Servant / Rent / As You Like It / Etc.

My first big theater-related disappointment of the summer comes this weekend. I’ll be heading out of town for a wedding – that’s not the disappointing part. But because of that commitment, I’ll miss the restaging of “A Servant of Two Masters” at Dogwood Dell this weekend. This delightful little romp produced by Henley Street featured a couple of my favorite performances of the past season: Richard Koch as the lead character Truffaldino and Christina Bellew in a couple different roles. If you missed it the first time, don’t make the same mistake twice!

Seeing the teaser from Firehouse’s “Rent” on Virginia This Morning yesterday really got my blood pumping in anticipation of this show. The looong, awkward pause before they start singing notwithstanding, both these women are powerhouses and I can’t wait to see them tear up the stage, along with the rest of their castmates. (Side note: when I was in the studio for the “Sound of Music” appearance on VTM, they ran the music off of a miked boom box. Not exactly high tech and I expect a glitch with that kind of setup was the cause of the awkward pause.) I’m also tickled that a song about lesbian love got performed so boldly on morning TV. Welcome to the 21st century, Richmond!

I’m glad some folks took the opportunity to shamelessly promote their upcoming work in the comments of a recent post. As I said there: it’s my blog but your forum, if you choose to use it. I know a tiny fraction of what goes on in this town and I started this blog to generate conversation, not to provide a platform from which to expound. My hope has been that it would leak out into the larger community and be another venue for promotion of Richmond theater in general. I don’t know how successful it’s been but that’s still my focus.

Anyway, along those lines, the talented Mr. Carlson has started a blog to talk about his upcoming Theatre in Battery Park production of “As You Like It,” another entry in the local Shakespeare sweepstakes. I know he’s got some good folks lined up to perform so it’s certainly a project that warrants attention.