Another Fantastic Cabaret at the Empire Theatre

Posted by Billy Christopher Maupin

I am often accused of not sharing information early enough, so even though there are a lot of exciting things going on next Friday for First Friday at the Empire, I wanted to start getting the word out about the cabaret that will be playing in the lobby FOR FREE (which seemed to be the big question last time: "How much is the cover?"). FREE ENTERTAINMENT; How cool is that?

We featured an incredibly well-received cabaret for First Friday in September; so well-received, in fact, that we are featuring another next week, with several returning faces/voices and several new ones as well.

This time around Corey Davis (most recently of Stuart Little at Theatre IV and Austin's Bridge at the Firehouse Theatre Project, also to be seen in the upcoming Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter at Theatre IV),

Billy Christopher Maupin (seen in Mr. Marmalade and Austin's Bridge at the Firehouse Theatre Project and earlier this year in Smoke on the Mountain at Barksdale Theatre at Hanover Tavern),

Audrey Snyder (Stuart Little with Theatre IV, Frankenstein Lives! at the Carpenter Science Theatre, Where's Charley? at Barksdale Theatre),

and Chloe Williams (Barksdale Theatre's smash hit production of Mame) will return to the stage.

And the vibrant new voices of Taylor Baltimore (currently rehearsing as Petra in Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's A Little Night Music with Live Arts in Charlottesville),

Catherine Dudley (who just closed as Snowbell in Stuart Little),

Jacquie O'Connor (recently seen in The Full Monty and Scapino! at Barksdale, as well as I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change at Swift Creek Mill Playhouse),

and Jonathan Spivey (Barksdale's Cyrano de Bergerac, numerous performances at the University of Richmond, and a stunning Lady #3 in Paul Deiss' adaptation of The Magic Flute with Theatre IV) will join them.

The upcoming cabaret will feature songs from Cabaret, Chicago, Dreamgirls, Side Show, South Pacific, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and more!

So come check out all the exciting things happening, grab a drink at the cash bar and check out a fine cabaret. Life is, after all, a cabaret, ol' chum. So...(yeah...you're singing it...)

Friday, November 2, starting at 7:30PM at the historic Empire Theatre in Downtown Richmond!

(Pictured at right, from September's cabaret are Robin Harris-Jones, Billy Christopher Maupin, Russell Rowland, Janine Sears, Andrea Ross, Audrey Snyder, Corey Davis, Chloe Williams, and Keydron Dunn.)

(NOTE: Headshots appear in order of mention and not necessarily adjacent to name.)

Theatre Calendar - Sept 30 - Oct. 7, 2007

Posted by Bruce Miller

Here are the highlights of what’s happening at Theatre IV and Barksdale Theatre this week.

Sunday, Sept 30:
in performance -
Barksdale's The Member of the Wedding (Willow Lawn - 2 pm)
Barksdale's Deathtrap (Hanover Tavern - 2 pm)

Monday, Oct 1:
in performance -
Hugs and Kisses (Richmond schools)
Tales as Tall as the Sky (Waynesboro schools)
The True Story of Pocahontas (Hanover schools)
in rehearsal -
Jack and the Beanstalk (tour)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (tour)
The Song of Mulan (tour)
Stuart Little (Empire – Family Playhouse)
class -
St. Andrew’s School

Tuesday, Oct 2:
in performance -
Hugs and Kisses (Richmond schools)
Tales as Tall as the Sky (Halifax schools)
The True Story of Pocahontas (Prince William schools)
in rehearsal -
Jack and the Beanstalk (tour)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (tour)
The Song of Mulan (tour)
Stuart Little (Empire – Family Playhouse)

Wednesday, Oct 3:
in performance -
Barksdale's The Member of the Wedding (Willow Lawn - 2 pm and 8 pm)
Barksdale's Deathtrap (Hanover Tavern - 8 pm)
Hugs and Kisses (Bon Air Presbyterian - 7 pm)
Hugs and Kisses (New Kent schools)
Tales as Tall as the Sky (Patrick schools)
The True Story of Pocahontas (Bridgewater College)
in rehearsal -
Jack and the Beanstalk (tour)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (tour)
The Song of Mulan (tour)
Stuart Little (Empire – Family Playhouse)
meeting -
Bright Lights High School Internship Program
Oliver Hill Project

Thursday, Oct 4:
in performance -
Barksdale's The Member of the Wedding (Willow Lawn - 8 pm)
Barksdale's Deathtrap (Hanover Tavern - 8 pm)
Hugs and Kisses (St Catherine's and Richmond school)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Rockbridge schools)
The True Story of Pocahontas (Danville schools)
in rehearsal -
Jack and the Beanstalk (tour)
The Song of Mulan (tour)
Stuart Little (Empire - Family Playhouse)

Friday, Oct 5:
in performance -
Barksdale's The Member of the Wedding (Willow Lawn - 8 pm)
Barksdale's Deathtrap (Hanover Tavern - 8 pm)
Stuart Little (Empire Theatre - 10:30 am)
Hugs and Kisses (Hanover schools)
Jack and the Beanstalk (St Michael's and Chesterfield school)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Campbell schools)
Tales as Tall as the Sky (Campbell schools)
The True Story of Pocahontas (Willett Hall - Portsmouth)
in rehearsal -
The Song of Mulan (tour)
event -
First Friday - (Empire - all evening)

Saturday, Oct 6:
in performance -
Barksdale's The Member of the Wedding (Willow Lawn - 8 pm)
Barksdale's Deathtrap (Hanover Tavern - 8 pm)
Stuart Little (Empire Theatre - 3 pm and 7 pm)

Sunday, Oct 7:
in performance -
Barksdale's The Member of the Wedding (Willow Lawn - 2 pm)
Barksdale's Deathtrap (Hanover Tavern - 2 pm)
Stuart Little (Empire Theatre - 2 pm)

See you at the theatre!

--Bruce Miller

First Fridays at the Empire!

I just wanted to let you guys all know… if you’re not coming downtown on the first Friday of every month- you’re missing out! Every event the streets are swarming with people and the energy is amazing. The restaurants are packed, the art galleries are filled to max capacity, the music is spilling out into the streets from numerous storefronts and we, here at the Empire Theatre, are proud to show off our beautiful and historic building. Some months our lobby presents live music from awesome bands around the Richmond area, and some months we have a video montage of several of our past productions playing on a large screen in the lobby. Every month there is a gallery display of some kind- photography, artwork, sculpture, costume display, etc…, but there is always a ton to be seen. The bar is ready to serve and the theatre space itself is ready to be admired. So come on down and join us every first Friday night and see what you’ve been missing! The theatre beckons…

(This Friday also come check out a cabaret featuring Keydron Dunn, Russell Rowland, Billy Christopher Maupin, Andrea Corbin, Audrey Snyder, Robin Harris-Jones, Janine Sears, Corey Davis, and Chloe Williams.)
-Catherine Dudley

First Friday Fun at the Empire

You really missed out on something great if you weren’t braving the slight chill on Broad Street this past Friday for Theatre IV’s first time participation in the First Friday Artwalk. The event is held on the first Friday of each month, rain or shine. This unique cultural event showcases Richmond's thriving arts community, focusing on the diverse arts and cultural venues located along the Historic Broad Street Corridor. The Empire got dressed in its best for the event which featured The Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra, which resides in Richmond, Virginia, where members grow gourds, make instruments and create music. They really drew in the crowds with their unique sound and dramatic look.

I was behind the bar serving up drinks with another familiar face to local theatre-goers, Eddie Tavares. In front of house giving tours of the inside of the theatre was Catherine Dudley (who also designs the site's slideshows), explaining its history and taking care of our featured artist Robert Meganck, who had his wares on display and for sale. You may recognize his name as the award-winning illustrator of the last 2 seasons of Barksdale Theatre show posters.

The Empire has come under the spell of The Wizard of Oz and has sprung 2 huge ruby red slippers on top of the marquee. If you haven’t driven by recently it’s really a cool sight. Let’s hope they remain here this time (see the ps). We were servin’ up some libations behind the full bar which spotlighted the Ruby Red Slipper Sipper in honor of the night. Unfortunately we won’t be able to participate in May’s Artwalk, but we are excited to be using the space for our huge production of The Wizard of Oz. We will be back in June stronger than ever with all new artists and performances. More to come on that next month. We hope to see you there.

http://www.firstfridaysrichmond.com/
http://www.gourdorchestra.com/
http://www.meganck.com/

ps. If you’re interested in what happened to the slippers back in the day look to the previous post, explaining their mysterious disappearance.