Virginia Repertory Theatre | View in browser
November 5, 2021 • Volume VII, Number 7
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
--Winston Churchill (Nov 30, 1874 – Jan 24, 1965) served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during WWII, from 1940 to 1945, and again from 1951 to 1955. A Nobel Prize-winning writer and historian, Churchill was of mixed English and American parentage.
It’s official! A revival of Neil Simon’s classic comedy Barefoot in the Park will bring live theatre back to Hanover Tavern, Dec 8 – Jan 9! Four favorites are returning from the critically acclaimed production that reopened our 18th century home in 2006 following its restoration: Joy Williams and Joe Pabst, plus director Jan Guarino and designer Terrie Powers. Grey Garrett is joining the cast as our new leading lady. As a special celebratory component of Barefoot 2021, we’re setting this new production during the holiday season. Our box office (804 282-2620) is open now for your subscription and single ticket needs. Mark Persinger is ready to manage your group sales (804 783-1688 ext 1118). The restaurant also is taking reservations (804 537-5050). Since this merry return will be so filled with good cheer, we expect business to be brisk. Please call today or click HERE to reserve your place in the fun!
As RVA’s flagship professional theatre, we’re committed to being the theatre YOU in the community want us to be. To help achieve this, we engage in an inclusive strategic planning process every five years. We’ll begin our ninth such process this winter. We invite you to participate in one of our focus groups, letting us know how we can do a better job from your perspective. We’re now assembling 16 groups, and we invite you to sign up for one of them: African American community, Artists (actors, directors, designers, etc), Arts District neighbors, Business/Foundation donors, Cadence subscribers, Children’s Theatre subscribers, Educators, Group sales leaders, Hanover subscribers, High school theatre enthusiasts, Individual donors, Latino community, Seniors, Signature Season subscribers, University theatre students, and Volunteers. To join the process, please email your name, contact info, and preferred focus group to jjpeterson@virginiarep.org. We look forward to hearing from and working with YOU!
A costumed trio from Virginia Rep’s 2019 musical The Wiz joined forces with civic leaders to bring North Side neighbors together during their annual HarvestFest celebration last Sunday. First African Baptist and Trinity Baptist, located a block apart in Northern Barton Heights, called Virginia Rep seeking help in developing this year’s HarvestFest theme of The Wiz, selected to appeal equally to children and adults. “Our neighborhood is experiencing significant gentrification,” stated Virginia Rep All-Star and First African member Desirée Roots, who came costumed as Addaperle, accompanied by William Anderson (the Lion) and Jessi Johnson Peterson (Glinda). “We wanted to bring people together to unite our community. What better tool to use than theatre?!” Church members created a yellow brick road setting, and the Virginia Rep actors handed out candy, sang, and danced the afternoon away to everyone’s delight. As always, we were proud to partner in this inclusive community celebration.
S Renton
wrote: “You say that the 1953 founding of Barksdale makes Virginia Rep ‘the
fourth longest-standing nonprofit company in America’s regional theatre
movement.’ How can that be?” In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, commercial professional theatres could be found in many major
American cities, including Richmond. The
Lucille La Verne Company began as the resident stock company in our historic
November Theatre in 1911. Nearly all of
these professional companies closed as the soon-to-explode film industry kicked
in between 1912 and 1916. The Little
Theatre Movement (LTM) began at that time in response to this trend. Scores of new live theatre companies, many of
which were nonprofessional, nearly all of which performed in “little” venues,
sprang up nationwide during the LTM. During the 1940s, most of those companies gave rise to the
nonprofessional Community Theatres we know today. To read more click HERE.
We encourage your comments, corrections and feedback. Please email your thoughts to bmiller@virginiarep.org.
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