Feet Don't Stick to Floor No More

Posted by Bruce Miller
Richmond CenterStage finally opened this evening. It was a wonderful, almost miraculous night! Many in the crowd spoke sentimentally about the first public announcement of the renovation and expansion, which occurred either 8 or 8 ½ years ago, depending on whose talking.

Having earned my stripes as a grand old man of Richmond theatre, I couldn’t stop thinking of the Symphony’s original purchase of the Loew’s in 1980, and Theatre IV’s 1981 Season—the first performance season by any group in the history of this magnificent building.

In those earliest of days, what is now the Carpenter Theatre was named the Virginia Center for the Performing Arts. Nina Abady, the legendary Richmond administrator who provided staff leadership for the $6 million campaign to pay off the mortgage and restore the landmark venue (yes, only $6 million), was just beginning to raise the needed funds. In order to create public interest, she wanted to bring people into the theatre. But she had no money for programming, and the theatre itself, frankly, was a sticky, rickety mess.

All those years as a movie palace (and a declining movie palace during the 1970s) had taken their toll.

During that same time, Nina served on the Board of Directors of Theatre IV. She had attended all three shows in our 1980 Season, which had taken place in another performance facility where your feet were apt to stick to the floor—the Westover (movie) Theatre, South of the James at 4712 Forest Hill Avenue.

The Westover was nothing more than a wooden platform stage that we constructed in front of the movie screen. Despite its humble pedigree, we had staged Theatre IV’s first “adult” audience season there in 1980: The Diary of Anne Frank, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Philadelphia Story. I remember being very proud of all three shows.

Nina knew we were hungry for grander digs. So she struck up a deal with us--a win/win for both parties involved.

If Theatre IV agreed to repair the 2,000 seats in the former Loew’s, scrape all the gum and muck off of the historic tile floors, and produce at least three shows designed to attract a mass audience, she would let us rent the facility for a dollar per seat sold.

We leapt at the chance. It took us about six months to tighten and/or replace all the nuts and bolts on the 2,000 or so seats, most of which had been literally falling into pieces. My dear dad, Curt Miller, who had recently retired from the Defense General Supply Center at Bellwood and was looking for something to do, joined another volunteer named Ralph Antell, who I think was a recent retiree from Philip Morris. Together, the two of them slaved away every day on their hands and knees until all of the seats were once again ready to be used.

Phil and I (and many, many other volunteers) attacked the floor-bound gum and goo with chisels and putty knives, scraping up more hardened grime from the bathroom floors and theatre aisle-ways than I care to remember. I think we must have filled a hundred or so Hefty bags with petrified remains of countless movie theatre snacks.

At last the theatre was ready. Well, "ready" may be too strong a word. At last the theatre was no longer disgusting.

We staged two hit productions of West Side Story (with a 26-piece orchestra no less) and the classic American comedy, Born Yesterday. We also mounted a third production, Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians, about which the less said the better. Suffice it to say that Roy Proctor's review was headlined "Who Dunnit? Who Cares!"

By the following year (1982), Nina had raised enough money to begin renovation, and so Theatre IV had to move on to our next rented facility … which turned out to be the Empire Theatre. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Way back in 1981, we LOVED being the first arts group to welcome Richmond’s performing arts audience back into the former Loew’s.

Tonight, 28 ½ years later, we LOVED joining with our wonderful friends and colleagues at African American Repertory Theatre, Elegba Folklore Society, Richmond Ballet, Richmond Jazz Society, Richmond Shakespeare, Richmond Symphony, SPARC, and the Virginia Opera as together we welcomed a new generation of Richmonders back into this great atmospheric treasure.

Congratulations to EVERYONE who has been working so hard for so long to make tonight happen. Whether you date back to 1980, or only 2001 ... Job Well Done!

--Bruce Miller

In Praise of Richmond Theatre

Posted by Bruce Miller
People are suggesting I add my voice to the comments on Dave Timberline’s fine blog, specifically his post of last Wed, Jan 7, entitled “Comment-ary.” To be honest, I tried to post a comment, but it didn’t work. I never seem to be able to post a comment from my home computer anymore. I don’t know what’s wrong; it just ain’t workin’.

Then the more I thought about it, the less inclined I felt to jump in. I have too much to say, and it wouldn't really work as a comment.

The post and the 15 comments that follow it on Dave's blog discuss two, and only two, anonymous opinions that were among the several comments posted online at the Style website, responding to Dave’s year-end wrap-up article. The first comment reads:

“My husband and I moved here from Bethesda, MD almost seven years ago. We were frequent patrons of the theater in Washington, although we never subscribed anyplace. We have been disappointed by the lack of professional theater in Richmond. Most of the shows in Richmond are more like the community theater shows in Washington, which has an excellent community theater scene, but it's just that - community theater. The things that Richmond theaters consider cutting edge look like old hat in other cities. I agree that Scott Wichmann is a wonderful actor, and I look forward to seeing Audra Honaker soon. We would love to see more talent in Richmond. If that means more union theaters, that is what we should try to get.”

I pretty much agree with this comment, and I don’t feel in any way offended by it. None of us should. She’s basically saying that when Richmond theatre features talent like Scotty and Audra, she feels satisfied. When the cast is less talented that these two A-teamers, she feels like she’s watching community theatre. I could add ten names of Richmond actors whom I consider to be in the same league as Scotty and Audra, and my guess is that the Bethesda theatre fan hasn’t seen those ten, or at least hasn't seen them doing their best work. I’ll bet she’s seen other shows that feature B-teamers, or C or D-teamers, and when she does, she longs for her theatres back home in D. C. that can afford to hire Scotty’s and Audra’s all the time. She makes the “if that means more union theatres” comment seemingly unaware that Audra is non-union.

I basically feel the same way she does. I think Richmond has some shows that come off as “professional,” and a lot of shows that come off as “community theatre.” As Ms Bethesda hastens to add, there’s nothing wrong with good community theatre. Would all of Richmond’s theatres like to offer “professional” shows and nothing but? Probably. Do we? No way. Why? Money.

Of course it's not just about actors. Set, costume and light design and construction also effect considerably whether or not a show comes off as "professional." Ditto direction, choreography and music direction. Each of these components is also tied to that old standby ... money.

And yes, what Richmond audiences consider "cutting edge looks like old hat in other cities." Other larger cities, yes. You could say the same thing about any other aspect of Richmond's culture--music, dance, restaurants, bars, clubs, museums, etc etc etc.

The second comment is so much the same-old-same-old that I bet I know who wrote it. It reads:

“Much of the problem, and one of the distinguishing features of Richmond's theatre scene from that of other, demographically similar communities, is the lack of professionalism in the industry in Richmond. There is almost no serious union work, which means the most talented and dedicated professionals have to go to some other, more supportive market to ply their trade. With just a single union theatre, operating on the lowest paying union contract, and the occasional "Special Performance" contract non-union theatres use (terrible money, no benefits), and very limited union TV/film work, there's no incentive for talent to remain here. And audiences are to be congratulated for opting not to spend large sums of money to see theatre which is less than fully professional. The symphony and opera and ballet would never dare use non-professionals (except for children in the Nutcracker, of course) why is theatre allowed to get away with doing so?”

I think this comment is mostly hogwash. With only a few exceptions, Richmond does NOT offer less AEA work than most “demographically similar communities”; Richmond offers more. Richmond's "single union theatre"--I presume he means Barksdale--does NOT operate on "the lowest paying union contract." There are several AEA contracts that pay less. Some talented and dedicated professionals leave Richmond for work in other markets; others stay—Scotty and Audra being two prominent examples. As I've opined before, this is a sign of Richmond theatre's strength, NOT its supposed weakness. Who would say, "Several VCU grads moved on to pursue their doctorates at Harvard and Yale," and consider that to be a negative?

Those who always see “other, more supportive markets” as being greener, should check-in on a regular basis with actors in the D. C. talent-pool. I hardly ever hear from a D. C. actor who doesn’t complain that there’s “no work” in D. C., and talk about how lucky we are here in Richmond. And as for the symphony, opera and ballet never using “non-professionals”—I will in no way disparage my talented colleagues who perform with these great organizations, but if Anonymous is defining “non-professional” as “non-union,” and he is, a significant number of them are non-union and work with compensation packages similar to or less than the compensation packages offered at Barksdale.

I agree that Richmond theatre should be better funded and be able to employ more AEA actors, thereby encouraging more AEA actors to move to or remain in our community. I’m all for better pay for all theatre artists. But wishing for money doesn’t make it magically appear. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to congratulate audience members for ignoring Richmond theatre simply because state and local funding falls so far below national norms. There’s a lot of great theatre in Richmond, and those who can’t see it are, for whatever reason, blinded to the truth.

I’m not trying to say we can shrug off constructive criticism. I don’t think we can or should. I don’t think we do. The Richmond theatre community lacks nothing when it comes to being self-critical and self-assessing. I know very few members of the theatre crowd who support the status quo. My worry is NOT that we sit around congratulating ourselves and basking in glory. My worry is that we eat our young. Negative voices are often the loudest and get the most attention.

Friends, there are people out there with axes to grind. They are resentful of Richmond theatre’s successes. They’ve been hurt, they feel abused, they can’t stand someone or other’s guts. Probably mine.

And they blog on and on, almost always anonymously, and then we debate on and on regarding the validity of their beefs. I think it’s time to be positive and move on.

It’s time we start appreciating what we have here. Often, our published voices paint a picture for the rest of the community that says we don’t think we're very good. The published voices supporting dance, music and opera in Richmond are not nearly as self-critical.

I LOVE theatre in Richmond, warts and all. I believe there are a million ways to make it better. I feel like I’m dedicating my life to doing just that. So are a lot of other talented people. When it comes to talking about Richmond theatre to the general public, I'm going to say it's GREAT, because in many ways it is, and because that's an important step to bringing in new audience members.

Many of the naysayers, in my opinion, have their own agenda that has little to do with improving theatre in Richmond. Maybe I’m all wet. I don’t think so.

--Bruce Miller

Mayoral Candidates Weigh in on the Arts

Posted by Bruce Miller
Phil Whiteway, Tony Foley, Jeanie Rule, Janine Serresseque, Brad Tuggle and I (all staff members at Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV) attended Tuesday night’s second Mayoral Forum, hosted at the Virginia Historical Society by Style Weekly and the League of Women Voters. Jason Roop, Editor of Style, did a great job as Moderator. Brandon Reynolds from Style, Sandra Jones from WTVR-TV Channel 6, and Michael Paul Williams from the Richmond T-D ably assisted as panelists, asking their own questions of the candidates and vetting questions from the audience.

The theme of the debate was Education and the Cultural Landscape, so lots of arts and culture professionals turned out. The five candidates (Paul Goldman, Robert J. Grey Jr., Dwight C. Jones, William J. “Bill” Pantele, and Lawrence E. Williams Sr.) all presented themselves well. But none of them seemed to have a real handle on the arts and cultural issues facing our city.

In an effort towards full disclosure, I mention that Robert Grey is a former Board member of Theatre IV, and he noted this credential during the debate. I appreciated the mention.

There was no mention from any candidate, however, of the large arts funding disparity that exists between Richmond and Norfolk, where the mayor has been a true champion of arts and cultural organizations, with significant success. There was talk from the candidates about Richmond being the cultural capital of the region, but it sounded more like well intentioned but uninformed cheer leading than anything else.

Most objective observers believe that Norfolk eclipsed Richmond as the “cultural capital” several years ago, and now functions as the arts flagship of Virginia. The five major things that will help Richmond catch up and re-establish its preeminence would be:
* a committed and vocal mayor,
* a committed and vocal business leader,
* an appropriately functioning Arts Council,
* an effective cultural plan (progress may be on the way on these last two fronts), and
* about an extra million per year in local public funding.

No candidate seemed to be aware of these issues. But then again, the panelists also seemed somewhat uninformed, and failed to ask the candidates to address any of the above.

There was only one real gaffe that I noticed, and it occurred when Jason Roop asked each candidate to name an arts event that had taken place in Richmond during the last five years that had particularly impressed him. Roop exempted last weekend’s Folk Festival, since that event had been so prominently featured in recent media coverage.

A couple candidates talked about First Fridays without mentioning any specific arts component. It was as if they’d heard about or perhaps experienced First Fridays as a festival designed to draw crowds to Broad Street, but they hadn’t actually connected with the art. A couple candidates mentioned public art in general, without discussing any specific work beyond "the fish project." Basically, all five candidates seemed a little stumped, unable to recall and describe a single performance or arts experience that had truly captured their imagination.

The gaffe occurred when Dwight Jones said, “The theatre at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts makes it onto my calendar every year.” He was referring, of course, to TheatreVirginia. As you know, TheatreVirginia went out-of-business mid-season in 2002, drawing significant media coverage. However, Jones otherwise presented himself well.

Another regrettable comment—the word “regrettable” obviously reflects my subjective perspective—was when Robert Grey said that we all needed to be proud of “our major organizations—the Symphony, the Opera, the Ballet, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.”

I certainly agree with that sentiment, but I regret that the word "theatre" was not included. Working in a permanent alliance with Theatre IV, Barksdale is somewhat larger in terms of annual budget, and significantly larger in terms of annual ticket sales, than either the Richmond Symphony, the Richmond presence of the Virginia Opera, or the Richmond Ballet. And yet, as is so often the case, no theatre was mentioned among the “major organizations.”

Again, otherwise, Grey presented himself well. He spoke of having appeared in a production of Women of Manhattan at the Firehouse, and mentioned his Board service not only at Theatre IV but also at the Richmond Ballet.

Clearly, those of us who care about theatre need to keep working hard to inform our mayoral candidates and all other community leaders that our art form is indeed a vital part of the mix. Barksdale/Theatre IV has an annual operating budget of $5.2 million, and enjoys annual Richmond attendance of over 82,000. Also, we tour extensively to schools throughout Virginia and 32 other states. Until everyone understands the impact that Barksdale/Theatre IV has on our community, the historical funding gap that continues to exist between Barksdale/Theatre IV and Richmond’s other major arts organizations will continue unchanged and unchallenged.

If you are a Richmond resident, be sure to vote in the upcoming mayoral elections. The candidates are good and capable men. I hope and believe that our next mayor will offer a step forward for our city.

--Bruce Miller

(Photos: The candidates pictured are: [top to bottom] Robert Grey, Dwight Jones, Bill Pantele, Lawrence Williams, and Paul Goldman.)

"Clean H" Earns B'dale National Wiki Notice

Posted by Bruce Miller
All right, I confess. It’s one of my goals to get Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV into Wikipedia. The Richmond Symphony has been thusly immortalized, as well as the Virginia Opera and the Landmark. Why not B’dale and TIV?

I’m not talking about being mentioned in someone else’s Wiki article. We’ve already achieved that distinction. Stefan Sittig (a choreographer who worked with us in days gone by) lists both Barksdale and Theatre IV among his credits in the Wikipedia article that’s all about him. And the Wiki article on Richmond itself includes the following (oddly worded) copy under its Arts and Culture listing:

“Barksdale Theatre- Founded in 1953, originally as the Hanover Tavern. Created the nation's first dinner theatre. The Barksdale was Virginia’s first performing arts organization to open its doors to integrated audiences. Continues today as The Hanover Tavern, in Hanover Virginia, Barksdale Theatre in Richmond.

Theatre IV- founded in 1975 by Bruce Miller and Phil Whiteway and is one of the largest running theatres in Virginia. Tours children's shows all over the country. Now a family playhouse after Bruce and Phil took over Barksdale Theatre in Willow Lawn in 2001.”

Hmmm. Guess I’ll have to try to edit that a little. But it’s fun to know that Wiki and we are on a first name basis.

What I’m talking about is articles of our own, so that when you see us listed in someone else’s article, the names Barksdale and Theatre IV appear in blue and you can click on them to link instantly to the big articles that’re just about us.

I just discovered that our current production of The Clean House has taken us one step closer to achieving that goal. In the Wiki article about The Clean House and it’s current prominence in world theatre, Barksdale made the cut—which makes me mighty proud. Here’s what the operative part of the article says, word for word:

“Overview

The Clean House won the 2004 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, awarded annually to the best English-language play written by a woman, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. It has received glowing reviews from certain critics: Variety called the play a “…wondrously mad and moving work…” and Charles Isherwood of The New York Times dubbed it a deeply romantic comedy, “…visionary, tinged with fantasy, extravagant in feeling, maybe a little nuts.”

Other publications, such as The Village Voice and The New Yorker were more critical, registering complaints about the play's style and its treatment of Mathilde. At the end of 2006, Entertainment Weekly magazine named the New York production one of the top ten theatrical attractions of the year.

The Clean House has been produced at South Coast Repertory (West Coast premiere, January 2005), the Goodman Theatre (spring 2006, in Ruhl's native Chicago), The Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Washington, D.C. (July 11 — August 14, 2005) [1], Lincoln Center Theater at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (New York premiere, October 2006), Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England (April 2006, European Premiere) and at Northampton's Royal & Derngate theatres (Feb 08 then UK tour).

The Sheffield production featured Patricia Hodge (Lane) and Eleanor Bron (Ana/Mathilde's mother). It was directed by Samuel West. Both actors revive these roles for Northampton and UK tour, directed by John Dove.

The Lincoln Center production featured Blair Brown (Lane), Jill Clayburgh (Virginia), John Dossett (Charles/Mathilde's father), Concetta Tomei (Ana/Mathilde's mother), and Vanessa Aspillaga (Mathilde).

The Clean House was shown at The Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury in March and April 2008. A French version was played in Montreal a the Espace Libre theatre in February 2008 called "Une maison propre".

Will run at the Barksdale Theatre in Richmond, VA from Sept. 26-Nov. 2nd, 2008.”

And that’s it, folks. No other theatres are mentioned. Barksdale is in some proud international company, and we didn’t even put ourselves there, I swear.

Anyway, I thought that was pretty interesting. So, if you have yet to see the lovely Sarah Ruhl play that earned this national notice for little old Barksdale, please make your reservations for The Clean House ASAP. You’ll be glad you did.

See you at the theatre!

--Bruce Miller

In Memoriam: Murry DePillars

Posted by Bruce Miller
Our friend Murry died last Saturday at his Richmond home. He was only 69 years old, which surprised me. It’s not that he seemed older; he didn’t. Spiritually he was perpetually vibrant and young. But he was such a towering figure in the Richmond arts community, I always imagined that he had to be more than a mere 12 years older than I.

I’m elevating Phil and myself by calling Murry our “friend.” If he thought of us at all in recent years, I’m sure he didn’t honor us with so personal a moniker. It would be more accurate to call Murry a mentor—a mini-mentor perhaps, not one of the ones who made it into our playbill bios, but a mentor nonetheless. More than anyone else, Murry DePillars convinced us that the arts were meant to be populist rather than elitist. He taught us that an artist who elevated himself over his community may not be an artist at all.

After serving as an assistant dean, Murry was promoted to Dean of VCU’s School of the Arts in 1976, one year after Phil and I founded Theatre IV. He held that position for 19 years. During his entire tenure, there was little institutional reason for Murry to take notice of Phil or me. He was a visual artist and a lover of jazz, and we were theatre upstarts with, during most of those years, little influence and even less power in the Richmond arts community.

And yet, from day one, Murry acted like we were worthy of his notice and friendship. He was Dean of the School of the Arts—a huge deal—and yet he willingly and eagerly gave us his attention and respect. And it wasn’t just us. He gave full credence to artists who chose to remain in Richmond, and never made us feel like anyone worth their salt would have moved on to New York. If anything, he made us feel like he awarded extra points to those who chose to grow where they were planted.

When Theatre IV purchased the historic Empire in 1986, Murry was among the few who made it possible.

Here's a brief history. In the mid-70s, a dashing and successful Varina home developer named Mitchell Kambis bought and cosmetically renovated the Empire. After a financially challenging stint as an impresario, Mitchell turned over ownership of the Empire to the mortgage holder, Central Fidelity Bank. The late Carroll Saine, who was Chairman and CEO of CFB at the time, was a close friend of the late Richmond icon Nina Abady. In the early 80s, Nina was a volunteer on the Theatre IV Board, but she was employed as Director of the Virginia Opera Association (VOA) – Richmond Office. Central Fidelity Bank donated the Empire to the VOA, under the condition that they continue to own it for at least two years.

Unfortunately, the Empire was too small for most operas. So as soon as the VOA’s two-year commitment concluded, they sold the Empire to a real estate developer from Roanoke.

In 1986, this developer began to actively seek buyers for the facility. Three parties expressed interest in the building: a Richmond-based developer who planned to convert the building into retail space and condos, Murry DePillars on behalf of VCU’s School of the Arts, and Theatre IV. Obviously, VCU could have outbid Theatre IV (we had no assets to speak of at the time), but the minute Murry learned that we were interested, he called us in for a meeting.

He said that his main interest was in preserving the historic building and keeping it out of the hands of those who wanted to convert it into commercial use. He said that if we were seriously interested, VCU would support us in our efforts to buy the building rather than bid against us. He made suggestions as to where we could go for financial support, and stood by our company until the building was purchased later that year and securely in our hands.

There were no power plays and no conditions—only encouragement and support.

Phil and I have missed Murry DePillars ever since his retirement from VCU in 1995. And we’ll continue to miss him and remember him with the greatest affection and respect. He was a giant in the development of Richmond’s arts community. When Theatre IV produces A Year with Frog and Toad in the Empire next spring, complete with a jazzy score Murry would have loved, we will dedicate the show to the memory of Dr. Murry N. DePillars, our mentor and friend.

--Bruce Miller