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Tidewater Rep Opens at Ferguson

Until now, the Virginia Stage Company has been the only regional theater sanctioned by Actors Equity Association. No longer.

This Wednesday marks the opening night of the premiere production by Tidewater Regional Repertory Theatre (TRR). Founded in 2007, the theater operates in partnership with Christopher Newport University and the Ferguson Center for the Arts. It too is sanctioned by Actors Equity, and it stands alone as the only professional theater on the Peninsula.

Artistic Director, Steven Breese, broke from hectic, final preparations last week to speak with me by phone.

"It was sort of a perfect storm that happened," said Breese of TRR’s initial founding and evolution. That storm, he explained, included CNU’s investment into the Ferguson Center, which attracted world-class producer and arts administrator, William Biddle—who takes on the mantle of Executive Producer at TRR; and artists/educators, like Breese himself. With the resulting "influx of arts and artists on the Peninsula," and the gifting of the historic Yoder Barn to the University last spring, the decision to incorporate a professional theater to utilize the Center’s performance space seemed the perfect next step.

The Yoder Barn, which Breese describes as an "Off-Broadway, elegant, intimate and interesting space," is one of a few stages (along with a 1700-seat concert hall and a 440-seat studio theater) that are available to TRR under the auspices of the Ferguson. As the company is "dedicated to doing quintessential American work," according to Breese, "the barn seems to be quite appropriate."

Why American theater specifically?

"Well, we live in the cradle of America," he answered. "We looked at all the Shakespeare Festivals and Virginia Premiere Theatre on the Peninsula, which is dedicated to doing new work; we looked at the Stage Company, which does all kinds of work; and we looked at Jeff Meredith’s work [with Virginia Musical Theater], they’re dedicated to doing musicals only. And when we considered what this area really needs, we thought, ‘There is great American work that needs to be presented here.’"

The plays Breese has chosen to kick off TRR’s debut season, which runs Wednesdays through Saturdays from June 18 to July 26, set that tone. The musical Quilters, Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, and the comedy The Foreigner, not only reflect the theater’s mission, "but more importantly, they’re also extremely entertaining productions," said Breese. "They’re weighty, artistically. They have broad appeal to the community. And they have great dramatic muscle."

Having Equity actors to capitalize on such rich material is of immense, distinct value, said Breese, who is himself a union professional of 30 years.

"The great theaters in the country, all of them, have an association and agreement with Actors Equity," he said. "Why? Because the actors that stay in the business, the best actors in the country become members. Then, to interface them with the local professional community, we get what we hope to be a very high-quality product."

The Peninsula continues to be the unlikely setting for monumental art as recent weeks have seen yet another crop of public sculptures erected and unveiled.

Driving this is the Newport News Public Art Foundation (NNPAF). Two weeks ago, a 15’ bronze by Italian artist Emanuele de Reggi, entitled Carambola, was unveiled and illuminated for public view. It stands adjacent to the Main Street Library in the historic Hilton Village district of Newport News. The sculpture portrays a human figure catapulting over the earth. Says the artist, "Carambola...in one word...it is how Mankind survives through the many events of its own history."

NNPAF’s other new installation is the 15’ by 40’ granite Monument to Service, by Gregory Henry, at the campus of the Newport News Police Headquarters on Jefferson Avenue. It was unveiled the same week.

The two projects follow the Foundation’s installation of Izar, sculptor Bruce White’s monumental steel structure which was erected last fall at the entrance to the Newport News-Williamsburg Airport. The modern, massive Izar rises, catches and reflects light and is illuminated at night like a shooting star. Yet other sculptures brought into the city reflect NNPAF’s diverse sensibilities; classical stone statuary is equally abundant (view images at their website, www.nnpaf.org).

The nonprofit organization’s mission is to transform the city’s visual appearance through the selection and permanent location of major pieces of sculpture in Newport News.

We reported in our May 27 issue the dedication of local artist Steve Prince’s 15’ kinetic steel sculpture, entitled Song for John, near the Hampton Convention Center. The Southside, in its efforts to continuously improve its image and identity, should take a page from the Peninsula, NNPAF and all its new public sculpture. Because mermaids these are not.

—Hannah Serrano

Max FM puts listeners in the DJ chair

Offering a new development in the search for the ultimate music technology, "Hampton Roads’ Rock Station," Max FM, is evolving from a traditional format in which listeners can make single-song requests by phone to an online interface that allows them complete control of the music played on the station.

WXMM, otherwise known as 100.5 Max FM, first started airing mainstream rock in November 2003. Barnstable Broadcasting, which owned the station until 2005, changed the format from country music protoplast WCMS to Max FM in response to the demand for a rock station geared toward the 18-40 male demographic in Hampton Roads. The station was bought out by Max Media in 2005, but the new rock format remained intact.

Now Max FM intends to "give [radio] back to the people."

The station boasts that its new user-generated playlist feature, which debuted June 9, is the first of its kind. It allows listeners to compile online lists (at Playlist.maxfm.fm) of 20 songs that they then submit to be played on the radio.

Typically, only one or two people are in charge of mainstream radio music programming, using research based on less than 100 listeners.

"We thought that was really dumb," says Max Media Radio President Eric Mastel.

Now all listeners can choose from hundreds of artists and over 1,000 songs that range from ZZ Top to Panic! At the Disco.

Max FM’s website states that more features are to come, including playlist voting and sharing. So far, playlists are generating about three to five hours of listener-chosen musical content per day, but Mastel expects "to naturally add hours as we get more competent. Our goal is to do it 24/7."

He is very excited to see what will happen with the experiment.

"We hope to create a real community out of it."