Next to Normal at Arena Stage

There's so much talk out on the blogosphere these days about the "Richmond Cultural Census" and the general public's apathy toward the theatre, that one might just end up feeling down and saddened about the state of theatre in our area. I know it certainly doesn't put a smile on my face to read these dissapointing results so I thought I'd take this opportunity and this blog to discuss something that really is inspiring and exciting.






Two evenings ago, I took a trek up to Crystal City, just outside of Washington, D.C., where Arena Stage is currently producing a re-vamped and re-worked production of the off-Broadway musical, Next to Normal. Next to Normal was originally at Second Stage Theatre in NYC. Second Stage is a non-profit theatre company in New York devoted to producing premieres and new interpretations of the best contemporary American theatre. In recent years they have launched Broadway transfers of shows such as The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Mary Zimmerman's Metomorphoses.

Friday was actually my second time seeing Next to Normal at Arena. Before this, I'm embarrassed to say, I had never been to see anything at Arena Stage. I guarantee now, that I will try to see everything produced by this cornerstone of the American Theatre. Next to Normal is truly a remarkable piece of theatre. It is a true example of what the combination of a new and interesting story, a near-perfect rock score, smart, insightful lyrics and a cast of Broadway veterans that embody the material with ablomb can do. In a theatre world where most "new" musicals are carbon-copies of "hit" movies, star-driven revivals of classics, or jukebox shows, its quite resfreshing to see a purely original show about issues that everyone can relate to.

If the future of the American musical theatre is something you care about, Next to Normal is a show for you and if artists like Tom Kitt, Brian Yorkey and Michael Greif continue to put their heart and soul into work like this, the future of the theatre looks bright indeed.

--Chase Kniffen

The Amazing Transformation

As the lights went out on our 08/09 Inaugural Season Opener, Tick, Tick...BOOM!, I stood in the light booth looking out over a packed house who'd all just had a rockin' good time, and I remembered what our incredible space looked like just five months ago. It wasn't until April of 2008 that Stage 1 was even an idea. I saw an amazing space that was serving Shuffles Dance Center as a dance studio, and thought that it would make a perfect black-box space. When I pitched the idea to Peggy Thibodeau, Owner and Operator of Shuffles and now volunteer Managing Director of Stage 1, the ideas started flowing. Each day, the idea and vision of Stage 1 became clearer and clearer. What we had was a unique idea and a perfect space to do it. When I come across and idea that I think has some real worth, I can't help but get started immediately. At this point we gathered together some trusted friends and pitched this idea to them. When we let them know that our goal was to be up and running with our first full production in November, '08, most of them looked at us like we had lost our minds. Well, maybe that is the case - it probably is - but none the less, I sit here today, incredibly proud of what we have accomplished in the past 6 months. I am very grateful to everyone who has offered smart ideas, hands-on work and enormous moral support as we have created and continue to create and organization that I believe will become a very important part of our arts community.

I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the photos and stories from our 6 month construction of Stage 1. Enjoy. This image above was taken the evening of Jun 20, 2008. This is the first day we purchased the lumber from Home Depot to begin out stage building. I believe it was around 5 pm when I was driving in the car and decided that was the night to start the project. Very little pre-planning or scheduling went into that decision. We didn't have anything to do that night...Why not build a stage?Above, you can see the first frame of our stage floor. This is the farthest UL corner of the Stage. It was incredible exciting when this first piece was laid down and legged up. I guarantee you, however, the fourteen remainging pieces weren't nearly as exciting as this one. This was an exciting day. We had a real stage - well, kind of. As we laid the last piece of masonite, the realization was - Wow! What an incredible space. This was when it all started to become a reality. There was a real stage! Next step...Black Paint...Lots and lots of black paint!! Here you can see the beginnings of the black paint...Its starting to get messy, as well. The above photo was literally taken at 3 AM. Determination was key in the creation of Stage 1. I think it was about midnight, when we ran out of black paint and, for some reason, determined it was a completer necessity to finish the painting project that night. We proceeded to take a field trip to Wal*Mart at midnight to purchase 7 gallons of Black Paint. It sure looked good at 3 AM. Unfortunately, the next morning, the missed spots showed up in the sunlight. It was time for coat 2. Surprisingly, this is the next photo I have in the process. I think we missed about a month of documentation in there somewhere. In this photo we have completed the seating area, as well as begun hanging the lighting grid. From this point forward, there were many more projects to complete. Unfortunately, this is just about all the documentation of the creation of the space that we have. You'll have to visit us for one or all of the remaining productions in our 08/09 Season to see the finished product. You really have to see it to believe it.

Click here to visit our home on the web for more information.


Thanks for being an important part of the Stage 1 Family. --Chase K.