The Galeski Foyer - Part II

Posted by Bruce Miller
Our foyer at Barksdale Theatre at Willow Lawn may not be as elegant as the foyer of the National Theatre of Prague (see Progress Continues on Galeski Foyer, posted below), but it’s becoming more impressive bit by bit. Our thanks go out for:
* the hard work, leadership, and financial contributions of Barksdale Board leader John Moon;
* the volunteer design support of Emmy-winning art director David Crank; and
* the major sustaining operational support of Carrie Galeski.

In no small part, these three are leading the charge forward as we continue to build an inviting and exciting entryway to our theatre at Willow Lawn.

That's our friend Carrie Galeski in the photo above and to the right. She's the one holding the award she earned for her work with the Executive Women's Golf Association.

In my last blog report on efforts to spruce up our Willow Lawn facilities (see The Clean Lobby, Sept. 23, 2008), I commented on the fresh crimson paint job, the new hanging lights outside the box office, the sparkling track lighting, the “etched logo” on the glass of our front door, and plans for several more improvements. Now that several of the “several more” have been completed, it’s time to take another look.

Foremost among the recent improvements is a flat screen TV (pictured above and to the left) that constantly runs a video loop of our Emmy Award-winning Barksdale commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5Pmj8iFxp0) preceded and followed by stills from currently running shows at Hanover Tavern (Sanders Family Christmas) and the historic Empire (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever). John Moon not only created the video montage, he also bought and contributed the flat screen TV and the professional grade digital player.

Now anyone waiting in line at the box office will have something interesting to watch.

Equally impressive, our tech director at Hanover Tavern, David Powers, has custom designed and built two bench/storage units to provide seating opposite the door of our elevator. Each bench is designed to store the various pieces of hardware employed by our new photo display system. There’s even a hand-crafted logo built into the benches, making them unique works of craftsmanship.

Our photo display area is still somewhat under construction, but it's coming along nicely. We’re continuing to try out various component parts during the runs of The Clean House and This Wonderful Life, determined to find out which components work best. Cast headshots now are hung individually from vertical rods in handsome new frames. We’re also in the process of replacing the large photo display units that ultimately will house the show shots of each production.

We’ll soon be adding headshots of all the volunteer members of our Board of Trustees, and activity shots portraying Barksdale’s various service initiatives that add so much to the cultural life of Central Virginia.

The vintage Barksdale sign is hanging proudly once again just inside and to the right of the front door. Soon there will be an informative plaque explaining the sign’s history. There’s a new rug inside the front door that bears the Barksdale logo in shades of gray. And there’s a new wooden rack card display unit mounted next to the box office window, better enabling us to promote upcoming productions in all our venues.

In an effort to improve accessibility, two bright overhead lights have been added directly over the box office windows, shining straight down, enabling customers to see clearly the paperwork that is presented to them at the box office. Two mini-blinds have been added to the interior of the box office windows, making it possible to secure our ticket center more effectively during non-business hours.

A museum-quality dedication display has been installed to the left just inside the entry door, recognizing the many contributions of Carrie Galeski and her late husband Ed. Carrie Galeski provided the generous gift that made it possible for us to construct the foyer in 1996. Her steadfast support continues to sustain our operations.

The dedication reads as follows:

“Barksdale Theatre’s Entry Foyer is Dedicated to Edward Whitlock Galeski and Carrie Taylor Galeski.

Ed Galeski was born in Richmond and graduated from M.I.T. with an aeronautical engineering degree. During World War II, he was an Army Air Force flight instructor and was instrumental in testing the B-28 Super-Fortresses which did so much in winning the war in the Pacific.

After the war he went into the photo processing business where he established Galeski Photo Center. Ed showed his intellectual and mechanical aptitude becoming one of the first companies good enough to receive the first color processing machines from Kodak. He continued to expand his business to such a high degree of efficiency that it was sought after and finally purchased by a national chain.

In 1971 he married Carrie Taylor. They enjoyed a deep and binding relationship as they worked together for mutual goals. 'Eddie and I moved to the Hanover Courthouse area in 1980, and there we forged a lasting friendship with Pete and Nancy Kilgore along with Muriel McAuley. This was the beginning of our relationship with Barksdale.'

Ed died in 1986, but Carrie continues to be one of Barksdale Theatre’s strongest supporters. We are eternally grateful.”

Indeed we are.

--Bruce Miller

Progress Continues on Galeski Foyer

Posted by Bruce Miller
Until a few minutes ago, this post was going to be about the great work that John Moon is doing to upgrade the entrance to our theatre. Most of you know John as an actor in The Clean House (see photo above and to the right) or as the director of our current, brilliant production of This Wonderful Life.

What some of you may not know is that John is also on our Board. In fact, he’s a former President of the Barksdale Board of Trustees. To our great benefit, John has assumed Board leadership of our commitment to improve and upgrade our Willow Lawn performance facilities.

Sometimes, when I'm writing for this blog, my meanderings don't go the way I think they will. In this instance, I wrote the title, and as I typed the word “foyer,” my mind began to race. I knew that “foyer” was the word selected by the Barksdale powers-that-be in 1996 to indicate the lower lobby I intended to write about. Nonetheless, before I could stop myself, I began Googling to make sure that "foyer" was the right word. Thankfully it was, and is.

But Google can be a harsh mistress. The deeper I followed her into lingua-land, the more questions I had, and the more discoveries I made about this slightly out-of-the-ordinary word, "foyer."

How would readers pronounce it?--I asked myself. How would I pronounce it if I weren’t thinking about it? Why is the correct pronunciation open to debate? Where did the word originate? What does it actually mean?

I know. I’m a freak. I’m sorry. But first things first.

This post is now going to be all about the word “foyer” and how it relates to theatre history. I’ll get to John’s wonderful upgrades soon. I promise.

“Foyer” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “an anteroom or lobby especially of a theater; also, an entrance hallway.” Adding more fuel to the fire—a little foreshadowing here—Answers.com posts this definition: “a lobby or anteroom, as of a theater or hotel; an entrance hall; a vestibule.”
Dictionary.com weighs in with a similar theme: “the lobby of a theater, hotel or apartment house; a vestibule or entrance hall.” That's a photo of the "foyer" of the National Theatre of Prague to the right.

"Foyer,” therefore, seems like the perfect word to indicate the lower lobby of Barksdale Theatre at Willow Lawn. After all, our upstairs lobby is our official “lobby,” and the lower lobby is the “anteroom” or “entrance hallway” through which one must pass if one is intent on reaching the “lobby" proper. From all accounts the word “foyer” seems to conjure up images of theatre. So, “foyer” it is.

But … actually, the phrase selected in 1996 to serve as the moniker for this illustrious space was “entry foyer.” The official name of this room is the “Galeski Entry Foyer” (more on “Galeski” soon, I promise, when I actually begin writing about John’s upgrades).

Now that I know what “foyer” really means, saying “entry foyer” seems akin to saying “entry entrance hallway,” which I think we all can agree is redundant. So, at least for me, this room will henceforward be the “Galeski Foyer”—the word “entry” being ... silent.

Now's when the fun really begins. How do we pronounce it? Here’s what I thought I knew.

There’s the American pronunciation: foi'ər ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?foyer001.wav=foyer ). Go ahead. Click it. It’s cool. It rhymes with “lawyer.” Well, almost.

And there’s the French pronunciation: foi'ā' ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?foyer002.wav=foyer ). It rhymes with Charles Boyer, except you’re probably not old enough to remember who Charles Boyer is.

So, based on what I thought I knew, I figured if you wanted to sound like “Joe Sixpack” you could use the American pronunciation, and if you wanted to sound like “the cultural elite” you could use the French pronunciation. To me, it was Red State Blue State simple.

Of course I was wrong.

If you really want to sound like an Ahtistic Directah, you would use the real French pronunciation: fwä'yā' (listen for the third pronunciation after clicking http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=foyer&submit=Submit ). But if you really went around saying that, not only would you sound snooty, you'd also run the risk of sounding stupid.

In French, the word “foyer” doesn’t mean what it means in English. In modern French, the word “foyer” means “home” or “hostel.” The most common use of the word “foyer” in modern French is in the phrase “femme au foyer,” which means “housewife.”

You see, “foyer” meaning the entrance hall that leads one to the lobby of a theatre is not a French word at all. It’s an English word. Who knew? The correct English pronunciation is foi'ā' ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?foyer002.wav=foyer ). Don’t take my word for it. Go to London and ask anybody.

Here's where the theatre history kicks in. In days of yore, early London theatregoers of means enjoyed a social meeting room that they could adjourn to when they wanted to warm up during intermission. The common feature of these rooms was a large, roaring fireplace. The theatres themselves were not adequately heated, being relatively cavernous spaces, so social rooms with hearths were provided for the upper crust. They were located off the lobby and you went there to get nice and toasty before you returned to your seat for Act II.

The English chose the word "foyer" as the name for these rooms because, at the time, referencing a little French every now and then was cool among the socially elite. And the Old French word "foier" meant "fireplace" or "hearth."

As more theatres were built, designers began to open up the "foyers" to everyone, not just the wealthy few. In more and more theatres, audiences began entering the "foyers" from the street. They'd enter, warm up, then proceed into the lobby, and finally into the theatre itself. Check out the fireplace to the right, located in the "foyer" of the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway.

Today, in modern French, the word for “fireplace” is “cheminée," the Old French word “foier” no longer exists, and the modern French word "foyer" means "home" and has nothing to do with theatres. So when we correctly pronounce "foyer" as foi'ā' ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?foyer002.wav=foyer ), we do so because that's how they say it in England, not because that's how they say it in France.

Of course, we're in the United States of America, and you can pronounce “foyer” anyway you want. All American dictionaries list the American pronunciation first and the English pronunciation second, indicating that both pronunciations are perfectly acceptable. I guess it's just another case of po-tay-to / po-tah-to.

But wait a minute. Isn't there a large fake fireplace in the upstairs lobby of Barksdale's Willow Lawn facility? Doesn't that mean that the real “foyer” at Barksdale is the upstairs lobby, and the downstairs lobby is more appropriately called a …

Fogetaboutit.

--Bruce Miller

Carol Meese Shares Her Paintings

Posted by Bruce Miller
There’s no intermission in This Wonderful Life, so when you come to visit Scotty in Bedford Falls be sure to arrive a little early or stay a little late to take in the work of Petersburg artist Carol Meese, now on display in our lobby. Carol is an artist whose paintings I’ve enjoyed when I’ve visited her Richmond gallery space at Crossroads Arts Center, located near Willow Lawn, just north of the intersection of Broad and Staples Mill.

I’ve always found her work to be “dramatic,” and so I wasn’t surprised when I met her to learn that she has a background in theatre. Carol has graciously leant nine works from two recent shows, Runway and Color and Light Revisited.

Her artist statement for Runway reads as follows:

“I have long been enamored by high fashion. As an art form that embraces fantasy, fashion is at once sumptuous, voluptuous, celebratory, transformative and fragile. Growing up around theatre, I fell in love with costumes and their magical ability to transform. I had my favorites: red cowboy boots, pink rabbit fur slippers, a ruby brocade smoking jacket, six inch silver heels, long red gloves, a black squash velvet hat I wore in Paris, a silver cigarette holder and case (I never smoked), my strapless blue chiffon prom dress, black combat boots.

Designers like John Galliano and Christian LaCroix are over the top and lead us to possibilities unimagined. Many of these paintings are inspired by The Runway Shows. Oh if only I could paint like these designers manipulate fabric!

Color, texture, pattern, swirls and folds—all tasks I like to do with paint. I take off, abstracting when I can, offering more permanence than fabric, these works on canvas are meant to delight. They were fun to paint. Hope you enjoy them.”

Her two paintings from Color and Light Revisited are landscapes inspired by views from rooftops in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Other works from this show will be displayed in our lobby next fall, when we kick off our Latino Theatre Festival in partnership with the Latin Ballet.

Thank you, Carol, for sharing your talents with us.

--Bruce Miller

Appearance of Theatres Fails to Pass Muster

Posted by Bruce Miller
I received the following unsigned letter in my office this morning. It’s worth sharing.

“Oct 2, 2008

Dear Mr. Miller:

I write to you without including my name in the interest of simplicity, and hope that I do not offend.

I have found much to love and enjoy in the numerous Barksdale productions that I have seen over the past few years. My first was The Full Monty; the most recent was Guys and Dolls. Doubt was, for me, the most powerful.

When attending Barksdale productions, I feel you should know what a big impression the atmospherics of the Willow Lawn and Empire venues have made on me, and I do not mean in a positive sense.

The Willow Lawn lobby cries out for re-modeling. It puts one in mind of a neglected moose lodge. Its current appearance is jarring and does not do justice to, or reflect, the level of excellence on stage. This is not an expensive proposition and could be solved with some cans of paint and a few trips to Ikea. It needs light colors, modern lighting and sleek, updated furniture. You have talent on your technical staff who would no doubt do a fabulous job of re-modeling.

The Empire Theater is obviously a treasure and beloved by Richmond. I remain mystified, however, by the abject and, frankly, embarrassing appearance of the outside presentation of the theater. It looks abandoned and neglected. The marquee must be lit up! The front of the Empire Theater needs to be lit up to look alive and welcoming! Right now, it looks like it is closed and waiting for demolition. The presentation window boxes which face the street are not lit and do not feature the posters of the show that is currently playing. I cannot understand this. It’s as though what is going on inside the theater is beside the point based on what the outside of the theater is telling the public. One of the presentation windows has broken glass. This makes a very bad impression of neglect.

I realize that keeping a theater in running order is very expensive. The solutions to the above problems, however, do not require huge investments of money.

Best of everything and keep up the otherwise very good work.”

I agree with much of what is included in this letter, and appreciate receiving it. I’ll respond in a subsequent blog posting. Please feel free to offer your opinions.

Hope to see you at our rundown theatres!

--Bruce Miller

The Clean Lobby

Posted by Bruce Miller
When you come to see The Clean House, opening this Friday, you’ll notice that our theatrical house is, in fact, noticeably cleaner. After a few weeks’ investment of sweat equity, our hardworking Board is about to complete a redesign of our downstairs lobby.

This is Phase III in the gradual renovation of our Willow Lawn theatre facilities. Phase I was the installation of our new sidewalk awning at the top of the 07-08 Season. Phase II was the addition of our new exterior signage last spring.

As you’ve no doubt discerned, we’re transforming our duckling into a swan step by step, as time and contributed funds allow. We began with those components that you first encounter when walking toward the theatre from the parking lot. Now we’re making our way indoors.

Phase IV will be the cosmetic renovation of our elevator, and then we’ll move onward and upward to our box office and, thereafter, the atrium that surrounds our stairway as it ascends to the theatre proper.

The work on the downstairs lobby is not yet finished, but we’re promising completion of at least the painting before the end of the week.

All thanks go to the two guiding lights of this noble effort:

John Moon (actor, director and past Board President), who has organized and implemented the work. When not laboring in theatre, John is engaged professionally as a designer of exhibits and installations at museums and other cultural institutions nationwide.

David Crank (set and costume designer and former Board member at TheatreVirginia), who has shared with us his design expertise. David just won an Emmy Award for his Art Direction of the John Adams miniseries. Before John Adams, David worked as Art Director of last year’s multiple Oscar-winning film, There Will Be Blood.

Both men have generously donated their time and talents to this project, and we thank them for their gracious contribution to the cause.

You may remember that the downstairs lobby was originally painted a peach / cream color. Various viewers have described the particular tint and its twelve-year patina as “Silly Putty” (Phil), “Band-Aid” (me), and “Nipple” (Page Bond).

Since last the roller met the wall in 1996, the interior surface has become markedly scratched, dinged and smudged, so it was time (past time really) for Extreme Make-Over: Barksdale Edition.

The new color is a deep, dramatic crimson, serving as an elegant background for new photo displays enhanced by new track lighting. A good deal of clutter has been removed from the lobby. We’re creating new, more coordinated and informative interior signage, and constructing a new, comfortable seating area opposite the elevator.

The work was performed on a volunteer basis by Barksdale Board members (ably assisted by Emily Cole from our development staff). David Powers, our Tech Director at Hanover Tavern, is constructing the new seating. Many thanks to all those who made this renovation possible.

As you experience our spruced up digs, please let us know what you think. The theatre’s public spaces are always a work in progress, just as are our continually changing stage sets. We welcome your input, and look forward to seeing you at the theatre!

(Notes on photos: top right - today's view of the wall where our photo boards will go, the church bench will soon be replaced with other seating; top left - the new "etched" logo on our glass front doors, reflecting this morning's sunny parking lot; mid right - Pardon Our Dust; lower left - new lighting outside the box office window; lower right - our staging area in the atrium, the vintage Barksdale sign will soon be re-hung by the front door with a plaque explaining its history.)

--Bruce Miller