Why "Becky's New Car" Made It onto our Tavern Season

Posted by Bruce Miller
With millions of plays out there, each one yearning for production, how and why do I pick the plays that wind up on one of our Barksdale and Theatre IV seasons? That is our #2 FAQ. #1 is, "Why did you guys name it Theatre IV?"

Beginning with Why "Lend Me a Tenor" Made It onto our Signature Season (9/08/2011), I'm starting a new blog series to address that #2 question. Each post in the series will be tagged with the label "Why," so if you ever want to go back and read previous posts in the same series, you'll be able to do so by clicking on the "Why" label that will follow each article.

Barksdale's mission is to produce in Central Virginia national caliber productions of the GREAT comedies, dramas and musicals--past, present and future. In other words, we seek to produce plays that have significance and import, plays that leave a lasting impact on the field.

If the assessed "greatness" is in the arena of literature or art, we tend to present the play in our Signature Season at Willow Lawn and the historic Empire. If the assessed "greatness" is in the arena of entertainment or popularity, we tend to schedule the play at Hanover Tavern.

Re-reading, them sounds like fightin' words--and I'm in no way seeking a dispute. Yes, I think Becky's seeks and achieves "greatness" as literature and art. I also know for a fact that it clearly has achieved already "greatness" as popular entertainment. It is one of the most frequently produced new American plays created between 2000 and 2009. Securing 24 regional productions in three short years is a feat of which most playwrights could only dream.

Only time will tell whether Becky's New Car will earn its place as one of the artistically great American comedies of the aught decade of the 21st Century. I think it might.

There is another rationale that led to our selection of Becky's New Car.

Our goal at Barksdale Theatre is to establish in Central Virginia a major, nonprofit, professional theatre of national standing. Three years ago, during strategic planning sessions, our Board of Trustees asked various stakeholders what new initiatives were needed to grow the national reputation of our company. Our audience, our artists, our funders and our colleague organizations suggested that there were four things Barksdale should do to participate more fully in the American professional theatre community, thereby enhancing Richmond's profile among the nation's great theatre cities.

1. We should create on a regular basis world premieres of new comedies, dramas and musicals that originate here and then earn productions at other professional theatres around the country.

2. We should further support new work by being an early producer of new plays created at other regional theatres, relying less on plays that have already been successful on and off Broadway.

3. We should recruit theatre artists of national standing to come to Richmond to work side-by-side with our outstanding local professionals.

4. We should mount national caliber productions here and then seek to transfer the best of those productions to New York or other major national markets.

Following in the footsteps of our productions of Boleros for the Disenchanted by Jose Rivera (2009-2010) and Legacy of Light by Karen Zacarias (2010-2011), Becky's New Car by Steven Dietz (2011-12) is our third effort to fulfill the second objective noted above. In the coming months, we will address the first objective with our world premieres of Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas and Scorched Earth.

This is an exciting time for Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV. We're taking seriously our goal of increasing the national impact and prominence of our theatre. We're choosing not to rest comfortably on the status quo. If we (and that "we" involves a LOT of people) are able to create a theatre of national prominence here in Central Virginia, I believe it will benefit greatly every theatre, theatre artist, and theatre lover in town.

I hope you'll buy tickets to both of our current comedies: Lend Me a Tenor at Willow Lawn and Becky's New Car at Hanover Tavern. They are fun and exciting shows. We need and are working hard to earn your support.

--Bruce Miller

Open Call Auditions - October 1

Posted by Bruce Miller
At Barksdale, our commitment is and always has been to professional theatre artists based in Central Virginia. The vast majority of the actors, directors, musicians, designers, stage managers and crew members whom we employ live in Greater Richmond. Changing this commitment is not under discussion.

One of our major goals for the next five years is to grow Barksdale into one of the preeminent regional theatres in the United States. We're well aware that this is an ambitious goal. We're excited to set our sights high.

As a component of strategic planning, we've been surveying our major stakeholders (ticket buyers, donors, volunteers, independent artists, colleague theatres), asking them for their input into the future of our nonprofit company. Virtually 100% of the people we've talked to agree that Barksdale should continue to seek national caliber excellence and recognition.

When we asked for suggestions of specific strategies Barkdale should pursue, the vast majority agreed that we should seek to attract nationally successful artists to Richmond to comprise 5 to 10% of our workforce, thereby adding to our national profile and providing local professionals with opportunities to network with guest artists who work at the national level.

Last season, four of our mainstage productions featured the talents of national professionals:
White Christmas - actors Kevin Earley, Daryl Joe, Kathy Halenda (RTCCA nomination), Ben Houghton, Freddy Kimmel, Michelle Lookadoo (RTCCA nomination), Andrea Rivette;
Legacy of Light - actors Patricia Duran, Tamara Johnson (RTCCA nomination), Ricardo Melendez;
The Bluest Eye (co-produced with Theatre VCU) - actor David Raine and director April Jones; and
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - actors Rachel Abrams (RTTCA nomination) and Jeff McCarthy (RTCCA nomination).

Approximately 150 Richmond-based theatre artists worked with these 14 national guest artists to create Barksdale's ten mainstage productions in 2010-11.

If you would like to be cast in one of Barksdale's twelve 2011-12 mainstage productions (this figure includes our three co-productions with Cadence Theatre Company), we hope you will register for and attend our auditions on October 1. We will be conducting three multi-show auditions during the coming 12 months, open to both union and non-union actors. We ask all actors interested in working at Barksdale to participate in at least one open audition each year. The three auditions will be held in October, January and May.

The Saturday, October 1 Open Call will take place at the historic Empire Theatre, 114 W Broad Street, from 10 to 4, by appointment only. Pre-registration is required, and can be obtained by calling 804-783-1688 Opt. 3, Monday through Friday, 9 to 5.

We are seeking actors age 18 and up for the following productions: Always…Patsy Cline, God of Carnage, August: Osage County, The Stinky Cheese Man and other fairly stupid tales, Scorched Earth, Seussical, and Spring Awakening. The role of Patsy Cline will be played by Debra Wagoner. Three roles in August: Osage County have also been pre-cast (contact Cadence Theatre for more information). All other roles are open. Exact dates of these productions can be found on the websites of Barksdale Theatre, Theatre IV, and Cadence Theatre. All roles are paid.

Our offices are closed today, Labor Day, Monday, September 5.

Auditioning actors should prepare either:
1) a brief song (bring sheet music in your key; accompanist provided), or
2) a brief monologue, or
3) 16 bars of a song and a brief monologue.

All actors should bring a resume and headshot stapled together.

For more information; call 804-783-1688 Opt. 3.

Hope to see you there.

--Bruce Miller