When was the last time somebody read to you?
Cynthia McMullen
Mar 30, 2008
For me, it was last night at the fabulous fifth annual Virginia Arts & Letters Live at the Empire Theatre downtown. It’s an event produced by James River Writers and Barksdale Theatre in support of the READ Center.
Before you start falling asleep ... trust me, it’s a kick to be read to when the stories are this fun and actors are adding a certain “je ne sais quoi.” This time around, local thespians Audra Honaker, Matt Polson and Matthew Costello did the honors, reading stories by Michael Parker, Ryan Effgen (who was in the audience) and J. David Stevens.
Honaker was hilarious and spot-on as a college freshman reading her own essay in the story “Hidden Meanings, Treatment of Time, Supreme Irony and Life Experiences in the Song, ‘Ain’t Gonna Bump No More No Big Fat Woman.’ “ Polson transitioned effortlessly from drunken party girl to beleaguered boyfriend in “The Pirate’s Life for Me” (bits of which took me back to Theatre IV’s production of “Beauty and the Beast,” in which Polson played the swashbuckling Gaston). And Costello delivered “The Death of the Short Story” with just the right amount of irony.
Mary Badham—who played Scout in “To Kill a Mockingbird”—hosted. Now fiftysomething, she shared funny stories from her experience on the film, for which she garnered an Academy Award nomination. (Remind me to rent that movie and watch it—I know I read the book, and I can just see Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. But I have a bad feeling I never saw the whole movie, now a perennial classic.)
Richmond-based music group VocalBluR entertained before, after and sometimes during the readings. Don’t be put off by the fact that it’s strictly a cappella. VocalBluR is good. It’s really good. Jeff Gray started with a beatbox demo that would’ve made Blake Lewis grin and continued with about a dozen other singers, including founder and president Matt Bolling. VocalBluR sang and percussed all over the place. (For info, visit http://www.vocalblur.com.) Hard to believe the group’s less than a year old.
Kudos and congrats to Arts & Letters Live director Irene Ziegler and everyone else who produced this evening. Look for Ziegler, by the way, in October’s “Nights in Rodanthe,” a Nicholas Sparks story starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane. She’ll also be in “Lake City” with Sissy Spacek and Dave Matthews (yeah, THAT Dave Matthews!) in December.
(0) Comments | Permalink
Next entry: Elliott's good reason
Previous entry: Pink Floyd tribute band -- wish you were there
Back to the Home Page »
Post a comment