After several weeks of anticipation, theater in Richmond finally kicks off tonight with the opening of “Boy’s Life,” continuing on Saturday with the monster grand opening down at CenterStage. A huge swath of the theater pros in town are involved in one way or another – have you seen the group from SPARC doing scenes from “Les Mis?” Wow!
It’s hard for me not to feel some pangs of regret about not jumping on tickets earlier but I take some solace in knowing that I’m not alone. After a Facebook posting where I mentioned that I wouldn’t be spending this month’s school supply budget on the $85+ tickets, I heard from numerous other theater folks who won’t be at the grand opening. We’ll be wandering around during the tours on Sunday though.
As any true theater geek knows, last night was the premiere of “Glee” on TV. I have to say that this is the only TV show that has been on my wife’s radar since before I can remember. If nothing else, the success of this show will be a gauge of how big the theater geek audience is across the country.
Speaking of TV, another graduate of “American Idol” showed up on stage again, with Diana De Garmo debuting in “Toxic Avenger: the Musical” off-Broadway. So far, the reviews I’ve read, both in Entertainment Weekly and Theatre Mania, have been positive. I have to say that a show that has a song called ''Bitch/Slut/Liar/Whore” probably would have grabbed my attention even without Ms. De Garmo attached. (Still doesn’t top “Avenue Q” for provocative song titles though; I still smile at “The Internet is for Porn” years after the shock value has worn off.)
One final TV item: reading that “Lost” is casting for a teenager, maybe to play young Sawyer, I couldn’t help but think of Brian Walter who was in "Henry V" this summer. Maybe a bit too old, maybe not rough enough around the edges to be Sawyer but still, seems like a good fit to me. What do you think?
2 comments:
My wife and I were at the CenterStage invitational dress rehearsal tonight and were absolutely amazed and astounded by the level of talent in this city. You couldn't ask for a better evening. SPARC completely walked away with the evening for us, and had the audience jumping to their feet and cheering before the number even ended. They were absolutely breathtaking. The whole event was beautifully done and thrilling, and the Carpenter Center has never looked better. Congrats to all involved, who've worked on the program, and who will continue to make it thrive.
I too was just floored at the high level of quality all across the board, and left the theater with an even higher opinion of our local arts community than I already had.
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