Best of Broadway / Benefits of Barksdale

Posted by Bruce Miller
Rehearsals for Thoroughly Modern Millie began this evening. An eager cast of 22 assembled under the knowing eyes of director / choreographer Patti D’Beck, musical director Paul Deiss, and stage manager Ginnie Willard. I welcomed everyone. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking that nine of the Millie cast members are new to the Barksdale family, including two of the leads. Other than seeing them at auditions, I met these nine for the first time tonight.

One of the leads who is NOT new to Barksdale is Zak Resnick (pictured above and to the right). Zak arrived at rehearsal tonight directly from his drive down from Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in Pittsburgh, the prestigious university theatre program from which he just graduated. His car was still packed to the roof with everything he owns.

There must be something special about Richmond’s relationship with C M. Other Richmond theatre notables who went to Carnegie Mellon and then vaulted almost immediately into their professional careers include Tony nominee Emily Skinner and Hollywood superstar Blair Underwood. Like Zak, both Emily and Blair shared their talents with Theatre IV, Barksdale and other Richmond theatres before making it big on the national scene.

Like Emily and Blair, Zak seems destined for great things. Many Richmonders remember Zak for his memorable portrayal of Rapunzel’s Prince in our 2007 summer musical Into the Woods. But in New York, Zak is known by his growing fan base as one of the Broadway Boys, a six-man super group comprised of Broadway’s hottest tenors. (Six sing at any one time. There are actually 25 or so talented young men who have been selected for the ensemble.) “A fusion of funk, soul and gospel, the Broadway Boys create an out-of-control energy that makes you want to just get up and dance,” states Amy Birnbaum of the Jujamcyn Theatre organization. “Their arrangements of Broadway and pop tunes give way to a myriad of sound, color and grit. An experience you can’t afford to miss!”

You can hear and see Zak and the Boys singing "Defying Gravity" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJfIYzhLnt8. Zak is the guy to the far left of the screen (stage right). The camera-work is a little shaky, but you'll get the gist.

Taking time off this summer from his develop-ing NYC career as a Broadway Boy, Zak will be playing the male lead of Jimmy in our production of Thoroughly Modern Millie at the historic Empire Theatre. Last Monday, just before leaving New York for Pittsburgh, Zak took Broadway by storm one more time before heading south. After being selected as one of the 16 rising stars to be featured in this year’s Leading Men benefit concert for Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS, Zak performed onstage last Monday side by side with fellow “leading men” including Jonathan Groff (Tony nominee for Spring Awakening), Nick Adams (currently achieving major celebrity buzz in the Broadway cast of Guys and Dolls), and Michael Kadin Craig (now starring Off Broadway in Altar Boyz). Lest you miss the import of being included in this august group, let me remind you that previous Leading Men concerts have featured the talents of current stars including Matt Cavenaugh, Cheyenne Jackson, Aaron Lazar, Matthew Morrison, Hugh Panaro and Christopher Sieber.

You can catch Zak’s star-to-be turn on YouTube, singing "The Streets of Dublin" from A Man of No Importance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIBomyh5cAg. The last time I heard Zak sing this song was in the cabaret that the cast of Into the Woods performed on Barksdale’s Willow Lawn lobby stage to benefit the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund. This time he sounded just as great, but he was introduced by Tony nominee John Tartaglia (Avenue Q, Shrek The Musical). I loved hearing John announce to the packed Broadway audience that Zak would be appearing this summer at Barksdale Theatre in Richmond, VA.

Those of you who listen to the Broadway channel on SIRIUS satellite radio will be interested to know that Zak was accompanied by none other than Seth Rudetsky.

As the Broadway in Richmond series reopens this fall with David Copperfield’s magic show at the new CenterStage, it’s good to remember that more Richmonders get their Broadway at Barksdale than anywhere else. If you really want to catch Broadway stars past, present and future, head on downtown this summer for Thoroughly Modern Millie, and catch the Best of Broadway with the Benefits of Barksdale.

See you at the theatre!

--Bruce Miller

Word of the Week - HALLOING

Posted by Hannah Miller
On Saturday March 22, the world wished a very happy 78th birthday to STEPHEN JOSHUA SONDHEIM, so this edition of Word of the Week is created in his honor. This week’s word is HALLOING.

Stephen Sondheim is one of the most respected composers and lyricists of the 20th century. He has won more Tony Awards than any other composer on Broadway. Sondheim developed his love for theatre and music after attending his first musical at the age of nine. He was hooked when the curtain rose and a piano was revealed.

Never fitting easily with his parents, Sondheim spent many afternoons learning from his “surrogate father,” Oscar Hammerstein II, of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame. The Hammersteins and the Sondheims lived near each other on the upper West Side of NYC. When Sondheim wrote By George, a musical for his high school, Hammerstein spent an entire day teaching him what he could do to make the musical better. In Sondheim’s words, he “learned more about songwriting and the musical theatre” in that one afternoon “than most people learn in a lifetime.” Sondheim continued his apprenticeship with Hammerstein until he left New York to attend Williams College in Massachusetts.

In 1957, Sondheim made history by writing the lyrics to West Side Story, and then to Gypsy in 1959. Though both of these shows brought him great success as a lyricist, Sondheim knew that what he really wanted to do was compose. Three years later, he received that opportunity and wrote both music and lyrics for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, another hit. His string of commercial success was broken in 1964 when he wrote Anyone Can Whistle, which lasted for only nine performances.

Sondheim went on, of course, to write other history-making hits such as Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures and Sweeney Todd, all in partnership with director Hal Prince. He was disappointed by the short run of their next show, Merrily We Roll Along. Following this commercial flop, he considered quitting theatre to write murder mysteries. Instead he switched directors, breaking with Prince and teaming with James Lapine (pictured with Sondheim to the left), who not only directed his subsequent musicals but also wrote the books. The first Sondheim/Lapine triumph was Sunday in the Park with George (my favorite musical), based on the artistic genius of French painter Georges Seurat, the father of Neo-impressionism. Sunday in the Park is one of only seven musicals to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Other Sondheim/Lapine musicals include Into the Woods (produced at Barksdale last summer), Passion, and Assassins.

I study voice with Amy Hruska, and one of the songs she has me singing currently is Green Finch and Linnet Bird from Sweeney Todd. Inspired by the beautiful warbling of caged birds, the character of Johanna sings:

Green finch and linnet bird,
Nightingale, blackbird,
How is it you sing?
Whence comes this melody constantly flowing?
Is it rejoicing or merely HALLOING?
Are you discussing or fussing or simply dreaming?
Are you crowing?
Are you screaming?

When I first sang the word HALLOING, I assumed it meant something like “saying hello.” But this is Sondheim, so of course there are other layers of meaning. In 16th and 17th century England, to hallo or halloo was to shout an exclamation in a hunt when the quarry was spotted. In Coriolanus, Act I, Scene 8, Shakespeare writes, “If I fly, Marcius, halloo me like a hare.” Considering the plot of Sweeney Todd, certainly the birds were halloing when they spotted Johanna—or perhaps when they spotted the Judge.

Our word hello, issued as a greeting rather than a shout, dates from the mid-19th century, and fell into popular usage when Thomas Edison proclaimed it the appropriate way to greet someone when answering a telephone. Alexander Graham Bell preferred the phrase Ahoy, as used on ships. But by 1889, telephone operators were known as hello-girls due to the public acceptance of the Edison-inspired hello.

Today, Sondheim continues to write, create and inspire young admirers like me. His 2003 original musical Bounce has failed thus far to receive a NYC production. But in 2007, he composed incidental music for the Public Theatre production of King Lear, directed by Lapine. In that same year he had a bit part as himself on The Simpsons episode Yokel Chords.

--Hannah Miller

Broadway Stars with Barksdale Roots

Posted by Bruce Miller

I wrote a couple weeks ago about accompanying my daughter and three of her high school friends on a Broadway weekend, and I promised to return to this topic soon to discuss the shows we saw. Tonight’s blog entry is about the first musical of this fall’s trip – The Phantom of the Opera.

Phantom may be the longest running show in Broadway history, but I’d never seen it before last month. I hadn’t even seen the movie. When I go to New York, I almost always choose plays and musicals that I think we may produce one day in Richmond. Because of Phantom’s reliance on a huge production, it never made my list.

So it was a thrill for me to see it with my daughter and her friends, three of whom were also seeing it for the first time. The arrangements of the music and the relative simplicity of the special effects (by 2007 standards) reminded us that the show originally opened in London in 1986. But the classic story, the haunting melodies and the solid production values still captured our imaginations.

The most exciting aspect of our visit with the Phantom, at least for me, was the chance to point out proudly to my four teenage charges the two Phantom cast members who have strong roots with Barksdale and Theatre IV – Kris Koop (pictured below and to the right) and George Lee Andrews.

Kris moved to Richmond immediately after graduating from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music in 1987 to work as a touring actress with Theatre IV. She couldn’t have been nicer or more talented. In 1988, she starred as Cinderella in our first production of that Rodgers and Hammerstein classic—our first major musical in the historic Empire. Later that year, she joined Barksdale’s cast of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and toured with Joseph when it left the Tavern for other venues around the country.

Since 2001, Kris has understudied Phantom’s female leads, and she's played Christine and Carlotta on several occasions. It’s an ideal, top-of-the-heap Broadway job. When not filling in for one of the two leads, Kris appears in the ensemble.

Kris is perhaps most respected in Broadway circles for the leadership she has provided to the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS fundraising efforts. She began volunteering for BC/EFA as soon as she moved to NYC. She and her husband, Steve Ouellette, House Manager at the Neil Simon Theatre, live in Queens. When she finally got the call that she was cast in Phantom, she was working fulltime at BC/EFA, and she still works there today. One of her special projects has been pulling together The Phantom Cooks, Part Deux, the charity cookbook that thus far has earned over $80,000 for BC/EFA.

Everyone in the Theatre IV and Barksdale family should be so proud of Kris and her exceptional Broadway accomplishments both onstage and off.

George Lee Andrews (pictured in his Phantom costume to the right) has been in the cast of Phantom since its Broadway opening in 1988, almost 20 years ago. Guinness, literally, is taking note. Today he plays the role of Monsieur Firmin, one of the two new owner-managers of the Opera House.

Ten years before George began his record-breaking run in Phantom, he played Cole Porter himself in the ill-fated Los Angeles professional premiere of Barksdale’s mega-hit, Red Hot and Cole.

And George’s Barksdale connections don’t end there. Hannah Zold (pictured to the left), who appeared at Barksdale and Theatre IV most recently in Into the Woods, The Wizard of Oz, Mame, and The Full Monty, has been close pals with George and his daughter, Shannon Lee, since Hannah and Shannon worked together in The Lost Colony in 2002. Lee is the actual family name; Andrews was added as a stage name. When Shannon Lee married one of Hannah’s best buds from college, Aaron Galligan-Stierle (who will be playing Papa Who in Broadway’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas once the strike allows him to), papa George Lee officiated at the wedding ceremony and Hannah Zold was the soloist.

The photo to the right is of Hannah Zold (leaning in from the right) and Jennings Whiteway in the Barksdale lobby during Hannah’s visit to Richmond a couple weeks ago. The weekend after this photo was taken, Hannah was back in NYC, hanging with the Lee clan, including her Phantom pal George.

It’s great to be able to remind the teens who are forging their first associations with the Barksdale and Theatre IV families in 2007 that many of the major theatre artists in today's national headlines are also a part of the historic Barksdale and Theatre IV clans.

To view a 2004 video of Kris and George and their Phantom cast mates, visit http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Video.aspx?ci=502222.

All of us have reason to be proud and to celebrate the phenomenal success of two great Barksdale and Theatre IV alum – Kris Koop and George Lee Andrews.

--Bruce Miller

Playing to a Diverse Audience

Posted by Bruce Miller

For the last couple of decades, we’ve all talked a lot about the desirability of performing for a diverse audience. In many instances, what we have meant by a “diverse audience” is one that includes a greater racial and ethnic mix. This worthy and important goal is always a major component of our planning at Barksdale and Theatre IV.

There are also other ways to build diversity. At Barksdale, we work hard to achieve economic diversity. Our many discount and needs-based ticket programs are centered on our refusal to allow lack of funds to be a roadblock to anyone who’d like to see one of our shows. We have never and will never turn anyone away based on their inability to pay.

We also have developed initiatives to increase age diversity. Barksdale Theatre Workshop consists of several efforts meant to connect us with high school and university drama enthusiasts. The Bifocals Theatre Project is a popular program designed to maintain and increase the loyalty of our senior audience. Contemporary plays like The Little Dog Laughed, Brooklyn Boy, Melissa Arctic, 5th of July, etc. have been selected each year specifically to encourage more participation from audience members in their 20s, 30s and 40s.

When considering the many ways in which an audience can include diverse individuals, one should not overlook that dividing line that separates those who experience theatre as an art form from those who appreciate theatre purely as entertainment. If you are trying to attract a relatively large audience in Richmond—and make no mistake, that's exactly what Barksdale is trying to do—you will most likely find yourself trying to appeal to both camps.

Our budgets rely on selling six to ten thousand tickets to each production. Looking at the big picture, Barksdale and Theatre IV need to sell $70,000 worth of tickets and tour shows every week in order to make ends meet. When performing for audiences of this size, we know that some ticket buyers will come with a sophisticated and knowledgeable approach to theatre, and others will come for a night on the town.

Yes, I know of the instances when great art and great entertainment are found in the same show. Those are the plays and productions we cherish and cheer. I also know of the great many plays that are more likely to appeal to the “challenge and thrill me” crowd than to their “show me a good time but don’t make me think” brothers. And vise versa.

My recent blog post about the Broadway stagehands strike made me consider anew the diversity of the audience we are building. One commenter clearly felt that it was not necessary or appropriate for me to “explain” the strike negotiations because he/she and his/her peers were “already following the news.” A couple subsequent commenters supported my efforts to report on the labor dispute, admitting that they relied on the Barksdale blog to fill them in because they made few efforts to keep up with national theatre news through other outlets.

Within the Barksdale family, we're proud to have both those who take theatre seriously and those who want to have some serious fun. We welcome and try to program to both perspectives.

Amy Berlin (pictured to the left with one-time writing partner P. Ann Bucci) rightly called me to task months ago when I awkwardly compared Barksdale’s mission to produce “the great comedies, dramas and musicals—past, present and future” to the missions of Greater Richmond’s other theatres. I don’t want to make the same mistake again.

So, without comparing any one theatre to another, I’ll simply state how proud I am that Barksdale produces plays on our Signature Season at Willow Lawn as important, diverse and artistically satisfying as The Constant Wife by Somerset Maugham; Mame by Jerry Herman, Lawrence and Lee; Brooklyn Boy by Donald Margulies; Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage (pictured above with Adanma Onyedike and Katrinah Carol Lewis); Into the Woods by Sondheim and Lapine; The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers; Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson; Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley; The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane; and Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser.

And for those who want lighter fare, we offer our more commercial County Playhouse Season at Hanover Tavern—our “Pops Series,” if you like to use symphony nomenclature.

In coming blog posts, I’m going to give some thought to the various institutional pros and cons of trying to appeal simultaneously to those who are arts savvy and those who are entertainment enthusiasts. As always, I encourage your thoughts as well.

--Bruce Miller

Roy Burgess Plans Ahead for Barksdale's Future

Posted by Phil Whiteway

Congratulations and many thanks to Roy Burgess, former Barksdale Trustee, past Board President, and current poster boy for The Community Foundation. You may have seen Roy's beeming visage recently lighting up the pages of STYLE, the Free Press and the Richmond Times-Dispatch. His ad encourages giving to The Community Foundation. He also has a few great things to say about Barksdale Theatre.

The copy of the ad reads as follows:

"Why did I become a philanthropist?

'There are things I really want to help keep alive long after I'm gone--theater, great old Richmond neighborhoods, and my church.' -- Roy E. Burgess II

You make the difference.
We make it possible.

Roy Burgess has a vision of what he wants to happen. Fast forward to the future. Laughter fills the Barksdale Theatre. A tour guide shows off a beautifully revived old Richmond neighborhood to a busload of impressed visitors. On the Boulevard, the organist practices for the Sunday service at Boulevard United Methodist Church. Roy Burgess has established a legacy that will improve people's lives for generations in ways that reflect his personal passions. How did he do that? He found a partner called The Community Foundation and put a dream in forward motion. Could it be funded creatively through his estate, sharing proceeds also designated for his family? Yes. Could it be named after him? The Roy E. Burgess II Fund--done!

What things are special to you? What will you do to keep them alive?"

In addition to a great photo of Roy, the ad centers on a show shot from Into the Woods, featuring Hannah Zold and Rita Markova.

Roy has been a vital member of the Barksdale family for as long as I can remember. He acted (and sang) on the Tavern stage in the 1968 production of Oliver!, and in H.M.S. Pinafore in 1981. Whether performing on stage, governing in the Board room, or cheering in the audience (he hasn't missed a Barksdale production in decades!), Roy has come to understand that Barksdale depends on his participation and support for its very survival. So he has been a generous annual contributor year after year, and, about two years ago, he became the first supporter to let us know that he had included Barksdale in his will.

Now he's also designated Barksdale as an annual recipient of funding of the Roy E. Burgess II Fund that will be administered by The Community Foundation in perpetuity.

We can't thank Roy enough for acting on his commitment to Barksdale Theatre. For generations to come, it will be Roy's thoughtful planning that will keep Barksdale growing and going strong.

A big part of my job is working with supporters on their planned giving. If you'd like to support Barksdale today or in the future, please give me a call and I'll be happy to meet with you.

--Phil Whiteway

Everything's Coming Up Halenda

Posted by John Steils

Kathy Halenda, the wonderful Richmond-raised actress who starred in Barksdale’s recent productions of Mame and Disney’s High School Musical will be lighting up another stage about an hour down the road next week. Kathy is starring as Mama Rose in the national tour of Gypsy (see photo), stopping for one night at Charlottesville’s Paramount Theatre.

Her national reviews thus far have been unanimous raves:

“Gypsy has at least three things going for it -- the beautiful melodies of Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim's witty lyrics, and American stage veteran Kathy Halenda, a woman big-voiced enough to sing the U.S. national anthem at Fenway Park, and bold enough to make us care about the original stage mommie dearest.” – London Free Press

“Great sets, great costumes and a great Rose!” – Binghamton Sun-Bulletin

“Everything’s Coming Up Rose!” – New Haven Advocate

“Halenda—taking charge the moment she arrives onstage—brings exuberance, energy and physical bravado to her character, making Rose larger than life. The other actors rarely show as much depth as she does, and rarely command such attention.” – Yale Daily News

Also appearing in the national tour of Gypsy is another Barksdale all-star. Rachel Abrams plays Mazeepa (the stripper with the helmet to the right of the photo). Rachel starred with Barksdale during each of the last two summers. She played Janis Joplin, Connie Francis and others in Beehive in 06, and the Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods in 07. In Gypsy, she’s also understudying Kathy as Mama Rose.

Called “the greatest of all American musicals” by the New York Times, Gypsy is the story of a quintessential stage mother, her dreams for her children, and the daughter who dared to live her own dream. From the first trumpet blast to the last hot spotlight, this classic Broadway show packs a powerful wallop, serving up one popular standard after another—songs like “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “Let Me Entertain You,” “You Gotta Have a Gimmick,” and “Together Wherever We Go.”

The Paramount performance will be Wednesday, November 7 at 8 pm. A group from the cast of Mame is planning on going up, and we hope lots of Richmonders will drive to C’ville to welcome Kathy back to her home state.

Gypsy was written by three virtuosos of American musical theater: Arthur Laurents (book), Jule Styne (music), and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics). The original production starring Ethel Merman and directed by Jerome Robbins was an instant hit when it opened at the Broadway Theatre in 1959. Subsequent revivals have garnered a total of three Tony Awards and featured such talents as Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly and Bernadette Peters in the role of Rose.

Tickets are $58.50, $61.50, $64.50, and $69.50. (Barksdale's prices are starting to look pretty good, aren't they?) Half-price student rush seats and group discounts are also available. Tickets are currently on sale online and through the Paramount's box office at 434-979-1933. Also, as of this writing, Chase Kniffen has a couple or three great seats that he needs to sell. You can reach Chase at C.Kniffen@BarksdaleRichmond.org.

--John Steils

Meet Our Touring Actors - Part II

Posted by Bruce Miller

Theatre IV is the Children's Theatre of Virginia. Since our founding in 1975, we have toured national caliber educational programs to Virginia's public and private schools. It's a major part of our mission as a nonprofit organization.

It's also a major component of our business model. The total of the combined annual budgets of Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV is approximately $5 million. Of that amount, approximately $1.4 million is generated by touring operations.

The same performances that we tour to Virginia schools for a significantly discounted fee (averaging about $1.40 per student) sell in the national market for approximately $3,000 per day. We regularly tour throughout Virginia, 32 other states on the eastern half of the U. S., and the District of Columbia.

Yesterday and today I'm introducing you to the talented professional actors who work full time for our touring company and make all of this possible. I've tried to subdivide a picture that was taken at our annual Tourmite Party; I apologize for the photos looking a bit like puzzle pieces pulled from a larger image. That's exactly what they are.

In the first photo (seen above and to the left), we have Faith Boles at the top, with her chin half obscured by the curly head of Mike Bash. Mike's left arm is around the shoulder of Michael Ruff (wearing the baseball cap), and just below Mike Bash's curly head is Garrett Weeda, with his right arm raised in, I think, some sort of hip hop gesture. The two smiling faces below Garrett and Michael are Jennifer Zubernick and Jonathan Niotis. Stephanie Hill is the lovely face at the bottom of the puzzle piece.

Faith Boles, Michael Ruff and Garrett Weeda are all in the cast of The True Story of Pocahontas. Mike Bash and Stephanie Hill are in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Jonathan Niotis and Jennifer Zubernick will be touring with Jack and the Beanstalk. Garrett, Jennifer and Stephanie are returning to Theatre IV for a second year; Faith, Jonathan, Michael and Mike are joining us for their first season.

Faith Boles was hired in our Memphis auditions. She graduated from Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA, and came to us after acting gigs with the Lake Dillon Theatre in Colorado. We cast Mike Bash out of our Boston auditions. Mike hails from Red Bank, NJ, and graduated from Emerson College in Boston. His previous acting work was with Zeropoint Productions and the Longwood Players, both of Boston.

Michael Ruff is another one of our Memphis hires. He is a native of Oklahoma, and graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State. His last acting contract before moving to Richmond was with the Off Square Theatre in Jackson Hole, Wyoming (pictured to the left). Nice work if you can get it. Garrett Weeda is a Madison grad, and spent the summer with the Park Playhouse in Albany, NY.

Jennifer Zubernick graduated from Wilkes University in PA, and lists the Shea Theatre in New York among her previous credits. Jonathan Niotis was cast out of our Atlanta auditions. He graduated from the University of Miami and recently performed with the Jerry Herman Ring Theatre in that same city. Stephanie Hill spent the summer in between her two Theatre IV tours working for The Lost Colony. She is a VCU grad, and appeared on Theatre IV's mainstage in Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

Our next group of actors, pictured to the right, includes (left to right) Renee Monico, Liz Ballard and Jon Perez. Now before you think that any of our actors are truly bizarre (they may be; I don't know them that well yet), I remind you that this group photo was taken at a party with a Western / Hawaiian / pirate theme (it's a bit of an inside joke), and our intrepid trespians outfitted themselves in their best Yee-haw, Ahoy and/or Aloha-inducing garb. Renee and Liz are new to us this year, and they both will be appearing in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Jon is returning for his second touring season, and he's in the cast of Jack and the Beanstalk.

We cast Renee out of our Boston auditions. She graduated from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, and came to Richmond after a contract with New England's prestigious (and beautiful) Goodspeed Opera House, pictured to the left. Liz was cast in Atlanta, and graduated from Catawba College. She's a native of Culpepper, VA. Jon was cast in our Charlotte auditions. He graduated from Southern Illinois University, and previously toured with the California Theatre Company.

Our final group of touring actors includes (left to right) Ronnie Brown, Meghan Kelleher, Brian Tarter, Nicole Wakefield and Darrick Penny. Ronnie and Meghan are in the cast of Jack and the Beanstalk; Brian and Nicole perform in The True Story of Pocahontas. Derrick is in The Song of Mulan. Nicole is returning for her second touring season with Theatre IV; the other four are new to our company this year.

Ronnie Brown graduated from Penn State, and recently worked on the HBO Miniseries, John Adams (pictured to the left with biographer David McCullough). Last spring and this summer, he was employed on the running crews of Theatre IV's The Wizard of Oz and Barksdale's Into the Woods. Meghan Kelleher was hired in Atlanta. She graduated from Emory and Henry, and performed previously in the company at Mill Mountain Theatre. Brian Tarter (our tallest actor at 6' 4" or more), graduated from Ashland University in Ohio, and performed previously at the Huron Playhouse.

Nicole Wakefield (partially obscured in the photo) was cast out of Memphis, but appeared as a child in Theatre IV's productions of Babes in Toyland and The Music Man. Other local theatre credits include roles at Swift Creek Mill Theatre and the West End Assembly of God. Last but not least, Darrick Penny was cast out of our Atlanta auditions. He graduated from Elon with a BFA in Musical Theatre and a minor in Spanish.

We wish all of our fine actors a most successful first semester, and thank them for their talent and hard work.

--Bruce Miller

Our Policy Regarding Understudies

Posted by Bruce Miller

A couple comments have crossed my desk in the last few days focusing on our policy and practice regarding understudies. Phil and I had a vigorous discussion this afternoon around this issue, arguing pro and con so that we could both wind up on the same page. It was a fascinating debate.

Let me sum up where our thoughts now stand. I do so partially because we're curious how each of you might feel about these matters.

If an actor becomes incapacitated and is unable to go on stage for one or a few performances, we will try to perform the show with an emergency understudy, if such a remedy seems appropriate, and if a capable replacement can be found on an emergency basis. Recent examples include the following.

* Scott Wichmann injured himself during a performance of Scapino! Because of the unique nature and size of his role, we felt it would be impossible to find a suitable replacement with no notice. We cancelled three performances until Scott was well enough to perform again. The cancelled ticket holders were disappointed.

* Robin Arthur became ill during the run of Mame. The director/choreographer of the show, K Strong, was able to go on in her place, albeit with no rehearsal. The show went on as scheduled with no cancellations, and the audience was pleased.

* Robin O’Neill lost her voice during the final weekend of Into the Woods. The director/choreographer of the show, Robin Arthur, was able to go on in her place, book in hand, for one performance. The show went on as scheduled with no cancellations, and the audience was pleased.

If an actor informs us of a performance conflict before rehearsals begin, we have the choice of hiring that actor or someone else. If we choose to hire the actor with the conflict, it is our responsibility to hire and rehearse a capable understudy to take over the role in the original actor’s absence. The expectation is that there will be no appreciable drop in artistic quality while the original actor is away. Recent examples include the following.

* Susan Sanford informed us before accepting her role in The Man Who Came to Dinner that previously arranged vacation plans made it impossible for her to perform during one week of the run. We hired and rehearsed Jan Guarino to replace her during that week. Jan did a great job and the audience thoroughly enjoyed the show. Coincidentally, Susan had stepped in for Jan several months earlier when Jan had to leave the cast of Annie Get Your Gun to begin another contract.

* Emily Cole Bitz informed us before accepting her role in Smoke on the Mountain that she had a family commitment that would cause her to be out of town during one week of the run. We hired and rehearsed Marianne Minton to replace her during that week. Marianne did a great job and the audience loved the show.

* Scott Wichmann and Jen Meharg informed us before accepting their roles in The Odd Couple that they had an out-of-town wedding obligation that would cause them to miss one week during the run. We hired and rehearsed Richard Koch and Vickie McLeod to take their places for one week. Richard and Vickie were outstanding, and the audience saw just as good a show as they would have seen with Scott and Jen.

In every instance that an actor has become sick and we have sent a talented but less-than-fully-prepared understudy on stage to play the part, every audience member who has communicated with us has expressed appreciation for us not canceling the show, despite the less than total preparedness of the understudy.

In every instance when an actor has taken a planned leave of absence and we have sent a fully prepared understudy on stage to play the part, the audience has seemingly loved the show. A few audience members, however, have complained that our box office staff failed to notify them of the actor’s planned absence when they purchased their tickets.

When an actor’s absence is planned, we always issue a press release in advance of the understudied performances. Local media outlets sometimes run these press releases; often they do not, or they run them after the fact. We also always announce the planned for cast replacement on this blog. Ticket buyers who want to know about any and all planned cast replacements can always come here to find out what’s up.

In emergency and planned situations, we follow national theatre protocol. We do not ask our box office staff to inform ticket buyers of cast replacements or understudies. There are several reasons why.

1. What we sell at our box office are tickets to shows, not tickets to the solo performance of one actor.

2. We believe it demeans the work of the remaining cast and the understudies to “alert” ticket buyers to a cast change, indirectly implying that the new cast is somehow less worthy than the original cast.

3. We fear that the mere act of informing ticket buyers of the presence of an understudy may make them feel compelled to choose another week, thereby placing an unfair burden on the remaining cast and the understudy who are then forced to perform for half-houses or worse.

4. It is not possible or appropriate to provide our box office staff with all the information they may need to answer questions about why the actor is absent, how large is the role of the absent actor, how close is the skill set of the understudy to the skill set of the original actor, is the understudy fully prepared, how does the cast change impact the show.

5. We have no way of knowing which audience member is determined to see which actor, and we don’t want to put ourselves in a position of second-guessing who is coming to Annie Get Your Gun specifically to see Jan Guarino, or The Man Who Came to Dinner specifically to see Susan Sanford, or Smoke on the Mountain specifically to see Emily Cole Bitz, or The Odd Couple specifically to see Scott Wichmann and/or Jen Meharg. We welcome questions from ticket buyers about whether this or that favorite actor is going to be in this or that performance. Our box office staff will do its best to answer those questions, but we don’t initiate them.

6. Finally, if a single ticket buyer is dissatisfied with any aspect of a Barksdale performance, we welcome their constructive criticism and we apologize for their disappointment. If a subscriber is dissatisfied with any aspect of a Barksdale performance, we offer them a cash refund, no questions asked.

We always announce understudies to the audience prior to the performance in which the understudy will be appearing. And if we were to ever believe that any given Barksdale performance were to be less than professional, we would offer refunds to all ticket buyers who requested them, be they single ticket buyers or subscribers.

This is our policy regarding understudies. We believe it is in keeping with national best practices. We believe the refund policy goes well beyond national best practices. We welcome your input and opinions.

--Bruce Miller

"Into the Woods" Gives Back

As if doing a full length Sondheim weren’t enough, several of the rising young stars of Into the Woods, now playing on our Signature Season at Willow Lawn, are joining forces to produce and present a Musical Theatre Cabaret as a benefit for Richmond's Theatre Artist Fund.

Zak Resnick (one of our charming Princes, pictured to the left), Rita Markova (our lovely Cinderella) and Drew Seigla (Jack of “fee fi fo” fame) will be joined by Amy Hruska, Jackie Jones, Katrinah Lewis, Robyn O’Neill, Kim Reuter, Craig Smith and Hannah Zold as ten of Virginia’s finest theatre voices come together to present a harmonious evening of musical magic.

There will be two performances of the Cabaret on the lobby stage at Barksdale Willow Lawn. Performance dates and times are Saturday, August 4, 12 midnight (following the Saturday evening Into the Woods performance) and Tuesday, August 7, 8 pm. Patrons will sit at tables, cabaret style, and the house and cash bar will be open 30 minutes prior to curtain.

Tickets are $25 ($20 for Barksdale and Theatre IV subscribers and anyone holding Into the Woods tickets for August 4, $10 for our young company members from Disney’s High School Musical). All but $10 of each ticket price is tax deductible. Everybody who’s anybody in the theatre community will be there, and it’s going to be FUN. So call the Barksdale box office to make your reservations today – 282-2620.

All ticket proceeds will be donated to the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund, a program of the Richmond Alliance for Professional Theatres (RAPT) and the Community Foundation. The Richmond Theatre Artists Fund helps with the emergency needs of metro Richmond theatre artists who are confronted by insurmountable financial challenges due to major illness or some other tragedy beyond their control.

Prior to the establishment of the endowed fund, the theatre community raised emergency funds on a case by case basis. Over the past dozen or so years, theatre artists have raised tens of thousands of dollars to:
provide new housing for an actor with AIDS who lost his job and was thrown out onto the street when his condition was disclosed,

make mortgage payments for a lifelong theatre administrator who was about to lose her home as her husband (a theatre tech director) struggled for more than a year with brain cancer, and

pay for critical medications for a cherished actress fighting against terminal cancer.

So why not support a GREAT cause and enjoy a wonderful evening’s entertainment at the same time? Three cheers to Zak and company for this wonderful gift to our community. I hope to see you there.

--Bruce Miller

Arms and the Giantess

Ah, Picasso's Guernica. My second most favorite painting in the world. Ever since it appeared on the cover of my high school Sunday School book in the late 60s, I've been bowled over by this mural. And once, when it was on tour to the U. S., I had a chance to see it at MOMA live and in person. It was incredible--huge and devastating--a perfect depiction of the chaos and suffering of senseless, meaningless war. Violence visiting unannounced.

When we first started talking about the lady giant's arm in Into the Woods, Guernica is the image that popped into my head, specifically the lower left corner of this majestic painting. But Robin Arthur, our brilliant director, was far wiser than me, and wanted not a surrealistic arm, but a realistic one.

One that would take lots of time and money to make.

I’m writing this blog entry to correct a misperception brought about by the questions of a fellow scribe (one whom I respect mightily, by the by). While sorting through his thoughts on Into the Woods on his wonderful blog, he speculates that he’s seen the giantess’s arm from Act II of I the W in a past Theatre IV production!

After receiving my fourth or fifth guess as to which Theatre IV production featured said appendage, I want to set the record straight and put the guessing game to rest. Every inch of the arm is brand new. It was made specifically for this production of Into the Woods by the same guys who build props for GWAR. And it cost about the same as a 1990s Accord with 150,000 miles on it—dare I say an arm and a leg.

After spending all that money, I want to squelch the rumor that this pivotal prop is nothing more than some odd bit of brachial detritus pulled from a dusty bin of leftovers from shows gone by. I confess that I didn’t want to spend the money—partly cause I’m cheap and partly because the arm languishes for such a short time on stage. But Robin really wanted a realistic three-dimensional arm, and in the end, Robin won. I may be cheap, but I’m not stupid. Robin has a mean left hook.

Anyway, to the left and above are pictures of the hand part of the arm, before the arm itself was stuffed and costumed. The real arm looks much better than the photo, so that's why I led off this posting with a Picasso.

I guess I should have listed the arm’s credits in the playbill, so that everyone could see that she was making her Richmond stage debut.

If anyone would like to buy her after the show’s over, I’m open to offers. Otherwise I’ll have to see what I can get for her as a trade-in.

--Bruce Miller

Propping Up "The Odd Couple"

How nice it was to see a prop gain attention in Susan Haubenstock’s rave review of The Odd Couple, now playing at Barksdale Hanover Tavern. “Terrie Powers and David Powers provide the shabby Manhattan apartment set, with the requisite swinging door to the kitchen,” Haubenstock comments in the Times-Dispatch. “There’s even an A&P grocery bag for authenticity.”

Well, actually there are three, sitting jauntily upstage center as the curtain rises (if we had a curtain), filled with authentic-looking garbage from the mid-60s. Judging from his rubbish, Oscar Madison has a bit of a sweet tooth (Junior Mints, Little Debbie Snack Cakes) and limited cooking ambitions (lots of crushed Campbell’s Soup cans, Lays chips bags, and empty egg cartons). He also seems to enjoy the occasional drink.

But what about those A&P bags? I decided to go directly to the source—the brother/sister design team of Terrie and David Powers.

“Actually they’re Ukrop’s bags,” confessed Terrie, “but I turned them inside out, removed the paper handles, ironed them, and then glued vintage A&P logos onto each bag. Including the staining (I wanted each bag to look like it had been there for a while, so I ‘painted’ grease stains onto the appropriate places), the three bags took me about five hours.”

“I didn’t know at first what grocery chains would be appropriate for mid-60s Manhattan, so I went on-line to research grocery trends during that period. I learned that A&P was a market leader in Manhattan throughout the mid- and late-60s. And when I researched A&P logos, I eventually found the 1964 logo that we’re using. Luck was with me. The vintage logo is red, orange and yellow (the one pictured above is slightly newer and all red). The orange and yellow worked perfectly because those colors and shades are in sync with the color palette I’m using throughout the set.”

“I transferred the logo onto Picasa, the image system I use on my computer, and blew it up to the correct size, adjusting the colors to be sure they didn’t fade as the image enlarged. I then printed the logos, cut them out and adhered them to each bag.”

“The part I hadn’t counted on was how wrinkled the bags would become as I turned them inside out. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t flip them without the wrinkles. So that’s when I decided to iron the bags, mainly so that the logos would adhere properly. With just a little bit of steam, the ironing worked perfectly. After gluing the logos on, I ironed them too, until they really conformed to the bags’ surface.”

As producers, we’re so appreciative of the hard work of our props staff. Our directors and casts need no “propping up,” but our productions do. Jay Dempsey’s props for Into the Woods, and Terrie’s props for The Odd Couple and the upcoming Disney’s High School Musical, show just how much can be achieved by going the extra mile.

When you go to The Odd Couple, take a minute to notice the 1964 Manhattan White Pages that sits on the downstage phone table. That was about a 6-hour project, and it’s authentic in its appearance, complete with cover ads for the New York World’s Fair.

See you at the theatre!

--Bruce Miller