Hunter Herdlicka Hits Homer with Henrik

Posted by Bruce Miller
Two of the friends Hannah and I stopped to visit on our recent theatre weekend in New York were actors in shows we went to see. Hunter Herdlicka plays Henrik in A Little Night Music, and the second friend appeared in the ensemble of Ragtime, which closed on Sunday.

I'm being presumptuous when I call Hunter Herdlicka a "friend," although I certainly now consider him to be one. Hunter was a classmate and friend of Zak Resnick's at Carnegie Mellon. When Zak appeared in Into the Woods in the summer of 2007, Hunter came down to Richmond to see the show. He loved it. He and I may have met during that visit; neither one of us is sure.

When Facebook entered the consciousness of guys in their 50s like me--not too long after Into the Woods--I decided it was in Barksdale's best interest for me to "keep in touch" not only with close personal friends, but also friends of friends--professional actors and other theatre artists who had the potential to work with us here in Richmond one day.

I "friend requested" Hunter and several other of Zak's classmates at Carnegie Mellon. I did the same thing with talented theatre students at other universities. I'd send a note with the "friend request" that went something like this: Hunter - I'm shamelessly networking on behalf of Barksdale Theatre, the leading professional theatre in Richmond VA. AEA SPT. I'm the artistic director. I'm trying to strengthen connections and communication with the national talent pool. Thanks.

Truth is, most of these young theatre artists are trying to strengthen their own connections, and so a lot of them accepted me as a friend. Now I know that being a Facebook "friend" isn't the same thing as being a real friend. But in a business where networking and contacts are really important, there's nothing disingenuous about casting a wide net among respected professional colleagues.

For example, when we were casting the role of Trevor in Thoroughly Modern Millie, I turned to my Facebook friends and found Tim Ford. We wound up casting him, he moved to Richmond for the summer, was terrific in the show, and won a Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical. Now he's a friend for real.

Anyway, back to Hunter. When he was cast in Night Music, I wrote him a Facebook message of congratulations. When Hannah and I were making plans to see Night Music, I messaged Hunter again and asked if Hannah and I could stop by after the show.

Part of what I'm after is maintaining my family of professional contacts. The other part of what I'm after is scoring dad points. If you're a freshman in college and interested in theatre, it's got to be at least a little cool to have a dad who knows people in the business.

After exchanging a few nice messages with me, Hunter suggested that Hannah and I approach the stage doorman after the show, mention his name, and come backstage to say hi. We did. He couldn't have been nicer. We talked a while about Barksdale and Into the Woods. Then he showed us all around the Night Music set--really crowded by the way, even more so than the notoriously crowded Empire. We stood onstage and looked out into the house. Once we were off the set, I took his picture with Hannah, and then we all headed out into the cold.

Hunter is now an official Friend of Barksdale, and friend of professional theatre in Richmond in general. I encourage all of you to try to catch his performance in A Little Night Music. Not only is he terrific in the show, he's a heck of a nice guy. I can't thank him enough for being so friendly and gracious.

The second friend we met at the stage door of Ragtime is a young man who first began working at Theatre IV when he was around eight years old. He did several shows with us as a child, and now he's on Broadway. We had a GREAT visit. I'll tell you more tomorrow.

Thanks to all of you for your support of Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV. We couldn't do it without YOU.

--Bruce Miller

If They Can Make It There

Posted by Bruce Miller
Hannah and I had the chance to visit with four actor friends--three old and one new--on our recent trip to New York. We caught up with the first two, Zak Resnick and Mark Ludden (below and to the right), at lunchtime on a frigid Saturday morning.

As many of you will remember, Zak recently starred at Barksdale in Into the Woods (Rapunzel's Prince, Second Wolf--above and to the left) and Thoroughly Modern Millie (Jimmy--below and to the left). Mark is a veteran of one of Barksdale's several productions of Joseph/Dreamcoat, which preceded my tenure as artistic director. Both Zak and Mark are doing Richmond proud as they put their amazing talents to good work in the Big Apple.

If you've been keeping an eye on Zak's career, you know he's very quickly becoming someone to watch on the Great White Way. There's definitely no moss growing on this boy.

Just before beginning Millie rehearsals last spring, Zak graduated from the professional theatre program at Carnegie Mellon University. In August, he took his final bows in Millie and moved to New York almost before the applause had stopped. Just a few weeks later, he made his Off Off Broadway debut with the New York Musical Theatre Festival playing a leading role in The Cure, a new vampire musical that generated a significant buzz (see my earlier blog post, Zak Zooms in on Vampire Zeitgeist, Friday, Sept 25, 2009).

Then on October 1, Zak and his amazing tenor made it into the studio to record the new CD from the Broadway Boys, a vocal group comprised of 26 of the most accomplished male voices in New York. He was in illustrious company. Also singing on the Boys CD were Jesse Nager from the Broadway cast of Mary Poppins, Danny Calvert and Landon Beard (Altar Boyz), Telly Leung (Rent), Michael James Scott (Hair), Maurice Murphy (Putnam County Spelling Bee), Daniel Torres (Wicked), Gabe Violett (Spring Awakening), Marty Thomas (Xanadu), and Peter Matthew Smith (Hairspray).

Later in October, Zak made his debut at Joe's Pub, one of the hottest vocal venues in town. He shared his talents with the Public Theater's Music Theater Initiative Songwriters Showcase, singing songs from Dogfight, a new musical by rising composer / lyricist stars Pasek and Paul. Dogfight has just been commissioned by Lincoln Center, and Zak was among those vocalists recruited to showcase the amazing new score in its first public performance.

As a sure sign of his expanding New York profile, Zak was photographed by BroadwayWorld.com in November simply for attending the 6th Annual Broadway Unplugged concert at Town Hall. Bedecked in a golden scarf (see above), Zak stood with one of the evening's star performers, Daniel Reichard (Jersey Boys). Coincidentally, also performing that night at Town Hall was another of Richmond's vocal wunderkinds, Emily Skinner (below and to the left).

This past Monday, Zak joined an All-Star cast at the Canal Room for a one-night-only event celebrating the talents of one of Broadway's most exciting young composers/actors/ vocalists, Jonathan Reid-Gealt. Joining Zak at the mic--or perhaps protocol requires that I say that Zak was joining them--were several of Broadway's most amazing voices, including Jeremy Jordan (currently standing by as Tony in West Side Story--and formerly starring at Firehouse Theatre in Austin's Bridge), Tituss Burgess (recent star of The Little Mermaid and Guys and Dolls), Lauren Kennedy (knocking 'em dead in Vanities and Les Mis--also a former Ashland resident who graciously met with our 2007 Barksdale NYC tour group three years ago when we went to see her in Broadway's Spamalot), plus Quentin Earl Darrington and Bobby Steggert (a personal favorite of mine), both from the cast of the just-closed Ragtime revival.

Zak's career could not hold more promise.

Also making his Mark on American theatre is our other friend, Mr. Ludden. For the last few seasons he has alternated national tours of Les Mis (to the left) and Evita with summer gigs at the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Auburn, New York. Last year at about this time, Mark was one of the Barksdale alum who graciously agreed to talk with our 2009 NYC tour group during brunch in The Rainbow Room.

Hannah and I caught up with Zak and Mark in their current day jobs as singing waiters at Ellen's Stardust Diner--one of the coolest (and hardest to land) gigs going for up-and-coming Broadway singers. If you've never been to Ellen's, you really should give it a try. The great performances come with the price of lunch--and the singers are phenomenal.

Zak sang a couple songs during our time in the diner, easily outdoing Michael Bublé with his cover of the Leonard Cohen classic I'm Your Man. Mark's power baritone shook Ellen's rafters, providing beautiful counterpoint to Zak's pop tenor.

I suppose all the great theatre singers in New York don't come from Richmond, but what we heard on Saturday was proof positive that at least two of them do.

It was great to catch up with both Zak and Mark last weekend, even if the visits were all too short. All we Richmonders owe them our support as they chart their careers in New York New York. I'll try my best to keep all of you apprised of their successes as they achieve them.

And very soon, I'll write about the other two actor friends who graciously greeted us in the Big Apple.

--Bruce Miller

Zak Zooms in on Vampire Zeitgeist

Posted by Bruce Miller
Zak Resnick, who was recently nominated by the Richmond Theatre Critics Circle as Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Jimmy Smith in last summer’s Thoroughly Modern Millie at Barksdale, will be making his NYC theatre debut with the New York Musical Theatre Festival this month, playing a leading role in The Cure, described in blurb-speak as follows:

“In this rock ‘n’ roll fable, two friends stumble across the world’s last surviving vampires. Offered the chance to live forever, one man is seduced while the other barely escapes with his life, setting in motion an even greater fight for survival. At the crossroads of humanity and immortality, lies … THE CURE.”

Is it just me, or do vampires seem to be everywhere these days?


While earning his BFA in Acting and Musical Theatre from Carnegie Mellon University, Zak racked up some NYC concert credits as one of the Broadway Boys, a popular ensemble of tenors who deliver hip renditions of Broadway classics on the cabaret scene.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival marks a great step forward.

In 1983, actor Tim Jerome founded the National Music Theatre Network to produce and present staged readings of promising new musicals, providing NYC exposure and career-building opportunities to countless new composers and lyricists. Four Part Harmony, a new musical about the Vietnam prisoner-of-war experiences of Richmonders Paul and Phyllis Galanti which debuted at Theatre IV in the early 90s, was selected by the NMTN for an NYC reading shortly after its Richmond premiere.
In 2004, realizing that readings were now endemic in American theatre, the NMTN morphed into the New York Music Theatre Festival, presenting full-blown productions of new musicals. For the last five years, the Festival has presented more than 30 new musicals during a three-week fall marathon at venues throughout NYC’s midtown theatre district. Hit shows that have originated at the Festival include Altar Boys, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, and [title of show].

In 2008, [title of show] (a particular favorite of mine) became the first Festival production to transfer to Broadway, complete with its Festival cast.

Many congratulations to Zak for landing this great opportunity so soon after his move to New York. We’ll follow his advancing career with best wishes and great interest.

--Bruce Miller

(All photos are of Zak and the cast of The Cure.)

Come to the Cabaret, Old Chum!

Posted by Bruce Miller
Tonight’s the big night! Broadway Today, a cabaret benefiting the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund, opens in Barksdale’s living room tonight at 8. Tickets are still available, so by all means, COME!

When I say "living room," I mean the loft-like lobby of our intimate Willow Lawn theatre. Audience members will sit in comfortable chairs pulled up to our vintage tavern tables, enjoying some of Richmond’s finest musical theatre voices. The bar will be open throughout the evening, and a fun time will be had by all.

The program is a benefit for the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund. All of the performers are volunteering their time to raise funds for the endowment, which is administered by the Richmond Alliance of Professional Theatres and managed by the Community Foundation. Barksdale is contributing the space, cabaret license, etc., and the goal of the cabaret is to raise around $2,000, which will take the Theatre Artists Fund from its current corpus of approximately $22,000 much closer to the benchmark of $25,000, which we hope to reach prior to Christmas.

Broadway Today is masterminded by that most energized of impresarios—Billy Christopher Maupin. The guiding theme is this: from July through December 2009, Barksdale is running three (count ‘em) new American musicals, all of which originated in the 21st century. The three new shows are Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Empire, Souvenir at Hanover Tavern, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Willow Lawn.

Mr. Maupin has assembled stars from the casts of these three new musicals to sing other songs written in the last few years for today's Broadway. Nancy Crawley (actor photos appear in the order listed), Timothy Ford, Zak Resnick and Ali Thibodeau from the cast of Thoroughly Modern Millie, Audra Honaker from the cast of Spelling Bee, and special guest star Debra Wagoner from the cast of Souvenir will lead the audience on a whirlwind tour of these other 21st Century Broadway hits: Avenue Q, Curtains, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Spring Awakening, Urinetown, Wicked and more!

Maggie Marlin, Millie herself, was to have appeared in the cabaret, but due to last minute vocal strain, she has been replaced by Robin Harris Jones.

The program is conceived and directed by Mr. Maupin, with musical direction by Sandy Dacus and Paul Deiss.

The Richmond Theatre Artists Fund provides emergency relief to local actors, directors, designers and theatre artists and administrators in all disciplines when, through no fault of their own, accident or ill health places one of them in an untenable financial situation. Recent recipients have included Liz Marks, who was able to pay her mortgage during the final months of her life because of support from the Fund, and one of our leading directors who recently was able to avoid having his electricity turned off when the Fund covered his electric bills in the two months following his stroke.

There will be two performances: Sunday (tonight) at 8 and Monday (tomorrow) at 8. Only overflow seating remains for Monday evening’s performance, so why not come tonight. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $15. Barksdale subscribers, students and RAPT Card holders can purchase tickets for only $10.

Hope to see you at the theatre!

--Bruce Miller

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

They Like Us; They Really Like Us

Posted by Bruce Miller
What a weekend! On Friday we opened our colossal hit production of Guys and Dolls. On Saturday we won an Emmy Award. On Sunday we bid a fond farewell to Greater Tuna at Hano …

Wait a minute! What happened on Saturday? Did you say, “WON AN EMMY!!”??

Well, yes, as a matter of fact I did. The 50th Annual Emmy Awards were presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Capital Region) on Saturday, June 14, at the Ritz Carlton in Washington D. C.

And Barksdale Theatre WON!!! (That's Katherine Heigl of Grey's Anatomy kissing our Emmy!)

To quote from their press release, “The Academy’s Emmy Award is the industry’s benchmark for the recognition of television excellence.” The Capital Region includes all of Virginia, Maryland and Washington D. C. So we were up against some pretty serious competition.

In the category “Commercial – Single Spot,” there were five nominations and Barksdale came home a WINNER. All right, I think, actually, WWBT – Joel Traylor, Producer came home a winner. At least it looks like he or they get to keep the tchotchke. But when they read the name of the winner from the dais on Saturday night, they read “Barksdale Theatre Commercial,” and so, as far as I’m concerned, WE WON AN EMMY! (That's Ryan Seacrest of American Idol admiring our Emmy!)

After all, we initiated the commercial, we paid for it, our Marketing Director Sara Marsden art directed it, our actors performed in it, our designers created the sets and costumes that appear in it, our staff brainstormed about what to include in it, our Board approved it, and our theatre’s name is the only name listed in the title.

I in no way want to shortchange or under-recognize the masterful work and creative talent exerted by Joel Traylor and our other friends at WWBT-12. They all did a great job and we couldn’t have done squat without them. But hopefully they won’t mind my swelling with pride over our part in all this either. (That's Jeremy Piven of Entourage smelling our Emmy!)

Congratulations on a job well done to our marketing staff; our directors, choreographers and designers; and our actors: Rachel Abrams, Ford Flannagan, Audra Honaker, Amy Hruska, Katrinah Lewis, Katherine Louis, Billy Christopher Maupin, Robyn O'Neill, Joe Pabst, Steve Perigard, Zak Resnick, Andrea Ross, Russell Rowland, Craig Smith, Eddie Tavares, Harriet Traylor, Jennings Whiteway, Eric Williams and Hannah Zold.

And ... pssst ... if anyone knows where I can acquire an extra one of those attractive statuettes to display in our lobby, call me. Until then, we will simply sign off as – Barksdale Theatre, Central Virginia’s Emmy Award-Winning Stage Company.

I mean, after all, WE WON AN EMMY!!

Here's the Emmy winning commercial:



--Bruce Miller