Firstly, a monstrous congratulations to JB and Steve whose fabulous friends certainly know how to throw a wonderful party. You two are lucky to have found each other and it’s a privilege for all of us who get to bask in the reflected light of the love you both radiate.
Secondly, here are a bunch of links to reviews and a feature that you probably have read already but just in case you missed out: here’s Ms. H on “Trailer Park,” Ms. H on “Annie,” and Ms. Wren exploring “Park” a little more deeply.
Finally (for today), as I was looking over my review of “Annie” this morning, I realized more distinctly than I ever have before that there is a certain calculus that goes into my critical writing. To give you some background: the best writing training I ever had was the first Public Policy class I ever took. Every week during this class, we students were given background material on some issue of the day and, no matter how epic the topic might be – environmental protection vs. business development, gun control, the abortion debate, etc. -- we had to distill the essential elements into a one-page position memo.
The professor for this class was a fascinating and brilliant man named James Vaupel – his excitement about his subject was such that he constantly paced back and forth across the front of the classroom, talking quickly, gesticulating wildly and always with a big grin on his face. He taught certain methodologies for applying structured analysis to unstructured subjects. But mostly he demanded that we be distinct and choose our words with economy and precision.
Anyway, this morning I realized that, while it may not be exactly systematic, there is a certain methodology – and even a kind of math – that goes into putting my reviews together that on some level grew out of what I learned way back then. In the next day or so, I’ll describe how that plays out with particularly reference to my review of “Annie.” If you think this might be vaguely interesting, stay tuned. If not, well, you might want to stay away from the blog until Thursday-ish.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
And another thing...
Call me a regionalist but I forgot to mention that "Translations" opens at Sycamore Rouge tonight as well. No slight intended -- I have high hopes for this production based on the playwright (Brian Friel, whose 'Dancing at Lughnasa' I have a particular fondness for) and at least one of the cast members, Rebecca Anne Muhleman, who has done some spectacular work with Henley Street this season, including being the prettiest 'Hamlet' I've ever seen. So if you're a southsider, it should be worth a little jaunt toward Petersburg to catch this one.
News around the Newsroom
So the Firehouse opened “Great American Trailer Park Musical” last night and tonight’s the big “Annie” opening at the Empire. As always, things are hopping in the theater world!
But my attention has been distracted by a couple of things: 1) a stupid spring cold that had me unconscious under the influence of some fabulous meds most of yesterday and 2) news of some shake-ups in the arts editing world. On that second item: Brandon Reynolds, the Arts and Culture editor at Style announced his eminent departure today. He’ll be moving out to the left coast sometime around the end of June. I also caught wind of a rumor that another major print player in town will be looking for a new Arts editor soon. These changes, plus all of the moving and shaking at the T-D, means there’s going to be all sorts of possibilities for new directions in arts coverage in the near future. Something to keep in mind.
But before we get too deep in to that, I should offer a (too) brief huzzah in honor of Mr. Reynolds for his tenure at Style. Brandon is a great writer and always added a wonderfully wry twist on much of his coverage, putting some of the best headlines over my theater reviews ever. He also had a great view of the arts scene in general. He wasn’t always hip to what was going on in the theater world but, after much berating by Ms. Burruss, he actually went out to see a few shows and was always supportive (with appropriate levels of discernment) of theatre-related story ideas thrown his way. He also weathered my occasional rants with great patience and understanding – probably the one thing I will be most grateful for in my memory of his time at the helm.
Please join me in wishing Mr. Reynolds the best of luck in his future endeavors. And start tucking away those “I knew him when…” stories for after his name starts showing up in the credits for major motion pictures…
But my attention has been distracted by a couple of things: 1) a stupid spring cold that had me unconscious under the influence of some fabulous meds most of yesterday and 2) news of some shake-ups in the arts editing world. On that second item: Brandon Reynolds, the Arts and Culture editor at Style announced his eminent departure today. He’ll be moving out to the left coast sometime around the end of June. I also caught wind of a rumor that another major print player in town will be looking for a new Arts editor soon. These changes, plus all of the moving and shaking at the T-D, means there’s going to be all sorts of possibilities for new directions in arts coverage in the near future. Something to keep in mind.
But before we get too deep in to that, I should offer a (too) brief huzzah in honor of Mr. Reynolds for his tenure at Style. Brandon is a great writer and always added a wonderfully wry twist on much of his coverage, putting some of the best headlines over my theater reviews ever. He also had a great view of the arts scene in general. He wasn’t always hip to what was going on in the theater world but, after much berating by Ms. Burruss, he actually went out to see a few shows and was always supportive (with appropriate levels of discernment) of theatre-related story ideas thrown his way. He also weathered my occasional rants with great patience and understanding – probably the one thing I will be most grateful for in my memory of his time at the helm.
Please join me in wishing Mr. Reynolds the best of luck in his future endeavors. And start tucking away those “I knew him when…” stories for after his name starts showing up in the credits for major motion pictures…
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Spring into Midsummer
First off, yesterday I forgot to mention that Jake Ashley brings a lovable sad-sack energy to his portrayal of Amos in “Chicago.” Kind of a critic’s meta-joke there…
Now, on to Midsummer… I was talking to someone last Friday and mentioning that I was going to a production of “Midsummer” and they kind of rolled their eyes. This led to a little discussion about how many times certain shows get produced and that this can mute the excitement for seeing them, at least among people who see a lot of theater.
But really, when I thought about it, the problem isn’t that they get produced so often; the raw material they are working from never stops being awesome. It’s just that it gets harder and harder to find something new, vital, or surprising in the show, something to give it that ‘zing!’ or that intriguing sense of discovery. When a production finds that doorway into something new and ushers you through it, the brilliance of the material shines anew, kind of like when you put a fresh coat of paint up in a dingy room.
This current production of Midsummer finds many wonderful, manic, entertaining aspects of the show to make it bright and engaging. And, as I mention in my review, profoundly silly; there are many times when the sublime shades well over into the ridiculous. I can imagine there are many people who will be put off by the silliness, who might bristle at the more obscene or just plain dumb parts. But oh, what delights are available if you give in to the madness.
There are some amazing organic bits of brilliance here. Some are tiny – Brandon Crowder adjusting his pants after a particularly um, intense interlude, for instance – others are huge (much of what Adam Mincks does as Bottom). And as good as those boys are, this isn’t a testosterone-dominated show. Stacie Rearden Hall is lusty and lively and just all sorts of good in her many roles. She’s one of those actors who seems to be totally invested in a show’s onstage relationships. She does an astounding job with the ups-and-downs of Helena’s journey. And of course, Kerry McGee was enchanting as well as game for extreme physical mayhem, including being turned upside down. Did you all do trust falls during rehearsal?
Sandra Clayton may get a bit of a short shrift here in terms of stage-time but she does a fine job when she has to, particularly as Peter Quince. Also, don’t think that I didn’t notice that everyone had their toenails painted – nice touch! And I didn’t get to mention the costumes in my review but they certainly enhance the action; one example: Bottom’s helmet with the plastic cutlery was a stitch.
If you’ve seen Midsummer before and are thinking ‘why do I need to see it again?’ I can answer that in three words: “Crowder as Thisbe.” I don’t want to ratchet anyone’s expectations up too high but, really, words don’t do it justice. Just go and laugh.
Now, on to Midsummer… I was talking to someone last Friday and mentioning that I was going to a production of “Midsummer” and they kind of rolled their eyes. This led to a little discussion about how many times certain shows get produced and that this can mute the excitement for seeing them, at least among people who see a lot of theater.
But really, when I thought about it, the problem isn’t that they get produced so often; the raw material they are working from never stops being awesome. It’s just that it gets harder and harder to find something new, vital, or surprising in the show, something to give it that ‘zing!’ or that intriguing sense of discovery. When a production finds that doorway into something new and ushers you through it, the brilliance of the material shines anew, kind of like when you put a fresh coat of paint up in a dingy room.
This current production of Midsummer finds many wonderful, manic, entertaining aspects of the show to make it bright and engaging. And, as I mention in my review, profoundly silly; there are many times when the sublime shades well over into the ridiculous. I can imagine there are many people who will be put off by the silliness, who might bristle at the more obscene or just plain dumb parts. But oh, what delights are available if you give in to the madness.
There are some amazing organic bits of brilliance here. Some are tiny – Brandon Crowder adjusting his pants after a particularly um, intense interlude, for instance – others are huge (much of what Adam Mincks does as Bottom). And as good as those boys are, this isn’t a testosterone-dominated show. Stacie Rearden Hall is lusty and lively and just all sorts of good in her many roles. She’s one of those actors who seems to be totally invested in a show’s onstage relationships. She does an astounding job with the ups-and-downs of Helena’s journey. And of course, Kerry McGee was enchanting as well as game for extreme physical mayhem, including being turned upside down. Did you all do trust falls during rehearsal?
Sandra Clayton may get a bit of a short shrift here in terms of stage-time but she does a fine job when she has to, particularly as Peter Quince. Also, don’t think that I didn’t notice that everyone had their toenails painted – nice touch! And I didn’t get to mention the costumes in my review but they certainly enhance the action; one example: Bottom’s helmet with the plastic cutlery was a stitch.
If you’ve seen Midsummer before and are thinking ‘why do I need to see it again?’ I can answer that in three words: “Crowder as Thisbe.” I don’t want to ratchet anyone’s expectations up too high but, really, words don’t do it justice. Just go and laugh.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
We Both Reached for the Gun
Ms. B’s review of “Steel Magnolias” and my take on “Midsummer Night’s Dream” are now on the Style website. Are you surprised about my Midsummer rave? I didn’t think so.
More on MSND soon but back to “Chicago.” In our household, the most lasting impact of seeing Theatre VCU’s latest production has been the Tline children (ok, mostly Cooper) challenging themselves to hold the monstrously extended “the” that Billy Flynn sings during “We Both Reached for THE Gun.” The little punk was only a fraction of a second from getting there this morning with only a little wavering near the end. I expect he’ll get there in the next couple of days. Vocal calisthenics are what count as fun at our house. Are we geeks or what?
The production that Ms. D’Beck has put together is pretty phenomenal with the dancing being a distinct highlight. Too often I end up not thinking very consciously about the dancing in a show but then something like this show comes along that makes you realize what an impact great dancing can have. Also, for those more in tune with the technical side of things, the lighting for this show is just exceptional. The lights are a great physical echo of the “Razzle Dazzle” the show talks about and have real personality. Kudos to lighting designer Katherine Jenna Ferree.
Of course, I there’s no way to talk about this production without mentioning Maggie Marlin, who is just crazy-talented. Her “I Can’t Do It Alone” tired me out and I was just watching it. But that in no way should be interpreted as a dis of Kimberly Exum as Roxie or Michael Rieman as Billy who both do a great job. I think Rieman has a real future ahead of him – catch him now before you have to pay $80 to see him on Broadway.
Two actors who have been active on the local pro stage – Margie Mills and Matt James – also make quite an impression. In re: Mr. James who is a stitch in his role (don’t want to ruin just what role just in case…), my son Cooper was pretty astounded that a boy could sing such a high part with such strength and clarity. Nice work, Matt.
Someone who probably gets overlooked among all this other talent is Josh Marin as the Master of Ceremonies. His take on the various jury members during the trial are understated but hilarious just the same.
Finally, the Theatre VCU band (under Leilani Mork’s direction) does a knock-out job with the score which really, is just about one of the funnest scores around. I think this show closes this weekend and it’s been selling out most all of its performances. Just warning you…
More on MSND soon but back to “Chicago.” In our household, the most lasting impact of seeing Theatre VCU’s latest production has been the Tline children (ok, mostly Cooper) challenging themselves to hold the monstrously extended “the” that Billy Flynn sings during “We Both Reached for THE Gun.” The little punk was only a fraction of a second from getting there this morning with only a little wavering near the end. I expect he’ll get there in the next couple of days. Vocal calisthenics are what count as fun at our house. Are we geeks or what?
The production that Ms. D’Beck has put together is pretty phenomenal with the dancing being a distinct highlight. Too often I end up not thinking very consciously about the dancing in a show but then something like this show comes along that makes you realize what an impact great dancing can have. Also, for those more in tune with the technical side of things, the lighting for this show is just exceptional. The lights are a great physical echo of the “Razzle Dazzle” the show talks about and have real personality. Kudos to lighting designer Katherine Jenna Ferree.
Of course, I there’s no way to talk about this production without mentioning Maggie Marlin, who is just crazy-talented. Her “I Can’t Do It Alone” tired me out and I was just watching it. But that in no way should be interpreted as a dis of Kimberly Exum as Roxie or Michael Rieman as Billy who both do a great job. I think Rieman has a real future ahead of him – catch him now before you have to pay $80 to see him on Broadway.
Two actors who have been active on the local pro stage – Margie Mills and Matt James – also make quite an impression. In re: Mr. James who is a stitch in his role (don’t want to ruin just what role just in case…), my son Cooper was pretty astounded that a boy could sing such a high part with such strength and clarity. Nice work, Matt.
Someone who probably gets overlooked among all this other talent is Josh Marin as the Master of Ceremonies. His take on the various jury members during the trial are understated but hilarious just the same.
Finally, the Theatre VCU band (under Leilani Mork’s direction) does a knock-out job with the score which really, is just about one of the funnest scores around. I think this show closes this weekend and it’s been selling out most all of its performances. Just warning you…
Monday, April 20, 2009
Razzle-Dazzled
It was nice to wake up on Sunday to two theater reviews in the T-D. Ms. Haubenstock’s appreciation of Barkdale’s “Well” includes this compelling list of couplets: occasionally hilarious, sometimes profound, increasingly skewed. I have to say that this pretty much encapsulates the kind of play I’d like to see. I'll have to fit it in somehow over the next few weeks.
Ms. Lewis’s review of Richmond Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” made me laugh in the way she is very complimentary about the show and then sticks a nice little jab in about the “audience experience” right at the end. It certainly was a bit humid at 2nd Pres on Saturday.
I will warn folks right now that this production of “Midsummer” is one of those rare productions that I may need to talk about multiple times in the days and weeks to come. There’ll be more details on why when my review comes out in the next couple of days but to put it succinctly: I haven’t laughed that hard in a long long time.
But before blather on about "Midsummer, I’ll have to talk about “Chicago,” Theatre VCU’s production that I saw on Saturday night. But that’ll have to wait until I have a few more pages of my grad school paper under my belt -- so more later!
Ms. Lewis’s review of Richmond Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” made me laugh in the way she is very complimentary about the show and then sticks a nice little jab in about the “audience experience” right at the end. It certainly was a bit humid at 2nd Pres on Saturday.
I will warn folks right now that this production of “Midsummer” is one of those rare productions that I may need to talk about multiple times in the days and weeks to come. There’ll be more details on why when my review comes out in the next couple of days but to put it succinctly: I haven’t laughed that hard in a long long time.
But before blather on about "Midsummer, I’ll have to talk about “Chicago,” Theatre VCU’s production that I saw on Saturday night. But that’ll have to wait until I have a few more pages of my grad school paper under my belt -- so more later!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Overnights
I've always been a little shaky on old theater lore but I seem to remember that there used to be this phenomena called “overnights” where critics would weigh in on a production the morning after it opened.
Well, it’s not exactly an overnight because the show opened a couple of weeks ago, but the T-D has this review of “Endless Forms Most Wonderful” at the Science Museum in the paper today even though Ms. Haubenstock just saw the show yesterday. Ah, the power of a daily paper!
The buzz on the Internets about “Well” is pretty good after opening last night but I haven’t read a critical perspective yet. Perhaps tomorrow. And I’ll just relate a little bit about my own experience last night. I took in Richmond Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which basically had me laughing until I was crying. I have a new person to envy and that’s the husband of Stacie Reardon Hall. This is a production where everything is set to 11, including the sensuality part and, if Mrs. Hall brings even half of the lusty energy she shows on the stage home with her, well, Oh My, Mr. Hall must be a happy man.
Well, it’s not exactly an overnight because the show opened a couple of weeks ago, but the T-D has this review of “Endless Forms Most Wonderful” at the Science Museum in the paper today even though Ms. Haubenstock just saw the show yesterday. Ah, the power of a daily paper!
The buzz on the Internets about “Well” is pretty good after opening last night but I haven’t read a critical perspective yet. Perhaps tomorrow. And I’ll just relate a little bit about my own experience last night. I took in Richmond Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which basically had me laughing until I was crying. I have a new person to envy and that’s the husband of Stacie Reardon Hall. This is a production where everything is set to 11, including the sensuality part and, if Mrs. Hall brings even half of the lusty energy she shows on the stage home with her, well, Oh My, Mr. Hall must be a happy man.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Guess I should complain more often...
OK, I know I really had no sway as far as this goes. But I was happy to see Ms. Lewis's review of "Normal" in the T-D this morning. I guess I can imagine that, even though I had no direct impact on the situation, maybe in some karmic way my complaining about it was like the flap of the butterfly's wing that finally got the review published. A boy can dream.
Speaking of dreams (all hail the segue master!), I'm looking forward to Richmond Shakepeare's "Midsummer's Night Dream" this weekend. Barksdale's "Well" is on Ms. Burruss's docket but I'll be trying to get over to it later in the run. And in terms of karma, I have to feel that something's working in my favor having gone ga-ga for Kerry McGee in "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern etc. etc." and then finding out that she's in the "Dream" cast. Maybe when I think about wanting to see more of an actress, it also has some psychic influence in the universe. In which case, I'll have to look over the seasons that theater companies are going to be announcing any day now for a good role for Kate Winslett...or Scarlett Johansson...or...
Speaking of dreams (all hail the segue master!), I'm looking forward to Richmond Shakepeare's "Midsummer's Night Dream" this weekend. Barksdale's "Well" is on Ms. Burruss's docket but I'll be trying to get over to it later in the run. And in terms of karma, I have to feel that something's working in my favor having gone ga-ga for Kerry McGee in "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern etc. etc." and then finding out that she's in the "Dream" cast. Maybe when I think about wanting to see more of an actress, it also has some psychic influence in the universe. In which case, I'll have to look over the seasons that theater companies are going to be announcing any day now for a good role for Kate Winslett...or Scarlett Johansson...or...
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Review Illogic
So I know things are tough in the whole print business these days and I sympathize. But here’s something I don’t get: the Times-Dispatch runs a review in today’s paper of a concert in Charlottesville by the Dead (formerly the Grateful Dead, apparently not so grateful now since the death of Jerry Garcia). So maybe a handful of Richmonders besides Ms. Ruggieri from the T-D went to this show. But is this news? Does anyone care about the review since most people will never see the show? At the same time, a review I know exists of Stage 1’s “Normal” – a show that hundreds could still see (and hopefully WILL still see) – sits unpublished on someone’s hard disk somewhere.
Maybe it’s just a reflection of my particularly foul mood these days but this seems like totally asinine priorities to me and like an editing decision that does an active disservice to the arts community and theatergoers of Richmond. If column inches are so precious, why waste them on something that is so absolutely irrelevant? Like it or not, media shapes (as well as reflects) the community it serves and the T-D seems to be encouraging people to leave Richmond -- maybe to chase the Dead to their next gig in Albany, NY? – or at least reinforcing the impression that nothing relevant artistically is happening here. I know Style has not always been exactly perfect on this score but this specific case is kind of ridiculous and, if it reflects the general attitude at the T-D, I can only hope the paper dies a quicker death than its current slow fade so that something more relevant and vital can take its place.
Maybe it’s just a reflection of my particularly foul mood these days but this seems like totally asinine priorities to me and like an editing decision that does an active disservice to the arts community and theatergoers of Richmond. If column inches are so precious, why waste them on something that is so absolutely irrelevant? Like it or not, media shapes (as well as reflects) the community it serves and the T-D seems to be encouraging people to leave Richmond -- maybe to chase the Dead to their next gig in Albany, NY? – or at least reinforcing the impression that nothing relevant artistically is happening here. I know Style has not always been exactly perfect on this score but this specific case is kind of ridiculous and, if it reflects the general attitude at the T-D, I can only hope the paper dies a quicker death than its current slow fade so that something more relevant and vital can take its place.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
McG
The Internets are abuzz with the news that producer / director McG has taken on a feature film adaptation of "Spring Awakening." I have to admit I only know the director's work from "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" so I don't really know that he'd be my intuitive choice for this job. But apparently, he's done dozens of music videos so he might be just the right guy.
I know there are some "Awakening" acolytes out there -- what do you think of this project?
I know there are some "Awakening" acolytes out there -- what do you think of this project?
Building on Strengths
I’m happy that, just as I went into one of my periodic dark periods here on the blog (sorry – outa town for a long weekend), Bruce over at the Barksdale blog hopped back online after a long dark period. Always fun to hear Mr. Miller’s take on things.
Ms. Lewis had a review of “Steel Magnolias” in print yesterday. I didn’t realize Toney Cobb was directing this production. Toney’s a fine actor and, in my experience, a really nice guy. I hope the show does well for him.
I also heard that there is a review of “Normal” from Ms. Lewis out there that may or may not eventually end up in print. I hope so – the more reviewers who chime in, the better, as far as I’m concerned!
There’s quite an amusing video of the folks in “Annie” dancing to hip-hop over on the Steingold sisters’ blog. Check it out for a laugh. I was thinking “Annie” opening this weekend but they’re still not drawing the curtain until April 24. Hasn’t this show been in rehearsal like forever?
Ms. Lewis had a review of “Steel Magnolias” in print yesterday. I didn’t realize Toney Cobb was directing this production. Toney’s a fine actor and, in my experience, a really nice guy. I hope the show does well for him.
I also heard that there is a review of “Normal” from Ms. Lewis out there that may or may not eventually end up in print. I hope so – the more reviewers who chime in, the better, as far as I’m concerned!
There’s quite an amusing video of the folks in “Annie” dancing to hip-hop over on the Steingold sisters’ blog. Check it out for a laugh. I was thinking “Annie” opening this weekend but they’re still not drawing the curtain until April 24. Hasn’t this show been in rehearsal like forever?
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Bites
I was on the way home from an early visit to the auto shop when I heard Grant Mudge on WCVE doing his first "Bard Bites" piece -- a great spotlight on theater in general and on Richmond Shakespeare specifically. Congrats, Grant, and I hope your "Bites" get posted to the WCVE site so I can hear ones that I'm surely going to miss on days I don't have to take my car in.
Speaking of WCVE, check out Mr. Porter's reviews of "Pulp" and "Normal" online if you haven't already.
And speaking of Grant, he recently posted a Facebook link to this article about the lack of opportunities for young theater critics. While I find the article and the comments very interesting, there is a subtext that I don't see addressed but is very much alive in my experience. My sense is that many people don't see the need for or appreciate the value of the critic in the whole artistic process. I need only refer to a comment (that I've mentioned before) of a local thespian who said what a critic did was fart after a meal prepared by others. There are those I know who would prefer that critics just disappear back into the woodwork that we crawled out of. Given that, it is kind of amazing to read a piece like the one in the Guardian that just kind of takes it for granted that a critic is an important part of the process, that maybe there should be some focus given to nurturing new insightful young critics. Sounds good to me, but then my perspective on the issue is a bit skewed. What do you -- theater professional or theater fan -- think about it? Would nurturing critics only encourage them, when you'd really just wish they'd go away?
Speaking of WCVE, check out Mr. Porter's reviews of "Pulp" and "Normal" online if you haven't already.
And speaking of Grant, he recently posted a Facebook link to this article about the lack of opportunities for young theater critics. While I find the article and the comments very interesting, there is a subtext that I don't see addressed but is very much alive in my experience. My sense is that many people don't see the need for or appreciate the value of the critic in the whole artistic process. I need only refer to a comment (that I've mentioned before) of a local thespian who said what a critic did was fart after a meal prepared by others. There are those I know who would prefer that critics just disappear back into the woodwork that we crawled out of. Given that, it is kind of amazing to read a piece like the one in the Guardian that just kind of takes it for granted that a critic is an important part of the process, that maybe there should be some focus given to nurturing new insightful young critics. Sounds good to me, but then my perspective on the issue is a bit skewed. What do you -- theater professional or theater fan -- think about it? Would nurturing critics only encourage them, when you'd really just wish they'd go away?
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Steel
I forgot to mention another opening last weekend, the dramatization of Charles Darwin’s life that Doug Jones wrote for the Science Museum called “Endless Forms Most Wonderful.” If you and/or your kids are on spring break and wondering what to do, a trip to the Science Museum is always good for a half-day or more of fun.
And before this one slips my mind, AART is opening “Steel Magnolias” this weekend at Pine Camp. I believe that this is a revival of Living Word’s 2006 production but I’m not sure if it’s got the totally same cast.
So the following is a little bit more about “Normal.” I should warn you that there are some details of the show discussed and, while I’ll try not to spoil anything, if you don’t want to know anything at all about the show, I wouldn’t read on. Consider yourself warned!
It occurred to me the day after seeing this show that it is a little bit like those horror movies where you feel like yelling at the characters on the screen, “don’t go back into that abandoned house!” or “don’t get out of your car!” only in a family-dynamics kind of way. You want to yell at Gayla, “put down the blow dryer and LISTEN to your daughter!” or yell at Robert, “grow a freaking spine!” And yet, the characters go down their fated paths and you KNOW disaster is waiting for them.
Now this is not necessarily a bad thing. After all, the horror formula has worked for decades and continues to work. And there is no denying that you feel great sympathy for the Freeman family and the seemingly intractable situation they find themselves in. But for me, that sympathy was undercut by frustration at the characters for making what seemed to me like obviously bad choices.
It was also helpful to me in figuring out how I felt about “Normal” to compare it with “Rabbit Hole” that just closed at the Firehouse a while back. Both productions were/are compelling but also confounding. I’ll talk about that more later but my small window of time for blogging today is closing quickly.
But before I go, I’ll say a little bit more about Zachary – an excellently drawn character wonderfully rendered by Dave Amadee. I love that a late-teenage / early 20-something guy is shown as the most emotionally engaged member of the family. He’s the one who tries most directly to break through to Polly, he’s the one who gets frustrated enough with his dad to literally try to push him into action, and his song about his mom – though too self-consciously and sometimes annoyingly full of “like” teen-speak – was a highlight of the show for me. In the whole show, the scene where I felt most personally wounded was where Zachary ends up on the receiving end of a particularly callous remark. Even days after seeing the show, remembering that scene feels like a punch in the gut.
Which is certainly indicative of some powerful theater. Difficult at times, and challenging, but definitely powerful.
And before this one slips my mind, AART is opening “Steel Magnolias” this weekend at Pine Camp. I believe that this is a revival of Living Word’s 2006 production but I’m not sure if it’s got the totally same cast.
So the following is a little bit more about “Normal.” I should warn you that there are some details of the show discussed and, while I’ll try not to spoil anything, if you don’t want to know anything at all about the show, I wouldn’t read on. Consider yourself warned!
It occurred to me the day after seeing this show that it is a little bit like those horror movies where you feel like yelling at the characters on the screen, “don’t go back into that abandoned house!” or “don’t get out of your car!” only in a family-dynamics kind of way. You want to yell at Gayla, “put down the blow dryer and LISTEN to your daughter!” or yell at Robert, “grow a freaking spine!” And yet, the characters go down their fated paths and you KNOW disaster is waiting for them.
Now this is not necessarily a bad thing. After all, the horror formula has worked for decades and continues to work. And there is no denying that you feel great sympathy for the Freeman family and the seemingly intractable situation they find themselves in. But for me, that sympathy was undercut by frustration at the characters for making what seemed to me like obviously bad choices.
It was also helpful to me in figuring out how I felt about “Normal” to compare it with “Rabbit Hole” that just closed at the Firehouse a while back. Both productions were/are compelling but also confounding. I’ll talk about that more later but my small window of time for blogging today is closing quickly.
But before I go, I’ll say a little bit more about Zachary – an excellently drawn character wonderfully rendered by Dave Amadee. I love that a late-teenage / early 20-something guy is shown as the most emotionally engaged member of the family. He’s the one who tries most directly to break through to Polly, he’s the one who gets frustrated enough with his dad to literally try to push him into action, and his song about his mom – though too self-consciously and sometimes annoyingly full of “like” teen-speak – was a highlight of the show for me. In the whole show, the scene where I felt most personally wounded was where Zachary ends up on the receiving end of a particularly callous remark. Even days after seeing the show, remembering that scene feels like a punch in the gut.
Which is certainly indicative of some powerful theater. Difficult at times, and challenging, but definitely powerful.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Where oh Where
I keep waiting for either a review of "Normal" to show up on the T-D site or any of three theater-related articles to show up on the Style site. But as of about 11:30am Tuesday, nada.
UPDATE: I guess I need to be more patient! It's now 12:30pm and Ms. Burruss's review of "Altar Boyz" and my take on "Normal" can be seen on the Style site. The feature on Patti D'Beck is available here.
One of the Style pieces will be (update: make that, IS) about Patti D'Beck, the director behind the upcoming production of "Chicago" at Theatre VCU and the summer production of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at the Barksdale. While we wait for the print media to give us some more contant, I'll fill you in on some additional tidbits about Ms. D’Beck. When I spoke to her, she said she has a hard time even getting started on a project until she has some kind of organizational thought about the work, a “hook” that helps her tell the story. For “Chicago,” for instance, in the song “Razzle Dazzle” Billy mentions a three-ring circus. So Patti says she had this image of Billy as a ringmaster at a circus and also as something of a magician. She would like to create almost a “Circe de Soleil” atmosphere with the show. I guess we’ll see if she succeeds.
One thing that I don’t think gets mentioned in my piece is that Theatre VCU is only able to do “Chicago” while there is an active touring version of the show out on the road because of her calls to the Weislers – theater producers and Broadway fixtures for decades. Think Richmond doesn’t benefit from local artists’ and their connections (a la Chase Kniffen bringing new musical “Normal” down from NYC)? Think again!
Patti also gave me a little preview of what Theatre VCU is planning next year in terms of productions. I don’t think I’m supposed to give you details (might have to check on that) but I will say that they’re planning two musicals, something Patti says they haven’t done before.
One last note about the piece on Ms. D’Beck: in talking to Bruce Miller about getting Patti onboard to direct last summer's smash, "Guys and Dolls," he said he Googled Patti as soon as he heard she was coming to VCU. I think this is just another great example of Mr. Miller’s great vision and commitment to staying aware of what’s going on around town. I sense that the wheels are always turning for him, a skill that has served Theatre IV / Barksdale well over the years and hopefully will keep them strong in these challenging times.
UPDATE: I guess I need to be more patient! It's now 12:30pm and Ms. Burruss's review of "Altar Boyz" and my take on "Normal" can be seen on the Style site. The feature on Patti D'Beck is available here.
One of the Style pieces will be (update: make that, IS) about Patti D'Beck, the director behind the upcoming production of "Chicago" at Theatre VCU and the summer production of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at the Barksdale. While we wait for the print media to give us some more contant, I'll fill you in on some additional tidbits about Ms. D’Beck. When I spoke to her, she said she has a hard time even getting started on a project until she has some kind of organizational thought about the work, a “hook” that helps her tell the story. For “Chicago,” for instance, in the song “Razzle Dazzle” Billy mentions a three-ring circus. So Patti says she had this image of Billy as a ringmaster at a circus and also as something of a magician. She would like to create almost a “Circe de Soleil” atmosphere with the show. I guess we’ll see if she succeeds.
One thing that I don’t think gets mentioned in my piece is that Theatre VCU is only able to do “Chicago” while there is an active touring version of the show out on the road because of her calls to the Weislers – theater producers and Broadway fixtures for decades. Think Richmond doesn’t benefit from local artists’ and their connections (a la Chase Kniffen bringing new musical “Normal” down from NYC)? Think again!
Patti also gave me a little preview of what Theatre VCU is planning next year in terms of productions. I don’t think I’m supposed to give you details (might have to check on that) but I will say that they’re planning two musicals, something Patti says they haven’t done before.
One last note about the piece on Ms. D’Beck: in talking to Bruce Miller about getting Patti onboard to direct last summer's smash, "Guys and Dolls," he said he Googled Patti as soon as he heard she was coming to VCU. I think this is just another great example of Mr. Miller’s great vision and commitment to staying aware of what’s going on around town. I sense that the wheels are always turning for him, a skill that has served Theatre IV / Barksdale well over the years and hopefully will keep them strong in these challenging times.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Whirlwind
I drove into work this morning with the piercing "severe weather" alarms sounding on WCVE, forecasts indicating the potential for tornadoes in Virginia. As ominous as they were, the noisy signals resonated with a weekend that was a true whirlwind of activity. Two big shows closed (Mindgame and Mona’s Arrangements), two big ones opened (Normal and SCM’s Altar Boyz), and Theatre IV’s Fairy Tale Ball brought the buzz downtown.
Even more ominous and disorienting for me was the story from Style that the job-cutting hatchet was going to sweep another wide swath of people from the staff of the T-D. As I perused the comments about the story, I was driven to both amusement and melancholy by the reader who said, “My thoughts go out to everyone at the TD who got laid-off (even Dan Neman...).” I’ve given Mr. Neman a hard time in this space but when it comes down to it, I respected his somewhat thankless role and his attempts to keep reviews of the 57th or so lame horror movie he’s seen this year fresh. Whether he is really gone from the T-D or not (I’m not convinced he is), no self-respecting journalist likes to see another journalist kicked to the curb.
Speaking of reviews, Ms. Lewis’s rave on “Altar Boyz” make it into print today. While we wait for her take on “Normal,” there is the fine feature story that Ms. Wren had on the production in Sunday’s paper.
Another disorienting event was the announcement that Jam Theatricals is bringing a new series of touring shows through Richmond in the coming year. The two big musicals they’re bringing are among my favorites and the exceptionally long run of Wicked marks a surprising hopefulness on the part of Jam as far as the Richmond market goes. I hope their hopes pan out with good results because I’d love to see more big shows coming through town. Well, truthfully, I’d love to see two big GOOD shows come through a year, enough to bolster people’s interest in theater without overrunning the market.
As I compiled my review of “Normal” last night, I realized that, more so than any other show I've seen this year, the word count I had at my disposal was criminally limited. “Normal” is a challenging show and is hard to sum up in three paragraphs. So, barring inconvenient interruptions from life, work, school, etc., I’ll be looking to blog about it further in the days to come. Stay tuned…
Even more ominous and disorienting for me was the story from Style that the job-cutting hatchet was going to sweep another wide swath of people from the staff of the T-D. As I perused the comments about the story, I was driven to both amusement and melancholy by the reader who said, “My thoughts go out to everyone at the TD who got laid-off (even Dan Neman...).” I’ve given Mr. Neman a hard time in this space but when it comes down to it, I respected his somewhat thankless role and his attempts to keep reviews of the 57th or so lame horror movie he’s seen this year fresh. Whether he is really gone from the T-D or not (I’m not convinced he is), no self-respecting journalist likes to see another journalist kicked to the curb.
Speaking of reviews, Ms. Lewis’s rave on “Altar Boyz” make it into print today. While we wait for her take on “Normal,” there is the fine feature story that Ms. Wren had on the production in Sunday’s paper.
Another disorienting event was the announcement that Jam Theatricals is bringing a new series of touring shows through Richmond in the coming year. The two big musicals they’re bringing are among my favorites and the exceptionally long run of Wicked marks a surprising hopefulness on the part of Jam as far as the Richmond market goes. I hope their hopes pan out with good results because I’d love to see more big shows coming through town. Well, truthfully, I’d love to see two big GOOD shows come through a year, enough to bolster people’s interest in theater without overrunning the market.
As I compiled my review of “Normal” last night, I realized that, more so than any other show I've seen this year, the word count I had at my disposal was criminally limited. “Normal” is a challenging show and is hard to sum up in three paragraphs. So, barring inconvenient interruptions from life, work, school, etc., I’ll be looking to blog about it further in the days to come. Stay tuned…
Friday, April 03, 2009
Kids and Boyz
This morning, after being awakened by my daughter’s alarm -- which was buzzing away noisily at 6am on a day she didn’t even have school -- I was thinking about how children can be both the absolute joy and desolate bane of one’s existence. I expect that’s going to be an aspect of the experience of watching “Normal” at Stage 1. I’ve been looking forward to this show since I heard the cast list – a whole host of powerhouse performers who I’ve enjoyed many times in the past. It also features someone in a pivotal role who I know as a delightful person but who I’ve only really seen perform a few times, Ali Thibodeau. The lovely Ms. T will also be featured in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” in a few months, another great incentive to make reservations now to see that show.
And speaking of TMM, I spoke to director Patti D’Beck yesterday (look for the story in Style next week) and caught a brief snippet of her “Chicago” rehearsal at Theatre VCU (opening next week). Oh my – I think that’s a show that’s going to rock.
So while lying awake at 6am, I tried to think of pleasant things that might assist me in drifting back off to sleep. I spent some time comparing and contrasting the other students in the Art History class I’m taking who, except for me and one other grad student, are all lovely undergraduate women (boys will be boys). Then I had a moment of regret because I thought it’d be fun to do a compare and contrast (re: hotness or any other factors) of RTP’s “Altar Boyz” and the Swift Creek Mill production, which opens tonight. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the show that RTP put up and, given my man-crush on Eliot Lau, probably could not do an even-handed job. However, if anyone else who has seen both shows would like to take on that task, I’d be very interested in your perspective.
Even at this late hour, I’m trying to imagine whether there is any chance that I might get out to see “Mona’s Arrangements” before it closes this weekend. The only possibility may be if a deluge washes out soccer games on Sunday. Of course, with my luck, the final matinee will probably be sold out. Good for Barksdale, for me, not so much.
Have a fine weekend!
And speaking of TMM, I spoke to director Patti D’Beck yesterday (look for the story in Style next week) and caught a brief snippet of her “Chicago” rehearsal at Theatre VCU (opening next week). Oh my – I think that’s a show that’s going to rock.
So while lying awake at 6am, I tried to think of pleasant things that might assist me in drifting back off to sleep. I spent some time comparing and contrasting the other students in the Art History class I’m taking who, except for me and one other grad student, are all lovely undergraduate women (boys will be boys). Then I had a moment of regret because I thought it’d be fun to do a compare and contrast (re: hotness or any other factors) of RTP’s “Altar Boyz” and the Swift Creek Mill production, which opens tonight. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the show that RTP put up and, given my man-crush on Eliot Lau, probably could not do an even-handed job. However, if anyone else who has seen both shows would like to take on that task, I’d be very interested in your perspective.
Even at this late hour, I’m trying to imagine whether there is any chance that I might get out to see “Mona’s Arrangements” before it closes this weekend. The only possibility may be if a deluge washes out soccer games on Sunday. Of course, with my luck, the final matinee will probably be sold out. Good for Barksdale, for me, not so much.
Have a fine weekend!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Noir It Are
My review of RTP's "Pulp" is in this week's Style (on newstands this afternoon) but is already available online. Gotta love that Internet (when you have it; ours at home keeps fritzing out, dammit!) If for nothing else, check out the print edition because RTP provided a pretty hot picture from the show (especially if you are a Holly Lucas fan which I know at least one of you is!)
As I mentioned below, my take on this production was different from Ms. Haubenstock's at the T-D in ways that I find interesting. Susan and I have divergent thoughts about many things, I'm sure, but I've found over the years that, not infrequently, we have similar impressions of many productions, even if we don't highlight the same elements. Given that, I'm wondering if this is the kind of production that can come across very differently from night to night -- more so than even the average live theater production.
For instance, Ms. H liked the lights; I thought the spotlight effects missed their mark (both physically and dramatically) almost as often as they hit, which I found distracting. Susan had issues with Ms. Mullins' performance as Terry; I thought she was spot-on, only faltering in the interaction with Ms. Rule's Vivian, something I attribute as much to a curious casting choice as Mullins' work. (Don't get me wrong: I think the world of Ms. Rule, but in my mind, Vivian has to be a bit more va-va-voom to get Terry as hot-n-bothered as she does.)
I thought the timing of the banter was pretty good -- probably just a bit more practiced since opening night. And the songs were disappointing to me but only because with the vocal chops the actresses seem to have, they could have been showstopping. As it was (at my performance at least), the music was nearly inaudible, at least two of the songs were only a minute or two long, and the actresses seemed to be virtually performing a cappella -- a pretty tall order.
Both Ms. H and I seemed to like Ms. Lucas, who Susan vividly describes as "luscious." I, too, thought she was pretty fantastic, though I could not openly leer at her because her boyfriend happened to be sitting in front of me at the show I attended. I look forward to whatever production she lands in next. And the costumes were definitely worthy of particular attention; Susan mentions Bing's red pumps but, in fact, all of the ladies shoes were pretty eye-popping.
I'm sorry I didn't have space to say more about the performances of Renee Coates and Amy Henderson. They both did good jobs but both at times seemed a little awkward, either in their roles or just on stage. With only 300 words, attenuated praise is hard to parce.
One last thing to mention about my night at "Pulp:" I also found myself sitting behind Roy Proctor (okay, technically, I moved over behind him so I could talk to him without shouting across the theater). He seemed in fine spirits, though I did not have a chance to ask him his thoughts on the production afterwards. See: theater critics don't stop being fans just because they stop being critics. I'm thinking that, after I stop writing reviews (which may turn out to be sooner rather than later), I may end up seeing just as many or even more shows.
UPDATE: It occurs to me that I should add that I have no investment in anyone thinking my impression of the show is any more "right" than Ms. H's. If I haven't said it enough before, I find Susan an astute and insightful critic. I guess what I'm trying to get at based on our very different reviews of "Pulp" is how variable live theater can be, on both the giving and receiving end of the performance equation. Nuf said?
As I mentioned below, my take on this production was different from Ms. Haubenstock's at the T-D in ways that I find interesting. Susan and I have divergent thoughts about many things, I'm sure, but I've found over the years that, not infrequently, we have similar impressions of many productions, even if we don't highlight the same elements. Given that, I'm wondering if this is the kind of production that can come across very differently from night to night -- more so than even the average live theater production.
For instance, Ms. H liked the lights; I thought the spotlight effects missed their mark (both physically and dramatically) almost as often as they hit, which I found distracting. Susan had issues with Ms. Mullins' performance as Terry; I thought she was spot-on, only faltering in the interaction with Ms. Rule's Vivian, something I attribute as much to a curious casting choice as Mullins' work. (Don't get me wrong: I think the world of Ms. Rule, but in my mind, Vivian has to be a bit more va-va-voom to get Terry as hot-n-bothered as she does.)
I thought the timing of the banter was pretty good -- probably just a bit more practiced since opening night. And the songs were disappointing to me but only because with the vocal chops the actresses seem to have, they could have been showstopping. As it was (at my performance at least), the music was nearly inaudible, at least two of the songs were only a minute or two long, and the actresses seemed to be virtually performing a cappella -- a pretty tall order.
Both Ms. H and I seemed to like Ms. Lucas, who Susan vividly describes as "luscious." I, too, thought she was pretty fantastic, though I could not openly leer at her because her boyfriend happened to be sitting in front of me at the show I attended. I look forward to whatever production she lands in next. And the costumes were definitely worthy of particular attention; Susan mentions Bing's red pumps but, in fact, all of the ladies shoes were pretty eye-popping.
I'm sorry I didn't have space to say more about the performances of Renee Coates and Amy Henderson. They both did good jobs but both at times seemed a little awkward, either in their roles or just on stage. With only 300 words, attenuated praise is hard to parce.
One last thing to mention about my night at "Pulp:" I also found myself sitting behind Roy Proctor (okay, technically, I moved over behind him so I could talk to him without shouting across the theater). He seemed in fine spirits, though I did not have a chance to ask him his thoughts on the production afterwards. See: theater critics don't stop being fans just because they stop being critics. I'm thinking that, after I stop writing reviews (which may turn out to be sooner rather than later), I may end up seeing just as many or even more shows.
UPDATE: It occurs to me that I should add that I have no investment in anyone thinking my impression of the show is any more "right" than Ms. H's. If I haven't said it enough before, I find Susan an astute and insightful critic. I guess what I'm trying to get at based on our very different reviews of "Pulp" is how variable live theater can be, on both the giving and receiving end of the performance equation. Nuf said?
Monday, March 30, 2009
American Idiot
Hello there, neglected blog fans. Rather than give my usual wimpy excuses for not posting lately, I have a bonified real reason I've been a stranger. Last Thursday my laptop got infected with something particularly nasty that has been giving all sorts of headaches to the hardware specialist at my work. So I've been begging, borrowing and stealing access to computers over the past several days and have had to pretty much refrain from recreational computer use.
I also got mildly hammered on Saturday and in the wee hours posted something fairly stupid on Facebook which has also incented me to leave the Internet alone for now. Unlike when I was an adolescent, when I do something idiotic, I try to avoid the enablers of my idiocy for at least a little while.
But hey, speaking of idiocy, the news today is that the folks behind "Spring Awakening" are thinking of turning Green Day's "American Idiot" into a musical. Good news: they've got some killer songs to start out with. Bad news: character of alienated young man in the Bush era seems a bit "5 minutes ago" to me. Anyway, best of luck to them. Another musical that appeals to the under-30 set would be welcome.
Here in town, there were two openings this past week, with "Pulp" reviewed last week in the T-D and the area's second "Altar Boyz" showing up at the Mill. I haven't seen a review yet of the latter show, maybe it'll show up soon.
(UPDATE: The idiocy continues! As several folks have pointed out, "Altar Boyz" doesn't open until next weekend. Duh. Perhaps I came back to this Internet thing too soon...)
I took in "Pulp" on Friday and, maybe as a testament to the wonder that is live theater, had almost the exact opposite reaction to some things that Ms. Haubenstock did. Same show, different nights -- who knows how things are going to come across? More details on this when my review shows up...
I also got mildly hammered on Saturday and in the wee hours posted something fairly stupid on Facebook which has also incented me to leave the Internet alone for now. Unlike when I was an adolescent, when I do something idiotic, I try to avoid the enablers of my idiocy for at least a little while.
But hey, speaking of idiocy, the news today is that the folks behind "Spring Awakening" are thinking of turning Green Day's "American Idiot" into a musical. Good news: they've got some killer songs to start out with. Bad news: character of alienated young man in the Bush era seems a bit "5 minutes ago" to me. Anyway, best of luck to them. Another musical that appeals to the under-30 set would be welcome.
Here in town, there were two openings this past week, with "Pulp" reviewed last week in the T-D and the area's second "Altar Boyz" showing up at the Mill. I haven't seen a review yet of the latter show, maybe it'll show up soon.
(UPDATE: The idiocy continues! As several folks have pointed out, "Altar Boyz" doesn't open until next weekend. Duh. Perhaps I came back to this Internet thing too soon...)
I took in "Pulp" on Friday and, maybe as a testament to the wonder that is live theater, had almost the exact opposite reaction to some things that Ms. Haubenstock did. Same show, different nights -- who knows how things are going to come across? More details on this when my review shows up...
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Beat it to Pulp
Triangle Players opens “Pulp” tonight. I won’t be there for the opening but will catch it this weekend. Ever since “Secretaries” knocked my proverbial socks off so many years ago, I’ve always looked forward to the RTP “all-girl” shows. I’m hoping this one lives up to previous years’ offerings.
School took a huge chunk out of my free time this week but hopefully, after today, I’ll be back in the saddle posting-wise. There’s still so much to say about “R&G are Dead” and I’ve been thinking about inviting a guest reviewer on the blog to sate the appetite of certain fans. More details to come…
School took a huge chunk out of my free time this week but hopefully, after today, I’ll be back in the saddle posting-wise. There’s still so much to say about “R&G are Dead” and I’ve been thinking about inviting a guest reviewer on the blog to sate the appetite of certain fans. More details to come…
Monday, March 23, 2009
Odds and (Week)Ends
Frequent poster “eraserhead” sent me a link to an advice column posting that might be of interest to some thespians out there. I know that about 15-20 years ago, I was in the same boat, a theater widower like many others out there. I like the advice given but I would add the suggestion: pick up a hobby or start making new friends. If you’ve got time to kill and no one to kill it with, get busy. (Clearly, I’ll never be an advice columnist.)
USA Today has a couple of raves in today’s edition, one on Gods of Carnage and one on Blithe Spirit. Curious that Christine Ebersole comes in for the only knocks.
I went to ComedySportz on Friday and had a wonderfully entertaining time. More details in a day or two but in the meantime, don’t hesitate in making reservations for their few upcoming shows. The place was packed and I expect will continue to be until the final whistle sounds.
USA Today has a couple of raves in today’s edition, one on Gods of Carnage and one on Blithe Spirit. Curious that Christine Ebersole comes in for the only knocks.
I went to ComedySportz on Friday and had a wonderfully entertaining time. More details in a day or two but in the meantime, don’t hesitate in making reservations for their few upcoming shows. The place was packed and I expect will continue to be until the final whistle sounds.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Fear and fun
Forgot to post link to Ms. Lewis's review of "Mindgame" in the T-D yesterday. Hearing nothing but good stuff about this production...
Friday, March 20, 2009
Last Chances
My lovely wife and I divided and conquered last night, each seeing plays that are closing this weekend. She saw Barksdale’s “Children of a Lesser God,” which she loved. Though she had accolades for each of the actors, she took particular notice of the direction of the production. To paraphrase what she said to me, I think it’s a play where overly busy direction could potentially muck things up. Mr. Miller does a fine job of realizing a clear, straightforward vision.
I went to “Rabbit Hole” at the Firehouse which, let’s be honest, is kind of a hard play to watch. But there is some great work going on in this production and, particularly if you are an actor, this is the kind of production you really should take in. I enjoyed the work of the supporting players especially. Marta Rainer is bracingly human as Izzy, flawed and funny but completely organic in the play’s challenging scenes. Similarly, Jacob Pennington does a wonderful job as a high school senior; like Ms. Rainer and Linda Beringer who plays Nat, he is just startlingly real here. He is geeky without being pathetic and his long scene with Jennifer Massey’s Becca could have gone on forever as far as I’m concerned.
I had a harder time with Massey and Ben Baker as Howie. I concede that these are incredibly hard roles to play. There is some tension written into the play in that, though you empathize with these characters, neither of them is particularly empathetic. I guess I would have liked to see a little more positive chemistry between them in the midst of the obvious prickliness that is predominant throughout the play. But, having said that, both of these actors had some great moments. The reaction Baker’s Howie has to a mistake by Becca early on is epic and provides a great window into his character. And Massey does wonders with her navigation of the transitions Becca makes in the second act.
All in all, it was a very solid production with many fantastic moments that I would certainly recommend, with the caveat that the underlying subject matter – the death of a child – might be a deal-killer for some folks.
USA Today had an interesting review of the new “West Side Story” on Broadway that complains about the lyrics in Spanish. Hm. I saw the picture of the gorgeous Josefina Scaglione that intrigued me enough to read through this profile that was in the Wall Street Journal back in January. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more of Ms. Scaglione in the years to come.
Have a great weekend!
I went to “Rabbit Hole” at the Firehouse which, let’s be honest, is kind of a hard play to watch. But there is some great work going on in this production and, particularly if you are an actor, this is the kind of production you really should take in. I enjoyed the work of the supporting players especially. Marta Rainer is bracingly human as Izzy, flawed and funny but completely organic in the play’s challenging scenes. Similarly, Jacob Pennington does a wonderful job as a high school senior; like Ms. Rainer and Linda Beringer who plays Nat, he is just startlingly real here. He is geeky without being pathetic and his long scene with Jennifer Massey’s Becca could have gone on forever as far as I’m concerned.
I had a harder time with Massey and Ben Baker as Howie. I concede that these are incredibly hard roles to play. There is some tension written into the play in that, though you empathize with these characters, neither of them is particularly empathetic. I guess I would have liked to see a little more positive chemistry between them in the midst of the obvious prickliness that is predominant throughout the play. But, having said that, both of these actors had some great moments. The reaction Baker’s Howie has to a mistake by Becca early on is epic and provides a great window into his character. And Massey does wonders with her navigation of the transitions Becca makes in the second act.
All in all, it was a very solid production with many fantastic moments that I would certainly recommend, with the caveat that the underlying subject matter – the death of a child – might be a deal-killer for some folks.
USA Today had an interesting review of the new “West Side Story” on Broadway that complains about the lyrics in Spanish. Hm. I saw the picture of the gorgeous Josefina Scaglione that intrigued me enough to read through this profile that was in the Wall Street Journal back in January. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more of Ms. Scaglione in the years to come.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Whoop, there it is
Just checked the Style site and my review of Henley Street's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" showed up. Headlines are not really my forte but, every once in a while, I like what I come up with and this story is one of those cases. Check it out!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Mindgame, etc.
I’m not familiar with the show “Mindgame” that Chamberlayne Actors Theatre will open tonight but I have been enjoying the marketing for it. I’ve received a couple of postcards touting the production, both very spooky / freaky, which I immediately showed my eldest daughter (who is suddenly enamored of scary movies) and each time she exclaimed, “That’s a play?”
On CAT's website, you can see a gallery of fairly gruesome posters plus a video preview (so I’m told – I can’t see video at work so I’m going on faith for this one). The threat / promise of ramped-up violence / scariness has spurred interest in the production, at least at my house.
And Bill Brock made for a pretty aggressive Stanley in “A Streetcar Named Desire” at Sycamore Rouge last year so I expect he can do good serial killer. Just take Stanley, remove humanity and add an extra dose of testosterone, right?
(UPDATE: OK, so I just checked out the video trailer and it looks like Bill ain't playing the killer. Or maybe he is? Anyway, guess I shouldn't cast aspersions before I see the show, right?)
And just a note for theater company people who might be reading this: get pictures of upcoming productions (known as “art” in the publishing biz) to Style as soon as you have them. The completeness of a publishable package (that is, text from writer, art from production) speeds up the possibility of its eventual appearance. I probably should have been more clear with folks about this all along but these days, with the advent of instant availability via the interwebs, it is particularly pertinent. Just an FYI!
On CAT's website, you can see a gallery of fairly gruesome posters plus a video preview (so I’m told – I can’t see video at work so I’m going on faith for this one). The threat / promise of ramped-up violence / scariness has spurred interest in the production, at least at my house.
And Bill Brock made for a pretty aggressive Stanley in “A Streetcar Named Desire” at Sycamore Rouge last year so I expect he can do good serial killer. Just take Stanley, remove humanity and add an extra dose of testosterone, right?
(UPDATE: OK, so I just checked out the video trailer and it looks like Bill ain't playing the killer. Or maybe he is? Anyway, guess I shouldn't cast aspersions before I see the show, right?)
And just a note for theater company people who might be reading this: get pictures of upcoming productions (known as “art” in the publishing biz) to Style as soon as you have them. The completeness of a publishable package (that is, text from writer, art from production) speeds up the possibility of its eventual appearance. I probably should have been more clear with folks about this all along but these days, with the advent of instant availability via the interwebs, it is particularly pertinent. Just an FYI!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
From the frivolous to the insane
First, I’d like to welcome the Night Light Collective’s blog to the Inter-Act section over there on the left. NLC consists of several folks active in local theater, including two key members of Henley Street’s “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” production: actress Kerry McGee and lighting designer Andrew Bonniwell.
And I’d just like to state for the record that after taking in “R&GrRIP” last week, I officially have a crush on Kerry McGee. She’s a hoot in the production – as is Emma Mason, though her part is a bit more dour – and those expressive eyes and that sunny smile are inescapably enchanting, in my humble opinion. If I was headed down the road toward inevitable execution, I can think of few preferable companions.
It wouldn’t be a complete month if I didn’t go off on some gay rights rant (those pesky homosexuals, they STILL want their rights!), and so I highlight here the firing of an Oklahoma teacher who assigned study of the play “The Laramie Project.” Imagine wanting to teach children about tolerance or, perhaps, promote the message that the unprovoked murder of another human being was outrageous and reprehensible! And, if the details of the story are correct, responding to student interest supportively. No wonder she was fired.
And I’d just like to state for the record that after taking in “R&GrRIP” last week, I officially have a crush on Kerry McGee. She’s a hoot in the production – as is Emma Mason, though her part is a bit more dour – and those expressive eyes and that sunny smile are inescapably enchanting, in my humble opinion. If I was headed down the road toward inevitable execution, I can think of few preferable companions.
It wouldn’t be a complete month if I didn’t go off on some gay rights rant (those pesky homosexuals, they STILL want their rights!), and so I highlight here the firing of an Oklahoma teacher who assigned study of the play “The Laramie Project.” Imagine wanting to teach children about tolerance or, perhaps, promote the message that the unprovoked murder of another human being was outrageous and reprehensible! And, if the details of the story are correct, responding to student interest supportively. No wonder she was fired.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Feeling the Urge
I’ve got to hand it to Urge magazine (or URgE, if you want to capture the cute typographical motif they’re using): they’ve pretty consistently included interesting theater coverage in every issue. The latest has a big fat cover picture of d.l. Hopkins looking quite dapper, so that’s cool. Inside, the mag includes mentions of Henley Street’s "R&G are Dead” as well as a heads-up about the Mill’s upcoming “Blues in the Night.” And set designer / artist Greig Leach gets a nice article, too.
Most of the content can be found on their website, including a nice online page-through facsimile of the entire issue. Sure, it’s marketing-driven but still, gotta give props where props are due. Way to gO URgE!
Most of the content can be found on their website, including a nice online page-through facsimile of the entire issue. Sure, it’s marketing-driven but still, gotta give props where props are due. Way to gO URgE!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Oh and also…
In case you missed it, the T-D today had Ms. Lewis’s review of “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead” plus a nice feature on Bo Wilson and Jan Guarino. So that’s good!
CYT
Last night, I checked out a venue I’d never been to before to watch the work of a company I’d never seen before. The gorgeous Cramer Theater at Steward School hosted the latest production from Christian Youth Theatre company. CYT has been around for a while and for all those years, their acronym has made me think of the song “PYT” by Michael Jackson every time I’ve heard it. That might not change going forward but something else certainly will: I won’t ever consider their work “just community theater.” Like the venue they used for this production, “Narnia” was sumptuous and impressive. It was a technical marvel, with gorgeous sets and top-notch lighting. And the costumes! The shaggy outfits of some of the furry characters, like the Beavers and particularly the regal lion Aslan, were stunning.
There was no shortage of talent either, in every sense of the word. First of all, there were 95 people in the cast. Yes, 95. That’s not a cast; it’s a small army. Also, pro stage vets -- like several of the Mercer children (Kaylin as the Unicorn, Davis as Peter Pevensie, and Makenzie as Mrs. Beaver) -- peppered the cast. While several of the youngsters showed promise, I enjoyed all of the Penvensie children especially, with Ashlyn Landrum in fine voice as Susan and Davis Harrison as Edmund showing some refined acting chops. The word on the street is that Sarah Day, who was adorable as Lucy, is going to be “Annie” in Theatre IV’s upcoming production. If so, they’ve got an accomplished talent leading that cast. With a little more material, the engaging Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (played by the aforementioned Ms. Mercer and Carson Burkett) could have the basis for their own standup comedy act. All in all, there were a surprising few weak links given the enormity of the cast and the youth of the actors.
The musical itself was a bit of a mixed bag. The adaptation of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” into a fairly streamlined show was impressive but the songs ranged from moving and dramatic to forgettable and downright silly. Still, particularly rendered with such technical opulence, it made for an entertaining and impressive evening overall.
Beyond the purely theatrical, I’m kind of intrigued at the assertion of “Narnia” so conclusively as a Christian work. The analysis of this aspect of C.S. Lewis’s series of books (all seven of which I read aloud to my wonderful daughter Bryce) has ramped up in recent years in the wake of the Narnia movies. If anyone is interested, this article from Salon provides a good introduction to this analysis (don’t give up before getting to the second page that includes this provocative statement: 'Whatever Lewis and his close friend J.R.R. Tolkien may have claimed about their work, it is not compatible with true Christian theology.') The author of this article (Laura Miller) went on to write a book I’ve read about and I have heard her interviewed a couple of times. Someday in my spare time I’d like to read her “The Magician’s Book” which is about the Narnia series but also about being both a reader and a writer. Maybe I'll get to it on my next cruise…in another 15 years…
There was no shortage of talent either, in every sense of the word. First of all, there were 95 people in the cast. Yes, 95. That’s not a cast; it’s a small army. Also, pro stage vets -- like several of the Mercer children (Kaylin as the Unicorn, Davis as Peter Pevensie, and Makenzie as Mrs. Beaver) -- peppered the cast. While several of the youngsters showed promise, I enjoyed all of the Penvensie children especially, with Ashlyn Landrum in fine voice as Susan and Davis Harrison as Edmund showing some refined acting chops. The word on the street is that Sarah Day, who was adorable as Lucy, is going to be “Annie” in Theatre IV’s upcoming production. If so, they’ve got an accomplished talent leading that cast. With a little more material, the engaging Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (played by the aforementioned Ms. Mercer and Carson Burkett) could have the basis for their own standup comedy act. All in all, there were a surprising few weak links given the enormity of the cast and the youth of the actors.
The musical itself was a bit of a mixed bag. The adaptation of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” into a fairly streamlined show was impressive but the songs ranged from moving and dramatic to forgettable and downright silly. Still, particularly rendered with such technical opulence, it made for an entertaining and impressive evening overall.
Beyond the purely theatrical, I’m kind of intrigued at the assertion of “Narnia” so conclusively as a Christian work. The analysis of this aspect of C.S. Lewis’s series of books (all seven of which I read aloud to my wonderful daughter Bryce) has ramped up in recent years in the wake of the Narnia movies. If anyone is interested, this article from Salon provides a good introduction to this analysis (don’t give up before getting to the second page that includes this provocative statement: 'Whatever Lewis and his close friend J.R.R. Tolkien may have claimed about their work, it is not compatible with true Christian theology.') The author of this article (Laura Miller) went on to write a book I’ve read about and I have heard her interviewed a couple of times. Someday in my spare time I’d like to read her “The Magician’s Book” which is about the Narnia series but also about being both a reader and a writer. Maybe I'll get to it on my next cruise…in another 15 years…
Saturday, March 14, 2009
American Badass
Friday turned out to be a great day for gifts. First Jason at SPARC sent me some great pictures from SPARC’s production of “Really Rosie” last fall. Thanks, Jason – you’re da bomb!
Then I came home to the 2009 compilation of “Plays and Playwrights” (published by New York Theatre Experience) in the mail. The talented Richmond expatriate Chris Harcum sent me a copy because of the inclusion of his series of monologues, “American Badass” in the latest edition (Read an interview with Chris online). I’ve just cracked the book for the first time this morning but I can tell already that this entry in the Harcum canon is just as insightful and funny as Chris’s first work that I was lucky enough to catch some 10 years ago, “Some Kind of Pink Breakfast.”
I’m really happy for Chris; he deserves the recognition and, hopefully, being included in this compilation will open new doors for him. That he recognizes my positive reviews back in the old days as even the slightest positive influence on him is exceptionally generous. Some time this year, I’ve got to coordinate a trip to NYC with whatever next bit of inspiration Chris puts out.
The final gift (good things come in threes, right?) was the production of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” at Henley Street that I took in at Pine Camp. My familiarity with the play was solely through the movie version and I was quite entertained by the production. More details will be available sometime later this week…my gift (hopefully) back to you all…
Then I came home to the 2009 compilation of “Plays and Playwrights” (published by New York Theatre Experience) in the mail. The talented Richmond expatriate Chris Harcum sent me a copy because of the inclusion of his series of monologues, “American Badass” in the latest edition (Read an interview with Chris online). I’ve just cracked the book for the first time this morning but I can tell already that this entry in the Harcum canon is just as insightful and funny as Chris’s first work that I was lucky enough to catch some 10 years ago, “Some Kind of Pink Breakfast.”
I’m really happy for Chris; he deserves the recognition and, hopefully, being included in this compilation will open new doors for him. That he recognizes my positive reviews back in the old days as even the slightest positive influence on him is exceptionally generous. Some time this year, I’ve got to coordinate a trip to NYC with whatever next bit of inspiration Chris puts out.
The final gift (good things come in threes, right?) was the production of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” at Henley Street that I took in at Pine Camp. My familiarity with the play was solely through the movie version and I was quite entertained by the production. More details will be available sometime later this week…my gift (hopefully) back to you all…
Friday, March 13, 2009
Personas
So last week, I spent a lot of time watching live music performances, which was pretty awesome. If you are not a Barenaked Ladies fan already, watching Ed Robertson perform solo would make you one. He was the most compelling performer of any of the ones I saw, because he had the fundamentals (great guitar player, very good singer, clever songwriter) plus he was engaging onstage, open to his audiences, generous in his praise of fellow musicians, and just generally seeming to have a great time. I watched him perform three times over three days and wasn’t bored even once. Indigo Girls, on the other hand – who I love by the way and have loved for decades now and will continue to love as long as they continue to produce smart acoustically-oriented folky music – well, after seeing them a second time in two days, I was about ready to move on.
Wonderful new talents that I was exposed during the week include David Ryan Harris, Vienna Teng, and Brandi Carlile. I guess Brandi has quite a following but I had never heard of her before. She’s got a huge voice and is a pretty kick-ass performer besides. The lovely Mrs. and I had the somewhat surreal experience of ending up in line to clear customs with Ed Robertson and his family on one side of us and Brandi Carlile and her entourage on the other. In a celebrity-obsessed world where you often wonder if strangers you pass by are “somebody,” being on a boat where everybody is “somebody” is a little mind-blowing.
Anyway, one of the things that I found interesting seeing all of these acts over several days was the appreciation of the musician “persona.” From what I’ve seen, musicians are not generally “actors,” unless they’re doing some kind of early Bowie or Kiss schtick. But there is definitely the development and/or projection of a persona, which generally seems to be an exaggerated or accentuated version of the performer him/herself. I saw this most distinctly with Lyle Lovett, a talented and extremely entertaining performer who has a certain low-key, homespun, almost absent-minded professorish persona onstage. There was also a woman named Mindy Smith who projected a somewhat ditsy, cute-as-a-button personality that I eventually found really annoying.
Many aspects of this fascinate me. I’m curious how self-conscious of a process the development of such a persona is. Does it just happen organically for most musicians? Do they seek input or does their management encourage them down one path or another? I also wonder how divergent these personas are from the performer's off-stage personalities. There is no way Ed Robertson, for instance, could be as open, engaging and funny all the time in person as he is on stage (and based on seeing him in line with his family, such is the case; a perfectly nice man but also not telling jokes to passersby…)
It also makes me reflect on aspects of life for higher-profile musicians. For instance, is one of the reasons Britney is so f-ed up in her life because she was (is) encouraged to develop this sultry, sex-kitten persona when in real life she’s something so completely different (like for instance the somewhat dimbulbish, small-town girl she seems in some interviews)? Does that kind of dramatic divergence help cause such dysfunction? Also, do musicians generally not have great success crossing over to movies and TV because they confuse projecting a persona with inhabiting a real character? What do you think?
Wonderful new talents that I was exposed during the week include David Ryan Harris, Vienna Teng, and Brandi Carlile. I guess Brandi has quite a following but I had never heard of her before. She’s got a huge voice and is a pretty kick-ass performer besides. The lovely Mrs. and I had the somewhat surreal experience of ending up in line to clear customs with Ed Robertson and his family on one side of us and Brandi Carlile and her entourage on the other. In a celebrity-obsessed world where you often wonder if strangers you pass by are “somebody,” being on a boat where everybody is “somebody” is a little mind-blowing.
Anyway, one of the things that I found interesting seeing all of these acts over several days was the appreciation of the musician “persona.” From what I’ve seen, musicians are not generally “actors,” unless they’re doing some kind of early Bowie or Kiss schtick. But there is definitely the development and/or projection of a persona, which generally seems to be an exaggerated or accentuated version of the performer him/herself. I saw this most distinctly with Lyle Lovett, a talented and extremely entertaining performer who has a certain low-key, homespun, almost absent-minded professorish persona onstage. There was also a woman named Mindy Smith who projected a somewhat ditsy, cute-as-a-button personality that I eventually found really annoying.
Many aspects of this fascinate me. I’m curious how self-conscious of a process the development of such a persona is. Does it just happen organically for most musicians? Do they seek input or does their management encourage them down one path or another? I also wonder how divergent these personas are from the performer's off-stage personalities. There is no way Ed Robertson, for instance, could be as open, engaging and funny all the time in person as he is on stage (and based on seeing him in line with his family, such is the case; a perfectly nice man but also not telling jokes to passersby…)
It also makes me reflect on aspects of life for higher-profile musicians. For instance, is one of the reasons Britney is so f-ed up in her life because she was (is) encouraged to develop this sultry, sex-kitten persona when in real life she’s something so completely different (like for instance the somewhat dimbulbish, small-town girl she seems in some interviews)? Does that kind of dramatic divergence help cause such dysfunction? Also, do musicians generally not have great success crossing over to movies and TV because they confuse projecting a persona with inhabiting a real character? What do you think?
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Plans
Thanks to all for the positive feedback on the blog. I’m glad that those who’ve chimed in have expressed support for the blog format. I share Glenn’s sentiments: the Facebook chatter tends to be distracting to me. Thanks, Grant, for the tip on the automatic updating thingie. I’ll have to look into that. For a computer geek, I can be surprisingly clueless when it comes to certain technological marvels.
Did everyone read up on the Wolf Brown Cultural Action Plan recommendations? (Summarized here. Is there a link to the full report? I couldn’t find it.) What do you all think? Ms. Biegelsen zeroed in on the racial issue, which I think is interesting.
In my quick review, the whole focus on “Coordinating the Cultural Sector” seems like a good one, but also a problematic one. “Coordination” seems like it will involve prioritization on some level and that opens the door to politics (opens it wider, I guess I should say, since this whole plan is bound to be politicized). If done well, coordination may maximize financial resources but it won’t necessarily lead to more financial resources. I like the idea of a cultural endowment but administration of such a thing is another problematic point. Of course, the Arts Council already administers the ArtsFund but I know next to nothing about that (besides it has a Flash-y little website).
I’m sure we’ll continue to hear more about this plan and its implementation. I’d like to remain as hopeful as possible about it all so I’m mostly adopting a wait-n-see attitude. In the meantime, I imagine folks involved with the Arts Council are both jazzed and maybe a bit terrified of being placed so distinctly in the center of this process.
Did everyone read up on the Wolf Brown Cultural Action Plan recommendations? (Summarized here. Is there a link to the full report? I couldn’t find it.) What do you all think? Ms. Biegelsen zeroed in on the racial issue, which I think is interesting.
In my quick review, the whole focus on “Coordinating the Cultural Sector” seems like a good one, but also a problematic one. “Coordination” seems like it will involve prioritization on some level and that opens the door to politics (opens it wider, I guess I should say, since this whole plan is bound to be politicized). If done well, coordination may maximize financial resources but it won’t necessarily lead to more financial resources. I like the idea of a cultural endowment but administration of such a thing is another problematic point. Of course, the Arts Council already administers the ArtsFund but I know next to nothing about that (besides it has a Flash-y little website).
I’m sure we’ll continue to hear more about this plan and its implementation. I’d like to remain as hopeful as possible about it all so I’m mostly adopting a wait-n-see attitude. In the meantime, I imagine folks involved with the Arts Council are both jazzed and maybe a bit terrified of being placed so distinctly in the center of this process.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Housekeeping and Casting News
I spent some downtime tonight doing site housekeeping, updating the Now Showing offerings, adding Matthew and Margaret Reeder to the expats section (thanks Stephen!), adding SPARC’s blog to the Inter-Act section (thanks Jason!), and correcting the listing for Rick St. Peter in Kentucky so it points to his theater blog instead of his MySpace page. If I could dust in the corners and change the sheets, it would almost look like a whole new blog.
And since I know that at least two of you all (looking at you, Annie and Elyse) are interested in the burgeoning career of the young Master Timberline, I am quite excited to report that we just found out tonight that the little stinker has been cast in pretty much the dream role for an 8 year old (except maybe Gavroche…): the title role in “Oliver!” as part of the Heritage Theatre Festival in C’Ville this summer. It’s cool for him, of course; it’s the first role that he wanted to do based on his knowledge of the show before even knowing that there was a specific production out there. As an extra bonus for me, I’m looking forward to getting familiar with a theater I’ve never been to before. So we’re all excited here at the T-line house tonight. How are you doing?
And since I know that at least two of you all (looking at you, Annie and Elyse) are interested in the burgeoning career of the young Master Timberline, I am quite excited to report that we just found out tonight that the little stinker has been cast in pretty much the dream role for an 8 year old (except maybe Gavroche…): the title role in “Oliver!” as part of the Heritage Theatre Festival in C’Ville this summer. It’s cool for him, of course; it’s the first role that he wanted to do based on his knowledge of the show before even knowing that there was a specific production out there. As an extra bonus for me, I’m looking forward to getting familiar with a theater I’ve never been to before. So we’re all excited here at the T-line house tonight. How are you doing?
Let me just throw this out there
In catching up with things back here in the real world, it seems to me that activity in the blogosphere has contracted, not just in the past couple weeks but over the past several months. What do you all think?
I guess the bigger question I have is: are blogs dying? Does it make sense for me to even keep up this blog? A great deal of online interactivity seems to have migrated to the world of Facebook. Would it make more sense – or work better for people – if I just created / kept up a Facebook page (technically, ANOTHER page since there already is one) on Richmond theater?
Since you all are the “customers” as far as this blog goes, I’d be curious what would serve you better or just what your perspective is. Fire away!
I guess the bigger question I have is: are blogs dying? Does it make sense for me to even keep up this blog? A great deal of online interactivity seems to have migrated to the world of Facebook. Would it make more sense – or work better for people – if I just created / kept up a Facebook page (technically, ANOTHER page since there already is one) on Richmond theater?
Since you all are the “customers” as far as this blog goes, I’d be curious what would serve you better or just what your perspective is. Fire away!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Mona's Rabbit
Here are Mary B's reviews of "Mona's" and "Rabbit" in this week's Style, providing even more reasons to go see them both.
Ahoy There
Ahoy there, me hearties! I hope both of you enjoyed a week-plus off from my ranting and randomness. I’ve got plenty to say about one of the most insanely satisfying vacations I’ve ever had. But since it’s theater that you come here for, below is a collection of all the reviews I’ve been catching up on and that you might be interested in as well.
Ms. Haubenstock had nice things to say about both “Rabbit Hole” and “Mona’s Arrangements.” John Porter's reviews of these two productions are also available at the Idea Stations site. I’ve got to figure out when I can sneak out to see these two, given that there are other “must sees” on the horizon (“R&GrRIP” and “Pulp” just to name two).
As just because I haven’t mentioned them, doesn’t mean I’m ignoring “Gilligan’s Island: The Musical” (at the Glen Allen Cultural Arts Center) or “Life Upon the Wicked Stage” (Firehouse) (CORRECTION! LUtWS is at ComedySportz! Sorry!) and the other theater events going on around town. I just can’t keep up with it all!
While on vacation, I burned through quite a backlog of New Yorkers (the magazine, not people). Among the things I was able to catch up on were its take on “Guys and Dolls” (just a capsule available online) and a further exploration of Damon Runyon’s works, from which G&D springs. And, in contrast to the generally cheery take on the production that the New Yorker had, Entertainment Weekly had kind of a sour review.
EW did put out some interesting capsules on two other highly anticipating productions – “33 Variations” with Jane Fonda and “Distracted” with Cynthia Nixon – that are worth a look-see.
Finally, because mainstream pop culture can’t seem to talk about theater without poking fun at the reality-star / stage wannabe crossover, I’ve picked up a couple of mentions of Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks and their latest bounces on the boards.
Speaking of pop culture, I’m planning on going to “Watchmen” tonight. It was that or “The Reader” and, while as regular readers know I love me some Kate Winslet, if you’ve got one night for a true big-screen experience, I’m thinking “Watchmen” is the way to go. Call me shallow. What did you other fanboys think of "Watchmen?"
Ms. Haubenstock had nice things to say about both “Rabbit Hole” and “Mona’s Arrangements.” John Porter's reviews of these two productions are also available at the Idea Stations site. I’ve got to figure out when I can sneak out to see these two, given that there are other “must sees” on the horizon (“R&GrRIP” and “Pulp” just to name two).
As just because I haven’t mentioned them, doesn’t mean I’m ignoring “Gilligan’s Island: The Musical” (at the Glen Allen Cultural Arts Center) or “Life Upon the Wicked Stage” (Firehouse) (CORRECTION! LUtWS is at ComedySportz! Sorry!) and the other theater events going on around town. I just can’t keep up with it all!
While on vacation, I burned through quite a backlog of New Yorkers (the magazine, not people). Among the things I was able to catch up on were its take on “Guys and Dolls” (just a capsule available online) and a further exploration of Damon Runyon’s works, from which G&D springs. And, in contrast to the generally cheery take on the production that the New Yorker had, Entertainment Weekly had kind of a sour review.
EW did put out some interesting capsules on two other highly anticipating productions – “33 Variations” with Jane Fonda and “Distracted” with Cynthia Nixon – that are worth a look-see.
Finally, because mainstream pop culture can’t seem to talk about theater without poking fun at the reality-star / stage wannabe crossover, I’ve picked up a couple of mentions of Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks and their latest bounces on the boards.
Speaking of pop culture, I’m planning on going to “Watchmen” tonight. It was that or “The Reader” and, while as regular readers know I love me some Kate Winslet, if you’ve got one night for a true big-screen experience, I’m thinking “Watchmen” is the way to go. Call me shallow. What did you other fanboys think of "Watchmen?"
Friday, February 27, 2009
Closer to Fine
Well, I'm nearly off to spend a week with my close pals Amy Ray, Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin, John Hiatt, etc. I'll miss you all and, due to my absence, the shoddy updatedness of the "Now Showing" section will be even worse than usual. Sorry, peeps.
Also, I won't be around to approve comments but don't shy away from making them anyway. The comments-on-web-sites discussion continues below and your opinions are just as valid and interesting whether they see the light of website today or a week from now.
I look forward to getting back and seeing gobs of theater in March. See you at the theater -- I'll be the sunburned one in the front row...
Also, I won't be around to approve comments but don't shy away from making them anyway. The comments-on-web-sites discussion continues below and your opinions are just as valid and interesting whether they see the light of website today or a week from now.
I look forward to getting back and seeing gobs of theater in March. See you at the theater -- I'll be the sunburned one in the front row...
Thursday, February 26, 2009
I Respectfully Disagree
I always enjoy it when Rick posts something here (or anywhere, really. You should check out his blog at AGL sometime). I think he is consistently one of the smartest, thoughtful, and informed people in theater that I know.
But on this whole posting-on-reviews thing (see comments on previous post), while I concur with the spirit of at least some of Rick’s statements (see David Denby’s “Snark” to read some thoughts on what the Internet is doing to our national conversation), I respectfully disagree with the letter of it.
First of all, regardless of whether you think it is a terrible practice or not, it is where we are. The Internet brought many amazing things to us all and one of those things is the ability to make us a more truly interactive society. Readers now expect to have the ability to interact more immediately with written content – whether it’s through embedded hyperlinks, complimentary video/audio, or the ability to post comments. One of the reasons print media is dying is because consumers now demand the immediacy and interactivity that the Internet provides.
Beyond that economic / functional reality, there is a democratization involved in this interactive media that I believe is overall a good thing. How many times have I decried (or heard other decry) the “imperial reviewer” in the past? The concept that the reviewer is some peerless “expert” just because his/her words and opinions are the ones that get published is still regularly complained about. For years, people have argued that their opinion is worth as much or more than the one in the Times, Style or the Times-Dispatch. So yes, now, everyone can be a critic if they want to be and post their comments or write their blogs. Power to the people!
The problematic aspect of this is that the ability for us to be truly interactive does not automatically or magically elevate the level of conversation. Yes, there is a lot of anonymous snark and mean-spirited knuckle-dragging and mindless babble. But is that the fault of the website that allows it? No. You open up the place for interaction and you get whatever interaction comes your way. People used to argue against universal suffrage because the average person is too stupid to make an informed choice. But Democracy won out in America, and we see the results in our leadership (good and bad), and these days we see it in the Comments sections of our websites.
So we are all subject to gobs of drek online now. However, having said that, I have found a LOT of value in the comments I have read, both on this blog and on the Style website. Yes, I have to filter out the babble and the snark – and the well-meaning people who manage to infer that I lack class, even as they are trying to be productive (thanks, Andrew!) I don’t believe the answer is to shut down the process. I believe it is imperative on us to raise the level of the conversation when we can, be more discerning of the garbage and snark, and if possible rescue the pearls out of the muck.
For example: the whole underwear debate about Amadeus. The initial commenter cared enough about what was said in the review to do independent research and then write something about it. As a reviewer, I wouldn’t feel undermined by that; I would feel appropriately challenged. With the Children of a Lesser God review, someone impugned Ms. Seigel’s ASL ability. Surely, this person had an axe to grind but it also made me think that I really didn’t have any basis to judge her ASL ability and that, to a deaf person watching the show, that ability would have been crucial to their enjoyment of it. Important insight embedded within a snarky comment.
So even if the bulk of anonymous commentary is drek, I’d rather have the comments (for the percentage of value derived however small) than not to have them just because they can be irritating. If the reviews I write can be undermined by someone who has an axe to grind against me, then I should consider (or my editor should consider) whether I should be the one writing those reviews. And if someone just wants to say, “your review SUCKED,” fine, that’s someone’s opinion and they’ve got a right to it. If an actor / director / designer is annoyed to the point of distraction by some snarky comments on the Internet (or by simple or frank criticism), they should get out of the business. In my reviews, I don’t normally say – “hey, that aspect of the production sucked” – but you can bet sometimes I’m thinking it. If an anonymous commenter says the same thing as I would only more bluntly, it doesn’t necessarily make it wrong in my book.
After all, in the olden days, didn’t they bring rotten fruit to the theater? Yes, digital rotten tomatoes are annoying, stupid, ridiculous, etc., but they are only the latest vehicle for audiences expressing their opinions.
Finally, as a big fat caveat to all of this, I think commentary submitted to websites, blogs, etc., should be edited and culled based on the appropriateness of the content. The wide-open commentary that I allowed on this blog at first provided a quick study in how people can cross that line from snarky or stupid to damaging and potentially libelous. I’m pretty sure there is some approval mechanism at the Style site for comments, but I’m not sure. Since I started putting comment moderation on this blog in response to a couple particularly mean-spirited comments, I have only felt compelled to deny one comment. Have all the comments been pearls of wisdom? Not exactly. But the benefit of the conversation – regardless of how insightful – clearly outweighs the disadvantages. At least, that’s my opinion.
But on this whole posting-on-reviews thing (see comments on previous post), while I concur with the spirit of at least some of Rick’s statements (see David Denby’s “Snark” to read some thoughts on what the Internet is doing to our national conversation), I respectfully disagree with the letter of it.
First of all, regardless of whether you think it is a terrible practice or not, it is where we are. The Internet brought many amazing things to us all and one of those things is the ability to make us a more truly interactive society. Readers now expect to have the ability to interact more immediately with written content – whether it’s through embedded hyperlinks, complimentary video/audio, or the ability to post comments. One of the reasons print media is dying is because consumers now demand the immediacy and interactivity that the Internet provides.
Beyond that economic / functional reality, there is a democratization involved in this interactive media that I believe is overall a good thing. How many times have I decried (or heard other decry) the “imperial reviewer” in the past? The concept that the reviewer is some peerless “expert” just because his/her words and opinions are the ones that get published is still regularly complained about. For years, people have argued that their opinion is worth as much or more than the one in the Times, Style or the Times-Dispatch. So yes, now, everyone can be a critic if they want to be and post their comments or write their blogs. Power to the people!
The problematic aspect of this is that the ability for us to be truly interactive does not automatically or magically elevate the level of conversation. Yes, there is a lot of anonymous snark and mean-spirited knuckle-dragging and mindless babble. But is that the fault of the website that allows it? No. You open up the place for interaction and you get whatever interaction comes your way. People used to argue against universal suffrage because the average person is too stupid to make an informed choice. But Democracy won out in America, and we see the results in our leadership (good and bad), and these days we see it in the Comments sections of our websites.
So we are all subject to gobs of drek online now. However, having said that, I have found a LOT of value in the comments I have read, both on this blog and on the Style website. Yes, I have to filter out the babble and the snark – and the well-meaning people who manage to infer that I lack class, even as they are trying to be productive (thanks, Andrew!) I don’t believe the answer is to shut down the process. I believe it is imperative on us to raise the level of the conversation when we can, be more discerning of the garbage and snark, and if possible rescue the pearls out of the muck.
For example: the whole underwear debate about Amadeus. The initial commenter cared enough about what was said in the review to do independent research and then write something about it. As a reviewer, I wouldn’t feel undermined by that; I would feel appropriately challenged. With the Children of a Lesser God review, someone impugned Ms. Seigel’s ASL ability. Surely, this person had an axe to grind but it also made me think that I really didn’t have any basis to judge her ASL ability and that, to a deaf person watching the show, that ability would have been crucial to their enjoyment of it. Important insight embedded within a snarky comment.
So even if the bulk of anonymous commentary is drek, I’d rather have the comments (for the percentage of value derived however small) than not to have them just because they can be irritating. If the reviews I write can be undermined by someone who has an axe to grind against me, then I should consider (or my editor should consider) whether I should be the one writing those reviews. And if someone just wants to say, “your review SUCKED,” fine, that’s someone’s opinion and they’ve got a right to it. If an actor / director / designer is annoyed to the point of distraction by some snarky comments on the Internet (or by simple or frank criticism), they should get out of the business. In my reviews, I don’t normally say – “hey, that aspect of the production sucked” – but you can bet sometimes I’m thinking it. If an anonymous commenter says the same thing as I would only more bluntly, it doesn’t necessarily make it wrong in my book.
After all, in the olden days, didn’t they bring rotten fruit to the theater? Yes, digital rotten tomatoes are annoying, stupid, ridiculous, etc., but they are only the latest vehicle for audiences expressing their opinions.
Finally, as a big fat caveat to all of this, I think commentary submitted to websites, blogs, etc., should be edited and culled based on the appropriateness of the content. The wide-open commentary that I allowed on this blog at first provided a quick study in how people can cross that line from snarky or stupid to damaging and potentially libelous. I’m pretty sure there is some approval mechanism at the Style site for comments, but I’m not sure. Since I started putting comment moderation on this blog in response to a couple particularly mean-spirited comments, I have only felt compelled to deny one comment. Have all the comments been pearls of wisdom? Not exactly. But the benefit of the conversation – regardless of how insightful – clearly outweighs the disadvantages. At least, that’s my opinion.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Whatever a Spider Can
I’m assuming my infrequent posting has reduced my readership to just the 4 or 5 of us. Or maybe everyone is just busy commenting over on the Style site. The comments in response to this week’s reviews have been particularly intriguing, I think. The Amadeus comments make me sad that I’m going to miss the show (see details below) and not just because I’ll miss Ms. Blake’s underwear. The Children of a Lesser God comments make me wonder who is so close to Ms. Siegel and yet so spiteful. Hmmm…
Anyway, I’m taking the drop-off in readership as an opportunity to be more freewheeling with my commentary. Or maybe just a little more up-close-n-personal with what I post.
To whit: here’s a personal tidbit I’ll throw in: my wife and I are leaving town for a while. We’re trading our stripes as theater-lovers for one of the other sets of stripes we sometimes wear: music-lovers. Starting Saturday, we’ll be aboard the Norwegian Dawn for the Cayamo Cruise. While touring the Caribbean, we’ll be treated to concert performances by the likes of the Indigo Girls, Lyle Lovett, and Shawn Colvin as well as some of our favorite smaller bands like Girlyman and Over the Rhine.
Feel free to hate us if you like but it’ll be the longest vacay the lovely Mrs. and I have taken alone since before our first little one popped out more than 15 years ago. I’m a little tenuous about the whole enterprise – particularly given the state of the economy and the scary drop in the value of our savings. But I’m weighing that against the costs – both emotional and financial – of estrangement and divorce and thinking prevention is the best medicine and in fact a relatively prudent course.
The trip will mean I’m going to miss opening nights for two shows I am particularly curious about, “Rabbit Hole” at the Firehouse and “Mona’s Arrangements” out at Hanover Tavern. But I will make it to both of these shows eventually, as should every other responsible theatergoer in town. I mean, Jan, Audra and Scott in one cast? How can you miss that? Unfortunately, I will not be able to see Amadeus before it closes.
Missing shows I want to see is always disappointing – sometimes downright tragic – which is why I may just go ahead and make arrangements now to go see the planned Spiderman musical. Whether it is wonderfully good or spectacularly bad (I’m kinda betting on the latter), this seems like the kind of cultural event that it’d be just criminal to miss.
Speaking of which, I will be back in town for the opening of “Watchmen.” I’m pretty psyched about that one.
Anyway, I’m taking the drop-off in readership as an opportunity to be more freewheeling with my commentary. Or maybe just a little more up-close-n-personal with what I post.
To whit: here’s a personal tidbit I’ll throw in: my wife and I are leaving town for a while. We’re trading our stripes as theater-lovers for one of the other sets of stripes we sometimes wear: music-lovers. Starting Saturday, we’ll be aboard the Norwegian Dawn for the Cayamo Cruise. While touring the Caribbean, we’ll be treated to concert performances by the likes of the Indigo Girls, Lyle Lovett, and Shawn Colvin as well as some of our favorite smaller bands like Girlyman and Over the Rhine.
Feel free to hate us if you like but it’ll be the longest vacay the lovely Mrs. and I have taken alone since before our first little one popped out more than 15 years ago. I’m a little tenuous about the whole enterprise – particularly given the state of the economy and the scary drop in the value of our savings. But I’m weighing that against the costs – both emotional and financial – of estrangement and divorce and thinking prevention is the best medicine and in fact a relatively prudent course.
The trip will mean I’m going to miss opening nights for two shows I am particularly curious about, “Rabbit Hole” at the Firehouse and “Mona’s Arrangements” out at Hanover Tavern. But I will make it to both of these shows eventually, as should every other responsible theatergoer in town. I mean, Jan, Audra and Scott in one cast? How can you miss that? Unfortunately, I will not be able to see Amadeus before it closes.
Missing shows I want to see is always disappointing – sometimes downright tragic – which is why I may just go ahead and make arrangements now to go see the planned Spiderman musical. Whether it is wonderfully good or spectacularly bad (I’m kinda betting on the latter), this seems like the kind of cultural event that it’d be just criminal to miss.
Speaking of which, I will be back in town for the opening of “Watchmen.” I’m pretty psyched about that one.
Monday, February 23, 2009
The Emotional Toll
The emotional stability of actors was discussed on this blog many, many months ago (if I can recover a link to that juicy conversation, I’ll re-post it). But regardless of innate stability, one thing that must take an incredible emotional toll on actors and all others involved is the closing of a show. I’m going through the withdrawal process right now with the closing of “Children’s Letters to God” last night and it sucks. And that’s after being only very tangentially involved with the whole enterprise – mostly just drove children to rehearsals and saw the show a half-dozen times or so. But seeing such a great group of folks – performers, crew, parents and families – on a regular basis had me spoiled. I never left the theater sad no matter how I was feeling when I got there. That is, until last night, when the realization sunk in that it was really over.
I don’t really know how actors cope with going through this process on a regular basis. I’m sure I’ll see some – if not all – of the people associated with the play again but the specific joy of being even a small part of this one production can’t exactly be recaptured. It seems almost like a love affair ending – and I expect for many people involved there’s at least some period of wondering how exactly you find the emotional fortitude to go on. I mean, if I’m feeling that way in my capacity largely removed from it all, I can’t imagine how people more intensely involved get past it.
I will replay in my memory my favorite moments from this show for weeks to come – Eric hitting the note at the end of “Like Everybody Else” without fail every night; Lillie’s great “turtleneck” line that never failed to make me laugh; Sean’s “Silly Old Hat” that never failed to choke me up; my dear son’s emphatic, desperate “Dear God” at the beginning of “An Only Child” – the line-reading that may most distinctly typify his off-stage attitude; and Makenzie’s clear, strong voice rising above the rest at the show’s climatic reprise of “I Know.”
Thank you to the cast of CLTG and the whole crew at Stage 1 for making the experience such a positive one for my family. It’s clear to me that the most powerful – and personally transformative – aspects of theater magic work their wonders out of the spotlight and after the audience has left.
I don’t really know how actors cope with going through this process on a regular basis. I’m sure I’ll see some – if not all – of the people associated with the play again but the specific joy of being even a small part of this one production can’t exactly be recaptured. It seems almost like a love affair ending – and I expect for many people involved there’s at least some period of wondering how exactly you find the emotional fortitude to go on. I mean, if I’m feeling that way in my capacity largely removed from it all, I can’t imagine how people more intensely involved get past it.
I will replay in my memory my favorite moments from this show for weeks to come – Eric hitting the note at the end of “Like Everybody Else” without fail every night; Lillie’s great “turtleneck” line that never failed to make me laugh; Sean’s “Silly Old Hat” that never failed to choke me up; my dear son’s emphatic, desperate “Dear God” at the beginning of “An Only Child” – the line-reading that may most distinctly typify his off-stage attitude; and Makenzie’s clear, strong voice rising above the rest at the show’s climatic reprise of “I Know.”
Thank you to the cast of CLTG and the whole crew at Stage 1 for making the experience such a positive one for my family. It’s clear to me that the most powerful – and personally transformative – aspects of theater magic work their wonders out of the spotlight and after the audience has left.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Sex Sells
In my ramble about marketing a few weeks ago, I left out one of the more infamous -- but no less tried and true -- tenets of marketing, that is, sex sells. And yet, I think this is another thing that theater tends to shy away from. Why do I think this? Because there have been two shows (both coincidentally at the Firehouse) in the past year or so that I'm pretty sure involved nudity (I didn't see either of them) but this didn't figure into the marketing at all -- even as a warning. For one of the shows ("The Late Henry Moss"), I had no idea nudity was involved (for "The Secret of Mme Bonnard's Bath," I wasn't so surprised).
OK, so theater is "art" and respectable and so no one would want a company to say "Hey, come look at the naked people!" (Well, RTP sometimes strongly implies that you should come look at the naked or near-naked people.) But I know when I see a warning that say "Adult language" or "nudity" or "adult themes," I think "grown-up play" which, beyond the dirty old man reaction, raises the possibility that it might be more interesting.
I go into all of this because of the recent review of Sarah Ruhl's new play called "In the Next Room," which is about a lot of things but clearly is a lot about sex. Which is an indication to me (given Ms. Ruhl's other awesome shows) that a show about sex has the possibility for being thoughtful and insightful and not just salacious and all T & A. You might think (and maybe justifiably) that there's a touch of desperation in going down the "sex sells" route. But I'm hopeful someone like Sarah Ruhl can demonstrate that sex is a nice juicy grown-up subject that can bring people into the theater. Musicals like "Spring Awakening" and even "Avenue Q" used sex very effectively; why not straight plays as well?
OK, so theater is "art" and respectable and so no one would want a company to say "Hey, come look at the naked people!" (Well, RTP sometimes strongly implies that you should come look at the naked or near-naked people.) But I know when I see a warning that say "Adult language" or "nudity" or "adult themes," I think "grown-up play" which, beyond the dirty old man reaction, raises the possibility that it might be more interesting.
I go into all of this because of the recent review of Sarah Ruhl's new play called "In the Next Room," which is about a lot of things but clearly is a lot about sex. Which is an indication to me (given Ms. Ruhl's other awesome shows) that a show about sex has the possibility for being thoughtful and insightful and not just salacious and all T & A. You might think (and maybe justifiably) that there's a touch of desperation in going down the "sex sells" route. But I'm hopeful someone like Sarah Ruhl can demonstrate that sex is a nice juicy grown-up subject that can bring people into the theater. Musicals like "Spring Awakening" and even "Avenue Q" used sex very effectively; why not straight plays as well?
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Floppy White Flakes
I wish there was some punny subtext involving the title to this post but mostly it’s just indicative of what’s falling from the sky as I write this. And as I was raised in Cleveland, nothing warms my heart more than a sloppy, wet, snow-slushy morning. It’s like about 1,000 November mornings I experienced during my youth so I’m a happy little clam right now.
I guess one thing that does warm my heart more is the sudden flurry I’ve noticed (perhaps I wasn’t looking hard enough?) of video associated with theater lately. Theatre IV sent out a YouTube clip of “Sideways Stories” with one of their email newsletters, Stage 1 has a great video promo out of “Children’s Letters,” and Grant pointed me to some examples of video Shakespeare. So I am happy to report that I am wrong wrong wrong about theater peeps being wary of video. I’d hardly call this a cavalcade and am a little confused with Mr. Mudge’s assertion that Barksdale does “tons of video.” I can’t dispute that – maybe they do – but if they do, I sure as heck haven’t seen it. Given that I write fairly regular features on theater, shouldn’t I see this stuff if it’s out there? Anyway, I think embracing the new media is a great step.
Also, I’ve fallen behind in the follow-up review department but there is a link over there on the left to Richmond Shakespeare’s “Amadeus” and if you check this week’s Style, there’s an “Of Mice and Men” review. It was nice to see probably half the cast of “OM&M” at various CLTG shows this past weekend, still another heart-warming thing. This keeps up, I won’t need the snow.
I guess one thing that does warm my heart more is the sudden flurry I’ve noticed (perhaps I wasn’t looking hard enough?) of video associated with theater lately. Theatre IV sent out a YouTube clip of “Sideways Stories” with one of their email newsletters, Stage 1 has a great video promo out of “Children’s Letters,” and Grant pointed me to some examples of video Shakespeare. So I am happy to report that I am wrong wrong wrong about theater peeps being wary of video. I’d hardly call this a cavalcade and am a little confused with Mr. Mudge’s assertion that Barksdale does “tons of video.” I can’t dispute that – maybe they do – but if they do, I sure as heck haven’t seen it. Given that I write fairly regular features on theater, shouldn’t I see this stuff if it’s out there? Anyway, I think embracing the new media is a great step.
Also, I’ve fallen behind in the follow-up review department but there is a link over there on the left to Richmond Shakespeare’s “Amadeus” and if you check this week’s Style, there’s an “Of Mice and Men” review. It was nice to see probably half the cast of “OM&M” at various CLTG shows this past weekend, still another heart-warming thing. This keeps up, I won’t need the snow.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Moore of the James
Hi all. I've been battling a nasty cold this week and so have kept all non-sleeping activities to a minimum. While stuck in bed, I did manage to finally read the February issue of "North of the James" that has a lengthy profile of Steve Moore in it. Steve's story is really fascinating. NOTJ doesn't have a web presence that I could find so if you want to read it you probably have to look in those racks outside the grocery stores. Hopefully the February issues aren't all gone by now.
'Amadeus' opens this weekend as well as 'The Chosen' at the JCC and 'Glass Managerie' at Theatre VCU. If I can stop making sounds like I'm coughing up a lung, I'm going to get to Children of a Lesser God this weekend.
I have a warm spot in my heart for 'Glass Managerie' because as part of the only kind-of acting class I ever took, I worked on a scene from that show. It's a great play and I believe I single-handedly sucked all of the greatness out of it during my scene.
'Amadeus' opens this weekend as well as 'The Chosen' at the JCC and 'Glass Managerie' at Theatre VCU. If I can stop making sounds like I'm coughing up a lung, I'm going to get to Children of a Lesser God this weekend.
I have a warm spot in my heart for 'Glass Managerie' because as part of the only kind-of acting class I ever took, I worked on a scene from that show. It's a great play and I believe I single-handedly sucked all of the greatness out of it during my scene.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Style online
Reviews hit the Style site big-time today. Here are links to reviews of "Altar Boyz," "Children's Letters to God," and "Sideways Stories from Wayside School."
And yes, for those who have already asked me, Cooper is 8 years old, not five. But hey, what's a few years here or there? ;->
And yes, for those who have already asked me, Cooper is 8 years old, not five. But hey, what's a few years here or there? ;->
Monday, February 09, 2009
Other Worlds
News from other realms of popular entertainment has my emotions all over the place. I just read that Billy Powell died at the end of last month. Powell, who played for Lynyrd Skynyrd for decades, was the best rock-n-roll pianist bar none and I will now feel a small twinge of sadness whenever I hear one of his killer licks in those old Skynyrd classics.
On the complete other end of the spectrum, I also read today that Shawn Johnson, that peppy gymnast whose positive and unpretentious attitude I found inspiring during the Olympics, will be the youngest contestant ever to appear on “Dancing with the Stars.” So that should be fun.
And the whole Chris Brown / Rihanna thing is just weird and disturbing. Brown is the pretty much the only contemporary artist who has emerged in the past 5 years whose concert I’ve been to, and, from what I saw, he’s a pretty phenomenal entertainer. I’ll be disappointed if he has fallen down the tunnel of “troubled teenage star.”
Just a little break from the “all theater, all the time” format. Back to our regular programming tomorrow!
On the complete other end of the spectrum, I also read today that Shawn Johnson, that peppy gymnast whose positive and unpretentious attitude I found inspiring during the Olympics, will be the youngest contestant ever to appear on “Dancing with the Stars.” So that should be fun.
And the whole Chris Brown / Rihanna thing is just weird and disturbing. Brown is the pretty much the only contemporary artist who has emerged in the past 5 years whose concert I’ve been to, and, from what I saw, he’s a pretty phenomenal entertainer. I’ll be disappointed if he has fallen down the tunnel of “troubled teenage star.”
Just a little break from the “all theater, all the time” format. Back to our regular programming tomorrow!
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Review-a-palooza
In case you missed them in the Sunday paper, here are links to reviews of AART's "African American Trailblazers" and "Children of a Lesser God" at the Barksdale. Tomorrow, expecting reviews to show up in the T-D for "Children's Letters to God" and maybe a couple on Style's website as well. I'll update this post when they show up.
UPDATE: CLTG link included now. Both the print and online versions have the funky thing with R. Cooper's name. I had always wondered if the middle-name-as-first-name thing would ever be an issue...never realized it would cause formatting problems. Nice review just the same.
UPDATE: CLTG link included now. Both the print and online versions have the funky thing with R. Cooper's name. I had always wondered if the middle-name-as-first-name thing would ever be an issue...never realized it would cause formatting problems. Nice review just the same.
First
Have you ever seen on heavily trafficked websites when someone posts a comment that just says “First” after an article is published, I guess to just stake their claim as the uber-geek who happened to get there first? It’s pretty annoying, IMHO.
So I’m going to be the annoying critic who posts “First” about “Children’s Letters to God,” since there is no way I could write a review for publication about this show. The show features a cast of five wonderfully talented kids, one of whom happens to be my son. So clearly I cannot be impartial when it comes to this show, not as much because of the actor who shares my last name but more because of the other kids in the cast. These boys and girls worked incredibly hard, had their already substantial skills amplified by the direction of Jimmy Hicks and Chase Kniffen, and are just nice kids besides being great on stage. I wouldn't be able to write a negative thing about any of them even if I tried.
Honestly, in cases like this, I tend to be more critical of my own, flinching at the nearly flubbed line or the slightly off note more distinctly than the average viewer. So the only thing I’m going to say about the young master Timberline is that I’m incredibly proud of him and his dedication to doing well in his role. It’s not often that a father has the opportunity or the honor to be impressed by the work ethic of his pre-adolescent son. I’ll let others analyze whether in the end he succeeds in his efforts or not.
But I will say this, in a cast that is uniformly excellent, Mackenzie Mercer consistently surprises me with her talent. Perhaps it’s due partially to having seen Sean, Lillie and Eric in other shows and knowing how good they are. But from the first line in the first song, “In the beginning…” the clear tone and unwavering strength of Mackenzie’s voice is just captivating. She’s like one of those people who you hear amidst the dozens of lame “American Idol” try-outs and go, “wow, this is someone with real talent.” And for a teenager to have the poise and clarity to make her role (that of a somewhat love-struck girl) real and not cliché impresses me a great deal.
And one last thing: for people who are writing off CLTG as “a kid’s play,” I would strongly encourage you to reconsider. Personally, I think it’s a show in the same league as Stage 1’s last offering, “tick, tick…Boom!” in terms of the issues it raises, the quality of the songs, and the sheer entertainment value of the evening. And it’s got a slew of laugh-out-loud funny moments. If you like musical theater, don’t miss this show. And don’t mind me: I’ll be the one flinching in the back.
So I’m going to be the annoying critic who posts “First” about “Children’s Letters to God,” since there is no way I could write a review for publication about this show. The show features a cast of five wonderfully talented kids, one of whom happens to be my son. So clearly I cannot be impartial when it comes to this show, not as much because of the actor who shares my last name but more because of the other kids in the cast. These boys and girls worked incredibly hard, had their already substantial skills amplified by the direction of Jimmy Hicks and Chase Kniffen, and are just nice kids besides being great on stage. I wouldn't be able to write a negative thing about any of them even if I tried.
Honestly, in cases like this, I tend to be more critical of my own, flinching at the nearly flubbed line or the slightly off note more distinctly than the average viewer. So the only thing I’m going to say about the young master Timberline is that I’m incredibly proud of him and his dedication to doing well in his role. It’s not often that a father has the opportunity or the honor to be impressed by the work ethic of his pre-adolescent son. I’ll let others analyze whether in the end he succeeds in his efforts or not.
But I will say this, in a cast that is uniformly excellent, Mackenzie Mercer consistently surprises me with her talent. Perhaps it’s due partially to having seen Sean, Lillie and Eric in other shows and knowing how good they are. But from the first line in the first song, “In the beginning…” the clear tone and unwavering strength of Mackenzie’s voice is just captivating. She’s like one of those people who you hear amidst the dozens of lame “American Idol” try-outs and go, “wow, this is someone with real talent.” And for a teenager to have the poise and clarity to make her role (that of a somewhat love-struck girl) real and not cliché impresses me a great deal.
And one last thing: for people who are writing off CLTG as “a kid’s play,” I would strongly encourage you to reconsider. Personally, I think it’s a show in the same league as Stage 1’s last offering, “tick, tick…Boom!” in terms of the issues it raises, the quality of the songs, and the sheer entertainment value of the evening. And it’s got a slew of laugh-out-loud funny moments. If you like musical theater, don’t miss this show. And don’t mind me: I’ll be the one flinching in the back.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Insurgency
After ruminating for over a week, I’ve concluded that I can’t posit anything even resembling answers to the broken LORT business model. I’m frankly too far removed from the details of how it works (or doesn’t work) to know why it’s broken or whether there is any realistic hope of fixing it. My feeling though is that there is more than a whiff of the same scent that dogs Detroit and the auto industry about LORT, that is, a sense that something fundamental needs to change or the whole structure might come tumbling down.
There has been a lot of spirited debate and well-considered commentary about government support of the arts, but even though the new President seems much more willing to consider greater support of the arts in general, an “arts bailout” as part of the current stimulus package being debated seems to me to be a fading hope. Even with a government boost of some sort, similar to other areas of the economy, I expect things will get worse before they get better.
From my removed perspective, most of the debate about LORT and government support concerns organizations bigger than most of the theaters in Richmond. My sense is that most local companies are not worrying about their shrinking endowments as much as they are concerned about scraping $5-$10K together to put up their next production, or securing a grant or sponsorship so they can pay to have any staff at all.
It gets increasingly hard to be a Pollyanna about this kind of thing but the only way to avoid complete despair about the current economic situation, I think, is to consider the situation an opportunity. And what I see in the troubled economy are opportunities for a new insurgency in local theater. What it would involve – IMHO – would be new and aggressive forms of marketing. Here is a scattering of my ideas:
-- Opposition marketing. There was a stink a few years ago when companies started naming the names of their opposition in their advertising. But personally I think it works and I think theater needs to do the same. But not necessarily with other theater companies but other forms of entertainment. Movie tickets are near $10. Concert tickets can be $100 or more. Theater needs to place itself clearly in that hierarchy. “Why spend $50 to hear a bad band play too loudly when you can be enchanted by a new musical for half the price?”
Another opposition tack would be the local versus regional/national argument. “You’d love to go to Broadway, wouldn’t you? Well, you don’t have to spend the money. We have Broadway caliber theater right here!”
-- Cooperation and partnership. While I think theaters need to be place themselves in opposition to other forms of entertainment, they need to work more cooperatively with other theaters. Joint ventures double and triple the reach of a theater into new audiences. And all of the local colleges, universities, and high schools have theater programs. You don’t think they’d love to have more visiting artists, more workshops, more interaction with working professionals in the theater world? I think they would.
-- New media. I think theaters are way behind the curve in terms of utilizing new media to get the word out about local theater. I’ve been turning the idea around about doing a weekly podcast about Richmond theater for months. Why isn’t anyone in the community doing this? WRIR has “Wordy Birds” and Tim Bowring’s show about local artists. Why is no one arranging a meeting between someone with a mellifluous voice like John Porter and a local high school’s drama program and saying, let’s do a weekly podcast and try to get it on WRIR? At least.
And video / YouTube. Is it just my impression or do theater people have some aversion to video? Yes, I grant that a video of good live theater can’t do it justice but it can sure whet someone’s appetite. Hell, movies these days will give you almost the entire movie in a one-minute clip. And people still go see the film. A snippet of a musical posted on YouTube with links mailed out to everyone on Facebook and/or through their Constant Contact list would do a lot more to generate excitement about a production than current print / email efforts, IMHO.
The latest unemployment figures just came out and they aren’t good. Times are going to be tough for a while. Survival during the next year or two is going to be tough. But the theater people I know are creative, hard-working and persistent. I would hope that some of them (some of you!) will find the opportunities buried in the current heap of bad news.
There has been a lot of spirited debate and well-considered commentary about government support of the arts, but even though the new President seems much more willing to consider greater support of the arts in general, an “arts bailout” as part of the current stimulus package being debated seems to me to be a fading hope. Even with a government boost of some sort, similar to other areas of the economy, I expect things will get worse before they get better.
From my removed perspective, most of the debate about LORT and government support concerns organizations bigger than most of the theaters in Richmond. My sense is that most local companies are not worrying about their shrinking endowments as much as they are concerned about scraping $5-$10K together to put up their next production, or securing a grant or sponsorship so they can pay to have any staff at all.
It gets increasingly hard to be a Pollyanna about this kind of thing but the only way to avoid complete despair about the current economic situation, I think, is to consider the situation an opportunity. And what I see in the troubled economy are opportunities for a new insurgency in local theater. What it would involve – IMHO – would be new and aggressive forms of marketing. Here is a scattering of my ideas:
-- Opposition marketing. There was a stink a few years ago when companies started naming the names of their opposition in their advertising. But personally I think it works and I think theater needs to do the same. But not necessarily with other theater companies but other forms of entertainment. Movie tickets are near $10. Concert tickets can be $100 or more. Theater needs to place itself clearly in that hierarchy. “Why spend $50 to hear a bad band play too loudly when you can be enchanted by a new musical for half the price?”
Another opposition tack would be the local versus regional/national argument. “You’d love to go to Broadway, wouldn’t you? Well, you don’t have to spend the money. We have Broadway caliber theater right here!”
-- Cooperation and partnership. While I think theaters need to be place themselves in opposition to other forms of entertainment, they need to work more cooperatively with other theaters. Joint ventures double and triple the reach of a theater into new audiences. And all of the local colleges, universities, and high schools have theater programs. You don’t think they’d love to have more visiting artists, more workshops, more interaction with working professionals in the theater world? I think they would.
-- New media. I think theaters are way behind the curve in terms of utilizing new media to get the word out about local theater. I’ve been turning the idea around about doing a weekly podcast about Richmond theater for months. Why isn’t anyone in the community doing this? WRIR has “Wordy Birds” and Tim Bowring’s show about local artists. Why is no one arranging a meeting between someone with a mellifluous voice like John Porter and a local high school’s drama program and saying, let’s do a weekly podcast and try to get it on WRIR? At least.
And video / YouTube. Is it just my impression or do theater people have some aversion to video? Yes, I grant that a video of good live theater can’t do it justice but it can sure whet someone’s appetite. Hell, movies these days will give you almost the entire movie in a one-minute clip. And people still go see the film. A snippet of a musical posted on YouTube with links mailed out to everyone on Facebook and/or through their Constant Contact list would do a lot more to generate excitement about a production than current print / email efforts, IMHO.
The latest unemployment figures just came out and they aren’t good. Times are going to be tough for a while. Survival during the next year or two is going to be tough. But the theater people I know are creative, hard-working and persistent. I would hope that some of them (some of you!) will find the opportunities buried in the current heap of bad news.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Truth in Advertising
The darling young cast of “Children’s Letters to God” was pictured in the T-D today, which warms my proud papa heart. But I’m wondering whether the kind folks over at the Acts of Faith festival are happy about the indication that the show is part of their event. My understanding is that the show is not part of the festival and the T-D would know that if they just read my articles! I’m curious about how that mistake got into print or whether somehow the status of the show has changed??? Not curious enough to make a phone call, mind you, but still curious all the same.
I’m a day behind the news cycle that trumpeted Al Pacino’s casting in a screen adaptation of “King Lear.” I’ve certainly enjoyed Al in the past (though nothing that I can remember since “Sea of Love”) but I don’t see how this adaptation is going to compete with the Anthony Hopkins version that has a particularly knock-out trio of actresses playing Lear’s daughters.
This weekend is chock full of openings. There’s the previously mentioned CLTG plus CLTG’s titular doppelganger, “Children of a Lesser God,” over at the Barksdale plus AART’s return to the scene with “African American Trailblazers.” This last one is only playing for 6 performances over two weekends so don’t dawdle if you want to check it out.
I’m a day behind the news cycle that trumpeted Al Pacino’s casting in a screen adaptation of “King Lear.” I’ve certainly enjoyed Al in the past (though nothing that I can remember since “Sea of Love”) but I don’t see how this adaptation is going to compete with the Anthony Hopkins version that has a particularly knock-out trio of actresses playing Lear’s daughters.
This weekend is chock full of openings. There’s the previously mentioned CLTG plus CLTG’s titular doppelganger, “Children of a Lesser God,” over at the Barksdale plus AART’s return to the scene with “African American Trailblazers.” This last one is only playing for 6 performances over two weekends so don’t dawdle if you want to check it out.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Gender Jam
It's tech week for "Children's Letters to God" so life at our house is a bit on the over-wrought side, impeding the blogging process. I'll try to break through that tomorrow.
For now, check out Style for my ramble on the more female-centric shows coming up in the next few months.
For now, check out Style for my ramble on the more female-centric shows coming up in the next few months.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Oh, and also…
I should mention that arguably the biggest living legend in musical theater is going to be in town tonight. Am I going to be there? I am moderately ashamed to say, no. The grueling middle school basketball schedule will be sucking up all of my spare time tonight. I’ll have to plan better for the next living legend who comes through…
Sideways Mice
Local stages are hopping! One indication is the two reviews in today’s paper, one for “Sideways Stories” at Theatre IV and for “Of Mice and Men” at the Mill. I brought my whole crew to “Stories” on Friday and will have a review in the next day or two. As is becoming an opening night tradition at Theatre IV, my youngest fell asleep in my arms as everyone else made their way through the autograph line. Luckily for me, this time there was no one around taking pictures so the moment wasn’t captured for posterity (and so won’t show up on Theatre IV’s website).
Potentially lost in the midst of all the mainstage openings around town is the debut of “The Penny Executive” at the Science Museum. This is professional theater for $3 people – can’t beat the price! Particularly if the weather turns cold again (which it’s bound to do), I’d suggest wandering over to the Museum sometime and catching that show. I’m planning on it.
Potentially lost in the midst of all the mainstage openings around town is the debut of “The Penny Executive” at the Science Museum. This is professional theater for $3 people – can’t beat the price! Particularly if the weather turns cold again (which it’s bound to do), I’d suggest wandering over to the Museum sometime and catching that show. I’m planning on it.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sound Off
Ms. Haubenstock’s review of RTP’s “Altar Boyz” showed up in the T-D today and apparently, as with “Cuckoo’s Nest” when it opened a few weeks ago, the sound quality proved to be a bit of an issue. A church can be a challenging space (just ask the folks at Richmond Shakespeare) so I hope they get whatever problems there may be worked out because otherwise the show seems pretty darn promising.
Maybe it’s fate that RTP’s show is the most recent opening to talk about because I find myself pretty het up these days about the whole issue of gay rights. I try to keep “politics” per se out of this space but they can’t help but sneak in at times. And besides, while the gay rights issue has been politicized, I don’t consider it fundamentally political. It’s about biology and privacy and humanity and acceptance and about a lot of other things, but I don’t think it should be about politics.
Anyway, I caught an interview with former pastor Larry Haggard that was kind of the tipping point. Why is this guy so terrified of admitting his homosexuality? Perhaps, as he admits, because being gay in some circles would be worse than being a murderer? That’s just wrong. (To CNN’s credit, they also interviewed someone to contradict the idiotic and damaging mythology that Haggard propagates.)
To me, Haggard’s attitude is just a symptom of the Christian arrogance and hypocrisy that bubbles under the surface of our society, something that I’ve also been a little prickly about lately. Since when did “Christian” become synonymous with “good?” Are good “Christian” values fundamentally different than good “Jewish” values or good “Muslim” values? Or even good “human” values?
What then kills me is when I overhear a conversation between some of the overtly and devoutly Christian people I work with talking about issues like immigration or social programs. The Bible has literally thousands of references and prescriptions about poverty. But even those who proclaim a Biblical basis for their prejudicial attitude about homosexuality can only find a half-dozen passages that refer to it at all. Why is it that gay issues spur their anxiety and immigrants who have the audacity to want a slice of the fat American pie get them all het up, but persistent poverty does not? During this season of "Acts of Faith" maybe this is an issue that could get talked about (as I hope it did when "Little Dog Laughed" was part of the festival last year.)
I have many gay friends and at least a couple openly gay relatives and I find it shameful that they are still discriminated against so overtly in what some people still insist on calling our “Christian” nation. (I should also add that I know many compassionate, amazing, and devout Christians who support gay rights as well. Don't mean to be hatin on all the Christians, just the hypocritical ones.)
OK, rant over. Oh, and one last confidential aside to someone named Kris who submitted a comment here a couple of days ago: your point may be totally valid but your comment falls too squarely in the category of kicking someone when they're down which is why I didn’t post it. Sorry about that.
Update: If I'm going to do such a bitchy little rant, I figure I should try to lighten it up a bit. Here's a funny little back-n-forth with Stephen Colbert and Dan Savage, talking about Prop 8. Enjoy.
Maybe it’s fate that RTP’s show is the most recent opening to talk about because I find myself pretty het up these days about the whole issue of gay rights. I try to keep “politics” per se out of this space but they can’t help but sneak in at times. And besides, while the gay rights issue has been politicized, I don’t consider it fundamentally political. It’s about biology and privacy and humanity and acceptance and about a lot of other things, but I don’t think it should be about politics.
Anyway, I caught an interview with former pastor Larry Haggard that was kind of the tipping point. Why is this guy so terrified of admitting his homosexuality? Perhaps, as he admits, because being gay in some circles would be worse than being a murderer? That’s just wrong. (To CNN’s credit, they also interviewed someone to contradict the idiotic and damaging mythology that Haggard propagates.)
To me, Haggard’s attitude is just a symptom of the Christian arrogance and hypocrisy that bubbles under the surface of our society, something that I’ve also been a little prickly about lately. Since when did “Christian” become synonymous with “good?” Are good “Christian” values fundamentally different than good “Jewish” values or good “Muslim” values? Or even good “human” values?
What then kills me is when I overhear a conversation between some of the overtly and devoutly Christian people I work with talking about issues like immigration or social programs. The Bible has literally thousands of references and prescriptions about poverty. But even those who proclaim a Biblical basis for their prejudicial attitude about homosexuality can only find a half-dozen passages that refer to it at all. Why is it that gay issues spur their anxiety and immigrants who have the audacity to want a slice of the fat American pie get them all het up, but persistent poverty does not? During this season of "Acts of Faith" maybe this is an issue that could get talked about (as I hope it did when "Little Dog Laughed" was part of the festival last year.)
I have many gay friends and at least a couple openly gay relatives and I find it shameful that they are still discriminated against so overtly in what some people still insist on calling our “Christian” nation. (I should also add that I know many compassionate, amazing, and devout Christians who support gay rights as well. Don't mean to be hatin on all the Christians, just the hypocritical ones.)
OK, rant over. Oh, and one last confidential aside to someone named Kris who submitted a comment here a couple of days ago: your point may be totally valid but your comment falls too squarely in the category of kicking someone when they're down which is why I didn’t post it. Sorry about that.
Update: If I'm going to do such a bitchy little rant, I figure I should try to lighten it up a bit. Here's a funny little back-n-forth with Stephen Colbert and Dan Savage, talking about Prop 8. Enjoy.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sad Goodbye
I opened my email this morning to this sad news:
"Richmond's Only Improv Theatre Says Goodbye
ComedySportz Improv Theatre Ending Its 8 Year Run
ComedySportz Improv Theatre announces that they are ending their 8 year run at the Dumbarton Square Shopping Center. The doors to Richmond's only Improv Theatre opened in June of 2001 and have been making people laugh weekly with their anchor show ComedySportz. At this point due to many different reasons it is time to close our theatre. We hope to continue making people laugh again in the future, but at this time we must say goodbye.
ComedySportz Improv Theatre will continue with weekly performances until March 28, 2009. We encourage our Loyal Fans to come out and celebrate in laughter with us as we say good bye."
I'm sure this was a hard decision to make. Best wishes to Christine and her crew out on Staples Mill.
"Richmond's Only Improv Theatre Says Goodbye
ComedySportz Improv Theatre Ending Its 8 Year Run
ComedySportz Improv Theatre announces that they are ending their 8 year run at the Dumbarton Square Shopping Center. The doors to Richmond's only Improv Theatre opened in June of 2001 and have been making people laugh weekly with their anchor show ComedySportz. At this point due to many different reasons it is time to close our theatre. We hope to continue making people laugh again in the future, but at this time we must say goodbye.
ComedySportz Improv Theatre will continue with weekly performances until March 28, 2009. We encourage our Loyal Fans to come out and celebrate in laughter with us as we say good bye."
I'm sure this was a hard decision to make. Best wishes to Christine and her crew out on Staples Mill.
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