"Whaddaya Mean? We Only Get to See 5 Minutes of It?"

Posted by Bruce Miller
Many years ago, my dear friend Cynthia Theakston, working in group sales at Theatre IV at the time, came up to me after I'd made some stupid mistake or other and asked, gently, "Now Bruce, what have you learned from this?"

I hear Cynthia's voice every now and then to this day.

There are two things I've learned from my recent decision to add previews to the beginning of the run of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels:

1. Follow my instincts. It was the right thing to do. The cast and crew felt significantly safer and cared for. And the preview performances are going off without a hitch.

2. Define the word "preview" next time. Richmond theatregoers at large don't know what it means.

I'll estimate that two-thirds of the three hundred or so callers who've contacted us at the box office misunderstood what we meant by a "preview" performance. In hind sight, I should have known this. At least in Richmond, "preview" is an insider word.

You know those five-minute promotional teasers you see during the first-half hour of your 21st Century movie-going experience? Many people today call them "trailers," which is their proper name. People of my generation, however, spent decades calling them "previews." If I'm not thinking, I'd probably still call them "previews" if and when I ever had the opportunity to talk about them.

When we announced in the paper that we were re-designating the early performances of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels as "previews," a LOT of ticket holders thought we were going to be showing them a 15 or 20 minute "trailer" of the show, rather than the entire production.

Now we know. We should have defined the word "preview" in the press release we sent to the paper.

A "preview," in theatrical lingo, is a FULL, 99% finished performance of the show being presented, not a snippet. Most folks attending these Dirty Rotten previews tell us that they can't see anything that needs fine-tuning.

Wikipedia defines a theatrical "preview" as follows: "Previews are a set of public performances of a theatrical presentation that precede its official opening. The purpose of previews is to allow the director and crew to identify problems and opportunities for improvement that weren't found during rehearsals and to make adjustments before critics are invited to attend. The duration of the preview period varies, and ticket prices may be reduced."

We've long discussed having previews before all Barksdale productions. What do you think? Should we incorporate "previews" into the schedule of every show we do, and sell them as a subscription option in our brochures?

--Bruce Miller

Ambition

Posted by Bruce Miller
A fabulous time was had last night at the first preview of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The show's not quite all that it's going to be yet, but it's highly entertaining, on the road to dazzling, and pretty damned impressive, I think, for a homegrown production in a community the size of ours.

Did I make the right decision to delay Opening by a week and convert this weekend's existing performances into Half-Price Previews? Others will make that decision, not me.

Last night was the first time we were able to run through the show without stopping. The set changes are complicated, to say the least. Night before last, our world-class stage manager, Ginnie Willard, wisely stopped the show five times. Safety is her number one concern, and God bless her for that.

On Wednesday night, when I made the decision to delay Opening immediately following Act One, Ginnie stopped the show maybe ten times.

Here's my bottom line. I will never ask a cast and crew to jump to full performance level in a show this complex before they've had the chance to run through it several times without stopping. Call me crazy, but please don't call me reckless.

I greatly appreciate all the kind comments from audience members last night who loved the show and couldn't see any reason why I changed the first week to previews. I too thought the show went really well. I couldn't be more proud of our directors, stage managers, cast, orchestra and crew. I also think the entire team was more able to do their best work because they knew the pressure was off.

Everyone, including last night's audience, knew that Ginnie was fully empowered to stop at any moment if she felt anything less than fully in control. That knowledge, I believe, leant a lot of freedom to the proceedings. The cast was able to relax and have fun--because they knew they were safe.

Which leads me to my other bottom line. I'm not going to ask any audience to pay full price for a performance when there's a likelihood that the stage manager will have to stop the show. By next Friday, that likelihood will be reduced to close to zero. At that point, let the full price performances commence!

So how did we get in this situation? We're a live theatre. We're ambitious. We make art. These things happen.

I'm not going to place blame on anyone, but for those who want to place blame, I'm happy to offer this opinion. When a show isn't ready on time, nine times out of ten it's because of deficiencies in planning and budget. Both of those key components are controlled by the producers. At Barksdale, that's me and Phil Whiteway--please excuse my bad grammar.

I'm happy this morning. And proud. And excitedly looking forward to a fun and prosperous summer. I'm glad that Barksdale continues to be ambitious, to bite off more than we reasonably can be expected to chew. I'm crazy about our audience, 95% of whom are supportive and caring, fun-loving and adventurous. I'm grateful to be working in a theatre community like ours, where the vast majority of theatre artists actively route for each other's success.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is off to a promising start. The critics will weigh in next Friday and I can't wait. Let the good times roll!

--Bruce Miller

Half-Price Previews Added to "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"

Posted by Bruce Miller
At last night’s rehearsal for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, I made the decision to delay the Opening of our summer musical by one week. Dirty Rotten will now open on Friday, June 24. The performances scheduled for Fri June 17, Sat June 18, Sun June 19, Wed June 22, and Thurs June 23 all will take place as originally planned, but they are being converted to Half-Price Previews.

As much as we would prefer not to change plans mid-stream, about once every three or four years it becomes advisable to do just that. Delaying the Opening of a show that isn’t quite ready is a national, responsible practice. The last time it happened to us was a few years back with our revival of The Wizard of Oz. The last time a delayed Opening at another theatre affected me personally was earlier this season when, on the day I was scheduled to drive to D. C. to see the first performance of Oklahoma at Arena Stage, I received a call from the box office (I’m an Arena subscriber) advising me that Oklahoma wasn’t ready to open and therefore that evening’s performance had been cancelled.

What does it mean when we say a show isn’t ready? Theatre is a collaboration, and when a production goes smoothly, all partners in that collaboration are able to work effectively, quickly and in sync with each other. Sometimes, especially with complex shows like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the creative partners need an extra few days to get in sync. Maybe the costumes, lights and sound are ready, but the set and props haven’t quite caught up. We’re making art here, not widgets.

Whenever production elements approach completion at slightly different times, it causes actors and/or musicians to lose focus. Last night, I could tell that our terrific cast was unable to concentrate fully on their performances because they were still somewhat unsure as to what exactly was going on behind or beside them. There are two turntables in the show, countless flies, giant panels that move on from stage left and right, several hundred costumes, a free moving giant staircase completely dependent on working hydraulic casters, and a singing/dancing/running cast and crew of close to thirty.

As of today, these talented, hard working theatre pros still have not had a single run through of either act during which the stage manager hasn’t had to stop the proceedings cold. Last night, when one of the hydraulic casters on the giant staircase blew out with a loud pop and hiss in the middle of a set change, I knew it was time for me to step in and give this terrific cast and crew just a little more time.

I can’t ask or expect talented actors to place all their focus on their performances when, for safety’s sake, they still have to direct some of their focus on the two ton unit that is barreling toward them from off stage left.

The show will go on tomorrow night, and I’m confident that audience members who choose to attend the Half-Price Previews will have a great time. But I’ll feel a lot better knowing that the pressure has been lessened, and all involved will now have the chance to participate in several successful run throughs before knocking it out of the park on Opening Night.

If you are holding tickets for one of these Half-Price Previews, and would like to exchange for a later performance, please call our box office at 282-2620. Of if you decide to come and be part of the exciting process, be ready just in case the stage manager has to holler “Stop!” Also, please know that we are endlessly grateful for your understanding and support. Best of all, if you paid full price, a $25 voucher is on its way covering more than half of your original purchase price.

Special thanks to all the talented artists involved with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for continuing to be just as dirty, rotten and scoundrel-ous as any producer could want. When you Break a Leg on Opening, I pray it will be metaphorical.

--Bruce Miller

Anything Goes at the Tony Awards

Posted by Bruce Miller
Part of what makes watching the Tony Awards so much fun is when you know someone involved with a nominated show. The theatre community is relatively small. If you stick around in the business long enough, you wind up knowing a lot of people who work on Broadway. When it comes to Anything Goes, Sunday night’s Tony winner for Best Revival of a Musical, there are at least two representatives of the Richmond theatre community working in the production.

Michelle Lookadoo joined the company of Anything Goes last night, and she was there on Sunday to experience the thrill of victory with the rest of her cast. Michelle is in the ensemble and covers the leading role of Hope Harcourt, the beautiful socialite who wins the heart of Billy Crocker, the dapper hero of the show.

Michelle began her musical theatre career in Barksdale’s 1999 production of Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. She moved to New York immediately thereafter, and her career has been going great guns ever since. She was in the Broadway casts of Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and then Mary Poppins. While in Mermaid, she was the stand-in for the leading role of Ariel and played the role during several performances. Michelle returned to Barksdale this past season to star as Judy Haynes in Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.

On Sunday night, she celebrated the Tony win with the company of Anything Goes, including Tony-winning director and choreographer, Kathleen Marshall. (See the two of them together in the photo above.)

Also working on Anything Goes is Monica Costea (her self-portrait photo is posted to the right). Monica worked for Theatre IV, TheatreVirginia and King's Dominion in the 1980s and 90s. Like Michelle and a large number of Broadway professionals, Monica tends to flow from show to show. She is a hair stylist. She joined Anything Goes this winter, leaving the hair styling department at Billy Elliott, where she had been working since that show opened in 2008.

When Phil and I led our group of theatre patrons to New York last March, both Michelle and Monica came to speak to our hearty troop of Richmond theatergoers about their extensive experiences on the Great White Way.

We wish the two of them, and everyone in the company of Anything Goes, years of success.

--Bruce Miller

Oliver Hill - One of America's Greatest Civil Rights Heroes

Posted by Bruce Miller
One of the several things I love about my job is the variety. The late, great Oliver Hill, one of Virginia’s most renowned civil rights heroes, will be added to Virginia’s Standards of Learning next school year, and Theatre IV is creating a new play to help teachers introduce Mr. Hill to their upper elementary and middle school students.

I began my research this week. The 55-minute, touring instructional program will open with a gala performance in the historic Empire Theatre in January 2012. Along with My Fair Lady, the as-yet-unnamed Oliver Hill project will be a cornerstone of the Empire’s Centennial Celebration. The Empire first opened its doors on Christmas Day, 1911.

Oliver Hill was born in Richmond 4 ½ years earlier, on May 1, 1907. As a child, he moved with his family to Roanoke, and later Washington, D. C., where he graduated from Dunbar High School. He earned his undergraduate degree from Howard University and entered the School of Law there in 1930, studying under Charles Hamilton Houston, the chief architect of national efforts to challenge Jim Crow laws through the legal system. In law school, Hill was a classmate and friend of future Supreme Court Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall. Hill graduated second in the Class of 1933; Marshall was first.

After serving in WWII, Hill set up his law office in Richmond, and from here he worked on several important cases of the civil rights movement. He helped to win equal pay for African American teachers, access to school buses for black students, voting rights, inclusion of blacks on juries, and employment protection against racial discrimination. His work on behalf of the students of Moton High School in Farmville became part of the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education that helped to end the national policy of "separate but equal."

Oliver Hill retired in 1998 after 60 years of exemplary work. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton in 1999. He died at age 100 in Richmond on August 5, 2007.

I'm extremely honored to have the opportunity to write this play, and to interview so many great civil rights heroes who worked along side Oliver Hill, including Hill's longtime law partner, Sen. Henry Marsh, pictured above. I'm proud that Theatre IV continues to be the nation's leading producer of theatrically based, African American history programs for schools. We regularly tour these instructional programs to every school district in Virginia, and throughout 32 neighboring states.

--Bruce Miller

Which Man is the Right Man for the Job--Lots to Consider

Posted by Bruce Miller
It’s been an interesting few days to be Scott Wichmann’s employer. As those of you who read this blog are aware, there are a few folks out there who question the manner in and level at which we employ Scotty. Today, Phil and I and Barksdale / Theatre IV were recognized as "Patriotic Employers" by Commanding Officer Michael S. Mullen, CDR, USN for … our employment of Petty Officer Scott Wichmann.

In a very pleasant breakfast ceremony, we were presented with Letters of Commendation thanking our two nonprofit theatres for contributing “to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in America’s National Guard and Reserve Force.”

Like so many issues that all business leaders face, there are multiple sides to every story, and differing perspectives that must be factored in to any decision.

There are at least 90 theatre artists and administrators who live and work in Richmond based on the fact that they have full time or full time equivalent employment with Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV. Many of them are touring actors. Many of them are staff members. Some of them are independent artists who work with us on a close to consistent basis.

Scott falls into that final group, and we consider ourselves (and Richmond) very lucky to have him. We are privileged to employ Scott as an actor, director and playwright. In addition to his work at Barksdale and Theatre IV, Scott works a few hours each week at Game Stop, located next door to Barksdale Willow Lawn. He also works in logistics for the U. S. Naval Reserves.

With every assignment we offer Scott, we know that we must work around his commitment to the U. S. Navy. It’s usually no big deal. But on occasion, we have to make special arrangements, like when the wonderful Charles Wissenger replaced Scotty during the final week (plus a couple days) of Shipwrecked, the first play in Barksdale’s 2010-11 Signature Season.

I know that everyone who knows Scott loves him personally. I suspect that everyone acknowledges that he is a tremendous asset to our theatre community. I know that those people who think I offer Scott too much employment have issues with my casting judgment and fairness, not Scott’s talent. I know there are lots of people who expect Barksdale and Theatre IV to do even more to keep talented theatre artists in Richmond, to offer more employment weeks to Central Virginia’s finest, and to pay higher salary and benefit packages.

We do what we can. We work to find the balances that most benefit our companies, the artistic quality of our work, our employees, and our significant responsibilities to the theatre community at large.

I have to admit, today, it was nice to hear from someone of standing that our employment practices are exemplary. Sometimes, in the back and forth of blogdom, it seems like there’s no way to satisfy all the diverse opinions and differing perspectives. This conversation is good, because it helps us see how things look through the eyes of others. It provides us with the opportunity to explain our own perspectives, as limited as they may be. The goal, one day, is for the vast majority of us in Richmond who care about theatre to embrace, or at least accept, a major professional theatre that will be built on the foundations of, but also surpass, every professional, nonprofit theatre that preceded it. Honest communication will be necessary if we even have a chance of fulfilling that goal.

We ask for, and appreciate, any help you can give us as we move forward. Everyone is welcome.

--Bruce Miller

The Empire is Alive with the Sound of NEW Speakers

Posted by Bruce Miller
Owning the historic Empire Theatre, which will celebrate its Centennial (100th Birthday) this coming Christmas Day, is a privilege and a blessing--an expensive privilege and blessing. We've been raising funds quietly over the last several years to make home improvements to the only performance facility we own outright. Both Willow Lawn and Hanover Tavern are rented spaces--but even there, we pay for all the light and sound equipment.

In April of 2008 we replaced our old analog sound board with a new 40-channel, digital Yamaha LS9-32, and immediately heard our sound quality improve. Cost - $9,000.

In March of 2009 we replaced a dozen 15-year-old house mics and six tour mics (all wireless) due to the national DTV transition that rendered all our old frequencies useless. Our new mics are Sennheiser Evolution 100s, with a price tag of $18 K.

In June of 2009 we spent an additional $9 K (K means thousand for those who don't recognize the abbreviation) to replace an additional 18 tour wireless mics with new Sennheiser Evolution 300s.

In October of 2009 we replaced two handheld mics (originally purchased for a long ago production of Beehive) with Sennheiser Evolution 300s - another $1,400.

In the spring of 2010, we purchased a new Meyer MM-4 Frontfill Speaker System Amplifier, Processor for right around $2,200.

And yesterday we installed and tweaked a new Nexo Geo S8 Tangeant Line Array as our central cluster, including nine boxes, an amp and a processor. Total cost for this week's purchase--$22,000. The new speakers add stunning clarity and cover all our seating areas, including our hard-to-reach Governor's Box (available on command for all of Virginia Governors and Lieutenant Governors, current or past) and our Congressional Box (available on command for our Virginia and U. S. legislators).

We think you'll notice and appreciate the difference when you join us for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels this summer! The magnificent Empire truly benefits from being Central Virginia's only theatre built for the human voice before the age of sound amplification. Nonetheless, the new speakers help to make every word and note crystal clear.

In addition, we recently spent $22 thousand on lighting upgrades, with another $100 thousand needed and coming soon. More about that later.

All of this equipment, with the exception of the Meyer speakers, was purchased locally (Backstage Inc.), and all installation was performed by local professional labor (mostly our resident staff), significantly benefiting the Greater Richmond economy.

Special thanks to our old pal, Fred Brumbach, formerly of Backstage Inc., currently of On Stage Gear, for his invaluable consultation. And, of course, extra special thanks to our irreplaceable Tech Director, Bruce Rennie, and our exemplary Sound Manager, Derek Dumais, for working together to make all of this happen.

--Bruce Miller

Putting a Face on the Future

Posted by Bruce Miller
The goal of the powers-that-be at Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV is to create a major regional theatre here in Central Virginia.

By “powers-that-be” I mean myself and Phil Whiteway, the Board of Trustees of Barksdale and the Board of Directors of Theatre IV, and our staff leadership. By “major” I mean a theatre that obtains national standing through reputable play selection, artistically excellent productions, the staging of world premieres, the transfer of successful productions to Off Broadway or other regional venues, a nurturing environment for the best of local professional theatre artists, and a welcoming environment for national talent.

A theatre as described above would have a major performance home that was itself an attraction. The annual operating budget would be six to seven million. In keeping with the nationally established model, about 40% of total revenue would come from contributions, and about 60% would come from earned revenue.

We know through strategic planning that the majority of our stakeholders, including audience members, contributors, volunteers, independent artists, and competing nonprofit theatres support this goal. The prevailing wisdom is that a major professional theatre benefits the entire community and theatre community-at-large by:
• presenting national caliber productions of important works,
• putting Richmond on the national map as a theatre city,
• providing gainful employment and benefits that allow and encourage outstanding theatre artists to come to or remain in Central Virginia,
• contributing significantly to the local economy,
• offering internship, volunteer and workshop opportunities that add to Virginia’s theatre education programs at the high school and college level,
• touring instructional programs to a broad cross section of Virginia’s elementary and middle schools,
• touring fellowship and entertainment programs to Central Virginia’s senior centers and retirement facilities, and
• sharing resources such as facilities, set and costume stock, and expertise, when possible, with smaller professional theatres in Greater Richmond.

This goal was not created or claimed by Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV. It was assigned to us by the Central Virginia Professional Theatre Task Force, which met regularly for two plus years beginning in 2003. The 17-member, independent Task Force was facilitated by Stephen Richard, Executive Director of Arena Stage. Members of the Task Force were recruited from Greater Richmond’s most respected theatre artists, educators, funders, ticket buyers, and civic and business leaders. The Task Force was assembled and funded with support from the Community Foundation and Virginia Performing Arts Foundation, precursor of CenterStage. The Task Force was formed following the collapse of TheatreVirginia, and assigned the responsibility of determining how Central Virginia should proceed in filling the gap left by TheatreVirginia’s dissolution.

After an extensive, independent, professional market study conducted by Shugoll Research out of Washington, D. C., the Task Force determined that the best way to advance professional theatre in Central Virginia was to build a major professional theatre of national standing on the foundations already established by Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV. These findings were turned over to the Boards of our two theatres, and accepted unanimously early in 2006.

The remainder of 2006 and all of 2007 were spent in extensive, comprehensive strategic planning. We hired Langford & Associates to conduct an independent development study in 2008. We contracted with Kelly O’Keefe and the VCU Brand Center to conduct an independent branding study in 2009. The results of the branding study were accepted in 2010. Silent development efforts have been underway ever since.

As I stated at the outset, our goal is to create a major regional theatre here in Central Virginia. That is our goal. We’re not there yet. We will never be able to achieve this goal alone. We hope to earn broad-based community support as we move forward into the future. We invite you to join us.

Not everyone agrees with the goal. Every once in a while we hear from someone who would like for Barksdale Theatre to remain small, behaving more like a community theatre than a major professional theatre. We listen to and respect all this input. We know that when changes are underway, the opinions of all stakeholders matter. We seek, value and appreciate your opinions. They will help us as we continue the hard work that lies ahead.

--Bruce Miller

A Quick Read on "The Book of Mormon"

Posted by Bruce Miller
On our recent theatre trip to NYC, my daughter Hannah and I saw The Book of Mormon. Almost locked-in to win the Tony Award for Best Musical, Mormon is the hottest ticket on Broadway. So it's the one show we bought in advance, paying $352 (before box office service charges) for two seats in the rear mezz. Yikes!

I read a rave review on Facebook from one of the Richmond theatre artists I most respect. His glowing assessment echoed the sentiments of virtually every mover and shaper in American theatre. Mormon has already won Best Musical nods from the New York Drama Critics' Circle, the Drama Desk Awards, the Outer Critics Circle Awards, and the Drama League Awards.

Ben Brantley in the New York Times called it "the best musical of this century." Peter Marks gushes in the Washington Post: "Matt and Trey: where have they been all my life? The Book of Mormon deserves worship." The critic in Vogue proclaims it "the best new American musical of the last 25 years." And Entertainment Weekly describes it as "a perfect Broadway musical," adding, "This is what 21st Century Broadway can be."

The youthful, packed house on the Sunday evening performance we attended went WILD--the most enthusiastic audience response I've witnessed on Broadway since the euphoric reaction that followed Jennifer Holliday singing And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going in the pre-Tony Award months of the original run of Dreamgirls in 1982.

So what did we think of The Book of Mormon? I liked it more than Hannah did. There were elements I liked a lot. If the rest of the world weren't getting all orgasmic, I'd be talking about how fun it was. But the best musical of the century or the last 25 years? Better than Into the Woods, The Lion King, Rent, Wicked, Spring Awakening, and Light in the Piazza? I have to admit that I just don't get it.

I'm sure part of it is that I'm 60 years old. I've never watched South Park, also written by two of the creators of Mormon, even for five seconds. When I watched that South Park "Hamlet" take-off that James Ricks posted on Facebook a week or so ago, I found it confusing and annoying and not funny in the least. I'm 60 years old, which I know is no excuse, but it seems to me like maybe it's germane.

My taste in musicals was forged during the era of Stephen Sondheim. My favorite musical of all time is A Little Night Music. My favorite musicals of this century are Wicked, Spring Awakening, and Light in the Piazza. I NEVER thought I'd say this about Sondheim (Night Music), but I fear and suspect that my beloved musicals of days gone by now seem terribly old school to young, savvy theatregoers who find Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon to be what American musical theatre needs today.

To me, The Book of Mormon was a lot of fun, clever and energetic, full of sound and fury signifying ... not a heck of a lot. To me, it was mostly derivative. Like Spamalot and Avenue Q, it revels in its irreverence. Like Drowsy Chaperone, it celebrates unapologetic musical comedy technique. Like Urinetown, it finds much of its humor from referencing other musical theatre hits. Like The Producers, it rejoices in an old fashioned bring-on-the-dancing-girls (in this case boys) sensibility that is almost quaint. Like In the Heights, it wraps everything up at the end with a tidy sentimental bow.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Unlike the great works of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Kander and Ebb, it breaks no new ground with its production, libretto or score. It challenges nothing (seriously, find me an easier target for satire). It takes us nowhere we haven't been before. It teaches us very little. But it doesn't intend to do any of that.

Also, full disclosure time, I experience discomfort making smart-aleck fun of anyone's faith, no matter what that faith may be. Early in the show, there's a jaunty song that repeats the catch phrase, forgive me, "f... you God," I knew my father, were he alive, would be deeply hurt to see me applauding.

So, let me say what I LOVED about the show:

The CONCEPT: Take the squeakiest clean, fastest growing religion in the world and insert two of its virgin missionaries into Uganda, the most hellish place on earth (at least as described in this show), and see what they can do to convert a populace that is being decimated by AIDS, barbaric war loads, and enforced female circumcisions. View everything though the lens of American musical comedy. A GREAT idea.

The PERFORMANCES: I thought Josh Gad as a Mormon Zach Galifianakis (Jack Black?) and Andrew Rannells as a Mormon Bradley Cooper were full of talent and energy, as were their Mormon back-up singers. Nikki M. James, the beautiful black woman who is the first to convert, is a joy to watch. Everyone sings, dances and acts with such a love of all things Broadway, they send your spirits soaring.

The RESOLUTION: Using the mythology of the Broadway musical to shed light on the mythology of Mormonism (standing in for all the world's religions), and watching the Disneyworld Africans discover that, yes, mythology is make-believe but that's all it's ever been intended to be--stand-ins for the truths of love and interconnectedness. Yes, it is a small world after all.

I honestly did think the show was fresh, excitingly performed, and a lot of fun. At the end, it's even sorta sweet. I wasn't offended, just a little uneasy. In the overall arc of musical theatre, I think this show will go down as very 2011. Which is in many ways a great compliment.

--Bruce Miller

Why Are Certain Actors Pre-Cast?

Posted by Bruce Miller
A noteworthy comment was posted to the previous blog entry. I appreciate the perspective of the writer and the kind words (not included below). I will definitely take the stated opinion to heart. I also offer some additional perspective of my own.

The comment reads, in part, as follows: "I honestly believe there are some in the community (a large number, actually) who DO feel that you tend to favor and precast one particular actor in town. I need not mention his/her name because EVERYONE knows who I am speaking of. Is this person talented? Without question. Should he/she be HANDED 2-3 leading roles per year without auditioning? No. Being "Richmond's favorite actor" comes a little easier when you are in Bruce Miller's back pocket. Why not let said person get in line with all the actors and fight for the part? Who knows, maybe someone else in line will surprise you! Just two cents to add to the pot."

To be fair to Joe Inscoe and Scott Wichmann (pictured at the top in Shipwrecked - I'm not sure which one the commenter is referring to, since both fit the bill), let me say that both guys audition regularly at theatres around town, including ours. And sometimes they don't get cast. If anyone incorrectly perceives that either actor thinks he's above the audition process, let me put that idea to rest. Joe and Scott get in line with all the other actors in town all the time.

So the issue is all about the directors and producers doing the casting, not the actors being cast.

I make a thousand decisions a year (in close association with Phil Whiteway, Chase Kniffen and lots of other folks) regarding how to keep Barksdale and Theatre IV artistically and financially sound. Phil Crosby, Larry Gard, Grant Mudge, John Knapp, Carol Piersol, James Ricks, kb saine, Derome Scott Smith, Tom Width, and the good folks at CAT, HAT, SPARC et al do the same regarding their theatres. All of us have the responsibility to keep our nonprofit companies afloat.

When a director and I precast Joe or Scott, it is because we know they will turn in terrific performances. I also know their names in ads will help sell tickets. Again, I've heard a lot of ticket buyers talk on the other side of that one-way mirror, and the names Joe Inscoe and Scott Wichmann are spoken with regularity.

Every other artistic director in town knows this too. Therefore, we've gotten to the point where if I don't nail down Joe and Scott many months in advance, another artistic director will nail them down and I'll lose them. This is not always the case, but it often is. Joe and Scott are regularly offered work at theatres (and on films) both in town and out of town, and I almost always compete with other directors to secure a contract.

The same thing can be said (at varying degrees) for Brian Barker, Stacy Cabaj, Desiree Roots Centeio, Larry Cook, Sandy Dacus, Patti D'Beck, Paul Deiss, Ford Flannagan, Jan Guarino, Lynne Hartman, Audra Honaker, Tamara Johnson, Jackie Jones, Ron Keller, Kelly Kennedy, Joe Pabst, Steve Perigard, Melissa Johnston Price, Adrian Rieder, Ali Thibodeau, Debra Wagoner, Aly Wepplo, Ginnie Willard, Joy Williams, Irene Ziegler, and several others. They've each worked their way into that place where artistic directors (and/or freelance directors like Billy Christopher-Maupin) talk to them and begin wooing them for projects many months in advance.

That's not the way it used to be, but it is the way it is now. Actually, I was behind the eight ball on this one. James Ricks, Tom Width and Rusty Wilson led the charge to get actors to commit to projects really early. It was a smart move on their parts. I've learned from them, and have begun to copy in order to keep up.

For the artists, it's a good thing. For Richmond theatre in general, it's a good thing. I love the fact that Richmond is starting to have "stars" and I'm doing what little I can to increase that trend. I think it adds to overall interest in theatre, and appropriately recognizes the amazing talent that exists here.

I think we should all love that. But with the increased buzz comes this reality: competition for "star" talent is growing more and more intense. Increasingly, this means that the talents of certain individuals will be secured months in advance.

Another component that drives this trend is health insurance. Several of Richmond's finest theatre artists rely on their unions for their and/or their family's health insurance. They begin negotiating a year in advance to ensure that they'll book enough work weeks from a company that pays for health insurance in order to guarantee that there will be no gaps in their coverage.

The last thing to be considered in this discussion is the notion of an ensemble company. There are independent artists within the community, including all of the names mentioned above, with whom I seek and to whom I offer a long term commitment. I think this helps those artists remain in Richmond (everyone likes a sense of security), and it helps us develop a loose knit ensemble company at Barksdale and Theatre IV that enables us to create better theatre.

Again, I'm not trying to "defend" casting decisions or the casting process. Things are as they are; different people will have different opinions. No "defense" is offered or needed. I'm trying to share with you what goes on in my head and behind the door of my office as the leadership of Barksdale works hard to create a nationally recognized, professional, resident theatre here in Central Virginia.

Sharing perspectives is a good thing. I greatly appreciate all those who share their perspectives with me.

Thanks.

--Bruce Miller

How Does Barksdale Approach Casting

Posted by Bruce Miller
It's been fun and interesting to read the recent casting discussions on Dave's blog. Thanks, Brother Timberline. In hopes that people will understand the institutional objectives that I have established at Barksdale Theatre, in close association with our Board, staff and leading independent artists, I'd like to comment here on a few points raised about Barksdale's casting decisions.

I've done some rough, quick figuring from home. Please forgive me if I'm off by one or two. During the season that is about to conclude, Barksdale employed 80 actors in its nine mainstage productions. Eleven of the 80 actors live out-of-town. Sixty-nine of the 80 call Greater Richmond their home. I believe this is an appropriate ratio. Our commitment always has been, and will be for the remainder of my tenure, to Central Virginia's professional acting community.

Of the 11 who came from out-of-town, three used to be locals. Michelle Lookadoo (White Christmas) began her career at Barksdale. Kathy Halenda (White Christmas) and Ben Houghton (White Christmas) grew up here. We love bringing outstanding working professionals back to town.

Another two of the 11 (Patricia Duran and Ricardo Melendez - both in Legacy of Light - pictured to the left) were cast because of their talent, to be sure, but also because we have a commitment through our Hispanic Theatre Project to cast Latino actors in at least one production per year. We believe that if Richmond theatre in general is to increase attendance from Central Virginia's Latino community (the fastest growing segment of our population), theatres must begin allowing Latino audiences to "see themselves on stage." I mean in no way to marginalize the amazing talents of Tricia and Ricardo, both of whom I greatly admire. Nonetheless, I'm proud of our commitment to Latino audiences.

The remaining 6 of the 11 are Kevin Earley, Andrea Rivette, Freddie Kimmel, and Darrell Joe in White Christmas; Jeff McCarthy (pictured above and to the right with Harriet Harris and Stephen Sondheim in last season's Sweeney Todd at Barrington Stage Company) and Rachel Abrams in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Honestly, we think of Rachel as a local, even though she's based in D. C. She has strong Richmond connections. She's starred with us in Into the Woods, Guys and Dolls and Annie.

Darrell Joe was recruited because we were seeking an African American male ensemble member with GREAT triple threat skills, and, based on who showed up at extensive Richmond auditions, we had to go out-of-town to find a dancer/singer at Darrell's level.

That leaves four actors out of 80--Kevin (pictured to the right starring on Broadway in Tale of Two Cities), Andrea, Freddie and Jeff--who we honestly can talk about when we discuss Barksdale's "bringing in actors with Broadway credits to help sell tickets." I'm paraphrasing from one of the points raised by a commenter to Dave's blog.

In each instance, these actors were cast because the powers-that-be (that includes the directors and me) thought they were the best artists for the roles. Also, as an institution, we have a commitment to bringing in Broadway actors, for four reasons, in this order of importance:

1 We believe their unique talents will enhance each show. Barksdale's mission statement states that we will create national caliber productions. We take this responsibility seriously. We are not exactly like every other theatre in town, each of which has its own mission. We believe our Broadway guest artists help us create national caliber work.

2 Despite what a couple folks say in comments on Dave's blog, Richmond audiences want to see Broadway performers in our shows, along with our best local artists. We've paid for lots of focus groups where we sat on one side of the mirror and Central Virginia's theatregoers sat on the other. Over and over again, we heard Jane and John Q Ticketbuyer talk about the allure of "Broadway" performers. In his comments on Dave's blog, Frank Creasy is absolutely right when he suggests that Barksdale's biggest competition is the Broadway series. We are proactively and strategically trying to address that competition by featuring wonderfully talented Broadway stars in our shows.

3 We believe a major regional theatre has a responsibility to provide its best local performers the opportunity to work side-by-side with major national talents. If you're a young professional theatre artist beginning your career in Richmond, having the opportunity to explore work in larger markets is a good thing, not a bad thing, even when it means moving on. And those opportunities are enhanced if you have resume credits in shows that featured nationally-known talents like Kevin, Andrea, Freddie, Jeff and Michelle (pictured to the left and above starring on Broadway in The Little Mermaid). And don't get me started on networking.

4 Barksdale is Central Virginia's resident professional theatre. Because of our strong audience and contributions bases, which have been developed through decades of hard work and strategic planning, we have the unique opportunity and responsibility to put Richmond theatre on the national map. I believe that it benefits every company in town if the national theatre community begins to recognize Richmond as a "theatre town." Due to the size of our metro area, this is not an easy task. We are working hard to gain the national attention that we believe Richmond deserves. Bringing in national stars is one part of our strategic efforts to gain national attention. One of Dave's anonymous commenters groused that Richmond audiences don't know who Jeff McCarthy is. I somewhat disagree, but I understand the point. Please let me add this, the national theatre community definitely knows who Jeff McCarthy is. They also know Kevin Earley, Andrea Rivette, Michelle Lookadoo and Freddie Kimmel. And they are impressed that Richmond theatre in general is beginning to attract performers of this caliber.

For each and every role that was filled by a national professional who was brought in from out of town, we had local auditions. GREAT people auditioned. In the opinions of the directors, choreographers and music directors in charge, the pros brought in from out of town were more suited to the roles than the local auditionees. Had these directors been blown away by the local auditionees, we would NOT have brought someone in from out-of-town.

Casting is a subjective process, and people will always have differences of opinions about casting decisions. My intention here is not to "defend" casting choices, but to make our institutional motivations clear. This is what you can expect from Barksdale theatre, God willing, for the next five years.

Having said that, let me add that nothing is ever carved in stone. All of us always welcome and listen to your input, be it supportive or constructively critical. Thanks.

In a future post, I'll discuss pre-casting vs open auditions.

--Bruce Miller

Keeping Up with Brian and Court; Revisiting "Arcadia"

Posted by Bruce Miller
Despite its size, whenever I go to New York I bump into old friends as if the streets of the Broadway theatre district were little more than the aisles of my neighborhood Ukrop's. (Saying "my neighborhood Martin's" just isn't the same.) I can't think of a single Big Apple excursion in decades when this hasn't been the case.

This trip, the first reconnection was with Brian Kalin (pictured to the left) who hollered out my name as we passed each other on 47th between Broadway and 8th. Brian was my manly scenic designer for The Little Dog Laughed, who not only delivered a terrific, stylish set, but also brought his fair share of testosterone into every production meeting. It was great to see him again.

Brian's career has been progressing nicely since his move to NYC in 2008. For the last few years, Brian has been assisting Court Watson (pictured below and to the right), a fellow VCU alum who also designed at Barksdale (The 1940's Radio Hour, 2002). A lot of their work is in Germany and Austria, such as:

Jekyll and Hyde & West Side Story
Theater Magdeburg - Magdeburg was one of the most important medieval cities in Europe; today it is the capital of the German "state" of Saxony-Anhalt

Frau Luna & Der Himmel über Berlin
Salzburger Landestheater - the best known and oldest theatre in the Mozart town of Saltzburg, where much of The Sound of Music film was shot

Elton John's Aida & Rockville: A New Musical
Musical Sommer - a summer theatre located in Amstetten, a town on the western edge of Lower Austria. For reasons unknown by me, Lower Austria is a "state" actually located in Upper Austria, the Northeast corner, surrounding the city of Vienna

In between all these European gigs, Court and Brian have managed to fit in a healthy dose of stateside work as well:

2011 - the recently closed Liberty Smith at Ford's Theatre in D. C.
2011 - Annie Get Your Gun at the Glimmerglass Festival, with hot young director Francesca Zambello
2010 - Off Broadway, It Must Be Him
2010 - Off Broadway, Dear Edwina
2010 - The Shakespeare Theatre in D. C., All's Well That Ends Well, directed by Michael Kahn
2010 - Engeman Theatre, Run for Your Wife and Fiddler on the Roof, both directed by B. T. McNicholl

Court also posts earlier credits as Assistant Scenic Designer for the recent Broadway runs of High Fidelity, Lestat and Little Women, and Assistant Costume Designer for Broadway's Cry-Baby, South Pacific and Mauritius.

It was great to learn that Brian and Court are doing so well. One of a regional theatre's institutional responsibilities is to give work experience to its most talented hometown theatre artists, so that if and when they make their move to NYC or other larger markets, they have the professional resume credit(s) needed to get their foot in the door. Barksdale is proud to be an early credit on the resumes of both Brian and Court.

In between bumping into old friends, Hannah and I also saw a few shows while visiting the Great White Way. On the second evening of our trip (Friday), we purchased half price TKTS tickets to the show that wound up being the favorite of both of us--the brilliant revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia.

Arcadia has been among my favorite plays since I saw the American premiere at Lincoln Center in 1995. We've never produced it at Theatre IV or Barksdale because I believe a successful production of the play requires resources that we simply don't have. More than most plays, Arcadia must be performed with the utmost artistry in acting, design and construction if it is to effective. In my opinion, this play that deals brilliantly with the sheer wonder of chaos theory must have a pristine acuity in its presentation if the audience is to fully engage with the mystery and the magic. I've never had any desire to produce a partially-realized Arcadia. To do so would do a disservice to one of favorite plays by a living playwright.

Thankfully, the current Broadway revival offers all that one could want from what many regard as Stoppard's masterpiece. I loved it even more than the original. David Leveaux's direction is invisible and seems to make the play more accessible than I remember it being in '95. Lia Williams (pictured above and to the left), Billy Crudup, Tom Riley, and especially Raul Esparza (also pictured) tear into their roles with zest, humor, charm, and equal measures of erudition and emotion. Margaret Colin, Noah Robbins and David Turner are perfectly suited to their supporting roles. Only Bel Powley as young Thomasina Coverly seemed heavy-handed--too brassy and brash for her upper-crust British surroundings.

The design work of Hildegard Bechtler (sets) and Gregory Gale (costumes) was sumptuous and, where appropriate, understated--right on target.

Watching the play, we sat about four rows behind Victor Garber, who originally played the role of the literary scholar wannabe, Bernard Nightingale. In this production, Nightingale was played by Billy Crudup, who took Broadway by storm as Septimus Hodge in the 1995 production. After the show, Hannah and I waited with a small handful of theatre lovers at the stage door (with no Hollywood stars, the hangers on were few). After a few minutes, Garber and Crudup emerged together, and we had the chance to talk with both of them for two or three minutes. They were gracious, and it was very fun.

If you've never seen Arcadia in a first-class production, and if you love great theatre, I recommend the play and this production heartily.

--Bruce Miller

The Play That Dares Not Speak Its Name

Posted by Bruce Miller
My daughter, Hannah, and I went to New York last week. She just completed her sophomore year at W & M, and this was our annual father/daughter bonding trip. Other dads and daughts do Indian Princesses and the like, with camping trips and wilderness excursions. We've always tended to seek our adventures in Shubert Alley, up and down the aisles of The Drama Book Shop, and all around Central Park.

We Amtraked up on Thursday morning--all aboard at 6:50 a.m.--arriving at Penn Station sometime around two. In the glory days of Jet Blue's non-stop flights from Richmond into Kennedy, we usually flew. Now flying costs about $300 more for the two of us than training, so ... Amtrak it is.

Since we planned in advance, we were able to book a room at the Edison, which is our favorite hotel in the theatre district. Nothing fancy, but affordable, quiet, clean, and--if you're drunk on the schmell of the theatre--ideally situated. The only downside is that you have to connect a month or more in advance to find a vacancy.

We saw six shows in four days: one on Thursday evening, one on Friday evening, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. We traveled home on Monday. The only show we bought in advance (paying full price, no less) was The Book of Mormon. We bought those "hot" tickets for Sunday evening, because time is tight between Sunday's 3 p.m. matinee and 7 p.m. evening performance--often too tight to return to the ticket line.

Other than Mormon, we bought all our tickets 50% off at the TKTS booth in Times Square. At this time of year, when tickets are selling pretty well, the TKTS booth is cheaper than the web discounts we could have obtained in advance at BroadwayBox.com. With Broadway prices hovering around $120 for a non-musical, who can afford to pay full price?

The show we saw on Thursday night was The Motherf**ker with the Hat, by Stephen Adly Guirgis. I list the title here the way it is listed on the marquee of the Schoenfeld Theatre and the cover of Playbill. Guirgis is the playwright who penned The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (co-produced in Richmond earlier this season by Henley Street and Triangle) and Jesus Hopped the "A" Train (produced a few years back in the Theatre Gym at Theatre IV). I wanted to see Hat because I'd read good reviews, and because Guirgis is among my favorite contemporary American playwrights.

Even after summoning all my NYC sophistication, I felt a little funny saying the title out loud at the TKTS booth. I also felt nervous encouraging my 20-year-old daughter to come see this play with me. But once we were seated in the theatre and the lights came up, any and all discomfort went away.

Don't get me wrong--the language spoken and shouted from onstage is just as pungent as the title would lead one to expect. Guirgis writes, beautifully, in the vernacular of the bottom-of-the-food-chain working class poor whom we too often dismiss as having little of importance to say. What becomes immediately obvious in the theatre is that we dismiss their (his) wisdom at our own peril.

Hat tells the story of five striving, 20- and 30-something individuals, each of whom tackles his or her own loves and demons with varying success. No character has the one right answer; there are no heroes or villains. Front and center, Guirgis places the higher powers, the memories, the intoxicants, the instincts, the will power, the sense of family, the health foods and, most importantly, the commitments (or lack thereof) we rely on when everything else lets us down.

Hat is about the healing and destructive powers of language. It is about the presence and absence of soul.

Of the six plays we saw, Hat is one of the two I LOVED. Bobby Cannavale, Elizabeth Rodriguez and Yul Vazquez (three actors from Off Broadway's Labyrinth Theater Company) are brilliant, and well deserve their Tony nominations. Chris Rock and Annabella Sciorra add the TV star appeal that Broadway requires, and they're good--just not great when viewed side-by-side with their theatre-savvy co-stars.

The set by Todd Rosenthal is a Rubik's cube wonder that rotates, twists, turns and pops to create three different interiors that are all interconnected even when we can't figure out how.

The play is howlingly funny and, even more to my taste, genuinely filled with scorching emotion and hard-earned truth. Hat enables us to see the dignity in "broken," marginalized individuals who otherwise may never "earn" our attention. It gives the lie to that American platitude that "all men are created equal," shining a revealing light on the inequalities that define our nation's "non-existent" class structure.

Hannah liked Hat a lot, but with somewhat less enthusiasm than I did. The following night we saw the play that both of us deemed "best in show." More soon.

--Bruce Miller

A Heartfelt "Thank You" from Tim Bethea

This is a letter from a very dear member of our Barksdale Family. He wanted us to post it on the blog to let everybody know how much he appreciated the way we rallied around him in a time of dire need after his home caught fire. Despite losing just about everything they owned, nobody was injured in the fire. For that, we are grateful! Here is Tim Bethea's letter of thanks:

To Barksdale and Theatre IV's artists and staff,

It is with humble appreciation that I write this letter of thanks. First, I would like to thank Tom, Phil, and Bruce for bringing my situation to everyone's attention. It is an unreal experience to see everything you have worked for gone in a few short minutes. But through this situation I have learned the value of good health and a sound mind. Material things can be replaced, but life and good health are essential to move forward. To the Barksdale and Theatre IV Family I am most appreciative for the kind words and donations. The kindness shown to me and my family will never be forgotten.

Thank you,

Tim Bethea

Some Behind the Scenes Financial Info

Posted by Bruce Miller
Let's face facts. The recession has kicked Barksdale Theatre in the shins just like it has everyone else. Sadly, recovery in the nonprofit sector lags about two years behind recovery in the for-profit sector.

Contributions donated by governments, corporations and foundations are based on earnings from the previous, not the current, fiscal year. So these contributions always fall one year behind recovery. In fact, they usually fall two years behind. Institutional givers tend to hang on to their funds until they have two years worth of evidence that the recovery is real, not just an aberration.

They're wise to do so.

Ask any nonprofit and they'll likely tell you that 2010-11 contributions from governments, corporations and foundations are at a five-year low. Gifts from individuals are starting to turn the corner, thank goodness.

That means we're re-energizing our efforts to ask for financial support from the community. Just like our good friends at public television and radio, we're going to have to keep asking until our budget revenue goals are met.

We're also increasing our cost-cutting.

Our biggest expense cuts thus far have been the elimination of six staff positions (mostly through attrition), elimination of company contributions to staff retirement plans, 25% reduction in company contributions to staff health insurance, and a graduated, across-the-board reduction in staff salaries (with those earning the most taking the biggest cuts).

The last few years have been all about belt tightening. No one here makes very much. At least we all know that the suffering here is reflective of the financial pain felt by much of the nation.

Our priority now is to protect current staff positions from additional job elimination and salary/benefit cuts. If we are able to maintain that status quo, our next goal is to restore salary reductions. Thereafter we want to decrease stress by restoring some of the cut positions. Finally, we're committed to funding a staff pay raise, something our incredibly loyal employees haven't seen in four years.

This hoped for recovery and progress won't be easy, but we're giving it our best shot. Competition for ticket buyers, school field trips, and contributions increases regularly. Competition is good, but it can also put a strain on earned revenues.

We've already made all the big expense cuts we can make. Expenses this year between our two nonprofit companies are more than $100,000 under budget. So now we're going after some smaller expenses.

Starting immediately, we're eliminating two long-established perqs: closing cast parties for Barksdale productions (we eliminated closing parties at the end of shorter Theatre IV runs about four years ago), and company dinners held between the afternoon and evening tech rehearsals of Barksdale shows.

We will have nine Barksdale mainstage productions next year--five on the Signature Season and four at Hanover Tavern. Each closing party is budgeted at $200, and each tech dinner at $350. Annual savings, therefore, will be about $5,000.

We know many of you who work with us on our shows will miss these fun fellowship opportunities. We'll miss them too. We also know you wholeheartedly support our efforts to keep Barksdale growing and going strong.

Thanks for your understanding, talent and hard work.

--Bruce Miller

Poetry Out Loud State Final 2011

Thank you, Virginia's 2011 Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest participating teachers and high school students! This year 227 teachers and 8,653 high school students participated in Poetry Out Loud holding recitation contests in their classrooms, schools and advancing their school champion to the regional contests throughout the commonwealth.



Of the 76 school champions competing in the regional contests, 16 regional finalists advanced to the State Finals in Richmond at Theatre IV's historic Empire Theatre on March 17, 2011. After three rounds of poetry recitation, Carol V. Decker of Tuscaroara High School in Leesburg, Loudoun County was declared the highest scoring student and Virginia's 2011 Poetry Out Loud State Champion. Colleen Murphy of William Monroe High School in Greene County was declared State Runner-Up.



The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, partners with state arts agencies across the nation to support Poetry Out Loud. The contest serves 350,000 students throughout the nation. Poetry Out Loud encourages the nation's youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation and helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. Here in Virginia, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, Peggy J. Baggett, Executive Director sponsors the contest. Theatre IV and Barksdale Theatre are proud to be the administrator of this program throughout Virginia.

The Themes of Karen Karen Zacarías's "Legacy of Light"

Posted by Bruce Miller
It's cliché, but nonetheless true. You'll never please all of the people all of the time.

More and more I believe this is particularly true with theatre, that most accessible of art forms. Virtually everyone considers theatre to be something they "get." Thank God for that. Theatre has never been highbrow or esoteric; it never will be.

Sure, there are the Waiting for Godot's and Rhinoceros's of the world (Beckett's Godot will be produced this spring by Henley Street, and Terrie and I saw Ionesco's Rhinoceros last Saturday at William & Mary). But even with these purposefully nebulous masterpieces, most audience members join in on the laughs and then have further fun discussing the deeper meanings of these multi-faceted literary classics.

And there are high caliber contemporary works like Stephen Adly Guirgis's The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (currently under co-production by Henley Street and Triangle) and Tom Stoppard's Arcadia (produced earlier this season by Richmond Shakes). These great plays let the audience know early on that they intend to intellectually challenge and, perhaps, spiritually provoke. The audience "gets" this, and winds up loving the show (or not) based at least somewhat on whether they like to be invited into the fray.

Then there are plays like our current production of Legacy of Light by Karen Zacarías. Everyone seems to be appreciating this production. But some people walk away LOVING it--over the top in all caps--while others walk away with something like a shrug.

Legacy is not purposefully nebulous; it doesn't seek to challenge or provoke. So within the first few scenes, some audience members think they "get" what Legacy is all about, or they try to "get" it, and then some of them sit through the rest of the 2 hour 5 minute production somewhat indifferent as the unfolding action fails to further amplify the theme they think they "got."

Part of this may be my fault. Early on I've discussed with our various marketing staffers that Legacy can be viewed as a "girl power" play, focusing as it does on the lives of two great women scientists. I've called it a "mother/daughter" play, and indeed it is. "Girl power" and "mother/daughter" are two strong marketing themes you can hang your hat on. Those people who study these things tell us that, unless you're the Triangle Players or mounting a production of Lombardi, between 70 and 80% of all your ticket buyers will be women. And so, as we've attempted to sell Legacy to the Richmond theatergoing public, we've been hyping the "girl power" and "mother/daughter" themes.

Maybe this is why some people think that Legacy is principally about women trying to balance their personal and professional goals, or gender equality. Certainly the play addresses those themes, and was inspired by the playwright's personal experience of those issues. But I don't think that's what the play is principally about. And the trouble is, if one decides that Legacy is meant to thoroughly discuss those concerns, then the contemporary scenes, as Karen Zacarías has written them, may fall a little flat. In the contemporary scenes, "gender equality" is more or less a given.

May I humbly suggest that the principal themes of Legacy of Light are:
1 legacy - what do we get from our forebears and what do we leave to our children;
2 life, death and immortality; and
3 the interconnectedness of all things across time and space.

Among the many who LOVE Legacy of Light, these three themes are the ones most frequently discussed. The play examines these themes in terms that are scientific, spiritual and personal.

Like our previous productions of Boleros for the Disenchanted, The Clean House, Well, Melissa Arctic and James Joyce's The Dead, Legacy of Light is about lots of things. With plays like these, I think there is a danger, while watching and after, in trying to pin them down. They are best experienced, in my humble opinion, by allowing them to wash over you and lead you simultaneously on two or five different spiritual and intellectual journeys.

The fun, for me, comes at the end, in trying to piece all the various journeys together.

These productions are not esoteric, but, like great poetry, or music, or art, or dance, they also may take a while to pin down.

That is their strength.

--Bruce Miller

Who's in the pics? - 1 Ricardo Melendez and Patricia Duran, 2 Tamara Johnson and Maggie Horan, 3 Larry Cook and Tamara Johnson

"The BFG" Works His Magic on Three Generations

Posted by Bob Wall
When it comes to critics, our brilliant, hard-working marketing staff always touts this simple truth: At Theatre IV, the critics who matter the most are the children, mothers and grandmothers who come to see the play.

Word of mouth is our best sales tool, second to none. We’re delighted that Theatre IV’s current production of The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) seems to be earning raves from all the members of the Richmond Theatre Critics Association, but we’re even more thrilled with the assessments that are rolling in from children and their multi-generational moms.

Like the following note we recently received from a very young grandmother named Cathy Down Pemberton. Cathy was born into a theatrical family; her aunt Mary Dowd was a stalwart Richmond theatre supporter and practitioner in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Today Cathy works as Director of Social Services for Powhatan County. Cathy and her granddaughter are pictured below.

“My daughter Cate and I took her daughter, Catie Beth, to see BFG last Friday. We had taken her to see Velveteen Rabbit and she just loved it, so we wanted to take her to the theater again. She is a true theater fan now, at age 5, and when her mama asked her which play was her favorite, she said "I just don't know, they were both great."

I was not sure how she would enjoy live theater--kids seem to see so many amazing things--3D movies, wide screen tv's, Barnum and Bailey, that you have to guess if the wonder of a live play will have an impact. Does it ever! At Velveteen Rabbit, after the narrator spoke at the beginning of the play, Catie Beth was so excited she turned, speechless, and just squeezed her mom. She recognized the boy's bedroom as soon as we sat down, and was awestruck. Her big blue eyes were round as saucers when the fairy dust fell on the rabbit and made him real. It was a magic night for her. So naturally, we couldn't wait to take her to the theater again.

She just loved BFG. She loved the dreams the best, and when we walked out of the theater into the lobby and there they all were, Sophie and the Giant and the Queen--what a treat. Catie Beth, who hardly speaks to my mother because she is a shy child, went right up to the Giant and got his autograph. He said to her "Did you have fun? I did."

I saw Nunsense a few weeks ago. My best friends and I all laughed until we cried . Having been raised Catholic, it was particularly funny to the three of us. It was priceless, and I have my holy card pinned up on my bulletin board at the office. Try explaining holy cards to someone who isn't Catholic....

Thank you so much for some wonderful memories, Cate and Catie Beth are looking forward to Honk! and The Little Red Hen."
.........

Thanks, Cathy. We do it all for you and yours, so your positive words made our day!

Tim Bethea and Family Lose All Furniture, Clothes in Fire

Posted by Bob Wall
I’m sad to report that the house rented by Tim Bethea, Barksdale’s Willow Lawn custodian of many years, burned to the ground on Tuesday of last week. Thankfully, Tim, his wife and five children all escaped unharmed. However, the Bethea family lost all of their furniture, clothes, household goods, etc.

Thankfully, Tim and his family have been able to move into his mother’s home for the time being. Bruce Miller and Phil Whiteway have started a fund to help Tim manage this financial disaster. If you would like to help this family in need, you may send contributions to:

Tim Bethea Fire Fund
c/o Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV
114 W Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23220

Checks should be made payable to “Tim Bethea.” Contributions are NOT tax deductible.

If anyone has furniture they’d like to donate, or if anyone knows of other resources to which we can refer Tim, please send that information to p.whiteway@barksdalerichmond.org.

Thank you.

"Nunsense" Ends Chapter One, "The BFG" Gets Theological

Posted by Bob Wall
This afternoon, at least two exciting things happen in the life of our theatre. The first, chronologically, is that our artistic director, Bruce Miller, will lead the Acts of Faith discussion following our sold-out performance of The BFG in the historic Empire Theatre. The second, which will follow the first by about 15 minutes, is that our equally sold-out performance of Nunsense at the Tavern will end triumphantly with its final curtain call in Hanover before being revived this coming July at Willow Lawn.

Bruce takes his Acts of Faith responsibilities very seriously. When I asked him to tell me about the faith connections associated with The BFG, he referred me to this sermon, preached by Pastor Larry Wimmer at Belmont United Methodist Church, in a small town suburb of Boston, Mass in 2008.

"When I was looking for the perfect Theatre IV entry into the Acts of Faith Festival, I found this sermon on line," said Bruce. "It's why I picked the show. After seeing our production, it seems particularly appropriate."

I read the sermon, and found it full of insight, hope and wonder. Here it is.

"Fee Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman!"

Usually when there is a giant in the story he is the bad guy, scary, vicious, bloodthirsty, ugly, etc. so leave it to Roald Dahl, the English storyteller, to come up with something completely different. In his classic children's novel, The BFG, a little girl named Sophie is kidnapped by a giant in the middle of the night and carried far away to a land where giants live, naturally she is terrified thinking the giant is going to eat her after he boils her first. But as the story unfolds she discovers that her giant is the BFG - the Big Friendly Giant - and is the just the opposite of everything she thought and everything she feared and it turns out that everything she had expected to be horrifying is not horrifying at all but in fact just fine. In fact, he saves the day.

I know it probably seems far-fetched to see how a silly story like this one can shed any light on the mysteries of our relationship with God but I daresay there are many ideas we have about God that are not so unlike what Sophie thought of giants before she actually met the BFG. Our views about God are often hidden even from ourselves because they are what we have picked up along the way without realizing them. God as a big scary giant is not so far-off from what we might have imagined as children and whether we know it or not what we imagined as children does not just leave us because we have grown older. Often what we have learned as children or by accident must be unlearned

Think about the image of God we get from the passage in Ezekiel. Ezekiel is a prophet in the time of exile. Early in the exile there are those in denial who still hope that things will soon be restored to the way they were but Ezekiel sees things differently. He sees a long and even more terrible exile to come and he is right. Soon Jerusalem itself is completely destroyed and those in exile are no longer just scattered in a foreign land their home is no longer there to return to. At this moment in time God does not seem all that friendly to the Israelites. After all there is at least one explanation that things have gotten so bad because the people have not been obedient. God actually punished people for disobedience in this particular way of thinking and God was most certainly scary, someone to be feared. It is interesting that when God asks Ezekiel if these bones can live Ezekiel says something akin to "you tell me" with respect of course. This after all is the God who lifted the red sea and then dropped it down on hundreds of Pharaoh's troops killing them all, the God who sent plagues to kill thousands, who, the story goes, brought the rains and a flood to destroy everything but a remnant, the God of utter devastation and wrath, a mighty God who can hold the whole earth in the palm of a hand and is as ready to crush it as to bear it up. Scary indeed. Worse than any giant of our childhood's imagination. (They weren't even that big!)

"Fee fi fo finner, I smell the blood of a nasty sinner!" Most of us have been raised with a little bit of this angry God scenario ready to crush us for our evil ways.

Later when it is Lazarus who has died the family wonders why they have not been spared this universal horror. "Lord if you had been here this would not have happened." was the general tone and implied was, I guess, 'you don't care enough about us.' Still in the mindset of the people, God seems to be pretty monstrous if it is God who decides who lives and who dies.

The thing is we got it all wrong. God is not a monster. God is the BFG. The big friendly God, if we only knew, the one who saves us rather than destroys us, the one who loves us rather than despises us. God tells Ezekiel that these bones will live. Lazarus after Jesus himself wept openly, rose up and walked out of the tomb. This is who God really is. God is the giver of life, the creator, not the destroyer. This is God in the deep places not the God in the shallows where what we have learned from random experiences and encounters, from the media, from what we have read or misread of the Holy Scriptures, heard or misheard from the pulpit, we carry a lot of baggage in our subconscious mind and it is not all true.

Dillard of course was aware of this when she wrote of a moment in her life when God's presence was felt: "It was as if God had said, 'I am here but not as you have known me." In another place she writes this incredible word: "Hold hands and crack the whip and yank the Absolute out of there and into the light, god pale and astounded, spraying a spiral of salts and earths, god footloose and flung. And cry down the line to his passing white ear. "Old sir! do you hold space from buckling by a finger in its hole? O Old! Where is your other hand? His right hand is clenching, calm, round the exploding left hand of Holy the Firm.

Who is our God? What do we know of God? Were we there when the foundations of earth were laid? What is our image of God, our understanding of such things? Were we there when the morning stars sang together and all the children of God sang for joy? There is the mystery, the awesome, the fearsome but there is also the kindness, the mercy, the friend, the BFG, the big friendly God who wants nothing more than to save us and to teach us what love is. Which God, if any, do we know?

How do we ever know anything?

Maggi Dawn who is a fellow in theology at the Cambridge University in the UK writes of her experience: When I was taking my first degree in theology most of the building blocks of my faith were up for serious examination. I asked one of my professors how it was possible for faith to survive this kind of intense intellectual scrutiny. He thought for a while then said, "Once upon a time I believed in a great many things. Now I believe only in a few things, but I believe in them more deeply that I ever thought possible. That God exist, that God is love, that Jesus is the son of God, these things I believe, everything else is up for debate. She goes on: I never forgot his words and as I began to allow my own rather stern vision of God to be mellowed the God who always demanded a little more than I was able to give began to give way to the God who breathed love and kindness and freedom into my heart.

The God who breathed love and kindness and freedom. (I am not making this up.) The God who breathed. Hear that. This breath of God is what will cause those bones to live again. It is what raised Lazarus and Jesus. It is what invades the very depths of our own souls and fills us with light and life. The breath of God somehow implies an intimacy that if God is a giant it is not a monster who roars flames and drips blood but it is a giant who breathes quietly and gently, and who tenderly offers life to us with each breath we take, A God who is not hard and unmoved but soft enough for love.

When I went off to seminary I had been serving three churches in the farm country and they were all terrified that I would lose something by learning theology and they were right. I too went through many beliefs, unlearned a few things, learned a few things and landed in the arms of the BFG: the big friendly God who loves us and made us for love and that is our hope. I too have learned many things and have no doubt forgotten more than I have remembered, but this is what I believe more deeply than I can even tell you: God is not neutral but deeply involved in human life. God is not mean but generous. God does not seek our end but our beginning. God is not about death but life. And God is always on the side of love.

God is different than anything else we know. Life is hard, even cruel at times, and it is easy, if we think of God at all, to think that if God is not to blame for the troubles of this world then God is surely not doing enough to help us. There are plenty of things that can destroy us, real and imaginary most frightening giants of violence and destruction. There is much to fear in this life but God is our friend, the one we can turn to rather than run from in the time of trial. Why does this matter today? Because we have to learn who to trust and what to count on to get through the night. While there are real monsters that we can rightly fear, there is also reason not to be afraid. This is the good news for those who bravely take the leap of faith and put their trust in the God who breathes life into the bones of despair and loss, who raises Lazarus from the tomb, the God who, in short, overcomes death with life.

In the story there is a moment when little Sophie discovers that she has been captured by the good giant, this is what happened:

(The Giant had been telling Sophie about the kind of human beans Giants like to eat.)

Sophie decided that this conversation had now gone on long enough. If she was going to be eaten, she'd rather get it over and done with right away than be kept hanging around anymore. "What sort of human beings do you eat? she asked trembling.

"Me!" shouted the Giant, his mighty voice making the glass jars rattle on their shelves. 'Me gobbling up human beans! This I never! The others, yes! All the others is gobbling them up every night, but not me! I is a freaky Giant! I is a nice and jumbly Giant! I is the Big Friendly Giant! I is the BFG. What is your name? 'My name is Sophie," Sophie said, hardly daring to believe the good news she had just heard.

Ours is the freaky God, the BFG, the one who is different than all the other cruel and painful and deceitful giants of the world who teach us that life is hard and mean. Our God is the one who despite all the suffering and injustices we have known, the tears of every generation, even and including the tears of God, the one God who assures us that life is good and love will save us despite all we know so far, the God who will unbind us and let us go.

Like Sophie, we hardly dare to believe the good news we have just heard.

I hope Rev. Wimmer reads this and learns the far-reaching impact of his sermon.