The Virginian-Pilot: Arts and culture in South Hampton Roads fuel $270 million economic engine, study says

The Virginia Stage Co. presented a four-week run of “Fiddler on the Roof” in October. John Payonk played Tevye and Velkassem Agguini played The Fiddler. The production was the theater’s highest-selling play in its 45-year history. (Courtesy of Sam Flint)

The arts made a huge economic impact on South Hampton Roads in 2022 — to the tune of $270 million, according to a recent study.

The nonprofit arts and culture sector in South Hampton Roads created $140 million from organizations and another $130 million from event-related audience expenditures, according to the “Arts & Economic Prosperity 6,” the sixth in a series of national studies conducted by Americans for the Arts based in Washington, D.C.

The sector supported nearly 5,000 jobs and produced $52 million in local, state and federal government revenue last year, according to the economic and social impact study.

“This research demonstrates that the arts and culture sector is a powerful economic engine, contributing significantly to job creation, tourism and the overall economic vitality of South Hampton Roads,” said Lisa Wigginton, executive director of the region’s Arts Alliance nonprofit.

The study showed that the typical attendee in South Hampton Roads spends on average $35.73 per event aside from ticket admission. Those dollars go to local restaurants, retail stores, parking, hotels and more.

“This is the thing about the arts — they boost other businesses,” Wigginton said. “Not only do the arts enrich our lives, providing a source of inspiration, but they also play a pivotal role in driving our local economy.”

The Alliance, started in 1987, aims to foster a strong, vibrant and inclusive community through arts leadership, advocacy, services and support.

The study included 372 other regions across the U.S. that Wigginton said enables Arts Alliance to compare results, gather more data, determine best practices, spread the word more effectively and strengthen support for arts organizations, individual artists and the area’s creative culture in general.

Participating organizations for the study of South Hampton Roads included a multitude of nonprofits and cultural organizations such as the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, Norfolk Botanical Garden and the Virginia Zoo. Out of 158 eligible organizations, 85 participated from Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Virginia Beach and Norfolk and Franklin, Isle of Wight and Southampton counties by submitting surveys and were collected from 802 audience members. The surveys were collected from May 2022 to June 2023.

Tom Quaintance, Virginia Stage Co.’s producing artistic director, said the study results are a great example of how the arts mean business.

“It’s a study that shows how much the arts can benefit a community both in the way in which we add to the cultural life, but also the financial life,” he said.

A four-week run of “Fiddler on the Roof” in October at the Wells Theatre in downtown Norfolk was the highest-selling show in the Virginia Stage Co.’s 45-year history, Quaintance said.

He pointed out that the number of people involved in the behind-the-scenes six-month process leading up to the production outnumbers the people on stage.

“We are driving the economy, not just on performance day, but around all the productions,” he said.

Quaintance also said audiences came out in force for the opportunity to experience something together that can’t be achieved other than at a live performing arts event, especially in light of the post-pandemic world focused on the importance of communal gathering.

The study also showed that 17% of event attendees were from outside the city or county of the event. On average, they spent close to $50 at local businesses.

Additional figures showed that 90% of survey respondents saw the event or venue as a source of pride for the community and 86% said they would feel a sense of loss if the activity or venue was no longer available.

Nolen V. Bivens, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, said in a news release that arts and culture organizations produce authentic cultural experiences that are magnets for visitors, tourists and new residents.

“When we invest in nonprofit arts and culture, we strengthen our economy and build more livable communities,” Bivens said.

By SANDRA J. PENNECKE | sandra.pennecke@pilotonline.com | Staff writer

The Virginian-Pilot: One-person show ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ offers Navy a fresh approach to mental wellness

Nine performances, using improv, audience interaction and comedy, tell one person’s story of growing up with a mother who has suicidal depression.

Playing the father in an awkward scene in the family car is audience member and senior chief Jean Bissainthe, alongside Candunn Jennette in her performance of “Every Brilliant Thing” on Oct. 25 at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads.

Ice cream. Sunlight. Old people holding hands. Bubble wrap. Friendly cats. Track seven on every great record.

Those are just a few of the million brilliant things in life that the Virginia Stage Company reminded sailors to count during a Wednesday performance at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads in Norfolk.

“I have some advice for anyone who’s been contemplating suicide,” said Candunn Jennette, the Virginia Stage performer who narrated the show. “Don’t do it. Things get better. It may not always get brilliant, but they do get better.”

Candunn Jennette, with the Virginia Stage Company, talks passionately about her special list during her performance of “Every Brilliant Thing” on Wednesday, October 25, 2023, at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)

Roughly 50 sailors attended the one-hour, one-person performance of “Every Brilliant Thing,” which tells one person’s story of growing up with a mother who has suicidal depression.

The show, which uses improv, audience interaction and comedy, was the first of eight taking place at Hampton Roads military installations over the next month. The performances offer the Navy a fresh approach to conversations about mental wellness as the service undertakes a massive effort to change the way it treats sailors experiencing mental health crises.

“This is a piece that is meant to be the beginning of a conversation, not the end of it,” said Tom Quaintance, producing artistic director for the VSC.

Candunn Jennette speaks as a child to a therapist’s sock puppet named Rusty during her performance of “Every Brilliant Thing.” (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)

Virginia Stage Company began looking at small cast shows on the heels of the pandemic. When Quaintance read the script, he was immediately struck by the way the play tackles some of life’s most difficult topics — depression, suicide and loss — in a warm and accessible way. He had lost a sister to suicide.

“This show, while it takes you to some tough places, it doesn’t leave you there,” Quaintance said.

The play was first performed at the Wells Theatre a year and a half ago. As mental health crises became more prevalent during pandemic-related isolation, Quaintance said the theater company had the idea to bring the show to the military community.

“We can go in, start a conversation and, we hope, make a difference in how people think and talk about mental health and suicide,” Quaintance said.

“Every Brilliant Thing” was performed three times aboard the USS George H.W. Bush in June. The series will be performed at Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command, Naval Station Norfolk, Naval Air Station Oceana and Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek throughout November.

Candunn Jennette reads through the notes she jotted down while growing up as the narrator in “Every Brilliant Thing.” (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)

Throughout the play, the performer narrates her perspective of her mother’s struggles with suicidal depression. The perspective evolves and deepens as the narrator ages from 7 years old to her mid-30s and experiences her own accomplishments, love, loss and mental health struggles. But each time, the narrator returns to a list she is creating of every brilliant thing about life, adding new brilliant things.

Water fights. Really good oranges. Wearing a cape. Peeing in the ocean and nobody knows. The list goes on.

Jamie Sosaya, a boatswain’s mate master chief, called the show “phenomenal” and said it was the best suicide prevention workshop she has been part of in her 23-year naval career.

“It hits home,” Sosaya said after the show, with tears in her eyes.

Part of what made it so successful, Lt. Cmdr. Katie Erwin said, is the audience interaction. Previous workshops used PowerPoint presentations or seminar formats, she said, but with “Every Brilliant Thing,” members of the audience are pre-selected to act as a veterinarian, the narrator’s father, husband and guidance counselor. Those selected are guided through improvised dialogue.

Actor Candunn Jennette circles the room to high-five every audience member during “Every Brilliant Thing.” (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)

Erwin was chosen to act as the narrator’s guidance counselor.

“It was very heartfelt and it could relate to a lot of different people on a lot of different levels,” Erwin said. “Suicide is a tough subject to broach, but it was a lighthearted conversation and presentation.”

Quartermaster First Class Jarien Marquez said the show opens the door for conversations about mental health, whether sailor to sailor or friend to friend.

“People feel like there isn’t room for people to have that conversation, but this teaches everybody how to start the conversation and how to use the resources we have to help in those situations,” Marquez said.

After her performance of “Every Brilliant Thing,” Candunn Jennette hugs audience member Jean Bissainthe, a senior chief who played the role of her father. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)

The sailors also took home personal lessons for their mental wellness. The biggest one, Marquez said, is to remember to count the small things in life.

“A whole bunch of little things can make up one really big thing,” Marquez said. “So if you can count the little things, the little blessings in life, it will help you realize it’s going to be all right.”

Resources for service members and veterans struggling with mental health issues, including 24-hour crisis hotlines, include:

• The Military Crisis Line: call 988, Ext. 1

• Military OneSource: 800-342-9647

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 — call or text

Article by Caitlyn Burchett, caitlyn.burchett@virginiamedia.com

Tickets: The performances at local military installations are open to base personnel. The performances at Eastern Virginia Medical School and the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk are open to the general public. Those are free to attend, courtesy of a Sentara Health sponsorship, but registration is requested.

Details: To register or for more information, visit the “Every Brilliant Thing” tour page at vastage.org/ebttour. Additional performance dates and locations will be posted to the website. Those interested in booking the tour to come to their location can email ebt@vastage.org.

Combative and compassionate, ‘Henry V’ conquers at the Wells Theatre - The Virginian Pilot Review

NORFOLK — “O for a muse of fire” to properly praise this ambitious, wise, contemporary-in-spirit, production of Shakespeare’s best-loved history play by Virginia Stage Company and Norfolk State University.

It stars invincible NSU and Brown University acting alum Christopher Marquis Lindsay at the perfect age, physique and point in his burgeoning career to embody England’s warrior king in the last (1599) of what’s known as the bard’s second tetralogy. This quartet of plays includes “Richard II” (about Harry’s father Bolingbroke’s usurpation of the throne to become Henry IV); “Henry IV, Part One” (about Harry’s, a.k.a. Hal’s, misspent youth hanging out with Falstaff); “Henry IV, Part Two”(more Hal and Falstaff); and our play “Henry V,” about Hal/Harry’s own kingship and conquest of France).

Derrick Moore, left, as the Duke of Exeter and Christopher Marquis Lindsay as Henry in "Henry V" at the Wells Theatre through April 30. (Samuel Flint)

Shakespeare buffs will recognize “O for a muse of fire,” as the prologue/chorus’ opening line which is replete with similar “greatest hit” speeches (e.g., “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more” in Act 3; “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers…” in Act 4 and “A little touch of Harry in the night,” also Act 4. The great speeches have thankfully been preserved in this judiciously cut version.

Though “O for a muse of fire” was nicely performed on April 13 by NSU alum Terrance Livingston, Jr., Livingston will cede that part to the play’s director Tom Quaintance at selected performances (check with the box office). Other illustrious former Spartans in the show include Derrick Moore as the Duke of Exeter; Corey Edward as Earl of Cambridge/Michael Williams; and KeeAjah Baldwin as Duke of York/Sir Thomas Grey. The older pros are joined by eight current students, some playing major roles such as Princess Katharine (Vania Aursby, who’s already made her mark locally at the Generic and Old Dominion University Rep.)

Add in a good handful of local and imported VSC regulars — e.g., Ron Newman as King of France/Sir Thomas Erpingham; Jeffrey Haddock as the insufferable Dauphin (who first appears, hilariously, with the other French nobles in the tony Wells’ box seats); and Julian Stetkevych as Canterbury/Fluellen/Orleans)—and you have two armies’ worth of actors on a mostly bare, intentionally rough-hewn looking thrust stage, created by designer Dahlia Al-Habieli. The open-to-view under-thrust doubles nicely as siege trenches or “mines.”

Costumes by resident designer Jeni Schaefer are well-worn contemporary outdoor garb, occasionally embellished with low-tech coats-of-arms ribbons or torn, dirty armbands to help keep double-and triple-cast actors identifiably English or French. Women actors Sarah Manton (Montjoy/Hostess), Meg Rodgers and Anna Sosa play both genders, Rodgers stepping up as the feckless corpse-robbing Pistol and Sosa as the acne-challenged Bardolph.

The latter two n’er-do-wells, plus Nym (Miguel Girona), are part of what one might dub “Team Falstaff,” the group of lowlifes with whom then-Prince Harry hung out in his youth. When “Henry V” begins, Falstaff is a bed-ridden offstage character suffering from his life of drinking, whoring and Prince Harry’s stunning rejection of his company in “Henry IV, Part 2.”

Falstaff expires, still unseen, in Act 2, with only the Hostess (Manton) to witness and skillfully convey the manner of his going: “For his nose was as sharp as a pen,” [odd for a notoriously fat man] and he “babbled of green fields.” Perhaps his last moments were, after all, some bucolic dream. With Falstaff gone, the audience watches to see how King Harry will treat his former buddies from Team Falstaff (Pistol, Bardolph, Nym, etc.). He consistently shuns them, in some of the play’s coldest, but, as we’re made to think, necessary moments.

The play — in fact, the whole tetralogy — invariably comes down to how audiences judge this Henry’s all-important character. Henry at any age can be cruel — indeed the historical Henry V, according to most historians and critics such as Herschel Baker, was by no means a charmer. But Shakespeare’s Henry V is, and, perforce, must be one, since the whole second tetralogy leads up to his miraculous victories at Harfleur and, especially, Agincourt.

In this play, Shakespeare reaches the heights of his patriotic theme: England now and forever. And Henry V, warts and all, IS England, sometimes mistaken (the scenes in which corrupt bishops support Henry’s genealogical claim to the French throne via Edward the Black Prince and Salic law are comically obtuse), but always, somehow, winsome. That’s because Henry V, even when he’s hard (ordering French prisoners to be killed or allowing a miscreant such as Bardolph to be hanged) is consistently self-questioning, self-effacing (especially with his betrothed, Kate) and patriotic.

Julian Stetkevych, right, and the cast of "Henry V" playing at the Wells Theatre through April 30. (Samuel Flint)

That’s why the play was so popular during World War II. Laurence Olivier’s 1944 film adaptation fit its times; Kenneth Branagh’s heroic 1989 film aspirationally still fits ours.

The play is always being done somewhere where English (and a bit of mangled French) is spoken or translated. And speaking of the brief French scenes, NSU theatre’s producing artistic director Anthony Mark Stockard served as voice and speech coach with no other dialect or French coach listed.

The actors’ French was somewhat rough (sometimes part of the plot), but it always flowed — the theatrical illusion of fluency (e.g., for the French Princess Katherine) being far more important than linguistic accuracy. Perhaps more could have been done to suggest Fluellen’s Welsh accent (Irishman MacMorris and Scotsman Jamy having been cut from the play). One loses thereby Shakespeare’s comic interplay of U.K. subcultures.

But never elided is the other glorious theme of this play: theatricality itself – both its limitations and infinite possibilities. “Can this cockpit hold/ The vasty fields of France? Or may we cram/ Within this wooden O the very casques that did affright the air at Agincourt?” The answer is no; of course, you can’t fit thousands of soldiers on a stage. But the answer is also a triumphant yes; you can conjure up such an image in your audience’s imagination, even as you deny it.

In the play’s first moments, Livingston stepped forward to deliver the familiar pre-curtain speech: “We wish to thank our sponsors … ;” “Please turn off your cellphones,” but then … theater happened!

Livingston unexpectedly lifted his voice to speak the famous first words of the show, leaped onstage and took us to where only art can go. As important as historical accuracy may be (the real Henry V probably was a jerk), we got the patriotic, still revelatory “Henry V” we need for today: Shakespeare’s own words, skillfully rendered and triumphantly true. Theatricality conquers all.

Page Laws is dean emerita of the Nusbaum Honors College at Norfolk State University. prlaws@aya.yale.edu