Virginia Stage Company- Norfolk
Virginia Stage Company
Jannie Jones in “Black Pearl Sings!” by Frank Higgins.
“Our goal is always to try and reach as many people as we can with the most compelling story we can find,” says Chris Hanna, artistic director. “We try to find shows that have something for everyone and everything for someone.”
His goal: “To produce a lineup of shows that is a blend of popular works familiar to our audience as well as the most current works on the national theater scene.”
This year’s season includes two world premieres. The drama “The Comfort Team” is a moving story that follows a group of military spouses brought together by duty and bound by honor and friendship. The saucy new musical “Frog Kiss” tells of a princess determined to turn her frog into a prince. The action, says Hanna, takes place in an enchanted faraway, “Shrek”-like kingdom.
Hanna believes audiences will be talking about the Company’s production of “The Whipping Man,” which recently played Broadway. “It’s a very Virginia story that takes place in Richmond at the end of the Civil War,” he says. “It looks at what it is to hold on to your religion during something as brutal as the Civil War. It brings in different races and different faiths.”
“Fences,” a drama that explores family relationships, and “The Odd Couple” round out the season. “It seemed right to open the season with ‘Fences,’ winner of the Pulitzer Prize and 2009 Tony Award for Best Revival, and close with ‘The Odd Couple,’” Hanna says. “I love to end any season laughing.” VaStage.com
More:
American Shakespeare Center (Staunton)
Virginia Opera (Norfolk & Richmond)
The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Wolftrap (Vienna)
Virginia Repertory Theatre (Richmond)
Virginia Stage Company (Norfolk)
Synetic Theater (Arlington)
Virginia Symphony Orchestra (Norfolk)
