The Smithfield Little Theatre will be expanding the size of its Cotton Gin Theatre this summer, and The Williamsburg Players is exploring expansion plans for its James-York Playhouse.
The two companies have been steadily building an audience and now are bursting at the seams. Patrons have had to contend with cramped lobbies and tight seating.
The Smithfield troupe had a record 940 subscribers this season, said Board President Doris Hurst. Shows consistently have been sold out; walk-ins are turned away unless subscription ticket holders don’t show up.
This summer, Smithfield will expand its auditorium from 98 to 145 seats with a 10-by-40 foot addition to its Commerce Street building, she said. The $39,000 project will include a glassed-in lighting booth in the rear, renovated dressing rooms and restrooms, and new seats donated by Saunders Supply Co.
“The project is scheduled to start in early June and will take about four months,” she said.
About half the funds will come from the theater’s building fund. The rest will come from fund-raising events, she said.
The Williamsburg Players faces similar problems. The theater operates out of a converted church off Hubbard Lane, with 120-seat capacity and inadequate lobby and backstage space.
Last fall, the group’s board hired theater consultant David Weiss of the University of Virginia to chart its future growth and come up with some expansion possibilities, said Board Member Barney Barnes.
“We told Weiss what we wanted 10-15 years down the road,” said Barnes. “Now, we need to refine our dreams into reality.”
The Players recently gave Weiss’ report to architects Guernsey-Tingle and asked them to develop a plan that could be fazed in over several years. Costs have not yet been considered, said Barnes, but the theater would like to double its seating capacity and provide additional space for rehearsals and set construction.
“We’re very concerned about not losing the intimate feeling of the present theater,” said Barnes. “But our current seating capacity is so small that it’s difficult for us to raise additional revenue.”
Barnes estimated renovation would begin within the next three years.
CHORAL DEPARTURE: Gary Lewis is stepping down as music director of the Virginia Choral Society.
“I need a chance to refresh myself,” said Lewis, who has conducted the choral group for the last eight seasons. He said he would consider returning to the post in the future.
Lewis, who works as organist and music director of Hampton Baptist Church, will stay on through early August when the chorus performs John Rutter’s “Magnificat” at choral workshops in North Carolina and West Virginia. Rutter, one of England’s foremost composers of church music, will conduct the first performance, and Lewis will conduct the second. The chorus is scheduled to perform the work in Hampton Roads next season.
“The board is saddened, but we realize Gary will have more time for himself,” said Board President Carlton Hardy II.
The board has received about 15 applications for Lewis’ position and wants to find a replacement by the end of June.
The assistant director’s position also must be filled this summer, said Hardy. Kathleen Griffin is resigning to become a full-time music director of All Saints Episcopal Church in Virginia Beach, where she has held a part-time position.
DANCE WINNER: Elspeth Grant, 16, a student at the School of the Contemporary Ballet Theatre in Williamsburg, has won first place in the Dance Division of the Virginia Fine Arts Scholarship Competition.
Grant competed against 61 other dance students statewide for the $7,500 prize. The scholarship program is funded by private contributions and administered by the state Department of Education.
The Lafayette High School student performed a classical ballet entitled “Etudes.” This summer, she will study at the Governor’s School Dance Scholarship Program at the University of Richmond.
PIANIST WINS GRANT: Pianist Hung-Kuan Chen, who performed with The Virginia Symphony last November, is one of four winners of 1991 Avery Fisher Career Grants. Chen will receive $10,000 toward the advancement of his career.
The 33-year-old Taiwanese native emigrated to the United States in 1977 and became a U.S. citizen in 1984.
With the symphony, he performed Mozart’s Concerto No. 23 as conductor candidate Kenneth Kiesler led the orchestra.
The prize money is donated by 85-year-old Avery Fisher, a pioneer in the field of stereophonic sound for the home. Avery Fisher Hall at New York’s Lincoln Center was named for him after Fisher donated $12 million toward its renovation in the early 1970s.
ARTS FESTIVAL: The Ash Lawn-Highland Summer Festival of the Arts will take place June 22-Aug. 18.
The site of this annual event is Ash Lawn-Highland, the home of President James Monroe 1799-1823. The 550-acre estate, which is owned by The College of William and Mary, is on Route 6 outside of Charlottesville.
The festival offers opera, Broadway musical theater, folk music, lectures and children’s entertainment.
This year, Ash Lawn’s resident opera company will present Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville,” Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific” and Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel.” A Music at Twilight series features folk, jazz and Dixieland ensembles.
Evening performances take place in the estate’s boxwood gardens or under a tent in the event of rain. Concert-goers can purchase picnic suppers to enjoy on the festival grounds.
Tickets range from $3-$12.50. For a schedule of events, write Ash Lawn-Highland Summer Festival of the Arts, Route 6, Box 37, Charlottesville, VA, 22902, or call 1-293-9539. For tickets, call 1-293-8000.
