- [Announcer] Art Beat is made possible in part by the Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic Foundation.

- Hey, you're here, great.

Hey, this is it, like the big night.

Hey, come on, I'll show you around while we're getting ready.

All right, come on.

Yeah.

Wow, oh my.

Wow, look at all those TVs.

They got three stations going here.

Hey, I wonder what's this way.

This is the Avid editing room.

That's where they put all the pieces together, right?

Let's go in inside and talk to one of the editors.

Come on.

Hey, Kim.

- Hi.

- How you doing?

Good to see you again.

- Good, how are you?

- [Jeff] How's the piece coming?

- Great, wanna see some?

- Yeah.

- Flattens the bases out so that they stand up correctly.

- There's Kathy's hand.

(festive music) What are they making?

- Figurines.

- Oh, they're figurines.

- Yeah, it's fun.

- Figurines.

- Great.

- How much more you gotta do?

- Not too much till it's ready to go.

- Great.

Looks great.

This is command central, the studio control room.

This is where the directors and the producers work.

Come on, let's go see what they're doing.

Hey, this is Michael.

He's the director.

Hey, Mike, how's it going?

- Going great.

- Good.

Hey, how's that opening coming?

- Looks great.

Made a couple of changes last week to the final edit, got it approved.

We're all set.

- This is our home, the studio.

This is where we're gonna do our new show.

Well, it's a show by and for the five major arts organizations here in Hampton Roads.

I'm Jeff, your host.

Come on.

Tonight we're gonna talk about the Virginia Stage Company.

We're gonna look at the past, the future.

We'll even look inside it.

What's gonna happen?

Who knows.

Welcome to "Art Beat."

(energetic music) This is our home for "Art Beat" here in the studios of WHRO.

Well, there have been shows about the arts here in Hampton Roads, but there's never been a show like this.

What is "Art Beat" about?

Here's a look at how we got here.

- [David] Hampton Roads is one of the most vibrant and successful regions for the arts in America.

The arts scene in Hampton Roads is an important economic driver, both in the impact upon quality of life and upon the attractiveness of this region as a spot for businesses to relocate.

So it was with great pride that the heads of six regional arts organizations met in the WHRO studios on January 21st to announce a new venture.

- And we at WHRO are excited about this joint project with the Chrysler Museum of Art, the Virginia Opera, the Virginia Stage Company, the Virginia Symphony, and the Virginia Waterfront International Arts Festival.

- [David] That venture is the program you're watching now, "Art Beat."

It's a program created and produced by those five major arts organizations in Hampton Roads along with WHRO.

Even though these organizations collaborate with one another on a project-by-project basis, the partnership required to launch this effort is noteworthy.

You might wonder why it's so important.

- The arts are an important part of our state and regional history.

They enhance our daily lives today.

And they are necessary in our future if we hope to enrich and inform future generations about who we are, what we stand for, and above all, what makes us human beings.

- Well, here we are reaching out, and we're getting not just visual arts, but performing arts, not just theatrical, but musical organizations together.

And we're working as a team to bring the arts to the people that we're here to serve.

- [David] So there's a lot at stake in telling the story of the arts scene in Hampton Roads, and if part of our purpose is to create audience and awareness, we can do that in part by talking about the timely and the topical.

But the process of making the arts happen is more than just what's hot.

- I've always felt that the real opera is backstage.

That's where so many talented and committed people pull together to produce the performance everybody applauds from up front.

It has been truly fascinating for me to be at the center of where so many different skills, personalities, and energies come together for a unified performance at curtain time.

This is truly the magic of opera.

And now you'll all get a chance to see it and see how it happens.

- And that really is what I think is so wonderful about the idea of the production of "Art Beat" and the way that we'll work together, is to really give people the opportunity to see behind the curtain exactly how things happen.

- [David] Lofty goals.

You'll be the judge of how well we achieve them.

So what we'll do with "Art Beat" is to keep you posted about what's going on with the five sponsoring arts organizations and take you behind the scenes with an eye to demystifying the process of making the arts happen.

So what do we hope to accomplish?

- We're gonna talk to people that wouldn't have dreamed of the association between "Art Beat," the Chrysler Museum of Art, and the other institutions.

We're gonna have some fun.

- [David] Yes, we are.

For "Art Beat," I'm David Ferrero.

- When we return, we'll look back and look forward as the Virginia Stage Company celebrates 20 years of professional theater in Hampton Roads.

Stay with us.

(energetic upbeat music) (energetic music) Welcome back.

In the first week of February, the Virginia Stage Company celebrated its 20th anniversary with a breakfast with the Downtown Norfolk Council and a gala celebration.

And here to help us understand what it means to have survived 20 years of mounting professional theater in Hampton Roads is VSC artistic director Charlie Hensley and founding board president Bob Brown.

What does this milestone mean to the Virginia Stage company?

- Well, I think, I mean, people in the theater love to look back.

It's one of our favorite things in the world, I think because we live such ephemeral existences anyway.

The fact that once the show has had its three week run here, it's over.

It's over.

So we like to take time and look back and especially since VSC has always sort of been viewed as the little engine that could.

I think nobody ever expected from the very beginning when they thought, "These people have lost their minds moving into this porn house here."

But really to also watch the growth of downtown Norfolk around us has been really staggering, but just to know that we've given so much work to so many artists and so much pleasure to so many audiences.

- Bob, the Wells Theatre has such a remarkable past.

What have been some of the hardships, I guess, or the trials in restoring that theater to a point where you could show theater here in Hampton Roads?

- Well, it started with getting it because here we had this idea to start a professional theater company.

It really started in '78, and then we had to find a place to perform.

And so we started looking around, this young board of trustees, and looked at 31 different places.

And finally someone showed us the Wells Theatre, and we said, "This is the place," magnificent thing.

Of course, it was a theater which was not showing first-run movies.

Indeed, none of them would be seen by the Catholic Decency League, I'm sure.

But we've gotta be thankful to Frankie Blue and Mary Jane Porter, who ran this theater as a movie theater.

And they made it possible for us to have it because even though it was an X-rated movie theater, they were keeping the roof patched and the heating on.

And so it was a building with tremendous bones, wonderful architectural structure, because it was Norfolk's first poured-in-place concrete building, so it hadn't deteriorated, and it was this architectural gem.

And in the name of progress, and hurrah for progress, we had torn down on a lot of old Norfolk, and this was a part that we still had.

And it was a tremendous opportunity to combine the founding of this new resident theater with the restoration.

It was a blending of the future and the past in a very pleasing way.

- We'll get back with both of you in a moment.

Now we're gonna take a look at a video the Virginia Stage Company has prepared to both honor 20 years of achievement and to look forward toward the future.

(dramatic music) (lion roaring) - [Narrator] Live from downtown Norfolk, it's Virginia Stage Company.

(gripping epic music) - How are you, Celine?

(performers chattering) (frenetic orchestral music) (attendee speaks faintly) (upbeat music) (cart clanking) ♪ It's not unusual to be loved by anyone ♪ ♪ It's not unusual to have fun with anyone ♪ - [Narrator] In the 1960s and '70s, there was a groundswell of theater activity in Norfolk.

Actors, directors, designers, artisans, and sympathetic community members struggled to bring live theater to local audiences amidst the harsh realities of deserted streets and vacant buildings.

One of these groups, Norfolk Theatre Center, distinguished itself in this field of community theaters and started to gain a foothold.

In 10 seasons from 1968 to 1978, it produced dozens of popular and critically acclaimed plays.

Key members of the community, Bob Brown among them, sensed the theater's excitement and came to its support.

They moved to the Stage Downunder at the Scope in the 1970s.

And then in the spring of 1979, a new vision emerged.

- The board of directors of the Norfolk Theatre Center decided that the communities of Eastern Virginia needed and deserved a first-rate resident professional theater of national rank.

So we just decided to do it, to start this theater company based on principles of artistic excellence as well as good management.

(lively music) - [Narrator] Great theater needs a great space.

The historic Wells Theatre, this architectural gem, emerged as the best prospect at the least cost.

Virginia Stage Company approached Frank Blue, owner of the X-rated movie house that then operated in the Wells.

- Well, we really owe a big debt of gratitude to Frankie Blue and Mary Jane Porter.

Frankie was a real "Guys and Dolls" kind of character, used to run the Gaiety Theater over on Main Street.

And he and Ms. Porter owned and ran the Wells Theatre as a movie theater.

And even though the movies that they ran would never win an Academy Award, God bless them because it kept the roof patched and the heat on and preserved the wonderful Wells Theatre.

So it was here available for them to help us acquire it and renovate it into this gem of a theater.

- [Narrator] In October 1979, Virginia Stage Company took possession of the Wells and made the theater its home.

- Well, you wouldn't believe what this theater was like looking at it now.

When I walked in it the first time, they had just gotten it.

I don't have a really good sense of smell, but it smelled so bad.

It was all stale beer, old popcorn, and smoke.

You could slide across the floor, and you didn't dare touch anything.

And then came opening night in a blizzard, and they all worked so hard to get open.

And then the blizzard hit, and nobody could come.

And finally they just went and opened the doors and invited in whoever was walking down the street.

- [Narrator] There was the smell of fresh paint, a few of the bumps and bangs associated with an opening night and, of course, the freak storm that dropped a foot of snow on the city the night before.

None of that, however, could take away from the fun and magic the full house enjoyed as the Virginia Stage Company opened its premier season.

It was a marvelous evening, one the promises many, many more.

- Well, starting 20 years ago with Alan Ayckbourn's "Relatively Speaking," all I can say is it's been a great ride.

♪ Another op'nin' another show ♪ ♪ In Philly, Boston, or Baltimo' ♪ ♪ A chance for stage folks to say hello ♪ ♪ Another op'nin' of another shown ♪ ♪ Another job that you hope at last ♪ ♪ Will make your future forget your past ♪ ♪ Another pain where the ulcers grow ♪ ♪ Another op'nin' of another show ♪ ♪ Four weeks, you'll rehearse and rehearse ♪ ♪ Three weeks, and it couldn't be worse ♪ ♪ One week, will it ever be right ♪ ♪ Then out of the hat it's that big first night ♪ (audience applauds) (easygoing jazz music) - [Narrator] Along with the development of Waterside, Virginia Stage Company's restoration of the Wells in 1985 was the main spark in the start of the renaissance of downtown Norfolk.

Often over these years, the only lights on in the neighborhood were Virginia Stage Company and a few pioneering restaurants.

- If the stage company was not there, we would probably not be in business today.

Clientele that the stage company has fits into what we do beautifully.

- Virginia Stage Company played a very important role in really the rebirth of downtown Norfolk.

It was one of the first things that was done where the private sector actually came to the table, made the investment that resulted in the restoration of the wonderful theater.

It also was a way, I think, of raising the self-esteem of our community in that we could have professional theater in Hampton Roads.

- The business development opportunities that are derived from a theater are vitally important to new businesses or corporations that consider moving into an area.

I think the stage company primarily does a great job in selling companies that come to look at the market and considering Hampton Roads as a destination.

(easygoing upbeat music) - [All] Theater house rules, yeah!

- [Narrator] Virginia Stage Company's theater for kids program for the school children of Hampton Roads invests in our community's future.

Each year, Virginia Stage Company performs for, reads to, works with, and delights more than 40,000 kids from Newport News to Chesapeake to Virginia Beach.

- This is our opportunity to educate our future audiences, to expose these kids to the excitement of live theater.

Maybe some of them will get interested in theater and wanna do some of it themselves when they get a little bit older.

It's really a way for us to get out into the community.

So many of these kids have never seen live theater before.

This is really our chance to share what we love with this part of the community.

- I can't overemphasize how much these programs mean to our kids.

Just look at their faces.

(chuckles) (performer speaks faintly) - Oh, oh!

- Yeah, yes!

(child speaks faintly) (audience applauds) - Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to the theater.

Very glad to have you with us tonight.

What we're looking for is to see those bright, shining, happy faces from the kids and the older people and the people my age.

In the theater, we bring you into a very controlled environment to tell you what we hope will be a story that will mean something to you that will live with you for a long time.

When I talk about the future of Virginia Stage Company, I have to look back with pride on all the work that the people who work here and the trustees who have worked for us and the community members who have contributed to our success over the years.

You know, we came into this theater at a time when no one was willing to come downtown.

And it's so exciting now to see hundreds and hundreds of people come in for every performance and knowing that somehow we are reaching into the hearts of the people of Hampton Roads.

And of course, now we have this beautiful national historic landmark to perform in.

We're the only professional theater for 100 miles.

So I think our big responsibility is trying to reach out to every single one of those people of all ages, of all races, of all economic groups.

And of course that's a pretty tall order.

Well, for those of us who work in the theater and those of us who attend the theater, I think we'd all agree, the best part is using your imagination.

(upbeat music) (singers vocalizing) - Charlie, the video shows us a few of the productions that have played here at Virginia Stage Company in the 20 years.

What have been some of the highlights?

- Well, certainly we would have to talk about "The Secret Garden," which went on to Broadway, and also the fact that we have done so many premieres.

I mean, for a resident company with limited resources, as we always say, we've turned out 15 world premieres, a number of American premieres.

We've done 14 Pulitzer Prize-winning plays.

So any of those...

I mean, "Patsy Cline" was an enormous success, "Pump Boys and Dinettes," "Peter Pan," "Hamlet," the bestselling play in the history of the company.

So it also shows what a diverse audience we have, which is terrific.

- Now, Bob, you have been with the stage company as founding board president really longer than anybody.

You must have stories.

- Oh, stories, stories.

(Jeff laughs) You know, they go back a long time ago.

This was a tremendously energetic young group of friends who joined me on the founding board.

They played bingo, ran bingo games to raise money to found this theater, upholstered seats in the snow before opening night 20 years ago.

We have tremendous relationships with the wonderful artists that have come in.

the people in the community who've supported it.

I'll always remember when we hired Patrick Tovet, our first director who produced the very first season.

And we hired him in the spring of 1979 before we even had the Wells Theatre.

We just had an option on it.

And Patrick came into town, and there's that beautiful oval lobby and where the beautiful stained glass is.

At that time, there was just a plywood sign there that said, "Norfolk's finest entertainment."

So there was a photographer from the newspaper with one of those classic, old square press cameras down on his knees to take the picture of Patrick in front of this, right in front of these double doors in front of that sign.

Remember there were still porn movies still being shown inside.

At that point, the doors open, and this guy with very wide eyes looks into the eyes of this camera.

I'm sure he thought his wife had sent someone to trail him.

The doors, it was like a reverse motion.

The door slowly closed as he walked backwards out.

It was a moment which sort of bridged the old and the new.

And since then we've had some fabulous productions, both from Patrick Tovet and Charles Towers.

And Charlie's done magnificent work.

And it's just been an energizing experience for all of us who are directly involved and I know for the community as well.

- It's also, you know, it's so nice to, after hearing that story, especially, to think of all the thousands of kids who go through our theater every year and the fact that we've been able to mount touring shows to take out so that we have the ability to bring kids into the theater and to go to the schools to visit them and to see the delight.

You know, I remember the little girl who walked in the very same doors to see a production of "Christmas Carol" and looked up and said, "Oh, it's just like "Beauty and the Beast."

And you know, those are the kinds of things, and they're just enraptured by theater.

You know, kids really understand theater much more easily than their parents do because they still have their imagination.

- I don't think a lot of people know that Virginia Stage Company exists outside of the walls of the Wells Theatre.

- Well, it's one of the most important thing.

I mean, yes, we have a gorgeous national historic landmark, but, you know, you really only need one person to do it and one person to watch.

And when we put our young actors in that van to go out to the schools or to go out to malls or shopping centers or wherever to perform, you really do get a lot richer experience of the theater and especially watching kids come to life and see their minds fill in everything that isn't there.

- [Jeff] That's right.

Bob, you wanna add something there to that?

- Well, that's one of the things that I and other people have been involved on the board of trustees side are particularly proud of, is the educational program.

And people think, as Charlie said, of the main stage, but this educational program is nationally award-winning.

It is an extraordinary program, and we're very, very proud of it and want more people to come in and see it.

And indeed, I remember that my first experience in theater was as a fifth grader at Churchland Elementary School being bused over to the Center Theater to see a production of "Jack and the Beanstalk."

And I think that maybe is what first hooked me on theater, is that experience as a student being brought to the theater.

- How do y'all see this downtown development and fusion affecting y'all?

- Well, it's just astounding.

I mean, you know, you remember when I arrived in town seven years ago.

I could stand on Granby Street at high noon and never run into anybody.

- That's right.

- And now the traffic...

I was thinking the other day, "I can't believe I'm complaining about the traffic on Granby Street."

But it's terrific.

And just to see the way and the number of people who are discovering our theater for the first time, who have lived in Norfolk or somewhere in Hampton Roads all their lives and never made the trip downtown, never knew that theater was there.

And they come up to the doors looking around.

"Oh, this is the Wells Theatre."

So it's that, but it's also the real renaissance of downtown that's so exciting and knowing that not long ago there were only two restaurants, and now we have 10 to choose from that are all very high quality.

And we like people.

- Gentlemen, I wanna thank you both for being here, Bob, Charlie.

- Thank you, Jeff.

- Thanks.

- We look forward to the rest of the season, and we look forward to see what the future brings with Virginia Stage Company.

- It's the Roaring Twenties.

- There you go.

Next we're gonna go to the Virginia Stage Company prop shop, where prop persons play with paint and plaster.

Plenty more coming up.

Stay with us.

(energetic music) (energetic upbeat music) (energetic music) We promised you that "Art Beat" would take you behind the scenes to see how the arts are made, and we will.

In the last production at the Wells, "Lonesome West," the two brothers take their sibling rivalry to new heights or depths, and even the saints aren't safe.

Let's take a look.

- And what's wrong with fighting anyways?

I do like a good fight.

It does show you care, fighting does.

- One brother collects ceramic figurines of Catholic saints.

The other brother in a fit of rage breaks 48 a night.

So over the three-week run, that's 1,400 figurines that he breaks.

It was cost-prohibitive to buy them because they have to be saints.

They refer to a couple of them in the show as very specific saints, and they're pretty hard to fake.

So we tried buying some from the dollar store, but you really can't get the size that you need.

So we decided to generate them.

This is Therese, and what we did was we covered her in Future floor finish, which is just a acrylic sealer.

And then we dipped her upside down in latex, liquid latex, which we got from a theatrical supply store, turned her back up, set her in front of the heater, let her all dry, dipped her again in the latex, set her in front of the heater.

And this is what it ends up with.

This is one of the latex condoms, as we like to call them.

This is actually inside out, so it gets turned.

This is only two layers, and they're pretty heavy.

Sometimes they had to go through repairs when they got little holes.

They hang like that.

We hang them over here.

- [Crew Member] Turn, turn away right there.

- [Crew Member] Yeah?

Good?

- So it just pours right in.

These are some that have actually just come out of the cast.

They're very wet, and they're quite heavy 'cause they still have a lot of water in them.

They go over here on they're respective, Therese, Francis, Jude.

(crew member clapping) They go here.

Then Chris takes them, takes them upside down and flattens the bases out so that they stand up correctly.

(festive music) And then once they're painted, they come over here, and they get set up on the shelves.

And you can see the whole process there.

(laughs) Well, everybody knows a lot about saints now.

Everybody has their patron saint, and we know all the stories of each one that we're painting, so, little history behind everything.

(crew laughing) - That's it for this edition of "Art Beat."

Be with us next week when we'll go to the Chrysler Museum of Art and encounter the very first exhibition of the photography of Ernest Withers.

We'll take a look at the exhibition and meet Ernest Withers himself.

We'll learn about his life and his career and how his photographs have affected him.

That's next week on "Art Beat."

I'm Jeff Lindquist.

Take care.

(energetic music) - [Announcer] "Art Beat" is made possible in part by the Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic Foundation.

(static hisses) (upbeat electronic music) (screen pops)