In Memoriam - Andy McCutcheon

Posted by Bruce Miller
A dear friend of Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV died on February 12, 2012, after a relatively short battle with cancer. He was 84 years young, and sharp as a tack. Although he's been very involved for at least 20 years, many of you may not know him. Not only did he not seek the limelight, when special recognition was offered to him, he frequently, respectfully declined.

His name was Andy McCutcheon, and he was an unusually active and committed Board spouse. His wife Charlotte served on the Theatre IV Board for a couple decades, and Andy was always there, by her side, at every Opening Night, every fundraiser, every Coffee & Conversations program, every trip to NYC or London ... you get the drift.

Andy and Charlotte have been subscribers and contributors for as long as I can remember. But as much as we valued that support, that's not what we loved. We loved the friendship, the genuine caring, the gazillion laughs we shared, the cards and prayers that were immediately forthcoming when one of us or one of them hit the proverbial rough patch.

Andy was a college football player, a WWII Navy veteran, and an award-winning sportswriter for the Richmond News Leader. His heartfelt, impassioned liberalism gave him an abiding interest in politics. He left his career in journalism to serve as executive assistant to two Congressmen. Catching the attention of the Kennedy family, he was hand-picked to be the special assistant to Sargent Shriver at the U. S. Office of Economic Opportunity, overseeing a vital jobs program. Then he was drafted to run for Congress himself, trying to unseat Republican incumbent William L. Scott. Believing that if you're going to do something you'd better do it all the way, Andy and Charlotte depleted their family savings to fight the good fight against their better funded opponent. Sadly, but not unexpectedly, Andy lost the election.

In the Times-Dispatch, Randy Hallman quoted Charlotte: "We knew it was coming, but it was a great experience. Andy said it was as good as getting a Ph.D."

After his brush with politics, Andy was hired by Reynolds Metals Co. as a marketing and recycling officer. He also headed their government relations department, rising to the rank of Vice President. When family scion J. Sargeant Reynolds Sr. ran successfully for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, Andy took a year off from his corporate career to serve as Campaign Manager. The Reynolds family so embraced Andy's commitment, values and work that, after his retirement, he was one of the very few non-family members asked to serve on the Board of one of the Reynolds' family foundations. He also was on call as speech-writer whenever one or another of the Reynolds' clan was asked to deliver a public presentation about their family's business and political heritage.

Truth be told, we always thought Andy was all ours. His commitment and attention were so focused, he made you feel that way. It was nice to be reminded in his obituary that he had also served as President of the Metro Richmond YMCA, on the Boards of the Library of Virginia and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College Foundation, on the Screening Committee of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, as an active alum of Washington and Lee, and as a Trustee at St. Matthew's Episcopal.

We will miss Andy more that I can express in this blog. For those of you who didn't know him, he was an exceptional man--smart, kind, well spoken, a big forceful man's man with a true compassion for those less fortunate. He also loved theatre, and we loved him back.

Our hearts go out to our dear Charlotte. We will dedicate our upcoming production of Scorched Earth to Andy's memory--a perfect fit. And we will try our best to honor the legacy that he left for us and for everyone else in our diverse community.

--Bruce Miller

Why "Becky's New Car" Made It onto our Tavern Season

Posted by Bruce Miller
With millions of plays out there, each one yearning for production, how and why do I pick the plays that wind up on one of our Barksdale and Theatre IV seasons? That is our #2 FAQ. #1 is, "Why did you guys name it Theatre IV?"

Beginning with Why "Lend Me a Tenor" Made It onto our Signature Season (9/08/2011), I'm starting a new blog series to address that #2 question. Each post in the series will be tagged with the label "Why," so if you ever want to go back and read previous posts in the same series, you'll be able to do so by clicking on the "Why" label that will follow each article.

Barksdale's mission is to produce in Central Virginia national caliber productions of the GREAT comedies, dramas and musicals--past, present and future. In other words, we seek to produce plays that have significance and import, plays that leave a lasting impact on the field.

If the assessed "greatness" is in the arena of literature or art, we tend to present the play in our Signature Season at Willow Lawn and the historic Empire. If the assessed "greatness" is in the arena of entertainment or popularity, we tend to schedule the play at Hanover Tavern.

Re-reading, them sounds like fightin' words--and I'm in no way seeking a dispute. Yes, I think Becky's seeks and achieves "greatness" as literature and art. I also know for a fact that it clearly has achieved already "greatness" as popular entertainment. It is one of the most frequently produced new American plays created between 2000 and 2009. Securing 24 regional productions in three short years is a feat of which most playwrights could only dream.

Only time will tell whether Becky's New Car will earn its place as one of the artistically great American comedies of the aught decade of the 21st Century. I think it might.

There is another rationale that led to our selection of Becky's New Car.

Our goal at Barksdale Theatre is to establish in Central Virginia a major, nonprofit, professional theatre of national standing. Three years ago, during strategic planning sessions, our Board of Trustees asked various stakeholders what new initiatives were needed to grow the national reputation of our company. Our audience, our artists, our funders and our colleague organizations suggested that there were four things Barksdale should do to participate more fully in the American professional theatre community, thereby enhancing Richmond's profile among the nation's great theatre cities.

1. We should create on a regular basis world premieres of new comedies, dramas and musicals that originate here and then earn productions at other professional theatres around the country.

2. We should further support new work by being an early producer of new plays created at other regional theatres, relying less on plays that have already been successful on and off Broadway.

3. We should recruit theatre artists of national standing to come to Richmond to work side-by-side with our outstanding local professionals.

4. We should mount national caliber productions here and then seek to transfer the best of those productions to New York or other major national markets.

Following in the footsteps of our productions of Boleros for the Disenchanted by Jose Rivera (2009-2010) and Legacy of Light by Karen Zacarias (2010-2011), Becky's New Car by Steven Dietz (2011-12) is our third effort to fulfill the second objective noted above. In the coming months, we will address the first objective with our world premieres of Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas and Scorched Earth.

This is an exciting time for Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV. We're taking seriously our goal of increasing the national impact and prominence of our theatre. We're choosing not to rest comfortably on the status quo. If we (and that "we" involves a LOT of people) are able to create a theatre of national prominence here in Central Virginia, I believe it will benefit greatly every theatre, theatre artist, and theatre lover in town.

I hope you'll buy tickets to both of our current comedies: Lend Me a Tenor at Willow Lawn and Becky's New Car at Hanover Tavern. They are fun and exciting shows. We need and are working hard to earn your support.

--Bruce Miller

Coffee & Conversations - Fun, Free, Starts Friday

Posted by Bruce Miller
Today I'm excited to announce our 2011-12 Season of Rostov's Coffee & Conversations. If you've never been to one of these free, fun and informative events, you don't know what you're missing. We hope you'll mark your calendars now and plan to join us. It's a great way to start your day and connect with your theatre.

To kick off the series, we're having a Special Event this Friday, Sept. 30, 9:30 a.m. in the Barksdale Willow Lawn lobby. Melissa Johnston Price, star of Becky's New Car, will join in a panel with Charlie and Benita Staadecker, the amazing couple who originally commissioned this vibrant new play by Steven Dietz. They are visiting us this weekend from Seattle. I will moderate the discussion, and our director, Billy Christopher Maupin, will be on hand to offer additional insight. It's free. No reservations required. Please join us.

Now--back to the rest of our Coffee & Conversations season. Each program will focus on a fresh and lively panel discussion, providing a fun behind-the-scenes look into the shows and operations of Barksdale/Theatre IV--Central Virginia's nonprofit, resident professional theatre.

Following our Special Event this Friday, the Rostov's Coffee & Conversations series will take place on the second Tuesday of each month, October through July (excluding June). There will be no programs in August and September.

Rostov's coffee, tea and pastries will be provided free-of-charge at each event, with the continental buffet opening at 9:15 a.m. Moderated panel discussions will begin promptly at 9:30 a.m. and last one hour, with lots of opportunity for audience Q & A.

Events are normally held in the lobby of Barksdale Willow Lawn. If attendance approaches 70 or more, the program may be moved into our comfortable 204-seat theatre. Average attendance has been around 35, but we're hoping to grow the program this year. Please note that the July event will be held on the set of Spring Awakening at the historic Empire Theatre, located at 114 W Broad Street, downtown.

All Rostov's Coffee & Conversations programs are free and open to everyone. A $3 free-will donation is gratefully accepted from those who have the means. Donations are welcomed in the glass urn that sits on the pastry buffet table.

No reservations are required.

The 2011-12 Season is as follows. Panelists and moderators will be announced on this blog and elsewhere on our website about two weeks prior to each program.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Behind the Scenes of Lend Me a Tenor
Moderator - Jill Bari Steinberg
Panelists - Cast members Nick Ciavarella, Frank Creasy, Susan Sanford

Tuesday, November 14, 2011
Working Out - Our Theatre Gym Partnership with Cadence Theatre Company

Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Behind the Scenes of My Fair Lady

Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Build It and They Will Come - Barksdale's Set Construction Team

Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Behind the Scenes of God of Carnage

Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Public Funding for the Arts - Where Do Greater Richmond and Virginia Stand?

Tuesday, April 10, 2012
All in the Planning - The Future of Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV

Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Behind the Scenes of our World Premiere Production of Scorched Earth

Tuesday, July 10, 2012 ***This program will be held in the historic Empire Theatre
Behind the Scenes of Spring Awakening

For more information, or more timely information, please visit www.BarksdaleRichmond.org. We hope you'll join us for each of these fun and informative programs.

--Bruce Miller

Being There for the Birth of a New Play

Posted by Bruce Miller
I first met my buddy David Robbins about a quarter century ago. A theatre major from William & Mary, David had followed his undergrad work with four years at the W & M Law School, followed by a year's work as an environmental attorney in SC.

Sometime around 1982, David gave up his law practice and returned to Richmond to be a freelance writer. If memory serves, he worked mainly for the ad agencies at first. That's when we met. Whatever he was writing, he seemed to be successful at it from the beginning. He's always been one of those smart guys who works hard--compliments I don't award easily. He's always seemed destined for great things.

He spent some time acting. He played a major role in Theatre IV's production of Isn't It Romantic? by Wendy Wasserstein, and he was Dracula at Dogwood Dell. Last night Joe Inscoe said he remembered David as a "sailor on roller skates," and he seemed to be referring to something theatrical rather than a wanton evening on Canal Street.

When Theatre IV purchased the Empire in 1986, David wrote (for free) the copy for the fundraising video we used to help pull together the $2.3 million we needed to purchase and execute Phase I of renovation. The video starred Dee Slominski, Meredith Strange-Boston and Jody Smith Strickler as the three twisted sisters from Macbeth. It was a hoot. More importantly, it worked; we raised the needed funds.

Sometime in the 90s, David began working fulltime as a novelist. His first book, Souls to Keep, is a voodoo mystery of sorts set in the Florida Keys (if memory serves) and has to do with switched personalities. Or maybe I'm getting mixed up. It was published in 1998 with little acclaim, but I bought (and still own) something like four copies cause I like to support my writer buds.

His second book, War of the Rats, was a HUGE success. Overnight it seemed, little ole David Robbins (actually big ole David Robbins--he stands something like 6' 4" tall) became David L. Robbins, the best selling author. War of the Rats focuses on the Russian / German snipers fighting in and around Stalingrad in WWII. It served as the inspiration for Jean-Jacques Annaud's hit film Enemy at the Gates starring Jude Law.

Rats was followed in quick succession by The End of War, Scorched Earth, Last Citadel, Liberation Road, The Assassin's Gallery, The Betrayal Game, and Broken Jewel. He's now hard at work on his next novel, The Devil's Waters. In preparation for that assignment, he's been travelling around the world on cargo ships and conferring with genetic scientists. You can read all about his writerly adventures on his website: davidlrobbins.com.

I haven't read all his books--there's a short stack of them in my yet-to-get-to pile--but of the several I've read, Scorched Earth has always been my favorite. It concerns racial tensions in today's rural Virginia. It's a courtroom drama, full of flesh and blood characters, suspense and stirring action.

I was thrilled when David and his attorney, Barksdale Board member Bennett Fidlow, recently asked if I'd be interested in reading a stage version of Scorched Earth that David has just completed.

Last night, a small team of familiar Richmond stage faces--Ronnie Brown, Joe Inscoe, David Janeski, Thomas Nowlin, Jeanie Rule, Janine Serresseque, Jill Bari Steinberg, Ali Thibodeau, Scott Wichmann, Aly Wepplo, Eric Williams, and Irene Ziegler--performed a table read of the new script for David, Bennett, Phil Whiteway, Chase Kniffen and me. It went really well; we all were excited.

Barksdale is always eager to explore new work, and we are strongly considering producing David's new play, Scorched Earth, sometime in the near future.

Many thanks to David and all the actors who gave of their time and talents last night. I think I speak for everyone when I say it was a privilege for each of us to be together in that room.

I'll tell you more about Scorched Earth as things develop. Till then, hope to see you at the theatre!

--Bruce Miller