THE HOBBIT | Featured on The Hampton Roads Show

Did you miss the chance to see our Director (Billy Bustamante) and Bilbo (Jeffrey A Haddock) engage in a wonderful discussion about the excitement getting made on-stage for The Hobbit? Well check out the full segment below!

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) – The magical tale “The Hobbit” will soon be taking center stage in Hampton Roads thanks to the Virginia Stage Company. Director Billy Bustamante and actor Jeffrey Haddock share more about the upcoming production.

Virginia Stage Company
108 East Tazewell St., Norfolk
“The Hobbit” October 19 – November 6
Tickets: 757-627-1234 or visit: VAStage.org

This segment of The Hampton Roads Show is sponsored by the Virginia Stage Company.

Haunted Hampton Roads | The Wells Theatre in Downtown Norfolk

NORFOLK, Va. — With more than a century of history in Downtown Norfolk, workers at the Wells Theatre believe some people loved this place so much, they never left.

“The tales of the hauntings have been going on for as long as we’ve had folks in The Wells,” said Ryan Clemens, the lead resident teaching artist with the Virginia Stage Company.

Brothers Jake and Otto Wells founded the theater back in the early 1900s. Since its inception, the Wells has gone through many changes. It's been a silent movie theater, an opera, an x-rated movie house, and now for more than 40 years, home of the Virginia Stage Company. 

Clemens has worked at The Wells for more than a decade. While he hasn’t encountered any ghosts himself, he said he’s come in close contact with people who have.

“I’ve been next to folks who have made a corner and then come back with their eyes the size of silver dollars,” Clemens said.

Clemens said four ghosts are rumored to haunt the Wells: a man in a top hat, a lady in white, a sailor named Ned, and a young boy called Boots.

Disclaimer: None of these stories are based in fact. All are legends passed by word of mouth.

The Man in the Tophat:

The Man in the Tophat often resides in one of the box seats close to the stage. 

According to Clemens, there's only one way to get up to the box seats. 

House managers, who are the last to leave after the play, have reported seeing a man in one of the box seats; however, after making the trek up to the boxes, no one is there.

The Lady in White:

"She's often heard before she's seen," Clemens said. 

Clemens said the Lady in White is often heard singing on the first balcony. People have also reported seeing a figure in white walking along that area. 

According to Clemens, house managers have reported seeing the Woman in White, only for her to disappear at second glance.

Ned the Sailor:

Ned is said to be a "mischievous" spirit that haunts the Wells. 

As the story goes, Ned was a sailor at the turn of the century who worked the theater's rigging system. Ned was said to be a gruff character who "liked the ladies," according to Clemens. 

According to the legend, Ned would use his vantage point way above the stage to look down at the actresses; however, one day, he leaned over a little too far.

Now, every so often, staff and guests report seeing a swinging rope or hearing a funny sound coming from above the stage.

"...Maybe you're walking along the stage and you hear a funny sort of noise -- a step or a stomp, even a whistle," Clemens said.

Moreover, theater technicians have reported missing tools and after asking Ned to return the tool, it will reappear the next day.

"Now, I don't know if these are real stories. They certainly sound like fun hijinks. Whether they're carried out by somebody that is no longer on this mortal plane or whether they're carried out by technicians having a little fun, who knows?" Clemens laughed.

Boots:

Boots is known among workers as a playful spirit.

Legend has it, in the early days of the Wells, Boots was watching a showing on the second balcony, when some sort of alarm went off, causing a mass panic among guests.

According to the tale, Boots was trampled to death in the chaos.

“From time to time, what we’ll hear are the squeaky-squeak-squeak sounds of Boots up there, but always accompanied with a feeling of childlike playfulness,” Clemens said.

Workers have tales of items missing from the costume department only to reappear in plain sight hours later.

While they are just stories, Clemens said several staff members have reported similar phenomena.

“Who knows what’s real but certainly, you can’t deny that there are things that are felt here and experienced here,” Clemens said.

Author's note: This is the first story in 13News Now's weekly Haunted Hampton Roads series. 

Be on the lookout for similar stories about legends of Colonial Williamsburg, Fort Monroe in Hampton and the Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach.

Visit the original story at 13News: Haunted Hampton Roads | The Wells Theatre in Downtown Norfolk

THE HOBBIT | Cast & Creatives

CAST

Ryan Clemens*

(Balin/Voice of Spider/Others) is proud to work both on the main stage and with VSC's Education Department. VSC patrons may remember Ryan as Jaxton in The Thanksgiving Play, Mr. Wormwood in Matilda; Trinculo in The Tempest; Lieutenant Brannigan in Guys & Dolls; Vinnie in The Odd Couple; Mortimer in The Fantasticks; Bob Cratchit, Old Joe, or Ghost of Christmas Present in several years' versions of A Christmas Carol; or as his famous relative Sam Clemens in his one-man show Meet Mark Twain. Originally from Wyoming, Ryan began his career in a travelling Wild West show. He has worked at theaters around the country, including several seasons locally with the Virginia Shakespeare Festival and Tidewater Stage Company. He performs with Plan B Comedy at Zeider's American Dream Theatre. Ryan holds a BA in Theatre from Western Washington University and an MFA in Acting from Regent University. He also teaches at ODU. www.clemensistwain.com

Jeffrey A. Haddock*

(Bilbo) is a local actor and puppeteer, currently working as a Teaching Artist with Virginia Stage Company; he is excited to be making his performance debut with VSC, and to be returning after working backstage on Matilda The Musical. Since 2017, he has spent his Winters working on Nauticus’ Dicken’s Christmas Towne & Winterfest on the Wisconsin as a performer and production manager. Jeffrey holds a BA in Theatre Performance from Old Dominion University. Favorite credits include The Importance of Being Earnest (Algernon), Twelfth Night (Malvolio), Hair (Claude Bukowski), and The Burial at Thebes (Haemon). In his free time, he enjoys playing bass, practicing magic, and learning photography under his mentors at Lizard Leap Productions (@lizardleap/lizardleapproductions.com). Jeffrey would like to thank his lovely partner Krystal, his ever supportive family, and his friends who inspire him daily. “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

Thomas Hall*

(Thorin/Troll 2/Others) Debuting in his first ever VSC role, Thomas Arthur Hall is ecstatic to bring his energy to Wells Theatre. He was born and raised in Virginia Beach and studied with the George Mason University Players during his collegiate studies. Thomas has made appearances in The Importance of being Earnest, The Royal Family, and The Outsiders. He has also work in local film and television work and is represented by the Actors Studio. He looks forward to giving his all into bringing this show to life. 

Alana DODds Sharp*

(Gandalf/Bombur/Elven Queen/Others) Alana Dodds Sharp (Gandalf / Bomber & others) As a new resident to the Hampton Roads area from Northern VA, Alana is thrilled to make her debut at VSC. Recent area roles include Cynthia in SWEAT at Generic Theatre, and Arlena Cartwright in the 2022 Proteus Festival’s Likkor Outta Control at The Z. DC credits include the Cantor in The Jewish Queen Lear at Theatre J, Ensemble in The Great Society at Arena Stage, East of Eden as the Nurse & Eva at Next Stop Theatre and an understudying at The Folger Theatre in Henry IV, Part 1. Alana has also filmed a variety of commercials and videos for clients such as Berdon LLP, Shenandoah Valley Organic, MedStar Health, Medicaid Managed Care and the New York State’s Progressive Mobility Campaign. Originally from Ohio, Alana graduated with a BFA in Acting from Wright State University. Thank you Billy, Thom and Emel for this opportunity and thank you Sam, Gaby & Sebastian for letting me out to “play.” Loves you! 

Anna Sosa*

(Kili/Gollum/Others) is a proud Filipino American born and raised here in Norfolk.  She has worked locally and internationally in theater, film, improv comedy, and voiceover.  You may recognize her as Christmas Past from VSC's 2016 A Christmas Carol or Puck from a Midsummer Fantasy Festival in Town Point Park.  Favorite work includes her roles as Malcolm in Macbeth with CORE, as Denny in the world premiere of HOMEsick written and directed by Deborah Wallace, Catherine Givings from In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play, and her Raven’s Hollow County Players.  She thanks CORE Theater Ensemble, Push Comedy Theater, TCC's Shakespeare in the Grove, and the growing Viewpoints community in this area for building opportunities for underrepresented artists.  She earned her BFA in Theater Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University.  To Bobby M., Matt C., her Sosa-clan and her Middle Earth tribe— espesyal na salamat.

Jayden Adams-Ruiz

(Ensemble) is excited to be making his debut with the Virginia Stage Company on the Wells Theater’s Equity Stage. Jayden is a 4th year performance student in the Theatre and Film Department of the Governor’s School for the Arts (GSA) in Norfolk, VA. He is also completing an Advanced Studies Diploma at Maury High School. Jayden has previously acted in the GSA stage performances of Eurydice, 39 Steps a Radio Show, No Child, What Where, and Hamlet. He also wrote, directed, and acted in the film Mind Games as well as acted in the films Terminally Online, BFF, Cardinal Sin, The Mission, and Street Cred. Jayden’s acting experience also includes performances with Generic Theater and Harrah Players. Jayden plans to continue studying and performing Theater and Film in college. For more information visit Jayden’s website: https://jaydenadams-ruiz.godaddysites.com

Mark Andris

(Ensemble) is honored to be one of the few students from The Governor’s School for the Arts to be invited to join this production. He loves performing for others and has been a part of All Together Now! and Bright Star at Hickory High School in Chesapeake. He also enjoys music and has played the viola for five years inside and outside school. 

Katherine Cottrell

(Ensemble) Katherine is absolutely thrilled to be making her VSC debut! She is a senior at the Governor’s School for the Arts in the Theatre/Film Department as well as Grassfield High School. Recent credits include: Eurydice, The 39 Steps, Anniversary,The Odyssey 2.0, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Pre-Nostalgia, Zoe, and “Get Batter Soon” (48 Hour Film Fest). She would like to thank Steve and Ricardo for helping her grow as both an artist and a human being, and Taylor Swift- for the same thing.

Gunar Pencis

(Troll 1/Ensemble) is a freshman at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach. He is a first year student at Governors School for the Arts. Gunar grew up in Tyler, Texas where he attended Caldwell Elementary Arts Academy, it was here when his love for theatre began in 1st grade. Outside of school, Gunar can be found on the basketball court, or behind a drum kit. He loves his three dogs, Rock music (especially Van Halen) and his friends.

Kennedy Savage

(Troll 3/Ensemble) is a 14 year old girl currently attending the Governor’s School for the Arts as well as Princess Anne High School. Her hobbies include writing, debate, and forensics. This is her first professional theatre production as well as her first production with VSC. She’s super excited to be apart of the Hobbit team.

Kristina VanPeeren

(Ensemble) is a sophomore student at Western Branch High School, and it is also her second year attending The Governor’s School for the Arts. It is her debut with Virginia Stage Company. She has worked for four years in the musical theater industry, with some of her most memorable shows being Duffy in Annie Jr and Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland Jr. In addition to theater she played the violin for four years and was in All-City and Junior District Orchestra. “I am so thankful for the love and sacrifices my family and friends have made for me to support my dreams.”

Zia Gulson

(Understudy) is an aspiring actress who is currently a student at both Governor’s School for the Arts and Cox High School. She adores acting and has been doing it her whole life, this show marks her first professional production. Some of her most memorable past shows include Eurydice as Eurydice, The Lion King as Zazu, and Treasure Island as Molly. Since arriving at Governor’s School, she has been in six films that allowed her to discover her love for the film industry and its creative process. Zia spends as much of her free time as possible indulging in her other creative passions; songwriting, playwriting, playing electric guitar and ukulele, singing, dancing, and painting. Zia is thrilled to be a part of a VSC production for the first time. She plans on taking her acting, directing, and playwriting skills to the next level in a BFA Arts program next fall. 

Savanna Stone

(Ensemble/US) is very excited to be involved in her first professional level performance. She is currently a senior at Governors School for the Arts, where she has participated in a film and The 39 Steps: A Radio Play. She is applying to the University of Virginia to continue pursuing her career after graduation.

CREATIVE TEAM

Billy Bustamante †

(Director) Credits include Off-Broadway productions of Notes From Now (Prospect), Whisper House (Civilians) and Cinderella (NAAP).  Other credits include, Gold Mountain (Utah Shakespeare Festival),  Into The Woods (Arden Theatre), Matilda (Virginia Stage Company), Goodspeed, Lincoln Center, and NAAP. Broadway performing credits: Miss Saigon (Engineer alt.), The King and I (Lun Tha u/s). Off-Broadway/Regional: Soft Power and Here Lies Love at the Public Theater, Center Theatre Group, Arena Stage, Old Globe and Paper Mill Playhouse. Billy’s co-founder of Broadway Barkada and on faculty at Jen Waldman Studio and Circle in the Square Theatre School. Billy is passionately committed to the development of new artists and building a more equitable world. www.BillyBustamante.com Insta: @BillyBCreative

Josafath Reynoso

(Scenic Designer) Award winning scenic designer Josafath Reynoso was born in Mexico and was awarded the Gold Medal for Scenic Design at the World Stage Design 2017 in Taipei, Taiwan for his production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He also received the 2015 USITT Scenic Design Award, the 2014 SETC Scenic Design Award for Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape; the 2013 BroadwayWorld Award for Our Country’s Good, and the SETC Ready-for-Work Award for The Threepenny Opera. Of his production of Crowns at Virginia Stage Company, Jeff Seneca of Alt Daily wrote, "the curtain opens on a set that will take your breath away. Josafath Reynoso has created truly magnificent scenery full of rich vibrant colors and wonderful use of space. I love when shows are able to build the music right into the set and Reynoso is able to do that with the organ and percussion right there onstage. It is an amazing set that truly shines as its own character in the show." Reynoso was also praised for his production of The Bluest Eye at Virginia Stage: “The real star of the show was the set. Josafath Reynoso took a simple idea of hanging laundry about the stage, from the rafters, from the box seats and the balcony and turned it to an elaborate display of color and whimsy." Mr. Reynoso was selected as a keynote speaker for Stage|Set|Scenery in Berlin and presented at the International Biennale of Architecture in Buenos Aires for his design of Noche Arabe.

Jeni Schaefer

(Costume Designer) is the Director of Design and Resident Costume Designer at the Virginia Stage Company in her 21st season. Regional credits include: A Christmas Story at Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Hound of the Baskervilles at The Hangar and White Heron Theatre, Always...Patsy Cline PCPA Theatrefest, World premiere of Tom Jones for Florida Studio Theatre, Wit for Playmakers Repertory Theatre. VSC productions including; Every Brilliant Thing, Dreamgirls,Merry Little Christmas Carol, Dear Jack Dear Louise, Hold These Truths, Sense and Sensibility, Guys and Dolls, Matilda, Secret Garden, Fun Home, Always Patsy Cline, Crowns,The Hound of the Baskervilles, Pride and Prejudice, The Wiz, A Streetcar named Desire, Oliver, Peter and the Starcatcher, All my Sons,The Great Gatsby,The Fantasticks, Death of a Salesman, Red, Around the World in 80 days, Crowns, Billy Bishop Goes to War, Hank Williams Lost Highway and A Christmas Carol. Jeni Schaefer holds a MAC in Theatre/Costume Design from Wichita State University. Thank you to my family Tony, Sara and Ethan for being my inspiration and for always believing in me.

Christina Watanabe §

(Lighting Designer) is an award-winning designer and educator for theatre, dance, music, and events. At VSC: Guys and Dolls, Every Brilliant Thing. Recent: Clue (Dallas Theatre Center), Gypsy, Jersey Boys (Theatre Aspen), Sueño (Trinity Rep), The 39 Steps (Rep St. Louis), Elf (Pioneer Theatre Company), This Bitter Earth (Theatreworks Hartford), Carla’s Quince (virtual, Drama League nomination), Where We Stand (WP Theatre), As You Like It (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), The Wild Party (Post Theatre Company), Peer Gynt (Barnard), Heartbreak House (Gingold Theatrical Group), A Christmas Carol (Florida Rep), Into the Woods (Charlottesville Opera), Peter and the Starcatcher (White Heron Theatre Company), Scissoring (INTAR), Dido of Idaho (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Small World: a fantasia (59E59), Neighbors: A Fair Trade Agreement (INTAR), Daniel’s Husband (Primary Stages/Cherry Lane), I Will Look Forward To This Later (New Ohio). TV: Colin Quinn: Red State Blue State (co-design, CNN). Lincoln Center Festival (2013, 2015-2017). USITT Gateway Mentor. Knights of Illumination winner. Faculty: Sargent Conservatory at Webster University. MFA: NYU. Member USA 829. www.StarryEyedLighting.com.

Steven Allegretto

(Sound Designer) is a proud graduate of Full Sail University’s Recording Arts program. Since graduating, Steven has worked relentlessly on perfecting his craft in both recording studio and live theatre environments. Steven also uses his expertise in professional audio to teach the upcoming generation as an Adjunct Professor of Theatre Sound Design at the College of William & Mary, as well as teaching privately. Steven has had the great pleasure of designing sound for past VSC shows including Matilda, Guys and Dolls, A Merry Little Christmas Carol, Dreamgirls, Every Brilliant Thing, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Steven is very excited to be back at VSC, and to share the magical sonic landscape of The Hobbit with you and yours.

Jamison Foreman

(Music Supervisor/Composer) is excited to be a part of his first production with Virginia Stage Company, and to help create some magic with the cast of The Hobbit. He acts, teaches, and musical directs mostly in Philadelphia. REGIONAL: Arden, Walnut St, InterAct, People’s Light, Quintessence Theatre Group, Theatre Horizon, Inis Nua, Azuka, 11th Hour, Applied Mechanics, Act II, Commonwealth Classics, Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre (DC), Everyman (Baltimore). INTERNATIONAL: Fame (Chinese Tour), Overexposed (Edinburgh Fringe Fest). AWARDS: 2014 Barrymore Award Winner for Best Musical Direction. TRAINING: STC’s Academy for Classical Acting at George Washington University: MFA, Classical Acting; University of the Arts: BFA, Musical Theatre. TEACHING: The University of the Arts, Drexel University, George Mason University, West Chester University.

Daniel LeMien*

(Stage Manager) has been a proud member of the Actors Equity Association since 2003 and previously joined VSC for Dreamgirls. Daniel’s theatre credits include Spring Awakening, Mame, Cabaret, Fiddler on the Roof, Grey Gardens, Into the Woods, Bright Lights Big City and The Burnt Part Boys to name a few. Daniel has also toured with the 25th anniversary tour of Forever Plaid and Grammy nominated artist Jim Brickman for his holiday show. Daniel would like to extend his thanks to everyone involved in this production of The Hobbit. “Break em!”

Tom Quaintance

(Producing Artistic Director) is in his sixth year with Virginia Stage Company. At the Wells, Tom has directed A Merry Little Christmas Carol, Pride and Prejudice, The Santaland Diaries, and Matilda The Musical. Pre-pandemic, Tom traveled to Minneapolis where he directed Twelfth Night at the Guthrie Theater. As Artistic Director of Cape Fear Regional Theatre (CFRT), Tom produced over 35 plays and directed the World Premiere of Downrange: Voices from the Homefront, a play based on interviews with military spouses from Fort Bragg. Tom is an Associate Artist at PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill where he directed An Enemy of the People, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and The Little Prince. He also directed The Little Prince at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As the founder of FreightTrain Shakespeare in Los Angeles, he earned a Drama-Logue Award for his direction of Pericles. Other Los Angeles credits range from King Lear to The Devil With Boobs. A member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Tom is a graduate of Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) with a B.A. in Theatre and Economics, and the University of California, San Diego MFA directing program, where he was the assistant director on the original production of The Who’s Tommy. 

Jeff Ryder

(Managing Director) has been Managing Director of Virginia Stage Company since March 2022. Prior to coming to VSC, Jeff served in several roles at Cleveland Play House from 2013 to 2022. Jeff holds a Master of Public Administration Degree from the Levin College at Cleveland State University and a Bachelor’s Degree from Tufts University. At Levin, Jeff was inducted into Nu Lambda Mu, the international honor society for the study of nonprofit management and philanthropy. Jeff also holds a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion for HR Professionals from Cornell University. He has served on the boards of the Cleveland Kids’ Book Bank, Theatre Forward, the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Cleveland, and the Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club. In Cleveland, Jeff was honored to be a part of the Cleveland Leadership Center’s Advanced Leadership Institute and the Cleveland Foundation’s Foundations for Philanthropy Program. Jeff has also been a stage manager at several theatres including Talespinner Children’s Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Berkshire Theatre Festival.

ADDITIONAL SHOW STAFF

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER Emma Emde
FIGHT director GREGG LLOYD
RESIDENT CASTING DIRECTOR EMEL ERTUGRUL
STITCHEr VIRGINIA BIRD
WARDROBE SUPERVISOR CHELSIE CARTLEDGE ROSE
SOUND SUPERVISOR SHYLOH BAILEY
ELECTRICIANS RACHEL ELDER, WILLIAM DOWDY
CARPENTERS Elijah Righter, TRÉVEON PORCHIA
PROPERTIES Manager TUMÔHQ ABNEY
Scenic Charge George Righter
Scenic Painter Deanna Hammond

Mirror, mirror...Hot 'Cat' raises roof at Virginia Stage Company

By Page Laws Correspondent

A lot is being done with smoke and mirrors in downtown Norfolk. “Wicked,” a hugely profitable, trucked-in show, has been using smoke and mirrors to successfully sell high-tech magic at Chrysler Hall; meanwhile, a ew blocks away, the Virginia Stage Company (nonprofit, everything made on site) is using mirrors and smoking-hot acting to conjure its long-delayed offering of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

Though antithetical in style and production, both are see-worthy shows. But back to that mirror held up to life over at the VSC. Perhaps because the COVID-19 wait was so long (going on three years), what might have been a normal-sized mirror grew into a giant soul reflector, hung beneath the new Wells fly loft, thankfully installed during the hiatus. Director Khanisha Foster, who in 2019 helmed the VSC production of the now-controversial play “The Bluest Eye,” and her then-as-now set designer Josafath Reynoso, have slanted the giant mirror just so, in order to reveal to the audience a big brass bed plus any occupants therein.

The problem is, of course, that Maggie the Cat (Anna Sundberg plays the famous feline as a feisty redhead) can’t get her hobbling, boozing husband Brick (Gregory Warren) interested in any bed action, least of all with her. As Big Mama (Marsha Estell) later says, pointing to the bed, “When a marriage goes on the rocks, the rocks are right there.” Maggie’s frustrated; Brick is bombed; and Big Daddy, though he’s been lied to about it, is riddled with cancer. Human vultures (such as a minister, palm outstretched) are gathering.

Williams re-creates this Southern Gothic marital shipwreck by psychoanalyzing one of the great dysfunctional families of American theater. Besides Maggie and Brick and Brick’s never-seen-but-alwayspresent dead best friend Skipper (gay in an era of zero tolerance), we have well-meaning matriarch Big Mama; wife-bullying patriarch Big Daddy (Jeffrey King, in a remarkable performance); Brick’s rightfully resentful older brother Gooper (Angel Dillemuth); Gooper’s wife, Mae, aka Sister Woman (Wallis Herst); and three of Gooper and Mae’s “noneck monsters” (children, in Maggie-speak), one of whom, Trixie (Miri Quaintance), bears a sneaking resemblance to her stage mother, Herst. (Hint: they are also related offstage.)

Without the 25 plays of Thomas Lanier (“Tennessee”) Williams III (1911-83), Broadway might have long ago shut down, and the same is true for the Hollywood studios that churned out all those outrageous film adaptations. Many people who think they know the play are remembering the Hollywood-censored 1958 film starring slip-clad Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie, dreamy Paul Newman as Brick, and burly Burl Ives as Big Daddy.

Purge those portrayals from your mind, however, for director Foster’s highly theatrical, concept-driven version, beginning with her casting of actors of color in the traditionally white roles of Brick, Big Mama, Gooper and Sister Woman/Mae. Foster is forthright about her interest in race and quick to point out her own background: “I am the daughter of a Black Panther father and a white mother whose family invented Bubble Wrap,” she says in the playbill. (Bubble Wrap? That fortune likely makes Big Daddy’s $10 million look like chump change.)Foster indicates that the play clicked for her (note Brick’s sought-after “click” in the play) when she learned the story of Strom Thurmond’s forbidden love for a Black woman. That liaison produced a daughter whom the longtime U.S. senator quietly kept up with all his days. When this daughter’s Black mother died, however, Thurmond began his segregationist assault on Black rights. That displacement of thwarted love into destructive rage against innocents is what’s occurring in the play, Foster suggests in the playbill, a concept that guided her direction.

Now “clicks” are a personal thing, and, although I can’t identify with Foster’s inspiration, it has engendered strikingly unified results. They are clear in Reynoso’s flamboyant, ultra-classical set design: Greek columns, sweeping colonnade and double staircase, billowing long gauzy curtains, and, of course, the truth-telling mirror. It all adds up to surreal nouveau riche excess. My only suggestion for remodeling would be to add the ’50s equivalent of a Jacuzzi. The small bathtub behind a screen seems a bit déclassé.

Foster’s sound design, by Steven Allegretto, follows surreal suit by spookily echoing the offstage sound of a croquet ball being struck, as if to presage doom. Allegretto’s sonically conveyed thunderstorm is also apocalyptic. Costumer Bryce Turgeon must have also been told to succeed by excess. His glittering, Indian-inspired maternity suit for Herst is so beautiful, however, it makes it hard to concentrate on what Sister Woman (generally played as just drab and pregnant) is saying to increase her future fortune. Her husband Gooper is likewise costumed in a suit so outré that Dillemuth is lost behind its stripes. Not to be outdone, Maggie wears an orange ombré slip. Did they even do ombré in the ’50s?

Still, the whole is greater than any slip, and Big Daddy and Brick, both of them unremarkably costumed, raise the roof with their visceral acting, a choreographed dance of mutual pain and repression. In the first act pasde- deux of hate and avoidance with Maggie, Warren’s Brick comes across as a bit stolid. Shakespeare veteran Jeffrey King — 20 seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival — comes playfully bouncing across the brass bed in Act 2, and elevates the acting of the whole cast, but especially that of Brick. The audience notes that Big Daddy is punished for his bed-jumping stunt by an attack of pain so fierce he can scarcely conceal it.

A famous, eventually out gay figure in real life, Williams was capable in his great works of crazy excess and careful craftsmanship. Foster respects and conveys both. Known for his directorial stage directions, Williams insisted that the characters we so dislike also be human beings with whom we can empathize. Even the egotistical, racist, philandering Big Daddy, so brutal to his long-suffering wife (played by Estell as a little dim but never oblivious) earns a modicum of sympathy via his physical suffering, but also through his surprising tolerance for Brick, whom everyone suspects of also being gay. Big Daddy is on to the Southernfried liars who surround him (“Mendacity, mendacity!”), including his eldest son Gooper, armed with a corporate law degree and fecund wife. Mae is equally insistent that her husband and ill-behaved gaggle of children (plus one in the oven) should rate higher than the family favorite, Brick the lush and his childless, ill-tempered wife.

Maggie, besides being catty, has estranged Brick by sleeping with poor Skipper. (“We made love to each other to dream it was you.”) That’s projection/displacement, all right: Foster’s concept in action. The director concludes her playbill remarks with a provocative invitation: “Now, let’s tell some family secrets.” And that she does, with the help of that provocative, bawdy-house mirror.

You can safely jump off that hot tin roof now, Maggie. This production ensures you’ll always land on your feet.

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

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof @ The Wells Theatre

Catch just a small glimpse into this tour-de-force production that is captivating audiences from across Hampton Roads.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Directed by Khanisha Foster, is performing on The Wells Theatre Stage from September 14th - October 2nd. Make sure you get tickets today at vastage.org/cat

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Featured on CoastLive

Take a look at this wonderful segment on CoastLive with actors Angel Dillemuth and Wallis Herst who play Brick’s older brother Gooper, and Gooper’s wife Mae respectively.

HAMPTON ROADS, Va — Chandler Nunnally sits down with Wallis Herst and Angel Dillemuth to discuss their work in Virginia Stage Company's production of Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," which paints a portrait of a family in crisis in the steamy Mississippi South.

"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" is running now through October 2! For tickets and more details, visit vastage.org.

Presented by Virginia Stage Company
vastage.org

The Making Of...Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof has been almost two years in the making, and Virginia Stage Company couldn’t be more excited to share this production with Hampton Roads!

Watch as our incredible production team turns our beautiful stage into an extravagant bedroom on the Mississippi Delta where this tawdry tale takes place. Three weeks of work flash before your eyes in this beautiful 30-second clip that captures the real beauty of theater in motion!

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Khanisha Foster, runs on The Wells Theatre stage from September 14th - October 2nd. Tickets can still be purchased by calling the box office at (757) 627-1234 or by clicking below!