Tommy Mc, When Are Ya Comin' Back?

Posted by Bruce Miller
Our resident great guy, Tom McGranahan, showed up at work today. You just can't keep him away from the place. "I just wanted to see if any checks came in, so that I could get them to Tracy," he said. Tom does all the invoicing and check accepting for our playbill advertising. After determining that no checks had arrived, he headed home again. But all in all, I gotta say that he seemed no worse for the wear.

When I asked him if he remembered anything about passing out in the lobby, he confessed that three days of memory were completely wiped out. But he says he's looking forward to getting zapped by the gamma knife next week.

And he said to THANK EVERYONE for their cards and good wishes.

Gotta love that guy!

--Bruce Miller

Good News for Tom + Latest Reports as They Come In

Posted by Bruce Miller
Latest news as of Thursday 2 pm, Oct 13 - Marie McGranahan, Tom's daughter, reports that Tom will be going home from the hospital in a day or two. In about two weeks, the doctors plan to perform non-invasive surgery on his brain tumor. Basically, they're going to zap it with a gamma knife, keeping that thick skull of his intact. The hope is that the tumor is still small enough that this treatment option should eliminate it completely. It will be out-patient surgery. Visitation is still "family only," please. Tom is tired, and talking is difficult, mainly due to a raspy, sore throat caused by his recent aspiration.

Latest news as of Wednesday 5:30 pm, Oct 12 - Jackie Jones reports that Tom's son-in-law Gayle Turner says that Tom has begun talking. I know he's glad to have that ability back again!

Latest news as of Wednesday afternoon, Oct 12 - Marie McG, Tom's daughter, reports that Tom was taken off the ventilator this afternoon. He is breathing on his own, feisty and smiling at the family! Visitation is still family only, please.

Latest news as of Wednesday noon, Oct 12 - Tom's family would like Tom's friends to know that his doctors have determined that his collapse was due to a previously undetected brain tumor. Tom lost a kidney earlier this year to cancer. He is still in intensive care at St. Mary's, under heavy sedation. He is still not talking, but Kevin is unsure whether this is due to the sedation or the continuing effects of the brain tumor. Tom's doctors are doing tests to learn more about the tumor, and will provide care options to Tom and his family when those tests are completed. To the best of our knowledge, visitation is still family only.

Thank you for keeping Tom and his family in your prayers. We will continue to add updates to this post as they are provided by Tom's family.

Latest news as of Tuesday afternoon, Oct 11 - Tom has been stabilized at St. Mary's. His son Kevin reports that Tom was sitting up in bed (with some difficulty), mostly alert, attempting some give and take with the nurses (that's our Tom!), still not talking. Doctors have yet to determine exactly what is transpiring. I have no word regarding visitation.

Now here's the original post from Tuesday morning.

A million things are going on at Barksdale and Theatre IV this week, but none is more important than taking a moment to offer up a prayer for Tom McGranahan and his family.

Tom collapsed yesterday afternoon in the lobby at Barksdale Theatre at Willow Lawn around 3:50 pm. He had just finished setting up the chairs and tables for Coffee & Conversations. After a call to 911, the emergency medical technicians were there in about five minutes and Tom was taken to St. Mary's Hospital, where he is being cared for now. I don't know his status regarding visitors.

There is not a more generous, caring and kind man in the world than Tom, who celebrated his 80th birthday just a few months ago. When anything happens, he never thinks "what can I get out of this?" He always asks "what can I do to help?"

When I last heard from Tom's family, the doctors still were trying to determine what was happening.

If ever there were a good Irish Catholic who believed in the power of prayer, Tom is that man. I hope and trust that all of us will hold Tom and his family in our hearts during this difficult time.

Thanks.

--Bruce Miller

Two Treasures

Posted by Bruce Miller
Congratulations to Carol Piersol, co-founder and Artistic Director of Firehouse Theatre Project, who is recognized in and on the cover of the September issue of Belle Magazine as one of Richmond's seven outstanding women in the arts.

Her fellow honorees include Sarah Shields Driggs, Architectural Historian, Save Outdoor Sculpture; Ashley Kistler, Director, Anderson Gallery, VCU; Pamela Kiecker Royall, Benefactor and Collector; Andrea Orlosky, Executive Director, Art on Wheels; Greta Brinkman, Musician and Music Director, WRIR; and Maya Payne Smart, Author and Vice Chairwoman, James River Writers.

Carol co-founded the Firehouse in 1993 with Jeff Clevenger, Bill Gordon, Anna Senechal Johnson, and Harry Kollatz Jr., and has served as artistic director for the last 18 years. The best way to understand the incredible value of her leadership is to watch Parts 1 and 2 of the terrific Firehouse documentary created by Richmond filmmaker Alan Futterman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5wju_o0jl4 and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWSuD1qN0ag&feature=related.

In the documentary, eight of Virginia's finest actors (Jeff Clevenger, Justin Dray, Sara Heifetz, D. L. Hopkins, Bill Patton, Melissa Johnston Price, Amy Sproul and Scott Wichmann) speak eloquently and movingly about Firehouse's steadfast commitment to its artistic values.

Carol has embodied these values, steered and protected this commitment for nearly two decades. All the while, she and her colleagues have continued to improve the Firehouse's production quality, year after year, while also maintaining its historic facility, and growing its audience and operations. Her contributions to Richmond's theatre community inspire me more than I can say.

She's also been a good friend to Theatre IV and Barksdale for a long time. Congratulations, Carol, on this well deserved recognition.

On a second and equally jubilant note, our beloved facilities manager and indispensible jack-of-all-trades, Tom McGranahan, is back in the saddle with us after his recent surgery. I think he's supposed to still be in bed, but you can't keep a good man down.

I've known a few saints in my life: my father, Phil Whiteway's mother and father, my late Sunday School teacher Barbara Maynard, and Tom McGranahan. He's a bawdy saint, to be sure. But a saint nonetheless. I look at Tom McGranahan and I see the hand of God.

Welcome back, Tom. The old place wasn't the same without you.

--Posted by 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

Cinco July-O

Posted by Bruce Miller
For many years, Lanford Wilson’s Fifth of July was my favorite play. And now I have two glorious new reasons to love this particular box on the summer calendar:

Tom and Carmela McGranahan were married today, and
Sophia Elizabeth Foley was born at 5-something this morning.

How can things get any happier than that?!

Tom and Carmela’s wedding was nothing short of wonderful. Saint Benedict’s Catholic Church was beautiful; Carmela and her daughter/Maid of Honor looked beautiful; the Reverend Michael Renninger delivered a beautiful (and funny) homily; shoot, even the grin on Tom’s face was beautiful.

Lots and lots of Barksdale friends were in attendance. And when the service was over, everyone adjourned to the lobby of Barksdale Willow Lawn, where the reception was beautiful.

It was one of the nicest weddings I’ve ever been to, which is appropriate, since Tom is one of the nicest men I’ve ever known. Everyone at Barksdale wishes Tom and Carmela nothing but joy.

And then, to know that on the very same day, Erin and Tony Foley (or is it Erin Thomas-Foley and Tony Foley? – I’m not sure) … anyway, to know that Erin and Tony welcomed their beautiful baby into the world only hours before Tom and Carmela shared their first kiss as man and wife … these two blessed events make Cinco July-O cause for unending celebration.

Sophia Elizabeth Foley was born at the crack of dawn, two weeks early, healthy and happy and weighing in at 5 lbs. 9 oz.--or, as Andy Boothby told me, 5 ft. 9 inches. All of us wish nothing but the best for this beautiful new family.

Tonight I visit the tech rehearsal of Shirley Valentine, and if those proceedings can be one one-hundredth as beautiful as the morning and afternoon, we’ll be in great shape! I can’t wait.

My camera was dead today, so if anyone has additional photos of the nuptials, email ‘em to Jessica Daugherty and she will post 'em. Thanks.

--Bruce Miller