Coming Attractions (and Past ones, too)

I’m slammed all to pieces with work so I’ve been light on the blogging this week. Sorry, peeps. Hello, peeps, are you still out there? Hello? Is this thing on?

Anyway, the Internets are alight with the news that “Thriller the Musical” is officially in the works. Of course, there was scuttlebutt about this back in November so it’s not exactly a surprise. What will be a surprise is if it ever emerges from the development process like previously announced EVENT shows, like those based on the movies “Batman” and “Spiderman,” for instance.

I’ve been intrigued by the ongoing updates about “Cuckoo’s Nest” and in particular appreciate Mr. Tuggle giving out a little bit of behind the scenes info, with honesty and modesty at that. Thanks, Brad!

I have started to write up something on the whole LORT biz model – provocatively titled “Insurgency.” Probably won’t get that into posting shape until Thursday though. Hope you tune back in then!

In the meantime, you can also read Ms. Burruss's review of "Cuckoo's Nest" and my review of "All My Sons," both of which were just posted on the Style website within the past couple of hours.

Sons

I want to talk more about what Mr. St. Peter posted but I need to have my thinking cap fully engaged. Currently, it seems to be on the fritz, burnt out by work, school, and the hectic home life. In the meantime, Ms. Haubenstock’s review of “All My Sons” was in today’s T-D. I also heard a preview on the radio this morning that said a theater review was coming up but I missed the actual review. Did Mr. Porter chime in on “Sons” as well? Anyone know?

(Update: Thanks, Anonymous. Here's a link to the aforementioned review, except that it's of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and it's Ms. Tupponce's.)

And, just as a topical aside, I was reading some of the kurfluffle that got, um, fluffed after the inauguration having to do with the flubbed oath of office. There’s a great linguistic breakdown at this site. One post I thought was interesting was the following, that at least tangentially had to do with theater:

“Regardless of who flubbed first or who flubbed worse, the unscripted, unpredictable exchange broke the fourth wall and reframed all the pageantry as theatre, not reality. Theatre that evoked reflection as much as emotion. I loved this, actually, because I think in so doing, it strangely and perfectly fit with Obama's speech and overall message, which consistently attempts to shift the power and responsibility of change from "actors" to "audience" or from politicians to "we (us) the people."

Y’all have a great weekend!

Is the model broken?

For folks who don't read comments, below is a post from Rick St. Peter. So, what do you think, is the model broken?

Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke announced it was closing to "reorganize" effective today.

You could almost change the name of the theatre to TVA and it reads like the same article. In light of what is going on across the country with theatre's dropping like flies (in the last year, we've lost: Studio Arena in Buffalo, Theatre de la Juene Lune in Minneapolis 3 years after winning the Regional theatre Tony Award, Milwaukee Shakes, San Jose Music Theatre, Seaside Music Theatre, North Shore Music Theatre, Samford Theatre Works in Connecticut, Mill Mountain now in Roanoke...

The Magic Theatre and Shakespeare Santa Cruz barely survived emergency fund raising calls, Temple Theatre where I just did Hamlet announced while we were in tech that they needed $150k to make it through the remainder of the season, I just had to completely restructure my Spring season here...)

Is the not-for-profit regional professional theatre movement going the way of the dinosaur? I know there has been like 784 petitions circulating for a "Secretary of the Arts" position but I wonder, with all the trouble the country is currently in, will the arts get lost in the cacaphony of the economy? How do we make our case when Circuit City is laying off 30,000 employees? The Arts clearly are not a priority in this country and we have yet to find a way in to making them so.

Dave, this harkens back to your posting of the survey and my cavalier response to it. Despite study after study that shows both the extrinsic and instrinsic value of having a healthy arts scene in your community, still we struggle for a fingertip hold and are constantly having to justify our existence...We are perceived as being "elitist", too expensive, to remote etc etc etc while cities fall all over themselves to build billion dollar sports stadiums with luxury boxes that I would have to fork over like 2 months salary just to be able to sit in and yet WE are elitist?

Is the model broken...all the talks on this blog center around Barksdale one day becoming a LORT theatre, which I think is an impossibility given the size of the Willow Lawn space, but I also think the LORT model is broken...We are going back to a pre-reigonal theatre revolution America where we will have theatre's in the big cities, New York, DC, Chicago etc and nothing else...is that what we want? Does anyone else think it ridiculous that the LORT model is broke and we need to apologize for wanting to pay actors a whopping salary of like $600/w with some benefits?

Obama the Musical

Yesterday was a good day to just take it all in. I’m not feeling too eloquent so I’ll leave rapturous descriptions to the pundits. I’ll just say that in the middle of a dark cold time, I felt the spark of a warm bright future in yesterday’s spectacle.

I expect the producers of the upcoming “Obama on My Mind” are hoping to capture some of that spark. I thought this production was a joke at first but apparently it’s real. The next question will be, is it anything more than a calculated way to capitalize on an historic moment?

In much of the coverage of yesterday’s events, I heard many interviews with people saying variations of “I don’t really agree with his policies but I’m willing to give him a shot.” It is in that spirit that I’d like to talk about “Who Killed the King?” the production from Mystery Dinner Theater that I saw this past Saturday.

There are many things about the MDT shows that could rub the strict theater-phile the wrong way. The characters are flamboyantly one-dimensional, the jokes are fairly infantile, and the plots are essentially Spark Notes reductions of Agatha Christie. My biggest beef about “Who” was that the king was supposed to be a womanizer but there were also broad hints about him being gay. Hmmm…

Still, the actors are engaging within the narrow confines of their characters and willing to interact with patrons in an entertaining way. My favorite aspect of the evening was the way theater was taken out of the realm of high-brow fine art and brought back into the common denominator level of fun, interactive entertainment. I laughed out loud at a couple of the dumb jokes and the people at the table next to ours sharing the bucket of brews laughed heartily and often. At the end of the night, I found myself moderately eager with a touch of anticipation, thinking I was one of the two people in the audience who had all of the clues right. Unfortunately, my answer form was not one of the ones picked to win the final prize. Ah well.

I was surprised at how full the room was – I think they said the number of attendees was in the mid-to-upper 60s. I hadn’t seen an MDT show since my wife was in one many years ago, and it might be several years before I go to one of their shows again. Still, at the end of the night, I expect most of the folks who were there would say that they had had a good time. Who could ask for more than that, right?

King

Update: Here's a link to Ms. Haubenstock's review of "Cuckoo's Nest."

I came into work this morning and was quickly inundated with problems and questions that I am still in process of clearing out. If I weren’t so thankful to have a job, I’d be annoyed by this. My thoughts and prayers go out to those folks at Circuit City, GenWorth, MeadWestVaco, etc. who are trying to figure out how they are going to make ends meet in the months ahead.

In a dark bit of irony I’m trying not to dwell on, I accompanied a couple of my critical compatriots to see “Who Killed the King?” on Saturday. When I dig out from under, I’ll have some more comments about that. Over the past few days, I’ve heard a fair amount of interest in the Acts of Faith festival in some unexpected quarters, which bodes well for that event. For those who want to dig deeper into the subject, there’s a scholarly journal devoted exclusively to Religion and Theater. Pretty interesting stuff.

I’m awaiting the first published review of Henley Street’s “Cuckoo’s Nest” with eager anticipation. In the meantime, the conversation continues in response to my Comment-ary post below, which has now dropped off the main page here. Many different perspectives – let your voice be heard if you haven’t weighed in.

For those who have the day off, enjoy the holiday, and for those heading north tomorrow, I’ll be with you in spirit!

Lens

One of the things I like about blogging is that the dialogue that develops usually reinforces my perception that some very smart, thoughtful, and perceptive people work in Richmond theater. I greatly appreciate Mr. Tuggle’s explanation about the selection of “Cuckoo’s Nest” for the Acts of Faith festival. It shows his commitment as a director that he did the research and considered carefully the symbolic aspects of the story he’d be telling.

As I thought about what to say to rejoin the conversation (and, to some extent, explain the point of view of my published piece about the festival), Mr. Hamm provided an excellent metaphor. If it’s not clear, let me state that I totally support the idea of the Acts of Faith festival – or, in fact, of any festival that encourages cooperation between theaters and helps promote theater to the wider community. However, I had several conversations with people about the festival in the past several weeks and the issue that continued to come up had to do with justification, that is, what makes a show appropriate for the festival. And a consistent sentiment I heard expressed was that just about anything could be justified. As I think about many of the shows that I enjoyed last fall – “Eurydice,” “The Clean House,” “Hamlet,” etc. – it seemed to me that this could be true. A clear majority of the shows I could think of had a thematic element that could be construed to be about faith, spirituality, values, morality, etc. (RTP’s “Bite Me!” was the only one I really had trouble with…)

There’s a great line in one of my favorite movies, “The Incredibles,” where the villain Syndrome says, “When everyone’s super, no one will be.” If everything’s about faith, then what are we really talking about? That is what's behind my question “What is this festival really about?” My concern is not that the shows chosen don’t say anything about faith but more that nearly everything is being construed as being about faith. I appreciate looking at theater / art through the lens of faith (to get back to Mr. Hamm); my impression, however, is that the festival does not seem (IMHO) to be doing much to focus that lens.

I accept that “Cuckoo’s Nest” has a clear Christ metaphor going on, something cool that I hadn’t really thought about before. But Christ metaphors are relatively ubiquitous, used in books as divergent as 1984 and the Narnia series, and in movies like “Cool Hand Luke.” But I don’t experience “Cool Hand Luke” as a rumination on faith.

I guess I wonder whether there might be opportunities for subtitling or “tracks” associated with the festival. Examples --> Acts of Faith: The Christ metaphor. Or Acts of Faith: Coping with Family Dynamics. Or Acts of Faith: Faith and History. I have gone to a fair amount of business-related conferences where this kind of thing is done to help attendees organize their thinking about what might be sessions worth their attention. Otherwise, you have people wandering around wondering where they should go. I’m afraid that might happen to folks when they approach Acts of Faith.

I don’t mean to stir up issues solely to cause heartburn, honestly. But in addition to providing some publicity for the festival, I kind of hoped to promote some critical thinking. Y'all can judge whether I was successful or not.

Pick a little, Talk a little

Arg! There is so much I would like to weigh in on that I can hardly sort it all out in my head. I’ve been enjoying the discussion over on the Barksdale Blog. Here is the only semi-coherent thought I can offer right now. One thing I’ve said for years is that, for better or worse, there are people who consider Broadway and touring shows “real theater” and everything else somehow second-class. I’ve had people ask me directly “…but are there any REAL shows coming to town.” This kind of ignorance is perpetually frustrating.

But when faced with ignorance, I think the only productive response is education. People need to be educated on the quality of what is available in Richmond. One way to do this that I touched on in my original year-end wrap up piece is by highlighting actors, by more distinctly “packaging” them as “stars.” There are certainly numerous issues that people could talk about regarding the RTCC Awards (I’m going with “the Artsies”) and Roy Proctor’s Phoebe awards, but the existence of them allows every theater company that casts Scott or Audra or Stephen Ryan or Debra Wagoner (etc. etc.) to use the adjective “award-winning” in any and all publicity about a production.

It goes beyond that: Henley Street could talk about “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” starring Jeff Cole – “fresh from his universally acclaimed portrayal of Hamlet.” This is borrowing marketing concepts from other disciplines: I didn’t know who Stephanie Meyer was but the phrase “author of the best-selling Twilight series” caught my eye years ago before the movie was even in development. “Gym Class Heroes” is a band, I’m told, though the only thing I know them from is the ubiquitous (for a while) single, “Cupid’s Chokehold.” Highlight the hits – that’s what people remember!

These are not revelatory ideas and yet I don’t see them in use very often and I get sent a lot of theater-related marketing (though certainly not stuff from every theater company in town – something else that befuddles me. I write about theater nearly every freakin day of my life – send me information, for heaven’s sake! Duh!)

OK, I had meant to talk about the Acts of Faith piece but now I’m worked up and have blown the few free minutes I had to ramble today. Stay tuned for more.

Oh, but first, here’s something interesting I received because I’m a student at University of Richmond but NOT because I write about theater:

Join The African Company, UR Department of Theatre and Dance, University Players, Collective Artists (UK) and The African American Repertory Theatre for a staged reading of Carlyle Brown's adaptation of Richard III, directed by UR's Charles Mike.

It will be performed on Friday, January 16 at 7:30PM in the Cousins Studio Theatre, Modlin Center for the Arts Building. The performance is free, but tickets are required. For more information, contact the Modlin Center Box Office at 289-8980.

C&C on TV

Chase Kniffen and a certain young Master Timberline were on Virginia This Morning, promoting "Children's Letters to God." As I post this, their segment is first in the list at the show's website. If this is no longer the case, look for the segment unironically listed under the title "Children's Letters to God."

I must say Mr. Kniffen is quite generous and kind in this appearance, doing a great job at drawing out the seemingly reticent Coopster. It's amazing what you can get away with when you're 8. My favorite part is when the hosts say "Thank you" and you hear Coop's little voice saying "You're welcome." Good manners!

Gotta Have Faith Faith Faith

My piece previewing the Acts of Faith festival just done showed up on the Style web site. Thoughts? Complaints? Tirades? Let me have 'em!

Lame Is

So I was going to give a summary of the production I saw of “Les Miz” at the Signature Theatre in Arlington on Saturday. Oh, how giddy I was with anticipation to see this, my favorite of all musicals. And “re-imagined” for a smaller venue – how cool is that? Now those bigger than life characters like Jean Valjean and Javert would be nearly close enough to touch.

As it turns out, I don’t have to write up anything because someone else already did. This blog post (cleverly hunted down by my lovely wife) captures that experience very well and, my friends, it was not a transformative experience overall. The staging was generally OK but there were HUGE swaths of lameness throughout.

A couple of things I would add to this write-up: I did NOT like the actor who played Javert. He practically foamed at the mouth, he was so rabid and it translated into an exaggerated and over-enunciated delivery of all of his songs. And while the staging was generally very nicely done, the moment when the barricades come together was almost comical. On Broadway, this was an impressive technical moment involving the rising up of a mammoth structure – the barricades truly “arise.” At the Signature, a mid-sized heap of trash gets moved out on stage. Ho hum.

Of course, my eldest had an enchanting time and I have to admit that I find the story so powerful, I couldn’t resist tearing up in a few spots. But in general, I was disappointed. And, just to reference back to the discussion that’s been going on about professionalism in Richmond, the real difference at the Signature was the actors, not the technology.

Round and Round

I like this little blurb in Entertainment Weekly because it seems to give a fairly balanced view of what’s happening on Broadway. Yes, a lot of shows have closed but there are also a bunch of productions getting ready to open.

I’ve been thinking about the discussion that’s been simmering along about production values, professionalism, and the state of Richmond theater. I have to admit, there are many business-related and functional aspects of theater that I have only marginal familiarity with. I don’t build sets or raise money or develop marketing for local theaters, I mostly just judge the results.

But some lines of thought in this discussion are familiar to me from a longer-than-10-year relationship with a private school in Richmond called the Waldorf School. The school uses an alternative education model, all of my children have attended, I’ve served as the school’s administrator as well as on its Board, yadda yadda yadda. Anyway – growing the school’s attendance has been a recurring problem. We always think if more people knew about the school, more would send their children there. But particularly when we were smaller and growing, there were often administrative and functional glitches that would turn people off. This, plus the problem some people would have anyway with an alternative model, has tended to keep attendance down.

This is a huge oversimplification, but what I’m getting at is that there is a chicken / egg problem with many small or growing organizations. Getting people through the door is key but what people see when they get through the door has to impress them to keep them coming. To impress people, you need resources. To get resources, you need people. And round and round it goes. At the same time, you have to get people past the fundamental hump of viewing theater as an “alternative” form of entertainment versus something as bread-and-butter as TV or the movies.

I don’t have anything like the answers here (if I did, attendance at the Waldorf School would be much higher!) But it does seem like one crucial aspect of success is turning the potential downward spiral (low resources = low production values and less professional productions = low audience interest = low resources) into a positive spiral (high audience interest = more resources = better production values = higher audience interest).

Theater companies have done this; for Theatre IV, I think the production of “Quilters” many years ago was one of the keys to kicking things into a positive spiral (that, plus hours and hours of tireless work by Bruce and Phil). I am hopeful Stage 1 may have done this with their first two outings (Ragtime and tick, tick…Boom!) I also realize that it’s just one piece of a very complicated puzzle. Still, I tend to think it’s a key piece.

Participate

The discussion continues in response to my Comment-ary post below. Very interesting questions and very interesting answers. I plan on taking up the gauntlet in that discussion soon but, in the midst of it, I (like many of you) received the email copied below re: the Cultural Arts Task Force. What a great opportunity for people to participate in this process! Please attend one of the meetings.

And one other participation opportunity: Stage 1 is urging kids under 16 to write letters to God and send them to the theater. The kids more than likely won't find out without the parents so you parents out there, pass the word along. Just don't promise any answers...

Here's the email:

To: Community Arts and Cultural Supporters

Dear Friends,

I hope you will join us at one of the very important community meetings that will take place next week. The input we receive will directly help form a plan currently being developed to protect and encourage our amazing regional cultural organizations. And please feel free to forward this message to anyone who cares about Richmond's arts community.

Phil Whiteway
Task Force Member

The Task Force of the Richmond Region Cultural Action Plan is pleased to host a series of community meetings in January 2009 that will engage the region in helping to form a comprehensive plan for strengthening our local arts and cultural community. On January 12 and 13, meetings will be held in the City of Richmond and Counties of Chesterfield, Hanover, and Henrico, and will include a presentation about the project by consultants WolfBrown, as well as hands-on opportunities for the pubic to get involved.

For more information on the Richmond Region Cultural Action Plan, please visit the Richmond Cultural Plan blog at: http://richmondculturalplan.blogspot.com/

Community Meetings About the Richmond Region Cultural Action Plan:

Monday, January 12, 2009
4:00-6:00pm
Hanover School Board
200 Berkley Street
Ashland, VA 23005

Monday, January 12, 2009
7:00-9:00pm
Pine Camp Cultural Arts Center
4901 Old Brook Rd
Richmond, VA 23227

Tuesday, January 13, 2009
4:00-6:00pm
Cultural Center of India
6641 Ironbridge Parkway
Chester, Va. 23831

Tuesday, January 13, 2009
7:00-9:00pm
Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen
2880 Mountain Road
Glen Allen, VA 23060

What is the big picture goal of the Cultural Action Plan?

The plan will look broadly at the importance of arts and culture in our region to create a collective and inclusive vision for the area’s cultural sector. It will identify strategies to increase participation, financial support, awareness and collaborative opportunities that will lay the foundation for a thriving cultural landscape. Richmond, Virginia follows other cities across the nation that have developed cultural plans that have successfully guided the promotion, planning, development, and funding of their community’s arts and cultural organizations.

3…2…1

The coming weeks will see the slow fading away of the holiday season, at least in terms of local stage productions. This weekend, the Mill’s “Tuna Xmas” and Barksdale’s “This Wonderful Life” close, next weekend will be the last chance to see Firehouse’s “Scientology Pageant” and the final weekend of January will feature the final performances of “Sanders Family Xmas” out at the Tavern. So if you haven’t seen ‘em, the time is now!

And with that in mind, John Porter’s review of “Scientology” finally got posted to the Internets recently – here’s a link. He enjoyed it and you may too!

Crisis?

A Broadway producer interviewed as part of an "All Things Considered" segment last night was quoted as saying, "There was a time, I think in the '70s, when there were only eight or nine shows on Broadway. And that was a crisis. And this will be a crisis, as well." Those of you who wore black for Broadway this past weekend have probably heard plenty of this kind of crisis talk.

I can't help but think this is a bit overblown. Yes, maybe there won't be as many shows that are so sold-out that you need to make reservations a year in advance (or pray for TKTS or lottery opportunities) and maybe ticket prices won't be so high and maybe more marginal productions (looking at you "Young Frankenstein") may not go up. But among my chief beefs with Broadway are shows are so sold-out you can't get a decent ticket and, when you do, it's insanely expensive. And I don't go to NYC often enough but I have heard from others that they've been disappointed by some bally-hooed shows.

So maybe not a crisis but a needed correction? Something to think about.

In the meantime, NPR has done a couple of shows re: "West Side Story" in the past month, this recent one on the original production, and this one from last month on the new production. Enjoy! And don't hold back from weighing in on the post below which seems to have gotten a least a few folks a little het up.

Comment-ary

I had occasion to check back on my year-end wrap-up article in Style online (here’s a link in case you missed it below) and was interested to see several comments posted. I was interested at their existence but somewhat dismayed by their content. Here are a few somewhat disheartening excerpts:

“Most of the shows in Richmond are more like the community theater shows in Washington.”

“The things that Richmond theaters consider cutting edge look like old hat in other cities.”

“[O]ne of the distinguishing features of Richmond's theatre scene from that of other, demographically similar communities, is the lack of professionalism in the industry in Richmond… [A]udiences are to be congratulated for opting not to spend large sums of money to see theatre which is less than fully professional.”

One can go too far in generalizing from a few scattered comments. But I think these are worth attention because they are well-written -- not mean or hysterical rants – and seem to be submitted by people who are actually theater fans (why else would they be going to the article online?)

So what is to be made of these comments? On one hand, I can’t help but feel a little personal gratitude in reading them. I get a fair amount of positive feedback on my reviews but, as would be expected, I also get a fair amount of guff (often second hand) when I am critical of a production. What I tell folks who care enough to ask is that if I notice a problem or are less than enamored with something in a production, you can bet there are at least a dozen others in the audience who are thinking the same thing. I can also assure you that there are plenty of theater fans in the audience who are looking at things WAY more critically than I am.

Beyond that, I would take a couple additional insights from these remarks. One is that theater professionals can only benefit from seeing as much theater as possible. I know this is a challenge for those who are working in theater but it’s clear that audiences make comparisons. Theater folks should know what their competition is (both in town and out) and should continue striving to meet or exceed the best work that they see.

I also would encourage the Artistic Directors out there to push for edgier work. If one thing can be learned from last year in Richmond and the success of “Little Dog Laughed” and “Reefer Madness,” it’s that there are audiences out there for more experimental, controversial or challenging material. Plus, there’s the added buzz factor that comes from pushing the envelope.

Finally, there is this comment: “The symphony and opera and ballet would never dare use non-professionals (except for children in the Nutcracker, of course) why is theatre allowed to get away with doing so?”

It’s a little befuddling to me that in a “free labor” – that is, non-union – state like Virginia that people would consider non-union actors “non-professional.” (Analogously, I spend most of my time working in Information Technology, even though I don’t belong to an IT union. Am I non-professional?) As I tried to touch on in my wrap-up, I think promoting the significant talents of local actors – whether they have their Equity cards or not – can only help to raise the profile of theater in town.

Kaine

Whew! Here we are at the New Year. I can hardly believe it. The last month kind of went by like a blur for me, the usual holiday madness enhanced by record number of theater performances I attended or was in some way responsible for getting a child to. It was a month for the record books for the T-lines.

I’ve been a little absent on the blog front but hope you few readers out there have been enjoying the other Richmond theater-related blogs out there that have been chronicling various journeys these past weeks, from culinary-related to holiday-related, from New York bound to taking off the pounds.

Besides the usual back-to-(school/work) blah-ness I would expect this time of year, I’ve felt a little additional melancholy thanks to the closing of many Broadway shows -- not great for Broadway and also not great personally now that I will never see them in their Broadway incarnations – and news from the Middle East to the tragedy of the Travoltas to the trouble in Obama’s cabinet.

But I’m trying to keep a positive outlook. Several people have contacted me and reassured me that I shouldn’t take too seriously the Cultural Census stuff that I reported on in Style last week (and here several weeks ago). Personally, I’m heading to DC this coming weekend to see “Les Miz” at the Signature, which has me nearly giddy with anticipation.

And the news was recently released that Tim Kaine will be taking over as head of the Democratic National Committee. I don’t know that this will have a positive impact on Richmond theater but it makes me happy just the same. As Phil Whiteway mentioned during his curtain speech for the last performance of Theatre IV’s “Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” Gov. Kaine has been a friend to the local arts scene and I choose to interpret his continued prominence in national politics as an affirmation that you can be an arts supporter and still do well in politics. I hope our new Mayor keeps that in mind in the coming year.

Time after time

Here's another list: Time magazine's top ten Plays and Musicals for the year. "Billy Elliot" is on top of this one just like many others. Kudos to NoVA's Signature Theatre for mention of "The Visitor." And I didn't see it but from what I've heard second-hand, "The Little Mermaid" is a bit of a shocker here. I guess you just never can tell what a critic is going to like...

Wrapping Up

If you are spending this week suffering from store-aversion in this post-holiday period, you might not see the year-end issue of Style, which is too bad. Still, you can catch my year-end wrap up of the theater scene, now posted on the Style site. The ambition of this piece may not be obvious to some so let me tell you what I was shooting for. I basically wanted to touch on the Cultural Census, give an overview of the year's highs and lows, highlight some specifically notable productions and performances, and deliver at least a vaguely interesting piece for the general reader. I had 600 words to do this. You can be the judge on whether I was successful or not in even scratching the surface of what this last year in theater involved.

I just spent a large part of the morning thinking uncharitable post-holiday thoughts -- don't you love family gatherings? -- so in an attempt to lighten my mood I'd like to rave for just a moment about a production I just barely mentioned. It's a little late for this rave but getting through the season alive has been the only truly attainable goal I've been able to achieve lately.

I took my youngest to "A Christmas Carol for Two Actors," a nimble and innovative piece of stagecraft brought to vivid life by Molly Hood and Grant Mudge. Grant makes this piece tremendously personal and vibrant, not stodgy or rote like you might expect after all of these years. He punches up the moments of silly humor and his interaction with the audience is refreshing. Both he and Ms. Hood inhabit a great many characters effortlessly, Ms. Hood in particular making some quick-silver changes from characters as variant as Jacob Marley's ghost to the young boy who fetches the Christmas goose for the reformed Scrooge.

I know it's too late for anyone to go catch this show but I am hopeful that they do it again next year. Paring Dickens down to the essentials really brings out the timeless messages at the story's core. I can't believe I missed the first dozen or so years Richmond Shakespeare has done this production but you can rest assured that I'll make a point to see it from now on!

A List and a Loss

Welcome to the other side of Christmas! I hope you all made it here with sanity intact and that Santa Claus was good to everyone.

I finally caught up on the back issues of some of my favorite magazines and came across this list of the Best and Worst of Broadway in 2008 from Entertainment Weekly. Hm, maybe the NY Times has a similar list??? Anyway, I’ll go look for that but in the meantime, I’d be curious as to what folks think of this list. I hadn’t even heard of a couple of the shows listed.

Also, the news came out yesterday that Harold Pinter had died. I have never been a huge fan of his work but certainly do appreciate it and the enormous impact his style has had. Here’s a link to a nicely insightful appreciation of one of theater’s giants.

Happy Accidents

So for those who weren’t at the reading of “Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge” on Monday – and a surprising number of people were there – the script by Christopher Durang is hilarious, spinning “A Christmas Carol” into a post-modern froth of cynicism and theatrical self-reference while also managing to spoof a couple of other holiday favorites. To me the most hilarious moment of the night was when the play veered into “It’s a Wonderful Life” territory and who should emerge as George Bailey but Scott Wichmann. The immediacy of having an actor currently playing George Bailey in another production wander into the reading was just too perfect.

To make a more general point – obvious I’m sure to the theater vets out there – it’s these kinds of happy accidents that put live theater in a class by itself. Another example from “Mrs. Bob Cratchit”: there are two Cratchit children who are referred to at first as Child 1 and Child 2 (one of them eventually earns a name). One of these characters was originally supposed to be played by Eric Evans – a talented stage vet though only a teenager who would have been great in the role. As it happened, however, Eric wasn’t able to make the reading and the lovely Ali Thibodeau stepped in.

The great thing about this substitution – besides the fact that Ali is consistently a delight on stage – was that Child 2 is repeatedly mistaken for a girl and he often has to remind everyone that he’s a he. So as it turned out, there was an actress playing a boy being mistaken for a girl peevishly insisting that she was a he. I don’t know the specifics about how Ali was chosen as the replacement but, in my opinion, it was a small slice of casting genius that added another layer of absurdity to the already whacky goings-on. And another happy accident not foreseen at inception that helped make the reading a hoot.

I hope all you theater lovin’ folks out there are safely ensconced in a warm home somewhere enjoying the run-up to Christmas – or the ongoing rush of Hanuakkah – or the upcoming festivities of Kwanzaa – with a hot beverage and a good friend or family member around or two (instead of stuck at work like me). Happiest of holidays everyone!

And there it is

Update: my review of "Scientology Pageant" is now online. FYI.

Recovery

Over the weekend, Ms. Haubenstock's charitable (in my opinion) review of the Firehouse's "Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant" was published in the T-D. I'm hoping mine shows up on the Style website any minute now.

I'm still in recovery mode after a whirlwind weekend wherein I saw 4 plays, including a double-header yesterday with Swift Creek Mill's "Drifty" play and the staged reading of "Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge." I'm processing all of that while trying to focus on a year-end wrap up -- the lyric "How do you measure a year?" has gone through my head more than once this morning...

So while I'm at it, I'll ask you: How would YOU measure this past year?

Mrs. Cratchit

Two gentlemen -- Scott Wichmann and Richard Koch-- are currently burning up local stages in two different shows where they play something like a gazillion characters a piece ("This Wonderful Life" and "A Tuna Christmas" respectively). Where can you see these two fabulous actors plus a stellar supporting cast that includes Robert Albertia, Jacqueline Jones, Katherine Louis, Tom McGranahan, Jacqueline O'Connor, Maggie Roop, Jeanie Rule, Michael Thibodeau, and (ahem) Cooper Timberline?

Only at the staged reading of "Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge" at the Firehouse on Monday night. Details are at the Firehouse website. I'll be there. To borrow a phrase from public radio, won't you join me?

(Note: the show starts a bit earlier than most -- 7:30. Just warnin' ya!)

Have a great weekend!

The Conversation

I’ve started to wonder whether the utility of blogs has been overcome by the ubiquity of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites. They’re starting to seem almost quaint in this change-a-minute culture.

But one thing I continue to enjoy in the blogosphere is the second-hand kind of conversation that can go on between people on different sites who are interested in the same topics. I was happy to see Mr. Miller from Barksdale / Theatre IV chime in on the Barksdale blog about the Richmond Cultural Census. As always, Bruce writes eloquently, succinctly, and with incredible insight. And what I most appreciate about Bruce is that he saw the opportunity encapsulated in the survey, regardless of its flaws. As I said a couple of posts ago, “I think [the Census] can be used to help organize thinking about bolstering local theater.” It seems to me that Bruce has done exactly that, establishing a play-reading series, looking at possible educational opportunities and introducing an “Entertainment Stimulus Package.” I can only hope others follow Bruce’s lead in exploring new opportunities pointed to by the survey.

I wanted to also continue the conversation on a couple of the points Bruce brings up. I wasn’t aware that other arts organizations had distributed the survey to their supporters. That fact does indeed throw a different light on the self-selection aspect of the survey. To me, self-selection by itself is not enough of a reason to disqualify results, everything else being equal (that is, self-selection doesn’t necessarily conflate with a preference for one art form over another). However, the situation Bruce describes does seem like it would result in an under-representation of people with an abiding interest in theater.

I understand Bruce’s point about ticket sales. However, while it’s impressive that "theatre outsold all other performing arts disciplines—combined,” there are issues involved with success in the arts that have little or nothing to do with ticket sales – the income from which sometimes only represents 50% or less of an arts organizations funding from what I understand. My point about comparative perceived vitality was that regardless of whether people attend an arts event – any event, including gallery openings which are usually free – it seemed to me that the survey was saying that people perceived theater as less vital to the community than other art forms.

There are a couple of anecdotal situations that I think back this up, both positively and negatively. (The following are based almost entirely on my impressions so feel free to dispute them if you wish.) When TheatreVirginia died, the overwhelming majority of Richmonders did not know what that meant to the local community. Frankly, I’m involved in the community and I didn’t fully grasp the significance. However, if the Virginia Museum was on the verge of collapse or Richmond Ballet, it is my impression that there would be an outcry across the general population as well as from highly-committed entrenched communities of supporters.

On the positive side, my impression (based on living on northside for many years) is that one of the reasons that Chamberlayne Actors Theatre continues to plug along despite a lack of regular or widespread media coverage (mea culpa) is that it has a small legion of supporters who have come to perceive CAT as singular in importance for the health and prestige of the northside community. It is this kind of commitment and perception of “vital need” that I’d love to see across the Richmond community as whole related to theater as a whole.

Here’s just one example of what I think would be emblematic of this kind of commitment. Media wonks talk about “appointment television” – that is, shows that have such a committed following that people carve out a place in their schedule every week for this show. For a huge number of Richmonders, “The Nutcracker” is “appointment dance,” that is, they go to it every year almost without fail.

The only thing that I think comes close in the local theater world is Theatre IV’s Christmas show. I regularly speak to people who have gone and continue to go to Theatre IV’s Christmas show – regardless of what it is – every year. Swift Creek Mill’s annual “Drifty” show is similar. It may be an impossible dream, but wouldn’t it be great if more Richmonders considered more local productions as “must see” entertainment?

Finally, no disrespect to Jon Jory (or Bruce or Rick St. Peter) but the quote that “no theater that’s ever existed has attracted more than 2% of its potential audience” doesn't impress me. It may be true (it does, however, make me wonder about the theater of the ancient Greeks) but it seems like a defeatist statement of the highest order. One of my favorite quotes from Richard Bach’s “Illusions” (a book I reread every 3-4 years) is “Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’re yours.” If 2% is the paradigm, how do we break out of it?

The urge to “put on a show” is one of the most basic and elemental creative urges of humanity. It seems to me that there should be ways to capitalize on that to make theater much more popular than it is. In my mind, the potential has barely begun to be tapped.

The Throw

Seeing a uniquely talented actor like Scott Wichmann perform the near-entirety of “It’s a Wonderful Life” would be a theatrical value in itself. But as my critical colleagues have pointed out in their reviews, the real “value-add” with “This Wonderful Life” at the Barksdale is that the structure of the show includes commentary on the movie, thereby allowing not only re-enactment but celebration and just a little bit of sarcasm at the expense of the holiday classic. Some of the biggest laughs in the show come from these meta-moments, such as Scott’s non-explanation of “run on the bank” and I particularly enjoyed the wry asides about bottles marked “Poison” and bank inspectors visiting on Christmas Eve.

Not only does Scottie totally inhabit a great array of characters – what an awesome Jimmy Stewart! – but his significant technical skill enhances other aspects of the show, like his switching into “fast forward” – a particular favorite of my daughter. Mr. Wichmann never fails to impress, no matter what character he is portraying, but the specific physicality he brings to his one-man shows always strikes me.

One small moment in the show is when George and Mary throw rocks at the old house that would eventually become their house. The movement of “throwing like a girl” is fairly cliché and as such is easy to overdo, but Scott captures the femininity of Mary’s throw without exaggerating it. It’s similar to a clumsy versus a careful portrayal of a gay male character: almost any hack can do an extravagantly fey queen, but creating a real person who may just have a hint of swish is hard. Mary’s throw comes and goes in an instant but it’s emblematic of what an incredible job Scott does with this show.

Wonderfulness

Sorry to be so quiet here on the blog but I'm recovering from the semester at grad school by writing as little as possible and reading for pleasure -- instead of fact extraction -- for a change. It's been nice.

I saw Scottie do his amazing thing at the Barksdale on Sunday, which I'll talk about more after maybe one more day off of any serious writing. In the meantime, here's a couple of links: one to Mary B's review of "Best Christmas Pageant Ever" where she echoes the T-D's Ms. H somewhat in talking about the play's moral disconnect (I'll have to write a little something about that here someday soon) and another to Ms. H's very laudatory review of "A Christmas Carol for Two Actors" that Richmond Shakespeare is doing. I may just need to get me a dose of Scrooge this coming weekend...

Saturday

Saturday morning was rife with all sorts of news, none of it particularly cheery. First off was hearing of the passing of “Hutch” Hutchinson, one of those legends of local theater. His obituary was in Saturday’s paper with a nice memorial slideshow available online. I only met Hutch a few times and can only remember seeing him on stage once – his Experiential Company folded not long after I started writing reviews – but he was very cordial to me and seemed extremely committed to doing good theater. He was responsible for a production that has taken on somewhat legendary status in my memory, Experiential’s production of “The Seagull” with a luminous Erin Thomas and the sizzling Justin Dray. While he hadn’t made an appearance on stage in a while, he had a significant impact on local theater and he will be missed.

I also called about tickets for the Holiday Cabaret on Sunday at the Barksdale and found out that it had been canceled, a deep personal disappointment since tonight was going to be the only night I could see it. It seemed sickness as well as a sag in ticket sales scuttled the show for tonight, an unfortunate thing for all involved.

I noted also the announcement that Barksdale and Theatre IV were going to cut ticket prices. While this is troubling as another indication of the economic turmoil the country is in, there is an aspect of hope in this move. It would be my hope that more people will go to theater due to the lower ticket prices and that perhaps this will grow the audience base. A boy can hope.

So Saturday started the weekend out a little rocky. But I’m feeling better (if a little melancholy) about today. I had a nice time hanging out with old friends last night. It was great to see a big piece on Firehouse’s “Scientology” show in the paper today. And I’m heading off to “This Wonderful Life” in a couple of hours, looking for an infusion of holiday cheer.

I hope you are having a fine weekend wherever you are and whatever you’re doing – and that you find time to sneak out to a show!

Sweet on Sanders

John P's audio review of "Sanders Family Christmas" is out on the WCVE website now and, for those with an aversion to streaming audio, Bruce has transcribed the review on the Barksdale blog. Still waiting for the "Best Christmas Pageant" review to show up on the T-D site...

Some reactions

My first reaction in my perusal of the Cultural Census was to think about the many things Richmond theater is doing right. One of the main ones is increasing participatory opportunities via programs like the Barksdale’s Coffee and Conversations series or the Acts of Faith talk-backs. I also think the theater community does a decent job of marketing itself within the community itself via Robyn O’Neill’s email list, Facebook, etc.

I also understand people’s reactions to the self-selection aspect of the survey and that any set of survey results can be used or skewed in different ways. But in the world of surveying, this number of respondents is pretty significant, regardless of where they come from. And while this kind of sampling may be less useful in gauging overall sentiment, there still is highly useful analysis that can be done in comparative analysis (theater vs. dance vs. museums, etc.). And from what I hear, there is so little comprehensive information-gathering done on the arts here that this information is going to be latched on to by many folks like a dog grabs a bone.

Finally, the surveying was done by a California firm that does this kind of thing for other cities and, from what I can tell, it has no vested interest in the results showing one thing or another. So when they make a point of saying “results point to a deficit of theatrical activity in Richmond” or that they have seen figures in other areas related to “vitality” that are more than 3 times higher than Richmond’s, I am more likely to take that information at face value than if it was a survey done by the Richmond Chamber, for instance.

Here are some of my concerns:

It is easy to pooh-pooh the less than 10% “vital activity” number for live theater. But what concerns me is that when you look at the detail breakdown (pg. 37), the number isn’t just “less than 10%” – the highest percentage for any theater related activity is just 7% and it goes down from there.

What really surprised me was then comparing that number to the “visiting art museums or galleries” number, which is 14%. Don’t get me wrong – I love me some galleries and museums – but in my mind there is no comparison in terms of the importance to the community. That the “vitality” percentage would be TWICE as high as the highest theater number is just shocking to me.

Also telling is that the attendance figures (pg. 14) between museums, galleries and performing arts venues were all nearly the same and yet there is still this discrepancy in the perceived “vitality.” So it seems to me this is saying that even if people attend theater as often as other arts activities, they don’t perceive it as vital to the community.

Finally, I think it is easy to get defensive on behalf of Richmond theater based on the findings of this report. I remember the many defensive reactions I heard earlier this year when Mary B and I did our “Arts Report Cards” on theater for Style. As understandable as that reaction may be, in this case, it serves no purpose. The survey, after all, isn’t going to try to defend itself; it is what it is.

While I don’t expect anyone to run around like Chicken Little saying that the sky is falling, what I would love to see is people in the theater community take these results to heart and try to tackle the problems they point to. How can we make Richmonders care more about theater? How can we raise the level of investment – emotional as well as financial – in theater? How can Richmond theater reach out to new audiences? What innovative methods can be employed to raise the profile of theater in town?

Even if the Cultural Census is misrepresentative in some ways – and I don’t think it is to any significant extent – I think it can be used to help organize thinking about bolstering local theater, which would be a good thing for all of us.

Other people's links

I read this review last night about two stage-to-screen adaptations that were just released. Tricky thing, going from live to the big screen. Makes me all the more grateful for the kick-ass production of "Doubt" we Richmonders were treated to last season.

Ms. Tupponce's review of "Wonderful Life" is out and she liked it too. I think we're reaching consensus on this one.

The wonderful Ms. Jones sent me a link to a Sean Pratt posting that talks up the value of critics. So I guess I'm not the only voice crying in the wilderness!

Finally, Mr. Jones has a new website out there. Read and enjoy and build up your anticipation for his Charles Darwin play that will premiere at the Science Museum in the spring!

A Must Read

A review of “Inspecting Carol” showed up on the T-D website yesterday and the review of “Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is in today’s paper. Which is all great.

But right now I’m more transfixed by something else I’m reading. A comprehensive survey of Richmond arts patrons was done earlier this year and the results have been published by the firm Wolf Brown as the Richmond Cultural Census and are available online.

Not to be too overbearing about this but every arts professional in town should read this report. Of particular interest are the sections on live theater – and the news is NOT good. Here are two significant quotes from the report:

“Attending live stage plays or musical theatre productions was cited as “a vital activity” by less than 10% of all respondents and another 44% said that they ‘enjoy it occasionally’, a significantly lower proportion than expected based on previous cultural census studies in other cities.”

“The real story here, however, is the low percentage of respondents who cite going to stage plays and musicals as vital activities. In other areas, we have seen these figures as high as 20% to 25% 'vital activity.'"

I have to let this sink in a little bit since it contradicts many of my suppositions about theater in Richmond. I’ll probably have more cogent responses in a couple of days as these facts and figures rattle around my brain (and as I finally put to bed my graduate school paper). In the meantime, I’d be interested in what you all think out there in the blog-o-sphere.

You read it here first

Capitalizing on that whole Internet thing, Style has posted my review of "Inspecting Carol" and Mary B's take on "This Wonderful Life" online. I am particularly happy about this because, as far as I know, Ms. Haubenstock's review of "Carol" has not appeared yet so this should help dispel those vicious rumors that I simply copy and paste her reviews and change the adjectives for mine.

How DO these people do it?

My daughter’s rescheduled basketball game thwarted some of my theater viewing plans for the weekend so I don’t have a whole bevy of theater raves to report today. Perhaps the same thing happened to the Times-Dispatch, which I don’t believe published a single theater review this past weekend. At least, not one that I could find.

I did of course make it to opening night for “Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” which was great fun as usual. I was very proud of the T-lines in the cast, of course, and thought the whole production went off quite well. My favorite scene in the play is the short interlude that is just the Herdman kids talking about the Pageant. The young actors that make up the family have a great chemistry; it made me wish there were more scenes with just the 6 of them.

I had a great conversation with Andrew Boothby after the show about the various and sundry actors who have played Mr. and Mrs. Bradley over the years; made me think there should be a dueling Bradleys contest at some point.

Also, the young singers who solo for the Christmas carols in the production are quite amazing. Even when they’re exceptional singers, you don’t expect young teens and tweens to come off so flawlessly. Also, Jaime Kotula made for quite a cute manger animal (ß mention included by request. Yes, I can be bought…)

In other news, my attention was recently drawn to the upcoming staged reading of Midsummer Night’s Dream that Richmond Shakespeare is doing next Monday. It’s got a blockbuster cast and will also feature music by Andrew Hamm and (sigh) Liz Blake. I didn’t realize that Scott Wichmann is included in the cast, which is a bit amazing to me given his current one-man run with Barksdale’s “Wonderful Life” and the fact that he’s doing a reading of “Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge” sometime in the next couple of weeks as well. How does that fella keep so many words straight in his head?

Carol, Pageant, Blind Date, Sanders, etc. etc.

So I am now officially overwhelmed by all of the holiday-related shows out there. I'm realizing that this is the last weekend I can catch "Widow's Blind Date" at the Firehouse and there's no matinee of "Sanders Family Christmas" this weekend so I'm feeling the squeeze of too many shows to see and not enough nights. It's an embarrassment of riches!

Though suffering from near-debilitating lack of sleep last night, I enjoyed opening night of "Inspecting Carol" at Sycamore Rouge last night. More on that next week. I had the good fortune to sit with Ms. Haubenstock from the T-D which was fun for me -- it's not often that we critics get a chance to just hang out socially. Unlike what some might think, we don't spend our weekends together in bars trying to top each other with the most creative or cutting critique of other bar patrons. Sorry to disappoint.

Hope to see some of you at the opening of “Best Christmas Pageant Ever” tonight. Those wacky Herdmans!

Robin's back!

As usual, the line-up for the Barksdale Cabaret starting Sunday the 14th is full of knock-out performers. But I just noticed today that Robin Harris-Jones is scheduled to appear. How cool! Welcome back, Robin!

Read this little item in an interview of Meryl Streep that I thought y'all'd be interested in: "Acting is very satisfying if you can manage to not have your feelings hurt when they don't like you. I haven't really had any breakthroughs in that area. It still hurts my feelings." Wow.

I'm looking forward to "Inspecting Carol" at Sycamore Rouge tonight. And mad amounts of theater this weekend -- woo hoo!

Holiday Round-up

I had forgotten about this piece: here's a round-up of holiday-oriented shows that I wrote up a while back. I did not, however, include the "Miracle on 34th Street" Radio Play -- but you can read about that in the comment for the post below.

Want to weigh in on your favorite show of the 2008 holidays? Feel free -- 'tis the season, after all!

Tech Week

It’s tech week for “Best Christmas Pageant Ever” meaning that there is a patina of outright insanity spread thinly over the usual craziness of the T-line household. That, plus recovering from Thanksgiving, getting ready for the holidays, and battling an incipient case of insomnia has kept me off the blogger these days. If nothing else, when I completely crack up, I’ll be sure and post here to that effect.

The good thing about others running about being in shows is that I might get to sneak out to see a couple. It seems that Scott Wichmann has hit another one out of the park, at least that is certainly Ms. Lewis’s opinion as per her review of “This Wonderful Life” at the Barksdale, so I’ll probably slip over there this weekend to check it out. And “Inspecting Carol” opens this weekend at Sycamore Rouge. It’s an intriguing sounding show and I’m really hoping to get down there to see how it works on stage. And the family-friendly “Sanders Family” out at the Tavern will have to be seen as well.

Congrats are in order for the recently engaged Ms. Steinberg and much thanks to the Marks / Honaker team for producing a singularly hilarious cooking video. I apologize in advance for any deliriousness that appears in this space in the next several days. I’m not in full control of my faculties.

Thanks

Thanks for reading. Thanks for commenting. Thanks for the complements and thanks for the challenges. Thanks for making theater in Richmond such a vital, evolving, distracting, complicated, entertaining, uplifting, confounding, ever-changing, and fascinating subject to blog about.

Leonard Lopate

So the trip up I-95 is pretty odious the day before Thanksgiving but two things made it bearable today. One was the fact that traffic was really only truly horrible right outside Richmond and briefly around Fredericksburg. I made the normally 2 hour trip in about 3 hours. Not bad considering that a 5-6 hour trip has not been out of the question in the past.

The other thing was my lovely XM (and now Sirius as well I guess) radio. During part of the ride, I listened to this fascinating interview about regional theater featuring, among others, Paula Vogel. Of course, I'm biased here because there's a nice little bit in the middle about critics. But for all of the conversation, there are a lot of issues not really delved into, several of which Mike Daisey talks about in his response to the show.

I'm in holiday mode so I won't take the time to argue any of these points right now. Mostly, it's just a bit invigorating to hear theater talked about by intelligent grown-ups like it really matters. It's enough to give me hope.

Impact

In his latest post over at the Barksdale Blog, Mr. Miller makes an interesting point about the economic impact of a good review in the Times-Dispatch. It’s something I’ve heard before though I’ve never seen it laid out in such specific dollar amount terms.

Given the impact a critic can have, you might expect that they get delusions of grandeur or somehow take advantage of their position. My perspective – which is unquestionably biased – based on my interaction with critics in general, and Ms. Haubenstock specifically, is that they take their responsibility very seriously and tend to be as generous in their opinion as possible while remaining honest. I think Richmond theater is well-served by Susan’s even-handed point of view, her modest disposition and her manifest love of theater.

What is a bit surprising to me is that in some quarters critics are still viewed as some kind of pariah – or at best maybe a necessary evil. I’ve personally received at least two screeds in the past several months that put forth that perspective and I’ve heard interviews with a couple playwrights (Bill Davis and none other than Edward Albee) that seemed to tow that line. There are certainly critics whose style or perspective consistently annoys me (ex.: initials of D.N.), but I’ve never questioned their utility, or in fact, their necessity. One of the reasons sites like Epinions.com are so popular is that people want to know what they’re spending their money on. People check Consumer Reports when they’re buying a toaster; you don’t think they want some insight before plunking down $30 for a show?

One of my detractors most eloquently stated recently, “what critics do is fart after eating a meal prepared by someone else.” Maybe it’s just gas, but clearly some folks value what we say (or at least what Susan says!).

A Deb Doubleheader

Both of my theatrical journeys this past weekend had more to do with my children than me. I took in SPARC’s “Really Rosie” playing at ComedySportz’s place and “Grease” at the Jewish Community Center, both of which closed this weekend. As it turns out, both were directed by Debra Clinton also so it was a testament to her talent that they both were impressive examples of what can be done with young actors. “Rosie” featured 7-10 year olds and they were pretty awesome.

What was particularly surprising was how much choreography they could absorb and perform (mostly) without a hitch. I get the sense that on some level, songs are easier to learn, there’s melody and meter and repetition to help you remember. But combining that with movement can be a challenge and Deb certainly kept these guys moving. If I had come to the show with expectations of a glorified school play, that choreography, its execution and the excellent work with the score done by musical director Jason Marks certainly blew those expectations away.

I only got to see probably the last 1/3 of “Grease” but my daughter and son report that the whole thing was excellent. Again, the choreography here was what grabbed my attention. It was a large cast and for them to all move with conviction and purpose through some pretty involved numbers was (again) impressive. In the scenes I saw, two actors I was not familiar with stuck out as rising star material: Daniel Pippert as Kenickie and Allison Gilman as Frenchy.

The production also benefited from two vets from professional productions: Eric Pastore (Roger) and Michael Thibodeau (Doody). And even though the cast was pretty uniformly good, the pros still stuck out for one main reason (IMHO): they remained engaged on stage at all times. Regardless of where they were or what else was happening, they were in the scene and focused.

Great work, Ms. Clinton. I think I might have to make a point to come see the next JCC production, “The Chosen,” which was one of my favorite books in high school.

For those who were checking out the pro theater this past weekend, the T-D’s featured Susan’s reviews of “Bite Me!” and “Sanders Family Christmas.”

Without Delay

My forward-thinking editor at Style informed me on Friday that the general policy is going to be to make theater reviews available online as soon as they have been editted so folks don't have to wait until a Wednesday or two after a show opens to get Mary or my take on things. As such, you can now check out my review of "Bite Me!" and Mary's recap of "The Widow's Blind Date" at the Style website right at this very minute. And of course I strongly encourage you to do so!

Audio

I thought I was checking the WCVE site often enough but I missed the latest stories on "tick,tick.." "Shadow Play" and "Skin of our Teeth," the last of these includes interview with Joe Inscoe and audio from the show. Way cool!

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.