Déjà Vu All Over Again

Posted by Eric Williams

Eric appears as Stanley in Sanders Family Christmas. By day he is the Director of Tour Operations for Theatre IV.



Tonight is Opening Night again - sort of. It will be 1941, and the Sanders Family will descend once more on Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina.

Sanders Family Christmas has been in rehearsal for several weeks now and the experience has been both exciting and scary. About two years ago Bruce Miller gathered together a motley collection of actors who also sing and play instruments and guided us to what became Smoke on the Mountain. It was a successful venture with theatre lovers having to be turned away because so many of the performances were sold out—exactly the kind of problem any theatre would like to have.

The cast and theatre had conflicts making it impossible to extend the run, so when the idea was floated that we could reunite at Christmas time and do the sequel, we all jumped at the chance.

The entire cast and director are back. It was like putting on a pair of your favorite old shoes when we got together--very comfortable. We already knew all of the characters, so all that was left was to learn the new script and music. Piece of cake! None of us had actually seen the new script and music but how hard could it be? After all, we’d done it before and this sequel was just like the original, right?

Well, not exactly. While the format of Sanders Family Christmas is similar to Smoke on the Mountain, the two-hour script certainly was all new. And the music … well let’s just say I had to go on the Internet to find out how to play some of the newfangled power chords asked for in this new score.

Rehearsal was fun but urgent. We had some big, and I mean big, laughs. But there was business to be done too. Billy Christopher Maupin, a.k.a. Reverend Oglethorpe, plunked our notes over and over and over again. And that was just the vocals. We had not added the instrumentation yet.

Our cast was still a bit far flung. Our music director extraordinaire Drew Perkins was in Blowing Rock, NC until 3 weeks before opening. Aly Wepplo was in a show in Idaho at Company of Fools. David Janeski was performing at Busch Gardens (when he wasn’t off to Idaho to visit Aly).

Ok, now I was scared. We all had to learn 105 pages of new and difficult (at least to my fingers) music. Thank goodness we have really talented cast members who stepped in to plunk and help musically (the aforementioned Billy Christopher, Emily Cole and Julie Fulcher). There were several music rehearsals with just three or four of us. Bruce kept giving reassurances that everything would be just fine.

Finally, when Drew returned to Virginia, it all began to come together. Nonetheless, this has been a most challenging time—but challenging is good, isn’t it?

Our hard work is about to get the final test - the audience. As rehearsals come to an end and performances start we have a couple of things that you should know. The entire cast enjoys each other and we want you to enjoy yourselves too. Come slip on that old pair of shoes that is the Sanders Family and spend a little Christmas down home.

--Eric Williams

Sanders Family Christmas runs through January 25, 2009 at Hanover Tavern. Performances are already selling out quickly. Call (804) 282-2620 or purchase tickets online.

Wepplo, Carter Todd and Wagoner Succeed as Fools

Posted by Bruce Miller

Great news from our friends in Idaho! Richmond actress Aly Wepplo (the shy daughter in Smoke on the Mountain at Hanover Tavern and Older Patrick's wife at the end of Mame) was such a hit in this summer's Spitfire Grill in Hailey that she's been invited back for Company of Fools' Fall Season opener, Doubt by John Patrick Shanley. She'll be playing Sister James. The show runs in Idaho Oct 17 through Nov 3.

Barksdale will be staging Doubt (winner of the 2005 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize) this season as well on our Signature Season at Willow Lawn, February 15 - March 16, starring Irene Ziegler under Keri Wormald's direction.

Adding icing to the Idaho cake, the four person cast of Doubt at Company of Fools will also feature another of Richmond's talented alumnae, Michelle Carter Todd (Fairy Godmother in Theatre IV's Cinderella) as Mrs. Muller. Michelle and her husband Cliff have been living in L A for the past several years, and doing quite well. It's been a pleasure to keep up with them as their careers have continued to flourish.

The only actor already cast in the Barksdale production of Doubt is Irene Ziegler.

A final congratulation goes out to Debra Wagoner (Glenda in Theatre IV's most recent Wizard of Oz). After her many roles at Company of Fools, she was named a Company Artist this summer in Idaho, an honor she shares with world-famous Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, and Richmond-famous Dennis Rexroad, Laine Satterfield, Robert Throckmorton, and Joel Vilinsky.

You can learn more about the wonderful work at Company of Fools by visiting http://www.companyoffools.org/ . As always, we're so happy for their continuing success.

--Bruce Miller

Barksdale Vets Provide Fireworks in Idaho

Most of you know about Company of Fools, the regional theatre in Hailey, Idaho founded a dozen or so years ago by former Richmonder Denise Simone, current Richmonder Rusty Wilson (he was “former” during his Hailey years but now he’s back), and Denise’s old college buddy, Bruce Willis. Yes, that Bruce Willis.

Willis provided the initial funding, but Denise, Rusty and several Richmond pals provided the blood, sweat and tears. And believe me, its all about the b, s and t.

Then, about eight years ago, Barksdale’s former Artistic Director, John Glenn, moved to Hailey with his partner, R. L. Rowsey, who had been serving as Associate Artistic Director at TheatreVirginia. John and R. L. became part of the four-person leadership in Hailey. And when Rusty moved back to Richmond a couple years ago to become theatre director at St. Christopher’s School, Denise, John and R. L. settled into a Muriel, Pete and Nancy lifestyle that has continued to advance the Company of Fools to new heights.

This summer, two more Barksdale All-Stars are joining the team to launch the Fools’ first Summer Fools Festival—three shows running in rep during five weeks in July and August. Debra Wagoner (she of the amazing voice – and wife of Odd Couple director Joe Pabst) and Aly Wepplo (who recently stole hearts as the signing sister in Smoke on the Mountain – yes, that is signing, not singing – right after marrying grown-up Patrick at the end of Mame) are starring with John Glenn in The Spitfire Grill, a feel-good musical that Music Director R. L. Rowsey describes as “Appalachian Broadway.”

Many of you may have caught the wonderful Richmond premiere of this new musical a few years back at Swift Creek Mill.

As much as we miss Debra and Aly in Richmond this summer, we’re thrilled to see them join other beloved Richmond theatre alum at Company of Fools. Not since the founding of the Renaissance Theatre in Bon Air and the Wedgewood Dinner Theatre in Toano (both in the late 50s and early 60s) have so many former Barksdale artists gone off to start and then nurture another theatre in another place.

We always wish the Company of Fools well, and we send special good thoughts their way this summer as Debra and Aly prepare to open during the Fourth of July celebrations in The Spitfire Grill. We love the fact that Barksdale artists are continuing to spread artistic sparks nationwide. We look forward to welcoming Debra and Aly back home later this summer. Until then, break a leg one and all!

http://www.companyoffools.org/

--Bruce Miller

Closing Thoughts on "Smoke on the Mountain"

Tonight was the closing performance of Smoke on the Mountain at Barksdale Theatre at Hanover Tavern. It was a bittersweet time, I suppose. We had, after all, been working on the show since January (including rehearsals), so we definitely had a healthy run of (so I'm told) around 40 performances. Several Broadway productions have run for less than that (Carrie-the musical- officially ran for 5, not counting 16 preview performances, which still only comes up to 21).

But I suppose I'm not really feeling the humor tonight. Although there was lots of humor to be had and was had during the run of Smoke, onstage and off. If you happen to run into one of the cast members, be sure to ask them about Aunt Judy, a special figment of Julie Fulcher (Vera)'s brilliant mind.

Smoke on the Mountain, I think, is quite possibly the most fun I have ever had doing any show. The chemistry in this cast was sensational. Every single one was a delight. I do hope that the Sander's Family and Reverend Oglethorpe might emerge on a Richmond stage again someday not too far away. No matter where I am, I think the call to step back into Reverend Oglethorpe's shoes would be a temptation too alluring to pass up.

The love, comraderie, and joy that was shared on that stage each night is something that doesn't come with every show. Perhaps it's something that happens only once in a lifetime. I hope that's not true, but if it is, I'm glad I was there on that stage with Aly, Julie, Drew, David, Eric, and Emily. It's an experience that I will never forget.

A much-deserved "Thank you" goes out to director Bruce Miller for allowing the seven of us to be together on that stage 40 times and to stage manager Joseph Papa for holding it all together.

And that, dear readers, is my small love letter.

Hail and Farewell to

Our sold out production of Smoke on the Mountain closes this Saturday evening. I’m going to be sorry to see it go. Along with Brooklyn Boy at Barksdale Willow Lawn (another show that I loved), Smoke was our entry in this year’s Acts of Faith Festival. I couldn’t have had more fun directing (and watching) this small but heartwarming musical.

Every time you pick or direct a show, it says a little bit about you. I like what Smoke says about me. It connects two important parts of my life—my life as a theatre professional and my life as a person of faith.

I enjoy being an elder, liturgist and Sunday School teacher at Bon Air Presbyterian Church. But like many Presbyterians, I’m not particularly comfortable wearing my religion on my sleeve. To tell the truth, I’m feeling a little uncomfortable now writing this blog entry.

Religion is a personal thing to me; my faith is something I hold on to with a quiet humility. Smoke on the Mountain is not quiet, but it’s certainly humble. It takes place in a small Southern Baptist church in 1938. The central message of the play, to me, is Jesus’ teaching that we should love and accept each other rather than judge and exclude.

In Smoke, Eric Williams is really wonderful as a recovering alcoholic who has recently been released from prison. In Act II, he delivers a moving monologue about how Jesus shared the loaves and fishes with a multitude of men including unlikely congregants like himself. That monologue always chokes me up.

If there’s one thing I’m sure about in my faith journey, it’s this. God loves and extends his grace equally to all of us. Those Christians who choose to judge and shun rather than embrace their fellow men are missing the point.

Smoke was my breath of fresh air. I thank so much the wonderful cast: Emily Cole Bitz, Julie Fulcher, David Janeski, Billy Christopher Maupin, Drew Perkins, Aly Wepplo and Eric Williams. They lit up the stage every night with their open, loving hearts—and their great talents.

I thank our inspired designers: Bennett Fidlow, Heather Hogg, Terrie Powers and David Powers. Their church in the valley by the wildwood was a sanctuary of good will in these troubling times. More than once in the past couple of weeks have I recalled my favorite lyric from the show.

Soft as the voice of an angel breathing a lesson unheard

Hope with a gentle persuasion whispers a comforting word

Wait till the darkness is over, wait till the tempest is done

Hope for the sunshine tomorrow after the darkness is gone

Whispering hope, oh how welcome thy voice

Making my heart in it’s sorrow rejoice

I rejoice in Smoke on the Mountain. Thanks to artists and audiences alike for this opportunity.