May 3, 2019 -- Volume VI, Issue 15

The image to the left is from one of our favorite mastheads, originally appearing atop the 1923 paper published by John Mitchell, who, four years earlier, had become the first African American owner of our historic November Theatre. We recall this masthead as we herald the changes that are coming to the less illustrative Good News Friday masthead. This week, “from the Desk of Bruce Miller” has been added to the tagline. Next week, the nonprofit publishers will be credited as Virginia Rep and Chesterfield Cultural Arts Foundation. Come July 5, that order will change and CCAF will move to the top. We know this may be confusing and seem a little like navel-gazing. Here’s the method to our madness. When Bruce Miller was Artistic Director at Virginia Rep, he started Good News Friday as a way to keep Board member Phyllis Galanti in the loop as she wrestled with pre-leukemia. Phillis loved Virginia Rep, and when her focus had to be directed elsewhere, Bruce wanted to send her a handfull of good news each week, concise enough to read in five minutes. After Phyllis’s death, Bruce continued with GNF, sending it to all donors and participating artists. When Bruce left his job as Artistic Dir, his voice was no longer the main voice of Virginia Rep. New directors, both artistic and communication, established their legit voices. Good News Friday disappeared, and then, transitioned to the voice of Virginia Rep’s Community Health + Wellness program. Now Bruce is transitioning to his new job as Executive Director at Chesterfield Cultural Arts Foundation, while maintaining his leadership of CH+W. So it’s time for GNF also to transition. We hope you’ll stay in the loop. 

Two times a year, I head to NYC for a 5-day busman’s holiday. I visit my son, Curt, his girlfriend, Tristen, and the New York theatre scene. It’s the best way I know to stay current with family and career. I often hear from friends asking for tips on travelling to New York. I write these reports to share what I know. I head up Tues morning at 8:25 from the Staples Mill Station, train 84 Northeast Regional, coach, $82, senior citizen. I pack a lunch. The train arrives at NYC Penn Station at around 2:40. It takes me about 10 minutes to get off the train and on to 8^th Ave, and about 25 minutes to walk down 8^th to 48^th, where I turn left and walk the half block to the Belvedere Hotel. The Belvedere is the nicest of the cheap or the cheapest of the nice. It’s our favorite. Other choices are the Edison and the Row. Because the Belvedere is west of 8^th Ave, it’s a little quieter. And still less than 600 steps (2 ½ blocks) from the TKTS Booth. I just booked our room for Jan 2020. Because I’m booking early and Jan is off-season, our stay will cost a nightly rate of $123.12 + $34.45 “resort fee” + $23.66 tax = $905.15 for 5 nights. It will be double that in a couple months. I pay the extra charge that allows me to cancel. I can cancel with no penalty anytime up till the day before arrival. They don’t bill my credit card until I arrive. I book through hotels.com, because after I book ten nights, they give me one night free.   

Virginia Rep’s new project—to discover how best to talk with 5^th through 8^th graders about the growing crisis of human trafficking—has made it to the final round of Impact 100, a group of women who annually donate $200,000 to worthy programs that transform our community. This year, they will be awarding one $100,000 grant and spending the 2^nd $100 K on a project of their own. Virginia Rep is among the five finalists. Our partners are RVA’s three most active nonprofits in the human trafficking field: Safe Harbor, Richmond Justice Initiative, and ImPACT Virginia. We’re working also with the VA Attorney General’s Office, VA Dept. of Education, and US Dept. of Homeland Security. Human trafficking is the 2^nd largest criminal enterprise in the world, banking $150 billion a year. Over 100,000 children are trafficked in the US annually, with the average age of entrapment being 13. Due to our location at the intersections of I 95 and I 64, Richmond is ranked in the 20 worst cities for trafficking. Just as we did when we created Hugs and Kisses in 1983, we will be spending the next year in research and development, determining how best to talk to Virginia’s children about this issue, and establishing a safety net that protects children who choose to come forward following a performance to disclose their personal victimization. If you are involved in Impact 100, we truly will appreciate your support.

Last Sat was our Sensory Friendly performance for family audiences coming to see Pinocchio. For each show on our Children’s Season, we stage a weekday morning performance for school groups of kids on the autism spectrum. We also stage a weekend matinee for families with sensory-sensitive children. In keeping with Best Practices that recognize that children with special needs are also burdened with excessive special expenses, these shows are presented free-of-charge. Significant adjustments are made to the show to ensure that these children can fully enjoy the experience. This nice note came in this week from a mom: “Hi there. My family attended the Willow Lawn Children’s Theater Sensory Friendly performance of Pinocchio this past Saturday. It was wonderful, as usual. I wanted to say thank you again to your theater for providing such an amazing opportunity for families like ours to enjoy live shows. We have had the pleasure of seeing several others in the past and feel so blessed that Anthony is able to fully enjoy the experience of this type of art. He is always absolutely enthralled during the shows, as music and dressing up are two of his loves. I put an old-fashioned thank you note in the mail this morning to the cast and crew at Willow Lawn, but wanted to reach out to you, too. Here is a picture of Anthony meeting the cast on Saturday. Star struck!”

Readers loved getting the skinny on Edward Pierce. Many of them were unaware of both his accomplishments and his RVA connection. Edward himself sent the photo of his Virginia Rep Rainmaker set, pictured below. Thanks, Eddie! B Hamilton wrote, “I loved your article about Pinocchio’s ‘probiscus.’ Never having excelled in biology, I read the whole piece initially thinking you were talking about a kneecap injury. Very confused until I looked things up. ‘You say probiscus, I say patella. Let’s call the whole thing off.’” Janet Jorgensen wrote a very nice note urging us not to be worried about our alleged “digs.” Noting our reference to Trump’s denial of climate change, she wrote, “It is out there, everywhere, our government agencies are warning us of climate change and telling us how we can still make a difference if we start NOW! I’m sending you a HUG and thanking you for all you do. And for listening.” Lastly, a supporter who asked not to be identified wrote, “I love Mr. Gallagher’s note about the prisoners who attended Sister Act. But aren’t you worried this program may turn off other audience members who would prefer NOT to sit next to an ex-con?” Respectfully, no, we’re not. We’re proud of our audience. We respect you and follow your lead. We believe our efforts to be inclusive, to find the right balance between compassion and commercialism, reflect YOUR values.