Yes it's a little chilly outside - but Pride & Prejudice will warm your heart (especially with a VCU Faculty & Staff BOGO tonight!!)

This is what we heard from our audience the first week:

"The costumes were simply gorgeous"

"It was surprisingly FUNNY!"

"The lighting was gorgeous - really enhanced every scene."

"I loved this story and I fell in love with Elizabeth."

Then there's always Mr. Darcy….

Take a look at this great little youtube. 

Thanks Sophie and Andrew!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPJeFQZFbAo

Feb.19-21 at 7:30 pm  

Feb. 15 & 22 at 3:00 pm

General Admission- $25.00 • Seniors, VCU Faculty & Staff- $20.00

VCU Students with Valid ID- $10.00 

Other Students with Valid ID- $15.00 

VCU Alumni Members -$15.00 - show membership cards at the Box Office

vcutheatre.showclix.com 

Box Office: 804-828-6026 • theatretix@vcu.edu 

Raymond Hodges Theatre, W.E. Singleton Performing Arts Center

922 Park Ave., Richmond, VA 23284 • arts.vcu.edu/theatre

VCU FACULTY & STAFF  BOGO NIGHT 

Thursday, FEB. 19

Buy one ticket with VCU ID and get one ticket for FREE!

Save the Date! High School Theatre Design & Technology Exposition - April 25, 2015

Design, Technology and Craft Exposition & Competitions! 

Scenic, Costume, Lighting, Sound & Makeup Design 

as well as

Costume Construction, Scenic Construction/ Painting, 

Props, Stage Management

A full day of Workshops such as:

Makeup  Model Making

Costume Design  

Costume Construction 

Lighting Design 

Props  

Projections

Stage Management

Portfolio Development &

Applying to Universities 

Your work will be critiqued by our professional

designers including Broadways' Toni-Leslie James!

 

Lunch with the Design Faculty and 

Theatre VCU students

Exhibition of award-winning 

Theatre VCU student designs

Attend an evening performance of 

Frankenstein: Dawn of a Monster

$30.00 per student for entire day

Additional

$10.00 per student for  

Frankenstein: Dawn of a Monster

Send your Application in BEFORE March 15 and  attend 

Frankenstein: Dawn of a Monster for FREE!

For More Information

Contact:

Ron Keller (rkeller@vcu.edu)

or call

804-828-1514

Be a part of the first HS Exposition at Theatre VCU!

Man of La Mancha comes to Channel 6

This was SUCH a great experience yesterday at Virginia This Morning on Richmond's Channel 6 (CBS)

Go here: http://wtvr.com/2014/11/13/the-epic-tale-of-don-quixote-comes-to-life-on-the-theatre-vcu-stage/

Check out James Taylor (Don Quoxite) mahlon Raoufi (Sancho) and Emily Adler & Alex Burkart (the Horses) singing and galloping their way through "I Don Quixote" - SO much fun!

Don't miss this show - it's one of the last Golden Age musicals -

winner of 5 Tony Awards - and the Theatre VCU production features a magnificent set, exquisite costumes and the beautiful voices of our students. Plus Don Quixote is played by James Taylor, known for his international operatic work. He brings not only his incredible vocal talent, but also his true understanding of Cervantes magical character…. James Taylor IS Don Quixote!

There is still a GroupOn deal out there…. shhh… don't tell anyone, but it's:
https://www.groupon.com/deals/gl-vcu-dept-of-theater-2012-1-4

Come downtown and support the work of our artists - it's well worth the trip.

Two more weeks of Man of La Mancha!!

MAN OF LA MANCHA IS ABOUT TO ENTER IT'S SECOND WEEK! 
Audiences are raving!
Here's what John Porter (Theatre Reviewer of WCVE) has to say:

If you need a reason to head over and see one of the great musicals of the American theatre  currently playing at VCU trust me, MAN OF LA MANCHA is well worth the effort if only to admire Ron Keller’s towering set. In an era of tiny stages with rotating turntables, this set rises a good thirty feet in the air with a staircase that lowers out of the ceiling like the hand of God passing judgment or deliverance to the actors below.

Since most theatre goers don’t just go to be amazed by the set, let’s look at some of the other reasons to enjoy the play. MAN OF LA MANCHA is a play within a play detailing the life and adventures of Don Quixote de La Mancha – a chivalrous knight roaming the land some 300 years after knights stopped serving king and country.

As the nobleman knight, James Taylor (not the pop singer) is a commanding presence. In the dual role of Don Miguel de Cervantes and Quixote, he has to move from madness to lucidity and back again. His voice is strong and clear, and his interpretation of the big song, “The Impossible Dream” is a highlight.

Kamaron Carter makes a strong Aldonza – the stable girl who becomes the noblewoman muse of Quixote and is elevated by his adoration.

The rest of the cast takes on multiple roles, most without much of a hitch, and under Patti D’Beck’s direction and choreography handle the varied dance moves well. These characters start off waiting trial – some portray murderers and thieves while others play characters with mental disorders and must move accordingly.

David Leong provides the fight choreography and utilizes stylized movements for one fight to comedic effect, and brutal more realistic movements for another in order to emphasize the horror that Aldonza faces.

Devario D. Simmons’ costumes work very well – showing differences in status, and in the case of Quixote versatility moving him back and forth between his two characters. Michael Jarett’s lights are very good – equal to just about any seen on a professional stage this season. Ben Miller serves as the Musical Director and keeps the music moving very well.

I don’t get out to see University productions as often as I would like. Often they operate on short schedules and are in conflict with professional shows I need to see. However, I may have to reevaluate that policy as invariably I find things that excite me and give me hope for the future of theatre.

Now if we could only offer these talented performers more incentive to stay in Richmond after graduation and continue to grace our stages. Even though there are more and more opportunities to perform, making a living creating the art they love is always going to be a struggle.

Okay, I’ll climb off my soapbox now and get back to MAN OF LA MANCHA. This production will be running through November 23 and is well worth making the journey.

For 88.9 WCVE, I’m John Porter.



Thank you John Porter!!

We have heard such wonderful things from our audience about Man of La Mancha - Don't miss it!

This weekend  - Nov. 13-15 at 7:30 pm and 
Sunday Nov. 16 at 3:00 pm

Next weekend - Nov. 20 - 22 at 7:30 pm and 
Sunday Nov. 23 at 3:00 pm

vcutheatre.showclix.com

Opening Night for Amazing Grace in Chicago!!

WOW!

It was a wonderful night in Chicago for Theatre VCU!

Here's what Paul W. Thompson wrote in Broadway World.com:

"Director Gabriel Barre and music director Joseph Church, guided to no small degree by the willingness of producer Carolyn Rossi Copeland to give Smith’s musico-dramatic vision a chance to live, have crafted a complex and moving piece of theater, with thrilling musical moments, stunning visual imagery and roles that actors would give their eyeteeth to sink their molars into. Passion here takes the form of the struggle to live, to love, to be free, to live in peace in community. These are universal themes, and John Newton’s story lends itself well to this passion and these themes."


He also points out:

"exquisite and sexy costumes by Toni-Leslie James"

And references are made to:

"And it’s a highly physical role (gunfights, fistfights, beatings, dancing, falling overboard, all sort of shirts coming on and off)." (Fight Choreography - our own David Leong & Brad Wilcuts.)

Yep, It was a wonderful night - the pictures tell the story!

Brad Willcuts, Ron Keller, David Leong, Josh Quinn (Assistant Costume Designer - MFA 2012)

Brad Willcuts, Ron Keller, Matt Armentrout (Assistant Wig Designer - BFA 2012), David Leong, Josh Quinn

Brad Willcuts, Ron Keller, Gabriel Barre (Director - Theatre VCU Guest Director 2014), David Leong, Josh Quinn

Brad Willcuts, David Leong, Vince Oddo (Fight Captain)

Kudos for Toni-Leslie James from VCU News!

VCU News just posted a wonderful article about Theatre VCU's very own Toni-Leslie James - Director of Costume Design/Tech.

"James joined Theatre VCU in 2007, and she has eagerly shared her vast experience, as well as the attendant prestige and opportunity, with her students and colleagues during her tenure, including hiring them to work with her on productions."

Illustrated with her work from Amazing Grace (previewing in Chicago right now) and Bull Durham (in previews in Atlanta), the article talks about how she is giving our students and alumni opportunities to work on shows bound for Broadway.

In the article J. Theresa Bush (theatre VCU MFA, 2011) says: 
“She works in the business, and she trains us to do so,” Bush said. “She also has an impeccable eye, a spot-on intuition and 40 years of experience working at full tilt. She is a woman of discerning tastes and has the highest standards for herself and everyone in her sphere, and she has elevated me to a level that I did not know I could reach.”

Go HERE and read the complete article

Thank you Toni!

A Little Support and Love for all Things Theatre VCU

The great weekend of Macbeth!! Do not miss this beautiful show. Go here to see some of the photos. 

Take a look at this wonderful video made by the Commonwealth Times!







There's also Chicago where David Leong (Theatre VCU Chair) and Brad Wilcuts (Theatre VCU grad student) are designing and polishing the fight choreography of
Amazing Grace
and Toni-Leslie James (Theatre VCU, Director of Costume Design/Tech) with her crew of Theatre VCU alumni, is putting the finishing touches on the extraordinary costumes for the of Amazing Grace - the pre-Broadway, world premiere.  Opening October 9th!!

 Here are some great random photos of rehearsal work with Brad in the top photo; David and Brad looking on the sailors to the left; and Brad firing rifles below.

Five days until opening in Chicago! You guys must be exhausted!!

Much goes on…. and on… and on

We've got Man of La Mancha rehearsals starting to percolate - One week in already!

Stage managers  - look at Miss Kat working that ruler.

The cast on the first night of rehearsal. 

Xiolin's costumes are amazing distressed leather 

...take a look at the designer with the armor.

Speaking of Costume Design/Tech…

Lindsay Austria

Toni-Leslie James, head of Costume Design) has been hard at work on two pre-Broadway musical productions slated to open on Broadway in the spring of 2015. Bull Durham and Amazing Grace.

Amazing Grace: A New Musical (music and lyrics by Christopher Smith, book by Smith and Arthur Giron) will have it’s pre-Broadway premiere in Chicago in October. This huge musical has over 160 18^th century costumes. Theatre VCU alumni and current students has been hired to create many of these gorgeous costumes.

Matt Armentrout

The VCU team consists of:

Joshua Quinn – Asst Costume Designer, United Scenic Artists 829 – VCU MFA 2013

Gloria Kim – Costume Illustrator, Shopper, 18^th Century Fan Designer – VCU BFA 2013

Michael Magaraci – Shopper, Men’s 18^th Century Neck Wear Designer - VCU BFA 2012

Neno Russell – Draper, Pattern Maker – Theatre VCU, Director of Costume Technology

Matt Armentrout – Draper Pattern Maker, Asst. Wig Designer, VCU BFA 2012

Theatre VCU current students and alumni have been responsible for the production of 115 Amazing Grace garments. The stitchers include:

Neno Russell

Sophia Choi - VCU BFA 2015

Lindsay Austria - VCU BFA December 2014

Isabela Tavares de Melo  - VCU MFA 2014
Devario Simmons – VCU MFA 2015

Emily Atkins – VCU MFA 2015

Casey Jones – VCU BFA 2016

Willa Piro – VCU BFA 2016

Kiyoshi Shaw – VCU BFA 2014

Anastazia Whittle – VCU BFA 2015

Breanne Levandowshky – VCU BFA 2015

Maura Cravey – VCU Faculty

Also assisting the Theatre VCU Shop Assistants

Grenville Burgess – VCU MFA 2016

Raven Wilkes – VCU BFA 2015

Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Bull Durham has over 150 costumes, the majority of which are shopped. The Bull Durham team has been led by J. Theresa Bush (VCU MFA 2013).

Toni-Leslie James believes in our students!