Passion, People and Impact - Day 1

Posted by Annie Hulcher
“Passion, People, and Impact – that is why I love my job,” Bruce Miller, Artistic Director of Barksdale and Theatre IV, told me last Thursday over the large wooden conference table. “I get the opportunity every day to do what I enjoy, work with people I love, and positively impact peoples’ lives."

Although this was the beginning of the conversation, I was already enthralled and excited to listen to someone I admire tell me how awesome theatre is.

Passion: “No one in theatre makes much money. Those who do are few and far between, but if you are doing what you're passionate about, the trade off is worth it.”

He continued, “It’s absolutely a 24/7 job. Some people have their work, but are passionate only about their personal lives." Bruce is able to intertwine his work and his family life and have passion for both. With a wife (Terrie Powers) who designs all the shows at Hanover Tavern and most of the shows for Theatre IV on Tour, his work and his personal life are connected at nearly every turn, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

I was already hooked.

People: “To put it simply, I love the people I work with. We all have a bit of crazy in us, but that’s what makes us interesting." As he was telling me this, I sat there thinking about my own friends. Crazy? Yes. Interesting? Absolutely. Passionate? You bet. It’s not often you get to work with people who care and commit as much as people in theatre do.

Impact: For me, this was the point that really made me feel that I knew this is what I wanted to be involved in the rest of my life. “I have seen the impact theatre has on people," Bruce said. "I have seen Hugs and Kisses (Theatre IV's long-running child sexual abuse prevention program) literally save kids’ lives. I've seen other shows inspire both children and adults to think differently, to follow their hearts, to open their minds.” He didn’t have to say much more. I could hear in his voice and see in his eyes how much that meant to him. In all honesty, what more could you possibly want out of a job?

So, at this point, you may be asking yourself who I am and why I am writing this. My name is Annie Hulcher and I am a senior at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School. I have the opportunity to mentor under Bruce Miller this school year.

I will be documenting my experience here on the Barksdale Buzz. I, myself, am a performer. I got to know Bruce when I worked with him on Annie Get Your Gun (summer 2003) and I have been involved with SPARC and school theatre ever since.

I remember going to shows at Theatre IV when I was 4 and 5 years old, kick-starting my love for theatre. It is all too thrilling to be able to work with the man who was a large player in establishing my own passion.

Throughout the year, I will be working with different departments doing a myriad of activities and projects. (Last Thursday included hanging up pictures, posters and paintings around the office – a few from the set of Boeing-Boeing, which just closed.)

Although I am a performer now, 85% of people in the theatre world start as a performer but then move on to another theatre-related field (Bruce’s made-up statistic). As I obtain a little first hand experience in marketing, development, set construction, production management, facilities, box office, costuming and wardrobe, house management, event planning, props, electrics, accounting, tour management, etc. etc. etc., who knows what will spark my interest and possibly lead me down a career path?

As an avid reader of the Barksdale Buzz, I am very excited to be able to publish an entry here. I am eager to work hard and get to know everyone on the staff of Barksdale/Theatre IV, and hopefully getting to know theatre like I never have before.

--Annie Hulcher

New Faces and Old Favorites Rev up for Becky's New Car

Posted by Bruce Miller
When Steven Dietz's brand new comedy, Becky's New Car, starts its engines in 11 days at Barksdale Theatre at Hanover Tavern, the audience will be charmed by a high octane cast of seven, three of whom will be performing at Barksdale for the first time.

Becky is played by none other than Richmond acting queenpin, Melissa Johnston Price (pictured to the right). Believe it or not (I scarcely believe it myself), this will be Melissa's first, full-fledged Barksdale production.

It's true. At least I think it is. Melissa's credits have been the stuff of legend in Richmond for the last three decades, but her reputation for excellence has all been earned elsewhere.

To be precise, Melissa did appear last fall in the Bootleg Shakespeare production of Titus Andronicus, co-pro'ed by Henley Street Theatre and Barksdale. But the wonderfully wacky Bootleg performances, by design, are barely fledged at all. The entire cast rehearses all morning and afternoon on the day of performance, and that's it.

Also, Melissa starred in The Full Plate Collection, co-pro'ed by Erin Thomas Foley, Jenny Jones Hundley, Irene Ziegler Aston and Barksdale during 2010's Minds Wide Open--Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts. Our role in that partnership was to provide a performance space and a little advice every now and then, and otherwise stay out of the way. So I don't think we can count Full Plate as Melissa's Barksdale debut.

Melissa also has appeared with Theatre IV, but it was quite a while ago, in our co-productions of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (with The Production Company) and Boom Town (with Essential Theatre). Even then, Theatre IV's involvement in the actual artistic product was next to nothing.

So, here she is, identified only a few months ago as one of Central Virginia's two favorite actresses by the readers of STYLE Weekly, FINALLY joining the pit crew at Richmond's nonprofit, resident professional theatre. We're counting our lucky stars.

The other two newcomers in Becky's cast are Christine Fonsale (pictured above and to the left), a Virginia actress who is well known to audiences in Williamsburg and the DC area, and Evan Nasteff (pictured below and to the right), best known by those Richmonders who savor him as the suave and sultry bartender at Off The Hookah in Shockoe Slip.

Christine is an audio book narrator for the Library of Congress. She received theatrical training at the Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts' Honors Conservatory Program in Washington, DC, and participated in Master Classes at DC's nationally renowned Shakespeare Theatre Company. Her credits include Tales of Love and Sausages for Faction of Fools, DC Microfictions for the Alliance Française of Washington, and I Ought to Be in Pictures for the Little Theatre of Norfolk.

In her hometown of Williamsburg, Christine appeared in Polly Honeycombe, Cry Witch!, A Salute to Our Nation, His Excellency's Pleasure Garden, and Lady Dunmore's Ball, all for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's Evening Programs.

Evan holds a BA in Theatre from Hampden-Sydney College. Previous stage credits include MacBeth, Richard III, Rashomon, Art (by Yasmina Reza, author of God of Carnage), Waiting for Godot, and Noises Off!

Rounding out the terrific cast under Billy Christopher Maupin's direction are Barksdale favorites:
* Gordon Bass (green shirt - To Kill a Mockingbird, Melissa Arctic, Das Barbecu),
* David Bridgewater (yellow shirt - Is He Dead?, Moonlight and Magnolias, The Drawer Boy, The Lark, The Crucible, Cyrano de Bergerac, Annie Get Your Gun, Over the River and Through the Woods, The Odd Couple),
*Daniel Moore (red tie - Circle Mirror Transformation, The Little Foxes), and
*Maggie Roop (green bracelet - First Baptist of Ivy Gap, Doubt, Guys and Dolls).

I look forward to seeing you at the theatre, in whatever colored clothing and/or accessories you choose to wear. In 11 short days the garage door opens and Becky's New Car finally hits the road.

--Bruce Miller

Of Marquees and Misperceptions

Posted by Bruce Miller
I love coming home at the top of every month to find my hot-off-the-press edition of Richmond Marquee waiting for me in my mailbox. It reminds me what a great theatre town Richmond is. Is there a comparable monthly newsletter about what's going on among Richmond's diverse dance companies? How about Central Virginia's symphony and orchestra scene, or our opera troupes? I don't think so.

Richmond is a THEATRE town, with a remarkable wealth of talent and audience interest for a city our size. Thank God for that. We should all be glad that Lisa Kotula (actress, theatre administrator, and Publisher / Managing Editor of the Richmond Marquee) continues to commit her energies and resources to the creation of a monthly newsletter that celebrates and promotes the great things happening on ALL of Greater Richmond's many stages.

The September edition includes coverage of 18 different local theatres: AART, Barksdale, Cadence, CAT, Firehouse, HATTheatre, Henley, Henrico, Huguenot Community Players, I Am She Productions, K Dance, Mystery Dinner Playhouse, Richmond Shakespeare, Richmond Triangle, Saint John's Players, Swift Creek Mill, Sycamore Rouge, and Theatre IV. And there was Road Trip info from other Virginia theatres as far afield as Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Riverside Dinner Theatre in Fredericksburg, and Signature Theatre in Alexandria.

The newsletter costs only $2 per month, and you can purchase subscriptions in three, six or twelve month packages. Lisa needs all our support. You can contact her and/or subscribe online at www.richmondmarquee.com. I hope you'll consider doing so.

One of the things I learned in this month's issue of the Richmond Marquee is that Tom Width at Swift Creek Mill Theatre makes life easier for veteran actors than I do at Barksdale. In the article announcing auditions for It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, playing throughout the holidays at the Mill beginning Nov 17, the following paragraph appears.

"Any questions may be directed to Tom Width at Twidth@aol.com. If your work is well-known to Mr. Width, please email for alternate audition information (callback-only auditions are possible.)"

We at Barksdale, Cadence and Theatre IV are not being as generous with our longstanding friends. Instead of having individual auditions for each of the 16 mainstage productions we produce each season, we are beginning this fall to have open calls three times a year: September (Oct 1 in 2011), January and May. We ask every Richmond-based actor, age 18 and up, who is interested in working with us to attend at least one of these auditions each year.

We have already heard, of course, from actors who have conflicting plans on Oct 1, and we will make every effort to include them in callbacks when we believe their talents are well suited to the needs of a show. However, we are also asking these same actors to plan now to attend the open calls in either January or May (exact dates to be determined and announced soon).

It's not that we fail to see that our veteran performers have earned special treatment. In fact, we believe they have. However, we are also aware that there is a misperception out there that Barksdale is a closed shop, privately casting only the same favorite actors over and over again. We know this misperception is not true. In any given year, more than 1/3 of the actors we cast are new to us. But we fear that the perception may keep talented actors whom we do not know, or don't yet know well enough, from attending an open call. Therefore we have a commitment to make every effort to treat all actors exactly the same. If our veteran actors can work with us to address this commitment, we will greatly appreciate it.

As Greater Richmond's resident professional theatre, we hope that all of the talented actors in our metro area will audition for us at least once a year. As we all know, casting happens in callbacks, not open calls. But having open calls, and creating a culture that demonstrates equal respect for all actors--those with whom we are familiar and those with whom we are not--is, we believe, the best way to identify the very best actor for every role.

Ultimately, that is our job. We greatly appreciate everyone's understanding and cooperation.

--Bruce Miller

New Actor Brings Positive Energy to "Lend Me a Tenor"

Posted by Bruce Miller
According to this morning's scale, I gained 1.8 pounds at yesterday's Opening Night cast party of Lend Me a Tenor. It was worth it. As always, Jennings Whiteway prepared a tasty table of treats for everyone to enjoy post-performance. But it was the good company and overall sense of celebration that prompted my indulgence. The show was TERRIFIC. All parties involved had one heck of a good time.

Allow me introduce you to one of the actors (a star of Lend Me a Tenor) who is actuating all this good cheer--Barksdale newcomer, Nick Ciavarella (pronounced Shiv-a-rel'-la).

Nick plays Max, the eager beaver young assistant to the Executive Director of the Cleveland Opera in 1934. Max is fervently in love with the director's daughter, and a definite divo wannabe.

Nick lives in NYC, where he is artistic director of Sound and Space Theatre, a new company that specializes in site-specific productions. He holds an MA in Classical Acting from the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama in London. While in England, he appeared in The Factory's production of Hamlet, touring throughout the UK.

We discovered Nick this summer when he ably starred with the Virginia Shakespeare Festival in Comedy of Errors (Antipholus of Syracuse) and Hamlet (Horatio). The Virginia Shakespeare Festival is presented each summer in Williamsburg under the direction of Christopher Owens, husband of Barksdale actress Tamara Johnson.

Casting often requires very specific qualities. For example, the role of Otello in the opera-within-the-play is described as huge, manly and intimidating. In several lines, the Lend Me a Tenor characters wax lyrical about Otello's great size and prowess. We knew that the actor who would play Tito Merelli (who would be cast as Otello in the opera-within-the-play) had to be tall and robust. Tito is played in our production by Joe Pabst.
Therefore the character of Max had to be of equal height, since Max and Tito must be mistaken for each, at extremely close quarters, several times during all the farcical goings on. (The picture above and to the left show Nick and Joe in their Otello costumes and makeup.)

At the same time, much is made of the fact that Max isn't large enough to play Otello, so we knew we needed an actor who was very tall but also very thin--someone who matched Tito's profile only after he donned considerable padding. Nick, God bless him, is tall and trim--exactly what we needed.

He also has all the other qualities we were looking for--leading man good looks, the ability to appear kind of nebbishy before his glasses and insecurities come off, great comic timing, and an overall ability to command the stage. Nick also appears to be right on the cusp between youthfulness and manliness--exactly where Max needs to be.

When our brilliant director, Scotty Wichmann, saw Nick's video audition and became aware of his abundant talents, he knew he'd found the right man for the job. We're very fortunate that Nick is joining us for this comic romp. We hope and trust this first gig in Richmond won't be his last.

During the run of Lend Me a Tenor, Nick is living in Bon Air in one of Theatre IV's five actor/intern houses. Actually, he's in the same house and room occupied by Jeff McCarthy during our summer run of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. When Nick arrived via train about a month ago, he graciously commented on how this was the best actor housing he'd ever been provided.

Little did any of us know that a week or so into rehearsals Nick and his new Bon Air home would be visited by that vixen Irene. Neither did we foresee that Nick's adopted neighborhood would be one of the last to be blessed with a restoration of power.

New to town, with no friends except the few he had just met, Nick lived ten days in the dark with no refrigeration or hot water. He learned his lines by candlelight, but also had the good sense to turn lemons into lemonade. "It was a blessing in disguise," he says. "It forced me to leave the house every morning and explore all of Richmond's many neighborhoods and attractions. I had a great time. Richmond now feels like home."

If you'd like to meet Nick (pictured to the left in a previous production of The Philadelphia Story) and experience firsthand his joie de vivre, call the Barksdale box office today at 282-2620 to purchase your tickets to our new comedy smash, Lend Me a Tenor. I know you'll be glad you did.

--Bruce Miller

We Get By with a Little Help from our Friends

Posted by Bruce Miller
Most if not all of you know Michael Hawke (pictured throughout this post; see photo notes at end), the outstanding actor who's turned in stellar performances at nearly every theatre in town. At Barksdale, Michael appeared recently as Ralph Sheldrake (the old war buddy) in White Christmas, Max Detweiler (the crafty impresario) in The Sound of Music, Will Masters (the tough but kindhearted sheriff) in Bus Stop, Pa Joad (the patriarch) in The Grapes of Wrath, and Harold Nichols (the terpsichorean former supervisor) in The Full Monty.

The other day on Facebook, this post appeared from Michael: "Who picks up donation stuff (not junk), and hauls it away besides Caritas?"

Eleven people responded, recommending exemplary service organizations such as Diversity Thrift, Salvation Army, Goodwill, AmVets, Habitat for Humanity, and Refugee and Imigration Services of the Catholic Diocese of VA.

Trying always to be vigilant, I responded to say that good ole nonprofit Barksdale and Theatre IV regularly (and gratefully) accept donations of furniture and household items to use as props on stage and/or furnishings for our five tour actor/ intern houses. My even more proactive wife, set designer Terrie Powers, commented a couple hours later that she could drive out and pick things up right now if Michael were interested and ready.

Thankfully for us, Michael invited Terrie to come on over. When she arrived she found a veritable treasure trove of antiques and practical household items that met our needs perfectly. Within a half hour, she had filled her minivan with Michael's thoughtful and generous donations. She immediately thereafter delivered same to the prop and furniture storage facilities at the Empire complex.

Michael seemed pleased to have found a good home for some of the furnishings from his late parents' home. We were thrilled to be the new owners of so many distinctive items.

I'm writing this post to thank Michael publicly and profusely, to congratulate my wife for going the extra mile, and to encourage anyone out there who may have a similar need to de-clutter to consider Barksdale and Theatre IV when donating useful and/or decorative household items. Michael mentioned to Terrie that he'll be pleased to see these treasures on a set one day. We're honored and delighted to carry on the legacy of good taste shown by Michael's late mom and dad.

All donations to Barksdale and Theatre IV are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. By IRS rules, the donor must set the fair market value of each contributed item. Thereafter we will provide a receipt acknowledging the donation. We're almost always available to pick up items from your home. We greatly need and appreciate the support.

Michael's wonderful donations (almost all of them vintage) included:
3 wooden chairs, 1 wicker chair, 1 floor lamp, 1 small square table, 1 round oak table, 1 milk can, 1 jug, 7 pieces of crockery, 2 baskets, 1 plant stand, 1 hoe, 1 rake, 1 pair hedge clippers, 1 footstool, 2 pictures in frames, 1 cauldron, and 1 hanging milk glass lamp.

Thanks, Michael, for your thoughtful and generous donation. You're a real Barksdale cornerstone, and we greatly appreciate ALL your participation and support.

(Photo Notes: 1st pic / left - current headshot, 2nd pic / right - headshot from the late 70s when Michael worked as a Wilhelmina model, 3rd pic / left - on the national tour of The Impossible Years with Ted Knight [mid-70s], 4th pic / right - young Michael with his late parents [it's their home he's clearing out], 5th pic / left - as Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, 6th pic / right - as Max in The Sound of Music)

--Bruce Miller

Why "Lend Me a Tenor" Made It onto our Signature Season

Posted by Bruce Miller
All right. I won't start out with a fib.

I wanted the first show in our 2011-12 Signature Season to be Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams. When Carol Piersol told me about her idea for a Tennessee Williams Centennial Festival in Richmond, and invited Barksdale to join in with the Firehouse and Triangle Players, I was VERY excited and I wanted to participate. (The pic of Marlon Brando and Kim Hunter, to the right, appears on the Firehouse website as a sort of Festival logo. You can visit http://www.williamscelebration.org/ for more information.)

I knew Summer and Smoke was the perfect show for us to enter into the Festival, because:
a. it's my favorite Williams play,
b. it's been on my list of plays I'm very eager to direct for a long time, and
c. Barksdale co-founder Stu Falconer left his job as stage manager of the landmark Off Broadway production of Summer and Smoke when he moved to Richmond in 1953 to co-found B'dale.

But life is made up of tough choices. Another project that will be taking place during the coming year, about which I am equally passionate, is our upcoming partnership with Cadence Theatre Company, and our co-pros of Kimberly Akimbo by David Lindsay Abaire, August: Osage County by Tracy Letts, and In the Next Room or the vibrator play by Sarah Ruhl.

Once Phil, Tracy and I started adding up every nickel and dime that will make up our $5 million annual operating budget, it became clear that I had to choose between partnering with Firehouse and Triangle on the Tennessee Williams Festival or partnering with Anna Johnson on the Cadence co-pros. Obviously, I chose the latter.

But I can't wait to see the great programs planned for the Tennessee Williams Festival, and I encourage everyone to give this exciting Richmond event your full support, even if Barksdale is unable to be involved.

What those pesky budget figures made obvious was that I needed to open our 2011-12 Signature Season with a comedy instead of a drama. The simple truth is this: at Barksdale (maybe everywhere), comedies sell more tickets that dramas. Besides, for the last 58 years, our mission at Barksdale has been to create in Central Virginia national caliber productions of the GREAT comedies, dramas and musicals--past, present and future. I'm proud that we produce our fair share of each.

And I LOVE comedies. Who doesn't. Especially great American comedies like our opening production - Lend Me a Tenor.

When exploring comedies written for the stage, there are several time-honored traditions to celebrate, one of which is farce.

A farce seeks to entertain its audience by placing likable (if often misbehaving) characters within improbable and exaggerated situations. The stakes are high; discovery and disaster seem imminent. The characters negotiate their treacherous circumstances, often at break-neck speed, using trickery, mistaken identity, disguised persons or voices, and verbal humor of varying degrees of sophistication. Physical comedy, linguistic nonsense, slamming doors and broadly stylized performances are staples of theatrical farce.

Not counting our musicals (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, for one, includes many aspects of farce) Barksdale's previous farces include:
* Boeing-Boeing (a French farce written in 1960; revived at Hanover Tavern earlier this summer),
* Is He Dead? (written by Mark Twain in 1898; produced at Willow Lawn in 2010),
* No Sex Please, We're British (an English farce written in 1971; produced at Hanover Tavern in 2006), and
* Scapino! (an English adaptation of a 1671 Moliere classic, adapted in 1971; revived at Willow Lawn in 2005).

The last time we staged a contemporary American farce was our 1993 Hanover Tavern production of Arthur Kopit's wacky Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Momma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad. Wow. Who knew it had been nearly two decades since Barksdale produced a contemporary American farce.

In our current sociopolitical environment, American farces seem particularly apt. That's why I decided it was time to end our 18-year fast. As I reviewed the GREAT contemporary American farces, Lend Me a Tenor was right there waiting for me at the top of the heap.

I'm excited that the show is now about to open. I hope to see you at the theatre.

--Bruce Miller

The Provenance of "Lend Me a Tenor"

Posted by Bruce Miller
In the early 1980s, a British stage manager named Denise Deegan wrote a comedy entitled Daisy Pulls It Off. It was a parody of wholesome adventure stories, and portrayed life in a 1920s British girls boarding school. A little known stage director named David Gilmore read it, and convinced his colleague, Andrew Lloyd Webber, who had just opened his early megahit, Cats, to produce Daisy (pictured above and to the left) in London's West End. The resulting production was a huge hit, running at the Gielgud Theatre (then named the Globe) from April 1983 to February 1986.

At the same time, a little known D. C. lawyer named Ken Ludwig (Harvard Law School, Class of '75) wrote a comedy entitled Opera Buffa. It debuted at the American Stage Festival, a small summer theatre in New Hampshire, receiving considerable local acclaim. Somehow, word of the fledgling comedy travelled to Gilmore and Lloyd Webber in London. They were looking for a show to follow Daisy Pulls It Off on London's West End. They requested and read a perusal copy of the Opera Buffa script, loved it, and convinced Ludwig to change his new play's title to Lend Me a Tenor. Gilmore and Lloyd Webber opened the World Premiere of Lend Me a Tenor at the Gielgud in March 1986, only three weeks after Daisy closed.

Lend Me a Tenor was an instant smash. It ran ten months on the West End and was nominated as Comedy of the Year in the Olivier Awards. In 1989 it opened on Broadway, starring Philip Bosco and Victor Garber, earning seven Tony nominations and two wins. Two decades later, Tenor was revived on Broadway starring Tony Shalhoub and Justin Bartha. Once again it knocked 'em dead, earning kudos (and Tony nominations) for its classic hilarity.

Today, Tenor has been performed in 30 nations with translations into 20 languages, becoming one of the favorite comedies of the 20th Century.
--Bruce Miller

Looking for a Playwright? Lend Me a Lawyer.

Posted by Bruce Miller
This Friday, September 9, marks the opening of the first show of Barksdale's 2011-12 Signature Season--Ken Ludwig's classic farce, Lend Me a Tenor. Interestingly, when Ludwig began his career, he never imagined he'd be a professional playwright. He was a lawyer ... and we all know what Shakespeare said about lawyers.

Today, Ludwig is an internationally acclaimed playwright whose several hits on Broadway, in London’s West End and throughout the world have made his name synonymous with modern comedy. He has won the Laurence Olivier Award, England’s highest theatre honor, as well as three Tony Award nominations and two Helen Hayes Awards. His work has been commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and performed in at least thirty countries in over twenty languages.

His major plays and musicals include Crazy For You, Lend Me A Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo, Twentieth Century, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Shakespeare in Hollywood, Leading Ladies, Be My Baby, An American in Paris, A Fox on the Fairway, The Game’s Afoot (or Holmes for the Holidays), and adaptations of The Beaux’ Stratagem, Treasure Island, and The Three Musketeers.

Crazy for You ran for four years at the Shubert Theater on Broadway, won the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Los Angeles Critics Circle and Helen Hayes Awards as Best Musical of the Year, as well as the Olivier Award for Best Musical in London, and was broadcast nationwide on the PBS television series Great Performances.

Lend Me a Tenor was originally produced on Broadway by Andrew Lloyd Webber, revived in 2010 starring Tony Shalhoub and Justin Bartha, and has proved to be one of the world's most popular comedies of the past three decades. In London it was nominated for the Olivier Award as Comedy of the Year. On Broadway it was nominated for nine Tony Awards, including Best Play and Best Revival, and won two Tonys, four Drama Desk Awards and three Outer Critics Circle Awards. It has been translated into at least twenty languages and produced in over thirty countries around the world.

Moon Over Buffalo was nominated for two Tony Awards and marked Carol Burnett’s triumphant return to Broadway after 30 years, where she starred opposite Philip Bosco. Subsequent Broadway casts included Lynn Redgrave and Robert Goulet. In London it played at the legendary Old Vic starring Joan Collins and Frank Langella.

Twentieth Century, his adaptation of the Hecht-MacArthur comedy, was premiered at Virginia's Signature Theatre in Arlington (Ludwig lives in the D. C. metro area), and played to sold-out audiences on Broadway in 2004, where it was produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company starring Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer appeared on Broadway during the 2001-02 season. A one-hour children’s version had a triumphant run at the Kennedy Center, and subsequently toured the country for two years.

Shakespeare in Hollywood was commissioned by The Royal Shakespeare Company. It premiered at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. and won the Helen Hayes Award as Best Play of the Year. Leading Ladies premiered at the Alley Theatre in Houston in the fall of 2004 under the author’s direction and is now being performed in theatres throughout the country.

Be My Baby opened the 2005-2006 season at the Alley Theatre starring Hal Holbrook and Dixie Carter. Ludwig was honored to be asked by the Estate of Thornton Wilder to complete Wilder’s adaptation of The Beaux’ Stratagem, a new version of the Restoration comedy by George Farquhar. The play received its world premiere production at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. under the direction of Michael Kahn and will be published by TCG.

Ludwig's adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island premiered in 2007 at The Alley Theatre. It later opened at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London's West End in fall of 2008. Treasure Island won the 2009 AATE Distinguished Play Award for Best Adaptation.

Ludwig was commissioned by The Bristol Old Vic in London to write an adaptation of The Three Musketeers for an 8-week run during the theatre’s 2006 Christmas season. Ludwig’s stage version of An American in Paris with the music of George and Ira Gershwin—in the tradition of their collaboration on Crazy for You—premiered at the Alley Theatre in spring of 2008. The Fox on the Fairway, Ludwig’s new comedy set in the world of golf, premiered in the fall of 2010 at Signature Theatre in Arlington, starring Barksdale's Jeff McCarthy.

Sherlock! (or Holmes for the Holidays) is Ludwig’s newest play, a comedy-mystery about the great actor William Gillette who originated the role of Sherlock Holmes. Other plays include Sullivan & Gilbert (a co-production of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Arts Centre of Canada, voted Best Play of 1988 by the Ottawa critics); a new adaptation of Where’s Charley? for the Kennedy Center; the Off-Broadway hit Divine Fire; and a mystery, Postmortem. For television, he co-wrote the 1990 Kennedy Center Honors for CBS (Emmy Award nomination), and a television pilot for Carol Channing. For film he wrote Lend Me a Tenor for Columbia Pictures and All Shook Up for Touchstone Pictures and director Frank Oz.

Ludwig is a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Shakespeare Theatre of Washington and an Honorary Trustee of the Shakespeare Guild. He has served on the New Play Committees of the National Endowment for the Arts and the American College Theater Festival, where he annually chooses and presents the Mark Twain Award for outstanding comic performance. He has lectured on drama at various universities around the country, and recently established the Ken Ludwig Scholarship in playwriting.

He graduated from Haverford College (B.A.), Harvard Law School (J.D.) and Cambridge University (LL.B.). He studied music at Harvard with Leonard Bernstein and theatre history at Cambridge. He practiced law for several years with the firm of Steptoe & Johnson, where he remains Of Counsel. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from York College of Pennsylvania. He is married and has two children.

We hope you'll join us for our first production by this important American playwright.

--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

Four NEW High-Flying Talents Lend Lift to Boeing-Boeing

Posted by Bruce Miller
Boeing-Boeing closes today (Sunday) at Hanover Tavern with a 2 p.m. matinee performance. After seven weeks of relatively full and very happy houses, the popular consensus is that this classic French/British farce from 1960/62 is one of the funniest plays to hit Central Virginia's boards in quite a while.

A good deal of the credit for the general hilarity goes to the two-thirds of the cast who are working in a Barksdale show for the first time. Returning favorites Susan Sanford (pictured above and to the left) and Derek Phipps (to the right) may well be leading the laugh fest with their inspired clowning, but newcomers Maura Burroughs, Donna Marie Miller, Caylyn Temple and Denis Riva each bring unique and highly honed talents to the task at hand.

Maura Burroughs (to the left) plays Gloria, the American air hostess who flies with TWA, and spends her free time during Paris layovers cavorting with playboy architect Bernard. A native Richmonder, Maura trained at NYC's prestigious Circle in the Square Theatre School, and has been living and working in the Big Apple for the last four years. Favorite credits include Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Shelley in Bat Boy the Musical, Soupy Sue in Urinetown the Musical, and Hippolyta / Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream. http://www.mauraburroughs.com/.

Donna Marie Miller (to the right) is Gretchen, the German air hostess who flies with Lufthansa and is as passionate about her men as she is her career. Donna was a theatre major at James Madison University, and spent her immediate post-grad years in Los Angeles doing theatre, television, films and commercials. Favorite roles included Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Anita in West Side Story, and Princess Winifred in Once Upon a Mattress. Currently, Donna is pursuing her second passion, teaching kindergarten in Chesterfield County Public Schools.

Caylyn Temple (to the left with Denis Riva) brings "la dolce vita" to the role of Gabriella, Bernard's voluptuous Italian mistress (and true soul mate). She's an air hostess for Al Italia. Caylyn is a 2010 theatre grad from VCU, and she spent all of last school year touring with Theatre IV. She plans to move to NYC this fall to pursue her career further. Favorite roles include Mrs. Walker in The Who's Tommy and Mrs. Forrest in Psycho Beach Party, both at Theatre VCU.

Last but certainly not least is Denis Riva (to the right with Derek Phipps), who portrays the cock of the roost in this quintessential bedroom farce. He received his BA from Washington and Lee University, his MFA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his JD from the University of Richmond Law School. New York theatre credits include A Woman of No Importance at BITS Players and In My Dreams ... at the Vortex Theatre Co. Regional credits include Hay Fever, Gross Indecency, and All's Well that Ends Well at PlayMaker's Rep; Our Town and Fiddler on the Roof at CalRep; and Narnia at Playhouse on the Square.

If you'd like to catch Boeing-Boeing before it flies away forever, come today (Sunday) for our final performance at 2 p.m. As of this writing, tickets are still available. The number of our box office, which opens at noon, is 282-2620. Hope to see you there.

--Bruce Miller

World Famous Playwright You May Never Have Heard Of

Posted by Bruce Miller
Our mystery playwright lived from 1923 until 2003. During his 80 years, he wrote 40 plays that have been produced professionally in 55 different countries. His most famous play ran for 19 years in one of the world's greatest theatre capitals, and seven years in another. Ten of his plays have been translated into hit films and television adaptations. It is estimated that 20 million (and growing) people have attended live performances of his work, and a half billion more have enjoyed his plays in their recorded adaptations. For his contributions to international arts and letters, he received one of his nation's highest honors.

Who is this giant of world theatre? Marc Camoletti, the author of Boeing-Boeing.

Boeing-Boeing concludes its seven week run at Barksdale Theatre at Hanover Tavern with performances at 8 pm tonight (Saturday) and 2 pm tomorrow (Sunday). Half-price rush tickets may be available two hours prior to performance by calling the Barksdale box office at 282-2620.

It's a well known fact that creators of comedies seldom receive the respect awarded to creators of dramas and/or musicals. Except in France. Good thing for Camoletti he was French. Sort of. Camoletti was born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1923, into a family of Italian origin. His grandfather, also named Marc Camoletti, was an internationally renowned architect who designed and built the landmark Victoria Theatre in Geneva, given to the citizens of Switzerland by the British consulate in the 1890s, in honor of Queen Victoria.

By the time grandson Camoletti's first play was produced in 1958 (in fact, his first three plays were all produced that year), he was living in Paris. The City of Lights loved Camoletti's first play, La Bonne Anna, and they instantly claimed this luminous new playwright as a native son.

All of Camoletti's plays are crowd-pleasing comedies. No one appreciates screwball comedy more than the French. Camoletti's 1960 play, Boeing-Boeing, debuted to rave reviews and instantly became one of the classic farces of the 20th century. It ran in Paris for 19 years, and after opening on London's West End in 1962 in an English adaptation by Beverley Cross (Dame Maggie Smith's late husband), it ran for another seven years in London.

Recently it was revived in a Tony Award-winning production on Broadway.

Camoletti's two plays to achieve fame and name recognition in the U. S. are Boeing-Boeing and its sequel, Don't Dress for Dinner. Boeing-Boeing is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "most performed French play worldwide." Take that, Tartuffe.

Camoletti is greatly beloved and respected in France. In the 1980s he was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, one of his adopted nation's highest honors.

If you'd like a taste of what makes Camoletti so great, I hope you'll stop by Hanover Tavern for one of our final two performances. Our terrific cast (Maura Burroughs, Donna Marie Miller, Derek Phipps, Denis Riva, Susan Sanford and Caylyn Temple) are having the times of their lives, and they'll be happy to jet you to Paris for a hilarious trip back to the 60s--Camoletti style.

--Bruce Miller

In Memoriam: Essie Simms

Posted by Bruce Miller
With great appreciation for a wonderful life well lived, I am sad to report the passing of our dear friend Essie Simms this afternoon at her home at Westminster-Canterbury. Essie is pictured above with Julie Fulcher-Davis.

Essie has been an inspiration and source of great joy to many of us in the theatre community. She attended every Barksdale theatre production from our debut performance in 1954 until the summer of 2009. Her devotion was not limited to Barksdale. She was a very familiar presence at nearly every theatre in town.

Her last attendance was during a short-lived recovery in Dec of 2009 when she was back in her front row seat for the Opening of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

There will be an Episcopalian funeral service for Essie on Monday, 3 pm, in the chapel at Westminster-Canterbury. A memorial celebration of Essie's life is being planned by and for her friends in the theatre community. Information about that service will be announced on Facebook and here in the Barksdale Blog next Tuesday.

Essie's passing marks the end of an era. In the coming days, I will be writing more about her, and we will be announcing plans for a memorial service in loving celebration of her wondrous life. Until then, I share deepest sympathies with Essie's many friends and loved ones.

--Bruce Miller

Letter to the Editor - Does "Scoundrels" Offend?

Posted by Bruce Miller
In this morning's Times-Dispatch, under the headline "Mocking the disabled isn't funny," a gentleman named Miles F. Johnson wrote a thoughtful letter, excerpted below:
"I saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrels now playing at Barksdale's Empire Theater and wonder if I saw the same show the reviewer, Julinda Lewis, did. She wrote in the Times-Dispatch, 'I laughed so hard and so often during this musical comedy that my face hurt.'

Personally, I found the scene regarding brother Rubrecht to be offensive. Scott Wichmann portrays a man who is mentally and physically challenged. The word 'chromosome' is used in the dialogue, suggesting that Ruprecht's problems are congenital. Anyone with such challenges is not funny and certainly not a subject for laughter. The authors, by including this scene, exhibited total insensitivity regarding these challenged folks and their families.

I know this is a musical comedy, but expecting the audience to laugh at Ruprecht is, well, inappropriate. Am I a stick-in-the-mud? A wet blanket? Does grouchy, old curmudgeon come to mind? Perhaps, but when you see the show, ask yourself: 'Is the character, Ruprecht, really funny?' Think about it.

Miles F. Johnson
Richmond"

This letter struck a chord with me. My first "career" was in special education. For four summers in high school and college, it was my privilege to work at Camp Baker for developmentally disabled children and young adults. I began as a junior counselor, then a senior counselor, then creative arts director, then assistant camp director. During each of those summers, I lived for ten weeks with some of the most loving, creative, inspiring individuals I'll ever know. It's not an exaggeration to say that those summers changed my life.

Later, I worked for a year as a teacher at the Developmental Training Center. The reason I left Special Ed as a career was that I was unable to distance myself appropriately from the children and young adults in my care. I took all of their challenges home with me. I wanted to solve problems I couldn't solve; offer cures and corrections when none were available. The pressure wasn't healthy for me.

When I read Mr Johnson's letter, I thought it was appropriate and represented a thoughtful and reasonable point of view. I didn't think he was a "grouchy old curmudgeon"--the phrase he uses. I thought he was a loving, thoughtful advocate. Clearly we hurt his feelings with our production, and I deeply regret that. I take his criticism to heart and thank him for it. He makes an excellent point, and I'm sure he is not alone in feeling the way he does. God bless all loving, thoughtful advocates. I hope I'm one of them.

Having said that, I think there is another point of view that is equally valid. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is about two con men, one skilled and one ridiculous, who do any and everything in the course of 2 1/2 hours to achieve their dastardly, silly ends. It is clearly a comedy without a serious bone in its body. The musical does not ask nor expect the audience to laugh at a disabled person. In fact, Scott Wichmann does NOT portray "a man who is mentally and physically challenged." Scotty portrays a dirty, rotten con man who pretends to be "a man who is mentally and physically challenged."


I'm not trying to split hairs. I'm trying to explain why I and, I believe, most people feel comfortable with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels--why we don't feel like we're laughing at people with disabilities.The musical asks the audience to laugh at the two central flim flam men, both of whom are occasionally tasteless, crude, insulting and inept as they go about their business of conning women out of money. It doesn't give away anything substantive to say that at various points, one of the two antiheroes pretends to be a wheelchair-bound veteran, an Irish priest, a royal prince, a sadistic Austrian psychiatrist, a Spanish real estate tycoon, a mute, a psychologically damaged contestant in a nationally televised dance contest, and, yes, a wacky, misfit brother.

The brother, Ruprecht, is not referred to as "disabled." He is described in song as follows:

Every royal family, by its nature,
Has a sort of price that it must pay.
Every noble lineage has
One loose gene-
Small as a molecule,
Flitting 'round the family pool.

It's the sort of thing
One sees in Appalachia
Or in the odd inbred bichon frise.
It really can be such a
Nasty stain on the escutcheon
When a wisp of DNA
Begins to fray, then goes astray.

Caligula had the tempre,
The Hapburgs had the chin.
George the Third went cuckoo-bird
And Nero had that violin.
Richard, you'll remember,
Had the hump and the withered limb.
The Bushes of Tex
Were nervous wrecks
Because their son was dim.
But look what happened to him.

Alas, our family also carries a bit of a curse.
But darling, it could be a great deal worse.

Ruprecht is a character that the other characters make up. He exists only as part of a scam. The characters in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels offend everyone in sight. That's part of what makes them dirty and rotten. It's their outrageousness that is funny, NOT the people they offend.

One could argue persuasively that the current style of comedy trends purposefully toward the irreverent (think Jon Stewart, South Park, The Book of Mormon, Spamalot, Avenue Q, etc). Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is clearly in sync with that trend.

When our production offends kind, thoughtful men like Miles Johnson, I'm very sorry. But it is not our intent to offend. We're offering a light summer comedy, crude and tasteless as some of the characters may be. Most audiences are laughing their hindquarters off, as mentioned in our five rave reviews.

Last year we produced The Sound of Music; this coming Christmas we'll be doing My Fair Lady. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is not one of these classic American musicals. It adds a welcome variety to what we do. It's contemporary and silly. It is also, arguably, fresh and funny.

We hope all audience members will enjoy the show in the spirit that it is written and presented.

--Bruce Miller

Matthew Costello

To Members and Supporters of the Richmond Theatre Community:

Many of you have learned recently about the critical health issues that our colleague Matthew Costello is facing. If you have not, you can learn more directly from the horse’s mouth, by visiting Matthew’s blog: http://matthewcostello.com/blog/

Matthew is a dear friend. Like many of you, my heart goes out to him in this time of need. If you would like to help Matthew address his financial challenges, I suggest you consider making a contribution to the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund at the Community Foundation – Serving Richmond and Central Virginia. If you choose to do so, here’s what you need to know.

Among the many rules that the Community Foundation lives by is this one: “Charity ends where certainty of the beneficiary begins.” What that means is that there is no way anyone can give money today or tomorrow to the Theatre Artist Fund at the Community Foundation with any guarantee, stated or implied, that those donated funds will go to Matthew Costello or anyone else. IRS rules are very clear on this.

Having said that, let me add that the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund and the Community Foundation are advised by a Committee of four active leaders in the Richmond theatre community. This Committee reviews requests and makes recommendations to the Community Foundation regarding how funds available through the Theatre Artists Fund should be spent.

The Committee will advise on the distribution of two types of funds. The first type comes from interest that already has been earned by the principal of the Theatre Artists Fund, and is available for immediate use. The second type includes donations that recently have been or soon will be made to the Theatre Artists Fund at the Community Foundation, IF these donations include the phrase “SPENDABLE PORTION” in the instructions (if contributions are made online) or on the memo line of the check (if contributions are made via the mail).

I know the workings of this Committee well; I trust them completely. I know they will make wise and appropriate decisions.

I am very eager to support Matthew in this time of need. I am making my contribution online to the Community Foundation (http://www.tcfrichmond.org/). I am making the contribution in honor of Matthew Costello (they provide the opportunity to do that). In the Instructions section (towards the bottom of their page), I am writing:

“For the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund. Spendable portion.”

If I were mailing in a check, I would make the check payable to the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund, and on the memo line I would write “Spendable portion. In honor of Matthew Costello.” The mailing address of the Community Foundation is:

The Community Foundation
7501 Boulders View Drive
Suite 110
Richmond, VA 23225-4047

I recommend this course of action to you and to all my colleagues and friends.

By making this gift to the fund and trusting the Committee, I will be able to support the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund AND count this gift as a tax deductible contribution.

If you would like to communicate with me further regarding these matters, please feel free to contact me on Facebook.

With great appreciation,

Bruce Miller

"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