Three Hits (No Strike!) and We're In

Posted by Bruce Miller
Last Thurs, Nov 29, the strike ended and all of Broadway returned to work. The following evening, Fri, Nov 30, Theatre IV opened A Christmas Story at the historic Empire Theatre, the third mainstage opening in 15 days for the Barksdale/Theatre IV team. Today, Sun, Dec 2, the first Christmas Story review came out in the T-D, and, just as with the first two openings of our holiday trifecta, it looks like another winner coming out of the gates!

To paraphrase a song from Swingtime Canteen, “Praise the Lord and pass the approbation!”

Under the headline: “Caution: This Play Could Lead You to Fits of Laughter,” Susan Haubenstock writes, “Theatre IV’s holiday show A Christmas Story may be too funny for children. Well, too funny for them to fully appreciate. The adults who bring them to the Empire Theatre will be laughing out loud.”

Technical glitches aside (see my Opening Night coverage), Susie basically loved the whole thing: “Off Center and Always Hilarious!” “Clever Theatrical Devices!” “Incredibly Funny!” She loved our director and designers: “Director Chase Kniffen hits every laugh.” “The house set designed by Mercedes Schaum looks like it’s laughing.” “Matthew Landwehr’s lighting contributes mightily to the scene transitions.”

She especially loved our cast: “Eric Pastore has the charisma to keep our focus throughout the play’s 2 ½ hours.” “Michael Thibodeau and Eric Evans play his buddies with thorough 1938 credibility. Chandler Hurd is delightful as a coonskin-cap-wearing bully; and Lillie Izo and Lyla Rossi are wonderful as the neighborhood girls.”

“Above all, tiny R. Cooper Timberline is hilarious as Randy, whether whining, hiding, waiting for Santa, or needing to wee-wee.”

“Tony Foley plays the narrator (the adult Ralph) with heart, and Gordon Bass is perfect as the cursing, growling Old Man. Julie Fulcher’s long suffering Mother is great, and costume designer Sarah Grady even provides her with the requisite pink chenille bathrobe. And Jacqueline Jones puts in another of her high-octane performances as Ralphie’s teacher.”

If you and your kids would like a good laugh this Christmas, and who wouldn’t, please call for your Christmas Story tickets ASAP. If you’d like to revisit comic hijinks associated with the screen-writing of Gone with the Wind, please call for tickets to Moonlight and Magnolias at Barksdale Willow Lawn. And if you’d like to tap your feet and sing along to the boogie woogie hits of the 40s in a colorful recreation of a USO Christmas show, head on out to Hanover Tavern for Swingtime Canteen.

Better yet, go see all three! And remember, theatre tickets and gift certificates make GREAT Christmas and Hanukkah presents!!

See you at the theatre.

--Bruce Miller

Photo credits: All photos by Jay Paul. At flagpole (left to right) - Lyla Rossi, Lillie Izo, Eric Pastore, Michael Thibodeau, Eric Evans. In chairs - Eric Pastore, Eric Evans. Bundled up - Michael Thibodeau, Eric Pastore, R. Cooper Timberline, Eric Evans.

"A Christmas Story" Opens Tomorrow

Posted by Billy Christopher Maupin

Tomorrow night at Barksdale Theatre's "sister theatre," Theatre IV, A Christmas Story opens. Not the movie, of course, but a stage adaptation of the movie. And it took a heckuva lot of people to get it to the stage. The author billing credit is required by the publisher to read:

A Christmas Story
Adapted by Philip Grecian. Based on the motion picture A Christmas Story,
© 1983 Turner Entertainment Co., Distributed by Warner Bros.,
Written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark;
Also based on the book In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd.

Now that's a mouthful. But all those writing credits make me think of all the people who are involved in getting the show onstage after the script is written. There's a talented team of people on this one.

A Christmas Story is directed by Chase Kniffen, with scenic design by Mercedes Schaum, lighting design by Matthew Landwehr, costume design by Sarah Grady, stage management by Ariel C. Osborne, and a whole slew of electricians, sound technicians, scene painters, costumers, and more.

And it's A Christmas Story onstage! I can hardly wait to see it! Especially because of the great cast: Tony Foley, Julie Fulcher, Gordon Bass, Eric Pastore, Jacqueline Jones/AnnaMarie Rossi, R. Cooper Timberline, Eric Evans, Michael Thibodeau, Lillie Izo, Lyla Rossi, and Chandler Hurd.

It's the holiday classic, live and on-stage! To order tickets, call the box office at 344-8040 or visit the Theatre IV website at http://www.theatreivrichmond.org/. I hope to see you at the show!

(Photos by Jay Paul. From top to bottom: Eric Pastore; Julie Fulcher and Gordon Bass; Michael Thibodeau, Eric Pastore, R. Cooper Timberline, and Eric Evans; Tony Foley)

--Billy Christopher Maupin

SPARC's "Little Shop" Ignites Firehouse

With Little Shop of Horrors, SPARC is trying something different—a small, Off Broadway style musical performed by actors identical in age and experience to those actors used by many of Richmond’s other producing theatres. Watching this fun production of Little Shop is like watching Austin’s Bridge, Bat Boy or any of the other terrific Off Broadway musicals that the Firehouse has produced. It’s like watching Little Shop at the Mill, or Olympus on My Mind at Barksdale.

Let me amend that, slightly. The only difference I can see is that those other shows used a live band, or at least a live acoustic piano, and SPARC hasn't chosen to go that route. But Blanton Bradley is a great music director, and his “accompaniment track” adds real energy to this production. The accompaniment sounds very much like the original cast album.

SPARC’s current production of Little Shop is very different from Cats, Pippin, Grease or Disney’s High School Musical. I’m not sure why I wasn’t expecting that difference, but I wasn’t.

So welcome, Jenny and Larry, to the relatively small circle of Richmond theatrical producers. A lot is being written and said about Henley Street being the new theatre on the block. But with Little Shop, SPARC is clearly staking its claim to being a new, adult-audience producer, which is somewhat different from being the educational theatre producer that SPARC has been in the past.

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

If you haven’t seen Little Shop, by all means race down to the Firehouse to catch this production. The cast is great, and SPARC’s powerhouse team of Width, Bradley and Turner are at the top of their form.

And Jason Marks! Good grief, Jason. You get better and better with every show. Jason is simply one of the best Mr. Mushnik’s I’ve ever seen, and I’m old enough to have seen the original Off Broadway production—twice.

And then there’s Audrey. Lovely Audrey. Hayley Roberts is dynamite in this hilarious and heart-breaking role. She has a wonderful singing voice and great acting chops. You never know whether to laugh or cry. I loved her.

David Watson as Seymour and Elliott Lau as Orin (he of the rusting drill) are two young men to watch. Hayley, David and Elliott are all students at VCU, but they’re apparently not theatre majors. Who would know? All three have vocal and acting talent to spare, and I hope they continue to swim in the Richmond talent pool for years to come.

Word has it that Hayley's even married to a dentist in real life.

The three doo wop girls have big voices—I particularly liked the two with Meadowbrook H S connections. And T. J. Ellis as the Voice of Audrey II is ready for his recording contract. He has a wonderful and expressive voice—look out American Idol. Eric Stallings as the Audrey II manipulator also does a great job.

Mercedes Schaum makes the most of Firehouse’s tiny stage; Kym Mincks creates a real environment with her evocative costumes; Joe Doran continues to be a master of lights—and about the nicest guy you’ll ever meet.

So, for a little summertime fun, why not dive in to the Firehouse for Little Shop from SPARC.

Congratulations one and all. I hope you have the most successful run ever.

--Bruce Miller

"Little Shop" Promises Big Fun

Disney's High School Musical is not the only show in town this summer to feature young talent.

* SPARC will be opening their high school / college / young adult production of Little Shop of Horrors this week, the day before we open.

* The Godwin High School theatre program, under the direction of Mac Damron, will be opening their Scotland-bound production of Chicago next week.

* Dogwood Dell's production of Bye Bye Birdie is in the pipeline, featuring at least one alumnus of last summer's production of Grease.

More on the second two later. As for this week, be sure to reserve your seats for Little Shop of Horrors soon. SPARC’s summer musical opens this Thursday at the Firehouse.

Little Shop is coming together under the expert leadership of SPARC’s returning creative masterminds: Tom Width – Director, Blanton Bradley – Music Director, Pam Turner – Choreographer, Joe Doran – Light Design and Stage Management, Kym Mincks – Costume Design, and Mercedes Schaum – Set Design. It should be a great production!

The cast includes Hayley Roberts as Audrey; David Watson as Seymore; Richmond favorite Jason Marks as Mr. Mushnik, Elliot Lau as sadistic dentist Orin; Erika Thomas, Justine Ryan and Gianna Barone as Chrystal, Chiffon and Ronnette; Eric Stallings as the puppet operator for Audrey II; and T. J. Ellis as the voice of Audrey II.

The show runs July 19 through 29, and the ten performances are all expected to sell-out quickly. You can buy your tickets by calling SPARC at 788-6457.

Everyone from Disney’s High School Musical sends a big “Break a Leg” to SPARC and the entire Little Shop crew!

--Bruce Miller

"Into the Woods" Earns Rave from T-D

The first critic has spoken, and declared Into the Woods to be a “MAGICAL” summer hit! Susan Haubenstock’s assessment appeared in Monday morning’s Times-Dispatch (April 18), and the review’s headline and sub-headline said it all: “Barksdale gets Ambitious, Scores” and “Work on Sondheim Classic is Dazzling in All of its Facets.”

Stephen Sondheim is almost universally recognized as the greatest Broadway composer and lyricist of the final third of the 20th Century. Described by Frank Rich in the The New York Times as "the greatest and perhaps best-known artist in the American musical theater," he is one of the few people to win an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards (seven, more that any other composer), multiple Grammy Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize. His most famous scores include (as composer/lyricist) A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, A Little Night Music (my favorite musical), Follies, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, and Into the Woods, as well as the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy (probably my second and third favorite musicals).

The stellar cast we have assembled for Into the Woods is second to none. “The performers are a true ensemble,” writes Haubenstock, “with Steve Perigard’s low-key baker and Rachel Abrams as his spunky wife perhaps at the center. Robyn O’Neill is vibrant as the witch, and Rita Markova makes a lovely Cinderella. Russell Rowland and Zak Resnick are both hilarious as lascivious wolves and roving-eyed princes; Ford Flannagan’s narrator reminds one of Joel Grey with his lightness and grace. Drew Seigla plays Jack (of beanstalk fame) as naive but lovable, and Jacqueline Jones is his brash, exasperated mother.”

“But the scene-stealer here is Audra Honaker as Little Red Riding Hood, who earns a laugh with every line and applause with every exit. The character is written funny, to be sure, but Honaker’s deadpan performance ratchets every gag up from chuckle to guffaw.” Haubenstock goes on to praise our brilliant director and choreographer (Robin Arthur), our music director (Jimmy Hicks) and our designers (set – Mercedes Schaum, costumes – Terry Snyder, and lights – Lynne Hartman). To those well deserved kudos, I’d like to add a special thanks to our indefatigable production crew, led by my greatly respected and invaluable colleagues: Bruce Rennie, Tech Director; Richard Koch, Production Manager; and Ginnie Willard, Production Stage Manager.

As Haubenstock suggests, Into the Woods is a hugely ambitious production for a theatre of our size. Phil and I feel privileged to be producing such a rewarding show, and to have the opportunity to work with such talented theatre artists.

For the full review of Into the Woods, go to: Richmond Times-Dispatch review

FOLLOWUP-Read another rave from Richmond.com, go to: Richmond.com review

To puchase tickets, call our Box Office today at 282-2620. I know you’ll enjoy this glorious production.

Special thanks to the Title Sponsor of Into the Woods, Village Bank, who helped make this production possible.

--Bruce Miller