One month, five shows, and another hike to New York later, we're finally back in the blogosphere. Oh, how nice did it feel to carefully remove our blog from the chest in our attic and gently blow the dust off of it. And we're just in time to talk about the
nominations for the Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Awards. Obviously a lot of people in the Richmond Theatre Community are either really excited (the nominees), really pissed (the NOTinees), or really hungry (the Steingold sisters).
We want to preface this by saying that no matter what wins, who is wearing what dress, or which Hanover Tavern show didn't get nominated, the main point of these awards is to raise money for the Artists Fund. That's the main point... not who got the most votes out of six local critics or debates over who should or shouldn't have been nominated. It is AWESOME that the money from the event will go to this organization. The committee should be acknowledged positively for that.
We think it's really funny that the press release calls the event a "Black Tie Gala", then goes on to say that "formal attire is encouraged." We were taught many Bar Mitzvahs ago that black tie meant wear a tux. If they didn't expect black tie attire, they should have noted on the invitation something more straightforward like, "Joshua has become a man, join us for a hoedown after the service." Oh, and speaking of tuxes, we personally think Gordon Bass should wear his Daddy Warbucks tux to the show. And that Annie should wear her maid outfit with a poinsettia pinned on.
It goes without saying that we won't discuss plays. Because we prefer when people sing their emotions. WOW, we love musicals. We are honored to say that we saw all nominees for Best Musical. And we know who we think the winner should be. So hopefully they win.
But onto something that doesn't specifically relate to the awards. We understand that the "Artsies" specifically honor "professional theaters" in Richmond, but we feel that there needs to be some sort of recognition from said professional theaters, and the critics, of the other work that is being done in the community. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Dogwood Dell received next to no recognition, and all of the performers were working for free. It's wonderful that the amazing city of Richmond has a venue like the Dell, so people who can't typically afford $40 tickets to shows can be exposed to what we still feel is such an under-appreciated art form.
Clearly we feel a special connection to the show, and we hope we're not overstepping our boundaries in this public forum (ha), but we do think that it's important for the theatre community as a whole to appreciate and commend the work that has been done pro bono. Throw us a frickin' bono.
