Opening and Closing

So “Sanders Family Christmas” is opening tonight and I guess “A Tuna Christmas” is officially opening, not to mention “Bite Me!” continuing, which makes for a busy weekend on the local boards.

But just so people don’t forget other things they might have missed, the T-D has a piece on “Shadow Play” which wraps up at Theatre VCU and the final shows of “tick, tick…Boom!” are also this weekend.

I didn’t really get a chance to ramble about “Boom!” in part because there was little I could say beyond continuing to heap praise upon the production. Particularly with the perspective that this is the first fully produced show Stage 1 has put on, it’s quite an achievement. The technical reality of the theater space is a little breathtaking – the tiered seating, the rotating lighting instruments, the high-quality sound production. How many years was it before most local start-up companies get these kinds of things? Well, some still aren’t there.

But then there are the performances, which are exceptional. Durron did not get enough praise in the reviews because of the supporting nature of his character but his voice, his energy, and his organic portrayal of a marketing guy who has compromised but still has a soul is key to the show’s success. Audra – well, what more can I say? She is striking as a blonde – the shininess of the wig notwithstanding – and the speed with which she moves into her marketing maven and New Yawk agent personas remarkable, beyond the fact that she nails each of her characters. And I’ve had two women talk to me about how she looks in her black dress so I feel fairly secure in knowing that my reaction wasn’t simply a sexist one (BTW: looking for some male eye-candy – go see Elliot Lau in “Bite Me!”)

I’d say Brett continues to mature with his role as Jon but I frankly think one of his most mature performances was in “The Drawer Boy” three years ago. So I wasn’t at all surprised to see him manage the awkward narrate-as-you-act structure of the show with aplomb. As I think I’ve said before about him, he projects a very winning personality without seeming to try. I start to wonder whether he’d be awesome playing against type as a cold-hearted villain sometime.

As great as the production was, I didn’t gain any great love for the show itself. It’s a little “navel-gazey” with the subsidiary characters (both which are pretty intriguing in their own right) getting a bit of a short shrift in favor of the young man struggling to follow his dream. I didn’t understand the essential idea of “30/90” at first (he’s 30, it’s 1990, duh), “Green Green Dress” is clearly filler and I think “Come to Your Senses” is a bit of an awkward song that doesn’t pay off in the way that it’s supposed to (IMHO). I ended up feeling that if only you could plug “Seasons of Love” in at that point, just how powerful the show would be.

Still, it’s an impressive production and if you haven’t seen it, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Mash-up

One of my favorite things in last night's "Bite Me!" that Richmond Triangle Players is staging at the Gay Community Center was the costarring turn by Margie Mills. The last show she appeared in was Richmond Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and I kept thinking what a great mash-up these two productions would be. One's got a ghost, the other's got vampires, both have got a lotta killing -- fun for the whole family!

Famous People

For those of you who missed it, James (A.) Bond who has directed many a local Shakespearean show, delivered the top 10 list on Monday. Check it out on YouTube.

Also, add another theater-oriented rambler to the blog roll. The lovely Ms. Honaker has joined the ranks. I sense a bit of Donald Barthelme about the lovely Ms. H and look forward to more slices of life from her unique perspective.

Interviewing

I recently talked to Frank Rich as part of doing a story for Style. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to some pretty interesting people as part of my Style gig, most of them very cool local folks, and some with a bit of national recognition like James Naughton, John Patrick Shanley, Israel Horovitz and Tamara Tunie. One of my first phone interviews ever was with Petula Clark and I made a bit of a botch of it. I talked to comedian/actor Stephen Wright once: worst interview ever. Dry monotonic wit: pretty fun. Take out the wit: not so fun.

While I have interviewed people I admired and people who I thought were wonderfully talented, I would have to say that Rich was the first “hero” of mine that I’ve talked to. And the interview was great, for one principle reason: it was an actual conversation. He really listened to my questions and gave well-considered answers. A couple of times, he asked me some questions and actually listened to my answers. His sometimes arch writing style does not translate into an overly wry or sarcastic interpersonal style. He is smart and engaged and tremendously human. He seems like the kind of guy who I would love to chat with over a beer or a glass of wine.

Interviewing Rich made me reflect on the past year. I can think of at least a couple interviews where it was hard for me to get a word in edgewise, where the subject of the interview seemed to view me simply as their mouthpiece, a vessel for getting the word about them (and everything they were doing) out to the wider world. I also had probably the most enjoyable interview I’ve ever had, chatting with the delightfully humorous and inquisitive Michael Clem from “Eddie from Ohio.” What’s clear is that the quality of the interview has nothing to do with whether the interviewee is a nationally known big name “star” or the proverbial big fish in a small pond.

Hot Tuna

So "A Tuna Christmas" DID open last weekend at the Mill and my confusion deepens. So it goes.

Here's Ms. H's review. I'm wondering who the dressers are. I remember Bruce giving a special shout-out on the Barksdale Blog to the dressers of "Greater Tuna" when it was out at the Tavern. Not to minimize the stars but it sounds like the dressers are key components behind this show working well or not.

Flying Blind

I’ve been out of town so I’m somewhat out of touch (more so than usual) but I did find Ms. H’s review of “Widow’s Blind Date.” Susan’s review peaks my interest in many ways, among the least relevant being, does Ed Slipek list himself as “Eddie” in the program? I’ve known Ed for years and never thought of him as “Eddie.” Is that his “street” name? “Blind Date” sounds intense so I feel I need to check it out somehow; the last time I missed an intense production at Firehouse it was “The Late Henry Moss,” something I rue to this day.

And maybe I’m just getting older and more confused (in addition to out of touch) but wasn’t “Tuna Christmas” supposed to open this weekend at the Mill? Did it? The opening date was announced as Nov. 13, which I expect meant there were previews last Thursday and Friday since they usually open shows on Saturdays. But then the Sunday T-D listed opening night as this weekend. I don’t know – either the Mill’s scheduling is confusing or I’m slowly sliding into the realm of needing someone to explain how to use the touch-screen voting machines…

One small thing

Here's the link to the online review of Stage 1's "tick, tick...Boom!"

Just one small thing: my original version used the word "ingénue" not "youth" to describe the kinds of roles young actors often play. I think "youth" is not quite as accurate but maybe "ingénue" is a term less understood for the public at large, maybe? I think the change is a bit unfortunate: I really like the image of an "ingénue ghetto."

This just in

As you may have noticed, there wasn’t room in this week’s Style for a review of Stage 1’s “tick, tick…Boom!” To be honest, this wasn’t a totally bad thing because it allowed my thoughts about the production to simmer for a couple of days. In the meantime, Susan H and Joan T have weighed in, doing a fine job recapping this exciting production.

However, I just heard from my lovely editor at Style who is going to run my review online since it won’t show up in print until the Wed. before the last weekend of the run. I’ll be sure and post a link as soon as there is one.

I’ll write out some additional thoughts about the production soon but for now I will say this: I had a great time at the post-show reception. I’m not usually very comfortable at those kinds of things. But the intimate space of Stage1/Shuffles – plus the warm and welcoming presence of Joe Thibodeau behind the bar – made it feel homey. Oh, and I’ll say something else: Chase and Peggy have done an incredible job getting their company off to a great start. I was amazed at the performance space, particularly given that it was just a big room a few months ago. Seats on risers! Rotating lighting instruments! Wow!

So just as I’m starting to catch up a little with what’s going on in town, a whole bevy of plays opens and I’m way behind again. Tomorrow, there’s “Widow’s Blind Date” at Firehouse and then the Mill’s “Tuna Christmas” this weekend. Oy – there are simply not enough days in the week!

I went to Frank Rich’s talk on Monday and it was OK. He had many insightful perspectives but much of the material he covered in his talk didn’t necessarily seem new. The one thing I thought was most interesting was his tracing of the blurring between news and entertainment back to the miniseries “Roots,” which was fictionalized history that many people took for straight fact. I guess I was spoiled too because I had already interviewed him about his talk so I had heard a lot of the material directly from him already. (I’ve got a post rumbling around in my head regarding my interview with him – maybe later this week.)

I think he’s an awesome writer but not necessarily the most scintillating speaker. It made me wonder what people who consider me a decent writer would think of me as a public speaker. Hmmm… One thing I’d do is bring in more media – one older white guy alone on a stage just isn’t a striking visual. I wouldn’t go the PowerPoint route but still some slides woulda been nice. I don’t think I have to worry too much about this though as U of R isn’t beating down my door to get me to speak to 100s of people.

Oh, and I almost forgot: be sure and check out Mary B’s piece on the “Byrd Park Football League” that did make it into print today.

Shadowplay

What was clear with Theatre VCU’s “Shadowplay” was that it was still a work in progress. In his curtain speech, David Leong essentially said as much. And as the evening unfolded, there were several moments that did not quite pop. However, the raw material is there for something pretty awesome.

As it turned out, the one scene in the production that I had seen during rehearsal was my favorite part of the show. The interaction between the “artist” and a large square that splits into multiple shapes and then reconfigures into different images was funny and clever and, particularly when the dancing started, very lively. My only complaint would be that it comes and goes too quickly.

Beyond that, I enjoyed moments where light and action were able to escape the screen at the back of the stage. One light on a long cable that gets used to project shadows was cool. As for onscreen action, the 3-D animation was pretty groovy.

Two long sections got on my nerves. First, a magician / audience interaction bit needs a pacing uptick and some focus to make it work. And even then, I was not 100% sure what the big trick was. The student handling the scene had a winning enough personality but to go on as long as it did, it would be nice to have a true showman and accomplished magician to engage the crowd (sorry, I don’t have the program or I’d mention names). Then, the life story of the guy & girl done in shadows was fine – and some of the animation interesting – but it seemed to go on and on. Compare that with the “Top Secret” adventure which also went on for a long time but had energy and action to keep you engaged.

The show seems like it could be a technician’s nightmare – a lot of coordination needed between light, music, projections and actors on either side of the big screen. There was a lot of dazzle but sometimes the timing was off just a beat, drawing attention to the underlying technical components and distracting from organic story that was unfolding.

Theatre VCU should be applauded for taking on something so ambitious and the show is worth seeing to appreciate the wacky things that can be done with light. And, considering it in a bigger picture context, Shadowplay is the kind of multimedia experience that could bring all sorts of different people into the theater. And that’s a good thing.

Missed it

Somehow, I missed Ms. H's review of "tick...tick...Boom!" in the Sunday paper. Here's a link in case you missed it too!

And in the "better late than never" department, I missed Mr. Porter's review of "The Nerd" on the radio. It's hard to keep up with it all.

Other people’s words

I’m always kinda on the lookout for new places to look for news and commentary about theater. I recently happened upon The Stranger, an alt publication out of Seattle, and found a few somewhat audacious pieces on theater. First, there’s this overview of recent openings in the area that starts out with the assertion that 2006 was the year the American musical cracked open. Hmmm.

More eyebrow-raising is this “10 things theaters needs to do right now” piece that starts out with “Enough with the goddamned Shakespeare already.” My!

On the other side of the journalistic world, I picked up a Wall Street Journal last week (I hear there’s some financial turmoil or something going on) and found this interesting perspective on why there aren’t any conservative plays.

For an art form people seem to keep wanting to declare dead, theater still gets a fair amount of press.

Fan(s)

"Bad times, sad times
Now they're all yesterday's news
Since Annie kicked out the blues."

Many people have said many nice things to me since I started doing this blog. And some people, well, haven’t. In fact, a recent detractor wrote an extended criticism of my writing that included this wonderful bon mot (among others): “I find your blogs, your reviews and your articles no less ostentatious, egocentric and overblown than you find my work. I just don't have the public forum to say so and so your pride in your work (if you have any) can avoid being dented.”

The ironic thing is that in the weeks following the RTCC awards, I was seriously considering stopping the whole blog thing. My life is crazy busy enough, nobody pays me to do the damn thing and I wonder whether anyone really gives a shit what I have to say. I mean, really, why should they? The statement above was just one small piece of a long rant that was just about the last nail in the coffin.

But two things happened in the last week. One was that Derome Scott Smith used this blog to update everyone on his condition. I was relieved to hear of his improvement. But I was also glad to know that some people who had been concerned and didn’t really know where to go for more info were able to be reassured that he was recovering.

The other thing is I met an actual “fan.” I know there are at least a few “readers” out there who swing by here at least occasionally. But Annie Steingold professes to be an actual “fan” – a devotee, I guess, of my online ramblings. Huh. I don’t think I’ve ever had one of those before. She even says her sister is one as well. A pair of fans! This is even more peculiar to me given that they have their own quite hilarious blog and I, who can’t turn a funny phrase with a screwdriver, am a bit of a fan of theirs.

The situation with Derome made me realize that, regardless of my opinions and notwithstanding those who consider me a pompous ass for even supposing to have anything worth saying, this blog provides a service, a place for a smallish community of people to check in or ramble on as they see fit – or not. And so, fresh from Annie’s boost of my ego, I’ll keep throwing stuff out there for your perusal. I’ll work on keeping it from being too ostentatious, egocentric (oops!) and overblown, but I can’t make any promises.

I’ve got "Shadowplay" and "tick…tick…Boom!" to write about and I'll get to them ASAP. But I promised my fan a shout out first, so here it is, Annie. Nice meeting you and keep up the good work!

Weekend

I am really looking forward to this weekend; anything that gets me away from my toxic workplace is extremely welcome (clarification for those who don’t know: Style is not my full-time gig and I never actually go into the offices there).

But there’s more to it than that. Earlier this week I was perusing the last New Yorker and feeling pangs of regret. There are so many intriguing productions opening or in previews. Sondheim’s “Road Show,” directed by John Doyle, is at the top of the list of my list of eagerly anticipated productions. Whether good or bad, it’s sure to be intriguing. But you also have Mamet’s “American Buffalo” with a somewhat zany cast of Cedric the Entertainer, Haley Joel Osment, and John Leguizamo. Peter Brook is directing “The Grand Inquisitor” and Ken Russell is making his Broadway debut directing “Mindgame” (with Keith Caradine, by the way). Campbell Scott is in “The Atheist” and Jeremy Piven is in “Speed The Plow.” And this list doesn’t even include relative long-runners I still haven’t seen (“South Pacific”) or relative new-comers that sound incredible (“Blasted,” “A Body of Water” with Christine Lahti!)

If I was in NYC right now, my head would be spinning just to figure out which of a dozen choices I should check out. But you know, “Billy Elliot”’s fight director is David Leong and I’m going to see “Shadowplay” tonight – a world premiere of a marvelous looking show – that he co-directed. And tomorrow I’m going to “tick…tick…Boom!” a local premiere by a brand spanking new theater company. And on Monday, I’m going to hear Frank Rich, cultural critic extraordinaire, speak at U of R.

So this weekend should be a nice wake-up call to remind me that Richmond ain’t exactly a cultural backwater. In fact, throw in “First Friday” tonight and it seems like we’re a pretty darn hopping town. So waiting on New York for some other weekend doesn’t seem like such a bad thing after all. And my head spins enough during the week here; why should I want it to spin on the weekend too?

From Derome Scott Smith

Derome posted this as a comment below but I wanted to bring it up to the main page:

"Hello everyone. As many of you know 2 weeks ago I suffered a stroke. Even now my wife is able to type this as I dictate to her. The good thing I only had a small stroke and I am expected to have a full recovery. Thank you for your support and your prayers. I have about 6 weeks of speech and OT (for fine motor skills).

Your support and continued help will help my family to get through this difficult time. You can send mail to 1918 Princess Anne Avenue Richmond, VA 23223 and email me at djazzactor@aol.com. Currently the rest of the season is on for the exception of Fences. I'd like to thank my AART family for their support."

It's great to hear from you, Derome. I have received many inquiries as to your health and I am relieved and gratified to hear that you are recovering. Godspeed in your continuing improvement.

Heroes

Today is all about heroes to me. I am still a little dazed and relieved about last night and the election of someone who is destined to be a hero to a generation of young people.

I also have to say that, with his gracious and coherent concession speech, the war hero John McCain restored much of the respect I had lost for him during the course of his rather reckless campaign.

Todays' Style has my interview with Frank Rich, certainly one of my heroes and someone whose intelligence and insight I have always respected. My delightful talk with him only reinforced my mad geek love for him.

You'll also find Mary B's story on Chase Kniffen and Stage 1 in this week's issue. Chase certainly has the drive and potential to be a local hero.

Finally, the arts lede in the issue is about VCU's "Shadowplay" that opens this weekend. There's no hero angle here really but if you want to see an amazing show, I'd suggest checking it out when you get a chance over the next few weeks.

(Note: Style's changed it's website so I'm not 100% sure that these links will work. I hope so!)

Vote (for Obama)

I don’t generally get into politics in this space. But tomorrow is the vote and everyone and their mother has weighed in, so I’ll put my two cents out there. Take it or leave it.

In general, I’m one of those voters who isn’t 100% happy with any candidate. I am mostly fiscally conservative and very socially liberal. I had a lot of respect for John McCain when he ran in 2000; I really believed he was a maverick then who might transcend the modus operandi of a typical politician. I don’t have that respect for him now.

There are scads of rumors about both candidates flying around and labels used by the campaigns without any analysis of what they even mean. But I don’t need to look at anything more than the way each man has run his campaign to make a decision. McCain has run an inept, cynical, and fear-mongoring campaign, exemplified by the pick of Sarah Palin. If the same kind of decision-making that went into choosing her as a running mate ends up determining the fate of this country, well, then God help us.

Obama, on the other hand, has built an incredible organization that is active and engaged and his message (though polluted with plenty of negativism particularly in these final weeks) has generally been one of hope, perseverance, and change. Even after all these weeks, I have no idea what McCain’s vision of America is. What I fear is that after 8 years of being led by an ideologically-bound, barely-literate cowboy, we’re facing the prospect of being led by my cranky, mean-spirited grandpa for 4 years.

I also don’t know how any fiscal conservative can look at the country’s finances during the 6 years the Republicans controlled both the executive and legislative branches of government and state with a straight face that another Republican administration is going to mean a leaner, more fiscally-responsible government.

Finally, since this is a blog about the arts, I would refer to this piece in the LA Times about each candidate’s views on arts funding. Personally, I have about two dozen reasons for supporting Obama, but for an arts professional, I don’t think you need much more than this to determine your vote.

You may not give a rip about my opinion and that’s fine. You can post all of the flames you want in response to this endorsement; it’s still a free country. But in my mind, the smartest vote for a stronger, safer, and better America is a vote for Barack Obama.

More blog-ability

It's been around for a while but I just got around to checking out Stage 1's blog. You can go there to meet the cast for their upcoming "tick..tick..Boom!" and I expect / hope there will be more thoughts / content / tidbits in the coming weeks. FYI!

Fences not going up

I got a very nice message from the folks at AART last night and the company will not be mounting a production of "Fences" this fall. They plan to continue with their regular schedule next February with “African American Trailblazers.”

Not that you come to this space for tips on music but there are two local-ish bands that I’ve become very sweet on lately. The whole T-line clan has made it to two Mills Family Band shows in the past several months and I’d recommend checking them out if you can. They’re grounded in country/folk sounding stuff but the having a torchy lead singer in Allyson Mills and a hot sax/clarinet player named Samson Trinh that pushes them into a more jazz sound sometimes.

And just last weekend, I inadvertently heard a clip of a song by Trent Wagler and am totally hooked. He’s into “roots” music and does some old-timey standards but man, what a hot guitar player and fabulous harmonies in his work with mandolin player Jay Lapp. He plays mostly out in the western half of the state – he’s in Afton this weekend – but if he makes it over to this side of the mountains, I’ll do whatever I can to go see him.

Just some friendly suggestions for those of you with ears!

Virtual Ink

I missed Richmond.com's posting of the RTCC award winners last week and Joan T's brief recap. My favorite part: the comment from someone grousing that the "same people" are nominated for everything, wondering about anyone venturing beyond the Mill and Barksdale, calling it "typical Richmond."

Huh?

Only the winners were listed; nominees were representative of a wide variety of companies and there were several winners from other companies. It was the first time we've done it so what does it mean that "the same people" were nominated? And if "typical Richmond" means an exciting new venture that brings a diverse community together to celebrate hard-working local professional artists, then I'm all for "typical Richmond!"

Sixteen Wounded

I meant to post something about this earlier but it snuck up on me. There’s a staged reading of “Sixteen Wounded” at the Modlin Center, a very intriguing sounding play directed by Donna Coghill with a good cast (Kim Neblett, Christianna Nelson, Adam Saunders, Walter Schoen, etc) and featuring a special appearance by NPR “Moment in Time” mainstay Dan Roberts. It’s about clashing personalities and cultures (Jewish and Palestinian, specifically) and should be fascinating. There are details on the Modlin website. Tonight’s the last night so check it out now!

I haven’t heard any updates on Derome. I hope he is doing well. Does anyone know whether AART will be going forward with “Fences?”

Behind Blue Eyes

Ms. Lewis’s review of CAT's “The Nerd” showed up on Saturday – you can read her thoughts here.

Thanks to a fortuitous scheduling situation and a truly wonderful mother-in-law, I was able to slip out to see “Hamlet” on Friday night and I was glad I did. This is a production that would have required me to find new reserves of professional detachment to write a publishable review about, though. And that is thanks primarily to Andrew Hamm’s rendition of “Behind Blue Eyes” during intermission. I have my own overwrought relationship with that song, an anthem for sensitive hormone-laden adolescent boys everywhere.

But besides the simple aesthetic enjoyment of Mr. Hamm’s performance, the song made me reflect on something I’ve never really appreciated in all of the half-dozen other times I’ve seen Hamlet. It’s a story of a relatively regular guy (as regular as a Prince can be) who is confronted by truly extraordinary circumstances. It’s not bad enough that his dad’s died suddenly and his uncle’s married his mom, but then a ghost has appeared to him (something that’d freak most anyone out regardless of the specific shape of the phantom) in the shape of his dead dad telling him he was murdered. Is it any wonder he goes a little wacky?

Jeff Cole’s performance enhances this “every man” aspect of Hamlet. Other Hamlets I’ve seen, both on stage and on screen (exs: Foster Solomon, David Bridgewater, Mel Gibson, etc.) have seemed somehow larger than life. But Mr. Cole is princely without being ostentatious and his extreme emotions don’t seem to emerge from an outsized personality but from a well-meaning, loving son being compelled to vengeance and acts sure to wreck his life. It is a nicely contained but still compelling portrayal.

And his relationship with his Ophelia is heartbreaking. Master of Play Grant Mudge adds an intriguing element to this relationship by having Hamlet deliver his “to be or not to be” soliloquy to Ophelia, adding a humanistic element to an essentially existential contemplation. This staging puts everything Hamlet has to lose in stark relief. These are not the musing of a navel-gazing royal; they’re the heartfelt measuring of life by a young man in love.

It doesn’t hurt that Liz Blake plays Ophelia with such a sweet devotion to her prince. My crush on Ms. Blake has been well-documented in this space so I won’t dwell on my impression of her talents except to point out that her duet with Mr. Hamm as part of the pre-show was simply lovely. Richmond Shakespeare’s growing tradition of adding pre-show and intermission entertainment is a great addition to their performance philosophy.

I have always had a quibble with Ophelia’s eventual descent. It just doesn’t quite seem organic to me. Sure she loved her dad but also seemed to have some issues with his pomposity. And sure she was falling for Hamlet but their courtship was still relatively young. With her brother also out of the picture, it does not surprise me that she becomes a bit unmoored. That she would respond with a full-out mental breakdown however, in my opinion diminishes a character who I wish could be as strong and admirable as the title character.

There are many other things I could and probably should say about this production – final fight scene was awesome; nothing against Catherine Bryne but Melissa Jones-Price remains my favorite onstage Gertrude – but mostly I’ve been processing my own personal reflections that the play prompted which I guess in itself is a testament to the power of the production. Still, I cannot let it go without mentioning Timothy Saukiavicus’s powerhouse performance as Claudius. He is convincingly regal but has the self-aggrandizing pomp of a true politician and the slimy edge of someone willing to kill his own brother. I’ll be hoping to see Mr. S. in more local productions in the future.

Nerd

I’m sitting here waiting for the Times-Dispatch website’s search function to return anything in my search for “The Nerd” – it’s been 5 minutes – so I’m thinking that Mrs. H hasn’t reviewed it yet. As far as I can tell, it opened on Wednesday at Chamberlayne Actors Theatre.

In the meantime, I’ll try to write something coherent about Sycamore Rouge’s “Read.y for Right” which I’ve been hoping to do for the past couple of days. I apologize for the delay. A lot of talented and well-meaning people obviously put a lot of effort in putting the show together. The cast is strong, particularly the leads. The singing is awesome and the large projections that set each scene are impressive.

But I left the show feeling like I’d been back to my high school history class. I’m taking graduate school history classes now and the difference between them and the ones I endured 20 years ago is stark. What I’ve discovered, to my delight, is that history is messy and it’s populated with people who were not always pure of character, even when they did good, even incredible things. The most interesting history is like the most compelling theater, full of contradictions and complexity, nuance and discovery.

While “Read.y” may accurately depict the speeches and the statements to the press that were given during the Petersburg library protest, it doesn’t bring the event to life. As I mentioned in my review, I thought the most interesting moments were the brief interludes when there was doubt or indecision or actions that resembled how most people interact in confusing, highly tense situations in real life. But these moments were pretty overwhelmed by the proclamations and the speechifying.

And the dot notation in the title still confuses me. If it is meant to emphasize “read” because it’s partially set in a library, then it makes the first word both a verb and an adjective, which is confusing intellectually, and then it also makes it unclear whether the first syllable should be spoken with a long “e” or a short “e,” which is confusing phonetically. It also somehow seems incomplete – were the protesters “Ready for their Rights?” Or were they “Reading for Rights?” Somehow, it feels like a plural needs to be in there. Maybe I’m over-thinking it but you know people form an impression about a show based on many factors, and the first thing you hear about a show is usually its title. As the old adage goes, you only have one chance to make a first impression and personally, with “Read.y for Right,” my first impression was confused.

Virginia’s theater scene is going to give us all an interesting compare-and-contrast opportunity soon: Virginia Stage Company in Norfolk will be producing “Line in the Sand,” a new play about so-called “massive resistance” and Norfolk school desegregation at the end of February. It might be worth a ride down the road to see what they do with history.

Derome Scott Smith

I have received a couple of reports that Derome Scott Smith is in the hospital having suffered a stroke. I haven't heard many details yet but will be sure to post them when I do. Please hold him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Update via Facebook from Cynde Liffick: "Last I heard from his stepdaughter at around 5pm- was that his speech was getting better and that he'll need to relearn how to use his right hand. Much better than what I heard hours before." FYI.

Busy

It's a busy morning at the mayo mill but I wanted to at least post links to the joint review of "Hamlet" and "Read.y for Right" and to the recap of the RTCC event, all in today's Style. Please note that my recap was written at 1am after the festivities and that I did not have all of the adjectives at my disposal that really could have done justice to the magical nature of the evening. And, um, the dog ate my original version. And uh, let's see, the sun was in my eyes. And...

Anyway, more on "Read.y" soon.

Skip-a-Day Hangover

So why is it that yesterday I felt fine and chipper but this morning I woke up feeling like I could sleep another 14 hours? It’s like I’m a tortoise in a world full of hares today.

On the news front, Susan’s diplomatic review of Sycamore Rouge's “Read.y for Right” is in today’s Times-Dispatch. In the run-up to the weekend, I missed Joan T’s take on “The Clean House” that showed up on Richmond.com last Friday.

I was hoping to do some kind of recap of the RTCC Awards night but just the thought of it is overwhelming. The best I think I can manage is a grab-bag of different moments from the evening that perhaps I’ll spread out over the next several days because they keep coming back to me.

· Jase Smith did most of the on-the-ground organizing, some of which was going on right up to the last minute, and showed great skill and creativity in doing so. When I showed up at the Firehouse a little after 6pm, he was still in a sweatshirt and jeans. He was very calmly trying to figure out how to make a CD that had Ford Flannagan’s “Neverland” music on it work, with little luck. He ultimately had to rig something via patching something through a laptop or something. Personally, I would have been freaking out at that point but he simply got the job done. Way to go, Jase!

· The “Robert Palmer” girls – as John Porter so perceptively dubbed them – were my eldest daughter, Sage, and her two friends, Sarah Deutsch and Eva Pye Ravenal. They didn’t get a specific thanks or mention during the evening so I wanted to give them one here. John’s whole introduction was awesome and indicative of the performance of all of the presenters. None of them had anything scripted for them. One of the benefits of working with talented people was that they all stepped up to the plate and did great work.

· Steve Moore was a last-minute addition to the line-up for the evening and I’m so glad he was there to warm-up the crowd. That he zeroed in on my mom for his “Are you straight? How long have you known? Do you think it’s just a phase?” routine was particularly entertaining!

· Several times during the night, people came up to me and said very heartfelt things, many about the evening but some about other “water under the bridge” type issues. I really appreciate those sentiments and the sincerity with which they were expressed. In particular, it was an honor to finally meet Toney Cobb and chat with him for a few minutes. I’m glad he was nominated for an award and I’m looking forward to seeing him on stage again.

· Jill Bari Steinberg is my hero. Also without much preparation or scripting, she managed to be funny, engaging, flexible and still moved things along. We were so lucky she agreed to be hostess.

· Angie and Brett doing “Follow Your Heart” encapsulated everything that made “Urinetown” such an entertaining show. Ford Flannagan was impeccable doing “Neverland” and Kim Clarke was a hoot with her “Stuff.” Jason and Landon were so strong of voice and loose in their rapport it showed off the rambunctious good fun of “Guys and Dolls” perfectly. Those four performances were a beautiful representation of the width and breadth of talent in this town. Bravo!

More later…

In other news...

The magical world of theater marches on! Ms. H from the T-D chimed in on "Hamlet" this weekend, making me all the more anxious to see it. Well, that plus the fact that I actually met the enchanting Ms. Blake on Sunday (sigh...) and I'm told her Ophelia is quite smashing.

Celia Wren raved about "The Humpbacked Horse" which my little thespian son got to see though I did not. I'll try to elicit a more distinct review from him than "it was good" tomorrow.

For those who would like to donate to the Theatre Artists Fund, it's actually quite easy. Send a check to the Community Foundation, which administers the Fund, and indicate on the check's Note line that the donation is in support of RAPT's Theatre Artists Fund. It probably wouldn't hurt to include a little note to that effect as well. And send it to:

The Community Foundation

7501 Boulders View Drive, Suite 110

Richmond, VA 23225

Thanks!

And the awards go to...

Best Musical
Urinetown
Swift Creek Mill Theatre

Best Direction of a Musical
Tom Width
Urinetown
Swift Creek Mill Theatre

Best Actor in a Musical
Scott Wichmann
Guys & Dolls
Barksdale Theatre

Best Actress in a Musical
Audra Honaker
Once Upon A Mattress
Swift Creek Mill Theatre

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Jason Marks
Guys & Dolls
Barksdale Theatre

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Debra Wagoner
Urinetown
Swift Creek Mill Theatre

Best Musical Direction
Sandy Dacus
Guys and Dolls
Barksdale Theatre

Best Choreography
Brandon Becker
Urinetown
Swift Creek Mill Theatre

Best Play
The Late Henry Moss
Firehouse Theatre Project

Best Direction of a Play
Bruce Miller
The Little Dog Laughed
Barksdale Theatre

Best Actor in a Play
Justin Dray
The Late Henry Moss
Firehouse Theatre Project

Best Actress in a Play
Irene Zeigler
Doubt: A Parable
Barksdale Theatre

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play
Stephen Ryan
Richard II
Richmond Shakespeare Company

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Play
Jennie Meharg
The Late Henry Moss
Firehouse Theatre Project

Notable Interactive Production
Richmond Improv Festival
ComedySportz

Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Design
Joe Doran
Urinetown
Swift Creek Mill Theatre

Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design
Rebecca Cairns
As You Like It (indoor)
Richmond Shakespeare Company

Outstanding Achievement in Set Design
Ron Keller
Guys and Dolls
Barksdale Theatre

600+ Thanks

There are many thanks to be extended and many things to be said about last night but that will need to wait a day or so while everything sinks in. In the meantime, I wanted to put out there that the RTCC awards show raised at least $600 for the Theatre Artists Fund. There were many good reasons for last night's success but one of the most fulfulling things to me is that all the fun is being channelled back into support of the theater community. Good work, y'all!

Plus Two

I should also mention that "The Humpbacked Horse" will be playing at Theatre IV tonight and Sunday (Saratov Youth Theatre’s "Uncle's Dream" will be at U of R's Modlin Center on Saturday) and that the latest home-grown whodunit, the medievel "Who Killed the King?" is opening at Mystery Dinner Theatre tonight. Busy busy busy...

Are you ready?

I’m not sure what the asterisk is all about, but I’m heading down to “Read*y for Right” at Sycamore Rouge tonight to find out. They’ve got a full house for opening night, so that should be pretty exciting. So far I’ve only swept into Petersburg and then swept out again for the shows I’ve seen there; I’m looking forward to a calmer time during my life when I might be able to hang out for a while and take in the city’s charms.

But this weekend is certainly NOT one of those calmer times as final preparations are being made for the Critics Circle awards on Sunday. I will once again apologize to everyone who won’t be able to attend. We are already making plans for next year and a venue that will allow everyone (and their mother) to attend should they want to. So stay tuned for developments along those lines.

One thing we don’t have yet is a nickname for the awards. I’ve been kind of hoping something would arise but so far, nada. If you have any suggestions, feel free to post them.

Oh, and by the way, my daughter LOVED Richard III, though (because of her age) she was perhaps more tuned in to Eric Evans’ performance than the average adult theatergoer. That boy’s a cutie! We did have a wide-ranging discussion afterwards where she displayed some critical acumen. Hmmm…perhaps this critic thing will become a family business. Though, similar to many actors I’ve talked to about it, this isn’t exactly a profession I would wish on any child.

Family Affair

So my mom went to see Richard III the other day. She loved Scottie, of course, but then also raved about Melissa Johnston-Price, saying it seemed that she nearly ripped her heart out during the performance. She just loved her. She also really liked the video segments and said that she didn’t agree with my assessment of them in my review. So you can see, folks – I get it from all sides. Today, my daughter goes to see Richard as part of a school field trip. I look forward to her rebuttals to my review this evening…

Speaking of family matters, one of those lovely messed up family situations hits the Richmond Shakespeare stage tonight with “Hamlet” opening, Jeff Cole as the conflicted Dane and the lovely Liz Blake as his Ophelia. I won’t be able to check it out this weekend but will have to sneak it in somewhere. I’ve seen many a fine Hamlet over the years – David Bridgewater being among the best (who incidentally won a Pollock prize this year – congrats David!). That production ran in Theatre IV’s Little Theatre, was directed by Gary Hopper, and had Melissa Johnston-Price as Gertrude. So you see, everything is connected.

Another great Hamlet – in Richmond Shakespeare’s last iteration of the play – was Foster Solomon whose wife Susan Sanford will be in town for the RTCC awards this weekend. And, if I’m not mistaken, Scottie played the “First Clown” or gravedigger in that production. Even more connections! Richmond theater – just one big family!

Word Count

Last week's New Yorker arrived at my house yesterday and I was again struck with envy. Reading John Lahr's review of "The Seagull," I found myself thinking, "Oh the raves I could write if I had that kind of word count!" I also found myself wondering how the heck I was going to get up to New York to see this production.

"A Man for all Seasons" doesn't fair as well in this more recent review, but a show I hadn't heard of before, "Fifty Words" gains Lahr's favor. The title alone makes me curious -- what are the fifty words and what is their significance? Hmmmm....

Equality Now!

So you all have probably heard about the Equality Virginia benefit tonight already but I expect there are plenty of your friends who haven't. Let 'em know!

It's tonight at the Firehouse, reception starting around 6:30pm, performances starting around 7:30 p.m. Many of the folks that you've enjoyed in recent productions (Chris Hester, Debra Wagoner, etc.) are going to be there. You can call 643-4816 for tickets, details, etc.

I have this vision that before my last child graduates high school Virginia will finally see the light on issues around gay rights and equality. I know people on the left ("whacked out lefties" as the T-D likes to call them) and on the right ("get the government out of our lives" libertarian-leaning conservatives) who agree on these issues. All we need to do is convert the molten mass in the middle. Keep that process moving forward and attend this benefit! It's sure to be a good time.

Don’t Forget

So just because a show opened several weeks ago, don’t forget that it’s still running. Have you seen “Side Show” yet? Well, it’s still out there and time’s running out! We lucked out with “Driving Miss Daisy” – it’s been extended to Nov. 2nd. That’s still no reason to sit on your hands – make plans now!

Personally, I grabbed my chance to see “Eurydice” before it closed on Saturday and I’m glad I did. It was the kind of experience I’ve had before that, in my opinion, highlights the incredible challenge facing playwrights these days. Basically, I enjoyed all of the performances immensely but the play itself, not so much. It was funny in parts, charming in others, confusing in places, and sometimes just a little too self-consciously poetic. If I was reviewing it, I wouldn’t have been quite as harsh as this slam from summer of 2007. I would have expressed similar reactions, though, and the adjective “artsy-fartsy” that Heilpern uses has a certain resonance for me. To paraphrase something I heard someone say about the play, “it’s the kind of play that makes me feel stupid, like everything means something that I’m supposed to get but I don’t.”

Having said that, I thought Joe Inscoe was transcendent, as he so often is. Maybe it was his fatherly affection that hit me so hard, but more likely, I think it is the precision of his performance. I think there is intention in everything he does and yet he never looks like he’s working at it. I could have even watched him make and dismantle that house of string another time or two.

Laine Satterfield was a luminous and sympathetic Eurydice. She was sweet, but not sickly so. I have to say I enjoy her more in a more complicated role, like Diane in “Little Dog Laughed,” where the innocence she projects betrays more involved things going on underneath. But she was great as the conflicted Eurydice and, within the confines of the script, made her character compelling. Larry Cook was a hoot in his dual roles: he seemed to be having a ball. Chris Hester had probably the most thankless part as Orpheus but he had a winning determination and visible affection for his doomed lover. The “stones” were all grand and I particularly enjoyed seen Lauren Leinhaas-Cook onstage again.

The production with all of its water elements was indeed ambitious and I’m sure posed a number of challenges that the Firehouse technical team handled with aplomb. Kudos to Rusty Wilson for bringing together such a great team and a wonderful cast.

Today: USA Today

One link just leads to another... Somebody sent me to the USA Today site for a story on Stephen Sondheim. I got to cruising and found out that Oliver Platt is going to play the role on Broadway that Scott Wichmann OWNS in this town and that there are interesting new shows opening featuring both young folks and old folks.

Lesson: Cruising is a dangerous -- though informative -- thing.

UPDATE: Did you know that Julie Taymor is directing a film version of "The Tempest?" I didn't until just a few minutes ago. Helen Mirren as Prospera! Genius.

An Uplifting Work of Staggering Brilliance

Spouses are wonderful things. If you don’t have one, I heartily suggest you go out and get one.

I say this because last week my lovely wife was talking about the concert version of “Ragtime” and about making plans to go and, mired as I often am in the daunting logistics and responsibilities that fill my blessed life to overflowing, I expressed vague discontent about wanting to try to fit it in. Well, she was planning to go whether I was going or not, and she encouraged me to get over myself and get my ass out there.

OH. MY. GOD. The production that the enterprising young Artistic Director at Stage 1, Chase Kniffen, put together (along with legions of helpers, including his managing director Peggy Thibodeau) was breathtaking. If this is the kind of work we can expect from Stage 1, well, there is no doubt that this newest theater company will have a big impact on the local scene.

The articulate Mr. Miller at the Barksdale Blog has already done a great job of talking about the event, placing it in context and describing the vibe. I’ll just add a few of my favorite moments / aspects:

Ø What a great subdued feeling there was as the performers came on stage. Who could have known what awesomeness was about to be unleashed?

Ø Richard Koch’s Russian accent was just one reason I loved his performance. Richard is so good at being a vibrant comic character, it was a treat to see him portray such depth and humanity with his Tateh.

Ø Debra Wagoner’s sweetness and empathy was as clear as her mighty voice. Some people wear their hearts on their sleeve; can an actress wear hers on her vocal chords? If so, that would be Debra whose compelling performance centered the whole production.

Ø Jerold Solomon and Desiree Roots Centeio delivered the killer song of the night with “Wheels of a Dream” and I was sure the house was going to leap into a standing ovation right after it was over. But as affecting to me as hearing those two fabulously accomplished singers was to watch people like Robyn O’Neill and Jan Guarino watching the performance with absolutely rapt wonder and admiration. Here are two veterans of literally dozens of shows who have seen – and have been responsible for – hundreds of magic moments on stage, but it was clear that they were as blown away as the rest of us. Do I tear up just at the memory? Oh, yes I do. (And PS to Jerold: please come back to Richmond again. Please! It was great to see you and experience your big, bold voice once again.)

Ø Katrinah Lewis as “Sarah’s Friend” – though uncredited – was also an emotional knockout. Her unrestrained delivery of “Til We Reach That Day” rocked the house and seemed to rock her down to her toes as well. I could have watched her do that song over and over again.

Ø There was much comic relief to be found in “What a Game,” just one of the great songs that highlighted a truly incredible ensemble. To see the likes of Audra Honaker, Alia Bisharat, Cathy Motley-Fitch, Jackie Jones, Billy Christopher Maupin, Dustin Faltz, Maggie Roop, Ali Thibodaeu, and many many more – all of them headliners in their own right – singing backup was just one barometer of the strength of the crew that Chase put together.

When the show ended, I was weighed down with an alternately sleepy and grumpy 4-year old so I didn’t get to give my congratulations to many people face-to-face. But the whole Ragtime crew – including musical director Sherri Matthews – deserves a thunderous thanks and congratulations for this accomplishment. I now look forward to “tick…tick…Boom!” with feverish anticipation!

U40s

It’s going to take a few more hours for me to fully integrate the staggering, inspiring, poetic, and powerful evening that was the “Ragtime” concert last night. Oh my, was it incredible.

So while I comb my thesaurus for more adjectives, please check out the review of “Driving Miss Daisy” in today’s Style from Mary B.

And of course, many big fat congratulations for Jase Smith and Scott Wichmann who are among those recognized in the “Top 40 under 40” cover story. I’ll augment my 200 word pieces on each of those talented gentlemen down the road a piece as well.

House Raising

As I write this, somewhere up the street from me people are getting ready to go on stage and perform “Dead Man’s Cell Phone.” I wish I could be there because, based on “The Clean House” and what I’ve heard about “Eurydice,” I’m sure it’s going to be a fascinating staged reading.

I’ve already been given some guff about my review about “The Clean House” and how I threw the adjectives “cliché” and “cloying” in there without anything to back them up. I’ll address them first just to get it out of the way. The main element of the show that I think is cliché is that the two white women are uptight and high-strung, while the two Latin women are more unrestrained and emotional. It’s not a big deal and would hardly be worth mentioning if the white women weren’t uptight nearly to the point of distraction.

And the one main aspect of the show that I’d call cloying – with a dose of silly mixed in – would be that the fervency of Charles’s ardor for Ana drives him to head to Alaska. Again, not a big deal and it makes for a nice women-only final scene with Ana, but still moderately distracting for me. I’d also say that the non-translated Spanish / Portuguese has the unfortunate effect of alienating / distancing some theatergoers, based on what I heard some people say around me at the matinee I attended. It didn’t bother me too much because I saw it as an opportunity to concentrate on the telling of the joke, for instance, rather than the substance of it.

OK, so that’s about all of the negatives that I can scrape up – and really, I’m stretching here – for what is otherwise a truly enchanting production. Bianca Bryan is fabulous as Matilde, particularly in the later scenes as the emotional waters get muddied with her working for Ana. Given the restrictions of her role (see note on uptightness), Kelly Kennedy does a fine job as Lane and John Moon is eager and energetic in his exuberant interpretation of Charles.

But the two performances I found myself most surprised and delighted by were Jan Guarino as Virginia and Robin Arthur as Ana. I haven’t seen either actress play a role like the ones they do in this show and the challenge brings out the best of them both. The character of Virginia is a bit extreme (are there really people who clean just for fun?) but Jan makes her human and, perhaps more important, sympathetic. Robin is just wonderfully grounded as Ana, not earthy-crunchy in her spirituality, just centered and calm. Robin makes her someone you could really imagine someone falling in love with at first sight.

My favorite scenes in the show had touches of magical realism, the best for me being the apples from the balcony, particularly the looks from Lane / Kelley as she watches them bounce through her living room – what fun. And the flashbacks / fantasy sequences with John and Robin were all beautifully staged.

I expect there are people who won’t be quite as enamored with “Clean House” as I was. There is plenty of humor in the show but it is rarely uproariously funny. There aren’t exactly extremes of emotional highs and lows though there are certainly fireworks. And overall, the story is bittersweet. Oh, but it is a sweet bittersweetness – I left the theater feeling fully satisfied.

Not Me

I’m not the only opinion in this town, obviously, and so you might want to check out what Ms. Tupponce has to say about "Driving Miss Daisy" at Richmond.com and Mr. Porter at WCVE has weighed in on several productions lately; you can hear them by going here. Also, Entertainment Weekly (no they don’t pay me kickbacks) recently did their fall theater preview, which can be accessed along with all of their stage reviews (not so much liking “A Tale of Two Cities”) here.

The Why the Hell Aren’t I Asleep Edition

Will I ever write more detailed analysis of “The Clean House?” Will it matter if I do? Are these just rhetorical questions?

Monday night is a reading of “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” at the Barksdale. What would you rather do on a Monday night? You can Tivo “Heroes” – and then forget to watch it later and be a better person for it. It’s got some great folks in it and it’s directed by that electrifying young auteur Jase Smith. It’s one night only folks.

Tuesday is “Ragtime” at the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen for the benefit of Stage 1 with a current Broadway star – Jerold Solomon – in it. A touch of Broadway right here in river city – can you really afford to miss that, either? And there’s dessert and champagne afterwards!

And next Saturday, there’s the Dance/Theater Conversations thing going on at the CACAGA as well. These many exciting events in one week, you’ve got to be thinking Richmond is getting more like New York every day, right?

I am excited that I will at least get to attend one of these three events. Batting over .300 -- can't really expect more than that at this point in the season.

Sarah Rules!

I will get to expounding further on "The Clean House" (was Robin Arthur that amazing? Yes she was!) but until I can, here's a review of Sarah Ruhl's "Passion Play" currently at Yale Rep to tide you over.

And, as Lisa points out in the latest issue of Richmond Marquee, there are a lot of one night extravaganzas coming up that should not be missed. First there's "Dead Man's Cell Phone" on Oct. 6th at the Barksdale -- a staged reading of another of Ms. Ruhl's plays featuring scads of people from "House" as well as "Eurydice." And directed by Jase Smith of "Reefer Madness" fame.

Then there's the Stage 1 "Ragtime" benefit, the rehearsal tape from which is burning up the Internets. That'll be next Tuesday. And then not too far in the distance is the Equality Virginia benefit on Oct. 16th. (Update: Oops! The EV benefit is Tuesday, Oct. 14 -- reception 6:30, showtime 7:30. Sorry for the mistake.)

And of course there's that thing happening on the 19th but I'll just shut up about that...at least for now.

Ricks, Wichmann and Company

Back in 1999, The Washington Post talked about director Molly Smith’s production of Paula Vogel’s “Hot ‘n’ Throbbing” at the Arena Stage this way: “Smith has tricked up [the production] with a film-clip accompaniment that visually competes with and finally defeats the actors.” I wrote about the production for Style at the time (here’s a link to the review, though it doesn’t seem to want to work for me) and had kind of the same thought.

I couldn’t help but think of this production when I saw “Richard III” at Henley Street last Friday. One reason was just the visual effect: the Arena back in 1999 was adorned with video screens of various sizes just like Pine Camp. The difference with “Throbbing” was that, as I remember it, some of the filmed pieces played at the same time as action was happening on stage, which was very distracting.

As director James Ricks has staged “Richard,” the video clips are mostly discreet from the onstage action but there is competition just the same. The segments are brilliant with cameo performances by folks like Joe Pabst, Dawn Westbrook, Jacquie O’Connor, Thomas Nowlin, Bo Wilson, and more. I particularly liked the Press Conference clip as I thought it most seamlessly conflated the technology with the plot.

But, as I said in my review, I thought the smoothness and seamlessness of these video segments sets up a contrast with what happens after them and it’s not always a flattering one. The convincing settings in the video segments contrast with the completely bare stage set. The witty and well-rehearsed video performances contrast with a few onstage performances that I thought were a bit wooden or awkward.

In his director’s notes, Mr. Ricks makes some insightful comments about television’s “stimulating maneuverability.” I think the challenge in mixing video and theater involves effectively marrying the stimulating maneuverability of the one medium, with the stimulating immediacy of the other. For them to work in tandem, I think an audience member needs to be as impressed by what he/she sees on stage as they are by what’s on the screen. This was one of the reasons I was ambivalent about the staging of the many executions in shadow. If one of the strengths of live theater is seeing real people go through stuff before your eyes, this staging removed that element of immediacy from the production.

I love modern contextualization of Shakespeare: it can be delightful. I still have fond memories of some of the first productions at the Boulders that I saw done by (what was then) Encore! Theatre. The two guys in full “Baywatch” gear, complete with theme music, was one of my favorite moments (can’t quite remember what play it was in though…). And Mr. Ricks and his team pay attention to details: Eric Evans playing the DS was pretty priceless as was the inclusion of a cell phone in at least one scene. But this modernization somehow did not seem quite complete, and maybe lack of set was part of the problem. When you have queens, dukes, and lords going at each other (and talking about towers and such), it’s easiest to picture them in castle courtyards, not necessarily in boardrooms or at Starbucks.

There is no denying the power of Mr. Wichmann’s performance; he is stunning. His physical command of the character is impressive and he also does magnificent things with his voice. I could ramble on at length about what he does but I did so in my review. What I’ll add here is a note of concern or maybe a vague wish: I’d love to see Scott play a somewhat regular person and really make me believe his performance. I remember feeling that way about the characters he portrayed in “Jails, Hospitals, and Hip-Hop.” Characters that are somehow bigger than life – King Richard, Nathan Detroit, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf – he has done amazing things with. But just playing a regular guy and making him believable and/or interesting – something actors like Steve Perigard and Duke Lafoon excel at – can be just as hard, sometimes even harder.

After Scott, Margarette Joyner obviously made the biggest impression on me. I have loved Melissa Johnston Price in many things but I found her Elizabeth a bit hysterical until her compelling final face-off with newly crowned king. Adam Mincks also did a fine job, but I would have liked to see more of his growing realization of Richard’s evil. It seemed more of a black-white thing once the nephews were killed. Rebecca Anne Muhleman was awesome as Anne and it’s a shame that her Anne is killed off relatively early. More Anne / Richard face-off would have been thrilling.

I don’t know if it was me, the play or the production, but I had never realized how Richard’s evil strategy seems to devolve into “just kill everyone in his way.” Maybe we’ll put that one on the Bard. But the clever schemer at the beginning of the play seems like little more than a ruthless thug by the end. Maybe that’s the point.

One last shout-out has to go to Frank Creasy who rocks a great wig during much of his stage time. It doesn’t quite match Scott’s performance as a “must see” aspect to compel people to see this production, but it’s pretty close!

Richard and Mathilde

My reviews of “Richard III” and “The Clean House” are in today’s Style. I’m hoping to get a chance to expound further on both of these before the day is out. But I’ve got to do something that looks like real work this morning…

Passing Grades

It was another full weekend, theater-wise, and I had a fine time taking in Henley Street’s “Richard III” and Barksdale’s “The Clean House.” My lovely wife was recovering from a similar kind of crud that had knocked me on my butt earlier in the week so she missed out on the fun. I struggled on without her, however, and had the opportunity to chat with a bunch of folks at both of the shows. It was nice to see a few Richmond Shakespeare actors out supporting Henley Street in their Bard bid. Iambic pentameter really can bring the world together.

It was also great to see a house full to overflowing at Henley Street and a Sunday matinee that looked at least ¾ full at the Barksdale. Bigger audiences = we all win.

As for my fellow critics, Susan liked Scott in “Richard,” but found some elements of the production problematic. Julinda had some positive adjectives for “House” – amusing, poignant – but had some equivocating ones as well, like “illogical.” Not to give too much away before my own adjectives are published but my thoughts coincided to a fairly uncanny degree with my T-D compatriots. More on that later in the week.

One last item: if you pick up the October issue of Richmond Magazine, there's a blurb about the RTCC awards tucked in there. Thanks to Harry K over at the mag for a little ink -- it's appreciated!

Two More and a Tease

Other productions -- both near and far -- that are on my personal radar: "Amazing Tales of Structures" opened at the Carpentar Science Theatre last weekend. I'll be bringing my wee ones to that sometime in the next couple of weeks because being an architecture lover comes with the package of being a Richmond resident, IMHO. Also, "Equus" is open on Broadway and the reviews are coming in. What I hear about Mr. Radcliffe's performance has mostly been good.

And here's the tease: Style's 40 Under 40 issue comes out in a couple of weeks. Looks for two local theater faves among the listing!

More Events

Beyond the professional shows currently gracing stages, there are some college productions opening / running these days as well. If I had nothing but time (and two less jobs and independent wealth would help too) I’d see a lot more college productions because, while they can be a little rough around the edges at times, they also can be fresh, surprising, and provide all sorts of unexpected pleasures.

Theatre VCU’s season kicks off with “Raisin in the Sun” tonight and I thought I saw something interesting listed for Randolph Macon in the T-D this morning, but can’t find it on their stupid website. Also, U of R does their New Faces event at the Modlin Center. The price is right (free! Though tickets are required) and I’m particularly curious to see what the scheduled one-act “Drugs are Bad” might be like. Echoes of “Reefer Madness” perhaps?

Finally, be sure and wish BC Maupin a Happy Birthday if you see him today!

Driving

So where the hell have I been, both of you might be wondering. I’d say that I’ve been to hell and back but it’s really not been quite that dramatic. This past weekend was dominated by a whirlwind trip to New York for a wedding. The biggest annoyance about it was not even the 14 hours spent driving there and back, or that I got a nasty cold while there forcing me to spend most of Monday unconscious but mostly the fact that there were absolutely NO SHOWS involved in the adventure. Ugh! We did spend some high-quality time with some great relations though and Long Island in the Fall, well, there are worse places to be.

Somewhere along the lines, I missed Susan’s review of “Driving Miss Daisy,” which I guess I’m going to have to add to my “must-see” list for the fall, based on the good things I’ve been hearing.

I did catch Mary B’s round-up of “Eurydice” and “Four Queens” in Style today, though. Ms. Burruss’s review fulfilled my curiosity a bit about the new RTP venue – not altogether flattering – and filled in some interesting staging details about the Firehouse show. I’m grinning in anticipation of seeing Larry Cook’s performance – not to mention Joe’s – well, and Laine’s too – etc. etc. And hey, thanks to the Firehouse Flash, I was alerted to the John Porter review of the show on WCVE, another rave, of course.

I’m gearing up for another weekend of openings, and this time I’m actually seeing some of them. Luckily, Mary B also provided another in the long line of “Richard III” previews to get me warmed up for that one. Perhaps I’ll do some mopping or something to get ready for Barksdale’s “Clean House.” I'd do some studying up on how to write a good review of a Shakespeare play by reading Hilton Als' critique of the current production of "The Tempest," but that would just depress me, given that I'll have about one-fifth as many words to lay out my learned impressions.

Beyond the driving, sneezing, sleeping, reading, listening, gearing up, and potential mopping, I’ve been busy with two other “ing”s: tallying – RSVPs to the RTCCs, which have trailed off lately; come on people! – and ordering the awards themselves which just came in today. Here’s a picture:

Aren’t they beautiful?

Hope to see you at an opening this weekend!

Boom!

So the Fall season has exploded in this past week, overwhelming the little likes of me. Susie fawned over “Four Queens” in her Friday review but I didn’t answer my bigger question: what was Highwater like as a venue? As reviewers often have to do, she packed her insight into that issue in the word “comfortable” which is certainly better than “cramped” or “awkward” or “spare.” I guess it would be my job, given a more expansive realm for rambling, to fill in some details. But I haven’t made it down there yet so that’ll have to wait.

The show I’ve been hearing all sorts of buzz about has been "Eurydice," which Susie also liked. I personally can’t wait to see Joe Inscoe on stage again and the rest of the cast is pretty darn fab as well. Apparently, John Porter did a WCVE review of this show but there’s no audio clip of it that I could find on the “Idea Stations” site.

“Driving Miss Daisy” also opened this weekend and I haven’t heard word one about it yet. I hope Susie’s review will come out tomorrow. It’s great that Jim Bynum is back on stage for that production. We’ve missed you, Jim!

So many shows! Just another reason fall is my favorite season.

Balancing Act(ors)

There was a time (10 years ago? 20? 30?) when the proliferation of small-cast shows caused a small-scale hue and cry amongst theater devotees. Those who loved and pined for the shows with big ensembles – particularly musicals – saw the shrinkage of the typical cast to a couple or a handful of actors as another sign of the demise of ‘real’ theater and a concession to the crushing weight of economics over art. (This quote from the Wikipedia entry on musical theater: “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Xanadu and …works like Avenue Q represent a trend towards presenting smaller-scale, small cast musicals that are able to show a good profit in a smaller house.”)

Others (perhaps more petulant observers) saw it as a dwindling of talent in the playwriting pool. Shakespeare wrote for casts of a dozen or two – were modern writers just not up to snuff? (Check out this interesting piece from the Guardian a couple of years ago that discusses production size.)

The big casts in some of the shows I’ve seen lately (Guys and Dolls, Side Show) and the fact that Richmond Shakespeare’s Hamlet this fall will be their biggest indoor cast yet has me thinking about this issue recently. But my thoughts generally have had more to do with balance. It seems to me that it can be hard in a town the size of Richmond to always find a cast where the talent is balanced. I remember a few productions this past season where the work of the leads or even of the majority of the company was excellent but where there were two or three actors in the ensemble – or sometimes just one – who clearly weren’t at the level of the rest of the cast. I came out of those productions wondering if I wouldn’t have liked it better if everyone in the cast was similarly skilled – even if that meant the leads would have been a bit less awesome (Note: while I wondered this, I didn't ultimately come to a conclusion. Would I really want less awesomeness on stage? Not really.)

I’m fairly certain every director simply wants the best actor for each role and so probably doesn’t (and functionally, can’t) go into a show wondering if they will need to make a choice about talent versus balance. But I expect they do have to make allowances for the differences in talent and experience and sometimes have to settle for the warm body they have versus the experienced thespian they’d prefer.

(P.S.: I write this with complete self-awareness that the only time I’ve ever appeared on stage was in a production of “Once Upon a Mattress” where I was one of those warm bodies trying really hard not to embarrass myself...and not succeeding.)

Where am I going with this? To circle back around to what I started with, I guess I’m saying that while I have always loved a stage full of people (favorite musicals: Godspell, Les Mis), I’ve come to appreciate the value of the smaller cast show. I think about attending a show like Firehouse’s “Eurydice” where everyone in the cast has the chops to be just incredible and feel more confident that I’m not going to be thrown out of my suspension of disbelief because of someone’s clumsy line readings.

I’d express a similar confidence about the production of “Four Queens in Hawaiian Shirts” that RTP is opening at Toad’s Place tomorrow night but I don’t know who is in the cast. I probably should and maybe I saw it listed somewhere, but now I forget. Can someone enlighten me? Please?

One Day Wonder

Ms. Lewis weighed in -- and quite favorably -- on "Yes, Virginia - Dance" in today's T-D. And the "Morpheus Quartet" piece will be able to be seen again on October 11th out at the Cultural Arts Center in Glen Allen (thanks for the heads-up, BC!).

Yes, Virginia

Somehow I got it in my head that there wasn’t any new theater opening until Eurydice next week, totally spacing on the theatrical component of “Yes, Virginia – Dance” this afternoon and tonight at Grace Street Theater near VCU.

Sure, my wife wrote about it in this month's Richmond Marquee, and sure, the production of “The Morpheus Quartet” marks the return to Richmond’s stages of the talented Sara Heifetz (not to mention the participation of several other incredible thespians). But as befits a person creeping ever more quickly toward the half-century mark, things fall off the edge of my brain easier than they used to.

So sorry about that “Yes, Virginia” folks. I hope the words that has gotten out via other media folks ends up generating some decent crowds for you. The event sounds, in the words of my wife, like it’ll be “an artistic experience like no other.”

Two Part Harmony, Part Two

Speaking of harmony, if you ever listen to the NPR radio show “Sound Check,” you may have heard about their songwriting contest. And you might have heard that the winning lyrics will be set to music by “Brooklyn-based” band One Ring Zero. And, if you’ve lived in Richmond for a while, you may remember that One Ring Zero actually was born at VCU with when cofounders Michael Hearst and Joshua Camp were going to school there. And this all ties into theater because ORZ really came to the forefront (OK, maybe just in my mind…) when they started accompanying Clay MacLoed Chapman’s Pumpkin Pie Show performances. So if you really want to bring this story full circle, you should submit some really good lyrics so a Richmond resident would WIN this contest. Go for it – what do you have to lose?

So furthermore on Side Show, here are a couple of things I really liked: during the Hilton sisters “coming out” number, Brett Ambler (as Buddy) was mouthing the words as the girls sang them. Similarly, when Violet’s wedding engagement is announced, Dustin Faltz (as Jake) was seething in the background. I think that kind of active engagement by players in the background really cements a good theatrical experience. (I can still remember being fairly aghast when the reverse has happened, like the second time I saw “Les Miz” on Broadway and there were several bit players whose attentions were clearly wandering in some scenes.)

Though I enjoyed Side Show overall, I had mixed feelings about several aspects. Dustin Faltz has a very, very distinctive voice and there were times I loved it and times I didn’t. Unfortunately, I didn’t have many words to express that feeling in my review. Essentially, the times I didn’t love his voice, I wasn’t sure if he was actually off-key (which is what it sounded like) or if I was just reacting to the specific nature of his voice. Maybe it’s not a technical-enough criticism but it’s how I felt.

I was also a bit confused by the characters of Terry and Buddy, maybe because they are essentially confused characters faced with mixed feelings in a truly unique situation (I don’t think even Savage Love has had a question about wooing conjoined twins…). Michael Hawke did a great job with Terry, though I was hoping for something that felt more like love in his feelings for Daisy. Mostly, I was getting lust – mixed in with that confusion stuff. And I would have liked to see a little more nuance with Buddy, maybe something more nakedly ambitious. Brett is so darn likeable on stage without even trying; a little more of the dark side would have made his character more interesting, in my opinion. I guess I’m saying I wanted Buddy to be meaner and Terry to be nicer. Whether the results with both of these characters has more to do with the show, the portrayals or the direction is hard for me to say; I can only say how it came across to me.

I wish Katrinah Lewis (as the Fortune Teller) had more to do during this show. She’s someone who really lights up the stage when she’s on it. And while we’re on the subject: I think Mr. Doran did his usual excellent job with the lighting design.

I could go on (and on and on…) but I’m sure that’s more than you ever wanted to know about how I felt about “Side Show” already. Have a great weekend!

Blog: The Musical

USA Today has their Fall stage preview in today’s issue and it’s always interesting to see what the mainstream press picks up on in terms of theater. First off, like everything else in culture these days, it’s all about the celebrities! There’s also a feel good tale about young boys catching their first big break. But most disturbing to me is all of the “The Musical” suffixes out there. As you may have seen, “Menopause: The Musical” was recently in C’Ville. On Broadway this fall we’ll have “Billy Elliot: The Musical,” “Tale of Two Cities: The Musical,” and most scary of all, “Shrek: The Musical.”

Sure, you can’t judge just from the suffix (and from what I hear from the Steingold sisters, “Two Cities” is very “Les Miz”-like, which frankly works just fine for me), but still, I think we’re almost in a post-post ironic stage with the whole “The Musical” thing. “Springtime for Hitler” signaled the first wave decades ago. Now, with both “Batman: The Musical” and “Spiderman: The Musical” having been talked about, it seems that “Apocalypse Now: The Musical” or “Post-Nasal Drip: The Musical” wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow. Will we ever get back to the day when a musical can just have a name – like “Spring Awakening” for instance – and not be weighted down by the suffix?

And speaking of all that, it’s not just the theater that’s into the whole recycling thing. Here’s a review of the new opera, “The Fly,” which is currently playing out in L.A. What I wanted to know is how did they avoid a headline like “Fly generated a buzz”?

Two Part Harmony, Part One

So that didn’t take long: my review of “Side Show” is in today’s Style (thanks Mr. Editor Man!) I'll ramble a bit more about the show below, though I may not have time right now to lay out every little thing I could say about this show. So this’ll probably only be the first installment. Just giving you fair warning...

To reiterate what I said in my review: Angie and Robyn are knock-outs and I loved them in this show. I had heard “I Will Never Leave You” before but I didn’t really, you know, hear it until Angie and Robyn belted it out. And as simple and – let’s face it, trite – as the lyrics are to “Who Will Love Me As I Am?” I was seriously choked up at the end of the second act (oops -- I meant, first act. Sorry.).

And this points to my essential conflict with the show: the clichés that it is filled with alternately make up its best and worst parts. These two big power ballads are awesome, but even their titles indicate how they resemble about a half-dozen other songs in the Broadway songbook. Add in “Overnight Sensation” and it’s a perfect trifecta of a musical’s typical song types: “pining for a lover who understands me” ballad, “on the way to success” ditty, “assertion of never-ending bond or friendship” climax. There’s an irony in this to me since the Mill’s premier last season (U-town) skewered these kinds of musical clichés.

For the sake of balance, I’ll mention one thing that I thought the show does quite well. There’s no getting away – particularly in a love story – from the prurient aspect of the life of conjoined twins. The whole “Tunnel of Love” setup was an excellent way to handle this, being both euphemistic in a way but clear enough to anyone over 12 years old. And Mr. Width did a great job staging this, I think, with each character involved isolated and coming to their own realization about how fundamentally their perceptions were changing. Nicely done.

The day after I saw the show someone asked me about the physical aspects of staging a story about twins. It’s true, Robyn and Angie don’t look much alike, even when outfitted the same. Their coloring is different, they’re different heights, some of their individual features are dramatically different. I can see where this will be a problem for some people and frankly I thought it was going to be one for me. In the end, I wasn’t bothered much at all by it. Two things helped me with this: pictures of the actual Hilton sisters show that they were visibly distinct in some ways and also the show sets them up as being strikingly different personalities so their different looks didn’t make me suspend my disbelief any less. Sure, it would have been an interesting plus if the leads were as similar looking as Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley but if that would have meant sacrificing some of the vocal and dramatic power of the two actresses chosen, well, I don’t think it would have been worth it.

I will say though that I kind of wish that we had never seen the twins separated except in the dream sequences. When the show starts with them sitting separately, it was kind of a “Huh?” moment for me.

Tomorrow (or maybe the next day) I’ll try to put out more on the supporting cast, technical elements, and other random stuff. But now – to bed!

Overdue

“Side Show” is the predominant game in town until next Wednesday and, since I’m not talking about that show right now, I’ll go back and right a wrong from several weeks ago. I was lucky enough to catch “Shirley Valentine” during its closing weekend out at the Tavern and I didn’t really talk in depth about it. I won’t deliver a whole dissertation here but I will say I thought it was an awesome performance by Ms. Steinberg. What JB does so well is demonstrate in the early scenes that Shirley isn’t just any housewife; she’s a little spitfire whose flame has been dimmed by the years of domesticity and parenthood. By showing us that early, we can believe that she would go ahead and jettison her previous life for a new one as a way to recapture the spirit of that young rebel she once was.

One of my favorite scenes was when Shirley’s daughter moves back (very temporarily) with the expectation that Shirley will continue to be a domestic servant. The post-adolescent outrage the daughter expresses is precious and I can see extreme future versions of my own lovely daughters in the characterization. The show also has some great messages about the perceptions have about others: Shirley’s high school nemesis always wanted to be her back in the day, the overly-dramatic neighbor says she wouldn’t have the courage to do what Shirley does. It’s a nice reminder that we all look at the world from our own little box and we shouldn’t assume what others are seeing from inside theirs.

Though I thought JB did a flawless job, there was at least one thing that I didn’t love about the show. The talking to the wall conceit is a little contrived and makes some of Shirley’s lines awkward (though it does set up a nice joke with the Greek rock). I can’t remember exactly but I think someone had called the show dated; I didn’t have a problem with that. It may not be strictly contemporary but I also think Shirley’s situation still speaks to about a billion people who find themselves in a middle-aged morass wondering how the hell they got there.

I thought the set was great and the working stove and frier were pretty impressive. Not being an anglophile, I didn’t notice the small incongruities that have since been pointed out. The lighting had a few glitchy aspects but it was pointed out to me later that the lighting designer lit the show before the set was complete which couldn’t have been easy.

Overall, it was a great show and in particular, one that I was glad both my mom and my daughter got to see.

Positively Freaky

Well, the first rave for “Side Show” is in. Susan H’s largely positive take on the show was tucked in the back of today’s T-D’s first section. I like the word “mesmerizing” for the show, though I also have to say I agree with her reservations about the production.

And to the lovely Miss Hausfrauski’s comment about why I tease: it has been pointed out to me that if I give away too much about what I think right after I see a show that people have less reason to read what actually gets published in Richmond’s stalwart alternative weekly. Sorry if that keeps y’all hanging on.

Speaking of hanging on, I have been trying to round up email addresses for Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Awards nominees and have generally been pretty successful. I have preliminary RSVPs accounting for about 95 attendees. But there are several folks that I think I have valid email addresses for that I still haven’t heard from. Of a greater concern, there are several more that I don’t know how to get in touch with at all. Below is a list; if any of you faithful readers know how best to get in touch with these folks, can you ask them to write or call? I’m still at davetline@aol.com. Thanks!

Joe Doran
Katherine Louis
Maura Lynch Cravey
Rebecca Cairns

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who responded! I think I have some way to get to everyone now.

Lucky

This weekend I spent two evenings out with my best date, my lovely bride. Our first First Friday was a learning experience. The stormy weather had us hemming and hawing a bit about even going so we set out later than was probably optimal. Our friends the First Friday veterans had said they usually went to the galleries on Main Street first so we went there and frankly were a little disappointed. The Reynolds had that cool piece “Splatter” that was on Style’s Fall Arts cover and a pretty impressive and huge thing with mirrors (shown inside in the same Style issue). But the whole experience was kind of like a cliché representation of an art opening: lots of self-consciously hiply-casual people milling about checking out each other a lot more than they were looking at the art. Many of the subsequent galleries we went to were pretty much the same, only less crowded and less fabulous than the Reynolds. And don’t get me started on the prices. I like abstract art, I like challenging art, but you couldn’t pay me a million dollars to pay $40,000 for something that looks like an ugly, lumpy piece of rock. It’s a good thing I’m not an art critic.

Having said that, I did buy a colorful, clever (and reasonably priced) piece at the Artemis called “Leaning Lovers” by a Colorado artist named Julia Watkins who calls her style “energism.” I guess I’m one of those fuddy-duddys who still likes my art at least a little bit ‘pretty.’

We didn’t get down to where the real action was on Broad Street until about 10pm (after the horror of parking) and my beloved was getting a little sleepy. But what a different scene! There was so much going on with the bands and the street theater and the installations in allies and projected down the street. The place was buzzing with energy PLUS you could go into a place like the joint across from Theatre IV (where Zoo Valdes was laid out for the night) and actually imagine buying one of the pieces because they were less than $200 instead of more than $20K. Call me a socialist, but I think art should be for everyone. We also ran into a few theater folks that were fun to talk to and avoided some (but not all) of the art-scene folks that we knew and would have been better off avoiding. I heard people say at least twice that the event had a very New York vibe, which I agree with except that if this kind of thing was in NYC I think it would have been both four times more crowded and four times more expensive.

Over all, it was a good introduction to the FF scene and will help us focus our efforts in the future for maximum fun. And in the more even-handed light of morning, I was asking myself: does every “scene” seem as pretentious and self-obsessed from the outside? Is that the way theater folks seem to “outsiders” when they gather in packs? My, I hope not.

Saturday was our second date night in a row and we took in “Side Show” at the Mill, which I am still processing as the musical phrase “Look at the Freaks!” echoes in my head. As delightful as many aspects of the show were, the best part for me was being able to deconstruct it with someone at least as knowledgeable about theater and certainly as passionate about it. I guess I’m lucky because even when I go to a show by myself, I get to work out my thoughts about it in my reviews afterword. But it’s much more fun doing it with another person (I’m working really hard to avoid a vulgar analogy here so I’ll just move on…)

I’ll have more thoughts about “Side Show” in a few days and I expect to have a lot to say. The 300 words or so that make it into print will really just be scratching the surface this time.

Fall…

…as in fall-ing out of the habit of blogging. Sometimes it happens (particularly as the school schedules -- including my own -- really get into swing). But don’t you worry both of you readers out there, I’m still hard-wired into the stage scene, yes indeedy. How else could I have written such an insightful little diddy about the upcoming season? Just by reviewing the season schedules published by the different companies, you say? Well, perhaps, yes, perhaps.

Of course, the T-D had a more comprehensive preview of “Side Show” last Sunday and Joan at Richmond.com did a piece on Richard III – am I the only one in the RTCC who hasn’t written about R3? It seems I might be. We’ll have to do something to change that. Anyway, I’m not bitter because I’m going to my first First Friday tomorrow so my hipness is about to sky-rocket!

For now, at least Style also did a little Street Talky number about RTP and its move, which I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere else in print yet (though it's been blogged about for weeks). So that’s something.

And finally (for now, I’ll be back – promise!), here’s a little piece of wisdom that arrived in my in-box a couple of days ago courtesy of my favorite rabbi. Something to ponder when not worrying about how well the Fall productions are going to sell…

Real success is not on the stage, but off the stage as a human being, and how you get along with your fellow men.
-SAMMY DAVIS, JR.