The historic Empire opened on Christmas Night 1911 and is Virginia's oldest extant theatre. Designed at the turn of the century, the Empire was hailed as one of the most beautiful theatres in America and proudly played host to theatrical luminaries including Otis Skinner, Sydney Greenstreet and Mary Pickford.
Miller: "But we also want the productions to be a type of outreach to the general
public where an appreciation is promoted for the magnificent
contributions that world-class Spanish and Latino playwrights, composers
and thinkers have made to Western culture."
Theatre IV's very first production in The Empire Theatre (114 West Broad Street) this fall is Ferdinand the Bull which is part of a 3-year Hispanic Theatre Project-now in its second year and created by Barksdale Theatre.
Last season's Boleros for the Disenchanted by Jose Rivera launched this initiative to encourage Greater Richmond's growing Latino population to feel more included in, and connected to, the cultural life of our community-at-large.
By providing a showcase for professional performing artists of Spanish and/or Latino ancestry, both local and national, our intent is to create an entertaining and engaging forum for issues relevant to Latino culture.
But we also want the productions to be a type of outreach to the general public where an appreciation is promoted for the magnificent contributions that world-class Spanish and Latino playwrights, composers and thinkers have made to Western culture.
Part of the project's effort is also raising awareness for the Latin Ballet of Virginia and of course expand Barksdale Theatre's base of support to include more members of Greater Richmond's growing Latino population.
Ferdinand the Bull is a new musical comedy for children and families, based on the fun and fanciful children's book written by Munro Leaf, with illustrations by Robert Lawson. Music for the show was written by Deborah Wicks La Puma, with lyrics and book by Mexican-American playwright, Karen Zacarias.
The book was published in 1936, nine months before the onset of the Spanish Civil War. It immediately became an international classic. The story concerns Ferdinand, a physically imposing bull who would much prefer to smell flowers and live in peace than take on a matador in a bullfight.
For 15 years after its publication, the book was heralded as a repudiation of the aggressive, combative actions of Nationalist and Fascist leaders from Francisco Franco of Spain to Adolf Hitler. The children's book was officially banned and frequently burned by the Third Reich.
Today Ferdinand the Bull is regarded as a gentle children's classic. It was prominently cited recently in the film The Blind Side. The new musical expands the story to include a sturdy young Spanish boy, a flamenco dancer, a bullying Duke, and a dancing pig.
Barksdale's next entry in the Hispanic Theatre Project will be Legacy of Light, also by Karen Zacarias, to be presented at Barksdale Theatre Willow Lawn in a co-production with Theatre VCU, February and March 2011. Legacy of Light won the 2009 Best New Play Award of the American Theatre Critics Association.
Two Productions Downtown For the first time ever in one season, Barksdale Theatre will be mounting two productions Downtown at The Empire Theatre: Irving Berlin's White Christmas from Nov 19, 2010-Jan 9, 2011 and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels June 17 - Aug 7, 2011. Both shows fall into the "hot off Broadway" category-with large casts, big song & dance numbers, and technical requirements that The Empire is able to make the most of.
Although Barksdale's Signature Season is presented at its Willow Lawn location, the larger summer musical productions for the past three seasons have been successfully staged at The Empire. When the possibility came up of adding White Christmas to the schedule, we knew The Empire was the perfect venue for this huge holiday blockbuster.
Irving Berlin's White Christmas is going to be a co-production between Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV, combining the resources and audiences of both companies since it will appeal to such a wide audience.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels will be the 2011 Barksdale summer musical. We're particularly excited about it because the show has a hot, new score from the composer and lyricist David Yazbeck of The Full Monty -- one of Barksdale's most successful musicals.
We're thrilled to have more and more people of all ages coming downtown to The Empire and experiencing some of the best professional theatre they will see anywhere.
