Boy Bands, "Children", and a Lotta Scott-a

"Another season of awesome shows, from Broad Street, Ashland, to Lawn of Willow, a chance for (Richmond) stage folks to say 'hello!', another season of some awesome shows!" ...If Cole Porter knew what we just did to his song, he'd be rolling in his grave. As you can see, the Steingold sisters will never have a future in songwriting.

Let's talk about the 2008-2009 season of Richmond theatre! But first, we have to preface this by saying plays are not our forte, so mainly we're going to be talking about musicals. Although Elyse did see The Tale of the Allergist's Wife on Broadway at age ten. Mistake. So, here are our thoughts...

Musicals galore! Oh, how we love the musicals that are being put on this season. Firehouse is doing The Great American Trailer Park Musical- so cool! We're really excited to see it because we don't know much about it. Swift Creek is doing Side Show, which we've also never seen yet love the music. Stage 1 is doing only musicals- very, very cool, and brave. Tick, Tick..., Summer of '42, Children's Letters to God... speaking of Children's Letters to God, which opens February 6, the Barksdale also has a show opening February 6- Children of a Lesser God. Kid you not. Granted the two shows are entirely different, but seriously? Let's just hope that no one shows up at one expecting the other.

Speaking of "seriously?", two different Richmond theatre companies- Swift Creek and Richmond Triangle Players- are doing Altar Boyz, which we saw in New York and LOVED- it's absolutely hilarious. So, two doses of it will be nice. Kind of weird, but nice. What we would love to see is the two casts have a boy band battle. Like, a dance-off or something. Then we got to thinking about a Richmond theatre boy band. And oh, do we have ideas of who would be in it.

We have a lot of Scott Wichmann shows coming our way this season- or at least two that we know of so far. Henley Street Theatre is doing Richard III, with Scott as the title role. Very exciting. We'd go to anything that has Bat Boy in it. Let's just reiterate that we were so obsessed with his Bat Boy portrayal at the Firehouse that this has become our pet name for him. Yeah, we're that close... in our dreams. By the way, Henley Street is doing really smart shows this season, basically all ones that Annie had to read in Drama lit classes. The Barksdale is doing This Wonderful Life, a one-man show featuring Scott as all the characters from the movie It's a Wonderful Life. This should be very impressive to see. We personally have never seen It's a Wonderful Life. No, no, it's not because we're Jewish. It's because we've always had beef with Beulah Bondi. Just us? Ok. We're totally impressed with the Barksdale's promotional ad for this show, with illustrations of Scott.

We want to be drawn into a Barksdale illustration! Robert Meganck's style is so awesome. However, what's up with the Millie illustration? Oh, how we hope the real Millie won't look so awkward when she dances. And oh, how we love Millie! Great music, great dancing numbers... speaking of dancing numbers, how perfect would Amy Farley be as the choreographer? We personally can't think of anyone who could do a better job. Seriously. She should do it.

So many shows to look forward to- let's go out there and support theatre! Even if it is a play. We'll try. And be on the lookout for the new Richmond theatre boy band!