The Wells Theatre in downtown Norfolk at Tazewell Street and Monticello Avenue opened doors on August 27, 1913 and today at 97 years strong the theatre is still a jewel in Virginia's theatrical arts and entertainment crown.
teej beck
Since 1979 The Virginia Stage Company has resided at the landmark theater and has gained national recognition as the premiere professional theatre of Southeastern Virginia
Recently I had the pleasure of attending (and helping out just a little with) Theatrical Theatricale, Or Yes We Can-Can, the Virginia Stage Company's Annual Spring Gala. The event, beautifully, charmingly and flawlessly executed by the newly acquired Director of Development, Barbara Lipskis, was a coup De gras! et un tour Du force! This year's Gala was all that is France, French and Fantastic; food, wine and sophisticated wit.
At the Monticello Box Office entrance, to be greeted by men on stilts and Can-Can girls was festive and certainly unexpected. Barbara, costumed a la Can-Can herself, complete with boa, greeted each guest to the gala with that wonderful smile of hers. In house, Le maître de la Maison, VSC's very own Directeur Artistique, Chris Hanna, in glorious evening suit and chops offered champagne and chambord, impressing with a most charming French accent.
Even before the festivities of Can-Can girls and hors d'oeuvres and mimes, fortune tellers, caricaturists and the fantastic food catered by Omar's Carriage House and of course Can-Can! We 'strolled' the silent auction in the gallery and lobby. Beautiful displays of donated items for silent auction from Hampton Roads businesses, showing their support for the arts and for VSC, filled the theater. Also on display and for bid were a great many items from 'backstage' including memorabilia, posters and playbills of past performances from the 30 year old company including live auction items which can only be obtained from the creative staff of Virginia Stage Company. The proceeds from the evening's silent auction, donations and endowments, festivities and fanfare, provide for the expenses of the up coming year of theater productions.
The Virginia Stage Company, a not-for-profit, professional resident theater company, enriches, educates and entertains the region by creating and producing theatrical art of the highest quality and worthy of national prominence. Their continuing mission to bring the lively arts to Hampton Roads is made possible through donations, subscription sales and community support.
Again , just a week or so later, I ran into Barbara, as I walked the Stockley Garden Art Show. I found her and Virginia Stage Associate
It is the life of the Director of Development to grow the theater to involve the community, no small task in these difficult financial times when theater is considered a luxury. Theater is more than a luxury it is a vital part of society.
The tradition of live theatre and performance for nearly 100 years here in Virginia is forever at the brink of extinction. All the theatre needs to survive is you and your guest for one evening enjoying a night of live performance, fun and glamour.
Please go to see a show.... share the theatre with a child, introduce them in the magic of the stage, make theatre a tradition, see A Christmas Carol for the 100th time...
Your time is a great asset to the theatre and a really wonderful way to expand your circle of friends. The theatre is best shared with friends, so bring old and dear ones and make some new ones. The Virginia Stage Associates are a wonderful organization and vital to the life of the theatre.
To learn how to become a member of the Virginia Stage Company, for tickets to enjoy a show or to volunteer your time visit the Virginia Stage Company's website www.vastage.com
The exciting upcoming season 2010-2011 will feature two world premieres, including SCKBSTD– a new musical by Bruce Hornsby, The New Pink by Chris Hanna which depicts the comedic survival of a retired couple during todays’ economic crisis, plus a new adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank. The Last 5 Years by Jason Robert Brown puts a whole new spin on romance, and the perennial family favorite of Christmas Carole returns just in time for the holiday season. The last play of August Wilson’s series, Radio Golf, will conclude the 3nd season.
There really is nothing quite so memorable as taking in a show and the walk home after excited or moved by a performance, the talk of the cast and sets as you ready for bed and the next morning the feeling is still so alive that all day at the office you find yourself talking about it. That is the magic of theatre, that is the power of live performance, and experiencing live storytelling in the most intimate environment of The Wells theatre. Be a part of it. See a show, become involved, send a young person to their very first show - theatre is wonderful.
Of the many great things membership entails saving with season tickets is for myself the most appealing (after the shows themselves). With season tickets even if you cannot make every show the tickets are a great gift to pass on to someone and excite them about the theatre.
C'est Le joie du vive, c'est le joie du theatre...,
The color, the grace and levitation, the structural pattern in motion, the quick interplay of live beings, suspended like fitful lightning in a cloud, these things are the play, not words on paper, nor thoughts and ideas of an author, those shabby things snatched off basement counters at Gimbel's. - TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
Artistic Director Chris Hanna and Managing Director Keith Stava
