in their own backyard, it's really difficult to convince the majority of university students to come to the theatre.

The last two performances will be tomorrow evening (Friday) at 7:30, and, if you want to be really creepy, Saturday evening at MMIIDDNNIIGGHHTT - AHH HHAA HHAA!! (That's me using my deep Transylvania voice with lots of reverb.)

Anyway, for an eerie good time, you won't go wrong with this new edition of Dracula. The VCU theatre department is full of talent. And you can't beat the price.

--Bruce Miller