FLOODLIGHT Page 1

October 2020

Written and

Directed by

Rick Lore

Produced by

Alan K. Wray

Featuring

Jennifer Hoffman

Kristin Kim

Michael Schwartz

Order Your

Tickets Now!

Call the Box Office

703-683-0496

FEATURED PRODUCTION

LTA’s fall series “Small Theatre for Unusual Times” continues with a

double billing of one-acts under the umbrella title Mixed Doubles. In On

Margin, Melody has news to share with her boyfriend. Fred is trying for the

best acting role of his life. What happens when he is called to a strange

address for Melody’s news leads to twists and turns in the couple’s

relationship. Coop Dance illustrates what happens when you are stuck in a

doctor’s office waiting room with an earnest but bumbling masher who

won’t stop talking.

Find out what happens with these wonderful comic takes on couples,

relationships, and human behaviors.

*****

LTA’s “Take-A-Seat” Campaign

COVID-19 might be keeping you at home, but it does not need to keep you

out of our theatre! With social distancing in effect for the next several

months, we can fill only 46 of our 215 seats. A clever way of distancing our

audiences while giving our performers the feeling of a sold-out event is to

fill our unused seats with silhouettes sporting your face or that of a friend,

family member, or pet. These silhouettes will occupy the seats in between

our attendees. Won’t you help raise funds for LTA by donating $30

(suggested) to purchase a silhouette until we return to more normal capacity?

To participate in our fundraiser, scan and email a high-definition headshot or

facially dominated picture (meaning your face takes up most of the picture)

to tina@thelittletheatre.com. Yes, phone pics are fine! Then mail your check

(payable to LTA) to the theatre or call the business office at 703-683-5778 x

2 and speak with Tina McCrea to make your donation by credit card.

Email Tina or Frank Shutts (fds_2@hotmail.com) with any

questions. Please donate before October 9th, if possible.

The Little Theatre of Alexandria

Russell Wyland, President

Brendan Quinn, Governor for

Membership

Kirstin Apker, Floodlight Coordinator

Linda Wells, Floodlight Editor

Next Issue November 2nd

Inside This Issue

President’s Column Page 2

New Members Page 2

Thank You Page 3

Between Acts podcast Page 3

Awards Nominees Page 4

Governors at Work Page 5

Governor’s Message Page 6

Council Corner Page 7

FLOODLIGHT Page 2

President’s

Column

Russell

Wyland

ALX Promise

For several months, I have been touting LTA’s participation in ALX Promise, a pioneering collaboration between

the Alexandria Health Department and Visit Alexandria. I originally thought of ALX Promise as an end in itself: a

way to signal to the community that LTA was joining those businesses – restaurants, retail businesses, entertainment

venues – that have committed to implementing higher safety standards for employees and customers than the

minimum required by law.

Being certified required a great deal of work. To do so, we completed a long checklist that included implementing

cleaning and sanitizing practices; posting necessary signs; enforcing social distancing; establishing procedures for

our employees, patrons, volunteers, and students; training those who clean and use our theatre; and committing to

make future modifications as situations change.

What I discovered during this process, however, is that ALX Promise is not an end in itself. Indeed, completing the

long checklist sparked a process for thinking about making improvements. ALX Promise is a means for changing

how we think. For example, while not required to do so by ALX Promise, LTA has installed hospital-quality air

filters in our heating and cooling systems in both the main building and in the Academy. Well after COVID-19,

patrons and students will enjoy the cleanest possible air. Another example: ALX Promise has made us aware of how

much unnecessary contact occurs at LTA. Do we really need to re-use playbills? We can’t do so now because of

COVID-19, but should we ever do so? No! Cold and flu germs can be easily passed on a used program, too.

The point here is simple: I hope LTA’s participation in ALX Promise helps you to feel good about LTA right now as

we battle COVID-19. But ALX Promise should make you feel good about LTA long after this crisis is over. The

progress that we are making will live well beyond the pandemic.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the great work of Ken Brown and Stacy Becker, LTA’s Safety Officers. Their

tireless work to make sure that LTA complies (and continues to comply) with the pledge of ALX Promise deserves

all of our thanks.

Stay healthy, and enjoy this beautiful fall weather.

Russell Wyland

LTA President

New Members

Chas Harris Latonya Alexander Henry

Julie Janson Natalie Laclede

FLOODLIGHT Page 3

Between Acts: A New Podcast “What’s your favorite podcast?”

That has become a more popular question, along with asking about

the latest television series binges or favorite books. Podcasts have

increasingly endeared themselves to us.

Missing Link, a podcast media company based in Alexandria, is

dedicated to connecting people to intelligent, engaging, and

informative content that promises to entertain. I have been working

with Missing Link for the past year as a producer and editor.

On Thursday, October 1, 2020, our newest podcast series called

Between Acts will be released. Between Acts is an immersive audio

theater experience featuring original one-act plays. Episodes will be

released on a bi-weekly basis.

Each episode sets the stage for your imagination to venture from

dramas to comedies and everything in between. These are modern,

contemporary stories of all genres with the benefits of creative sound

effects designed to bring a story to life in a complete audio-only

production.

Missing Link is excited to have engaged in a community partnership

with LTA. With the generous use of the theatre’s stage, we are

recording local actors for these podcasts (using social distancing

protocols). Many of them are familiar faces to LTA’s productions,

including Charlene Sloan, Pat Nicklin, Melissa Dunlap, Shawn

Byers, Eleanore Tapscott, Peter Halverson, Elizabeth Replogle,

and Amy Griffin. Other local actors who have participated are Rikki

Howie, Becky Helton, Ernie Molina, Michael Reid, and Richard

Hildebrand. We also received several original scripts through the

LTA One Act Competition.

Once the voiceover recordings are complete, the show goes into post-

production, where the dialogue is infused with a dynamic layering of

sound effects and music crafted to enrich the story and to fully

engage listeners.

As a professional video editor my whole career, I have fed my love of

theater through my involvement in community theater. In addition to

performing onstage at LTA over the past decade, I have brought my

production skills to the tech side as sound designer for productions

such as Dracula, The Haunting of Hill House, and Spamalot. This

new podcast series is fusing both of these passions, and I hope the

LTA community will embrace this new venture! Especially during

these challenging times, this podcast series is a fantastic way to enjoy

theater from anywhere you have a mobile device.

(continued on page 5)

Thank You from

Love Letters

We're sending a letter of love to

everyone who helped to bring Love

Letters to the LTA stage. As the

second show in LTA's "Small

Theatre for Unusual Times" series,

we were thrilled to have all of our

available seats reserved for each

performance, and to present the

show as safely as possible with

LTA's new safety guidelines. Thank

you to the cast, crew, and all of the

patrons who made this little show

such a huge success!

Nick Friedlander, Producer

Correction

On page 5 of the September 2020

issue of the Floodlight, the caption

under the picture of LTA Council

member Donna Hauprich indicated

that the photograph was taken by

LTA Council President Zell

Murphy. It was actually taken by

Tracey Salazar.

Your friendly Floodlight

Coordinator sincerely regrets the

error.

FLOODLIGHT Page 4

LTA Award Nominees 2019 - 2020 (winners are marked with an asterisk)

Excellence in Sound Design

*Janice Rivera for The Haunting of Hill House

David Correia for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Alan Wray for Moonlight and Magnolias

Excellence in Props Design

Kirstin Apker for The Producers

Kirstin Apker for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

*Helen Bard-Sobola and Bobbie Herbst for Moonlight and Magnolias

Excellence in Costume Design

*Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley for The Producers

Ceci Albert and Mary Wallace for A Christmas Carol

Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Excellence in Lighting Design

Ken and Patti Crowley for The Producers

Ken and Patti Crowley for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

*Jeffrey Scott Auerbach and Kimberly Crago for Moonlight and Magnolias

Excellence in Set Design

Dan Remmers for The Producers

*Matt Liptak for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Stacey Becker and Ken Brown for Moonlight and Magnolias

Excellence in Set Painting

*Mona Wargo for A Christmas Carol

Stacey Becker and Mary Hutzler for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Kathy Ohlhaber for Moonlight and Magnolias

Excellence in Set Construction

Tom O’Reilly for A Christmas Carol

*Jim Hutzler and Jeff Nesmeyer for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Ken Brown for Moonlight and Magnolias

Excellence in Set Decoration

Russell J. Wyland for The Producers

*MYKE for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Stacey Becker for Moonlight and Magnolias

Excellence in Makeup Design

*Larissa Norris for The Producers

Susan Boyd for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Hilary Adams for Moonlight and Magnolias

Excellence in Hair Design

*Susan Boyd for The Producers

Susan Boyd for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Hilary Adams for Moonlight and Magnolias

Best Bit Part

*Drake Leach as Scott the Choreographer in The Producers

Allison Meyer as Tour Guide in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Margie Remmers as Lady Eugenia in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Best Performance in a Minor Role

Cheryl Bolt as Hold Me, Touch Me in The Producers

Fred Lash as Capt. Isaac Whitaker in A Few Good Men

*Kristen Jepperson as Marietta Shingle in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Best Junior Performance

*Taegan Chirinos as Violinist in The Producers

Zoey Vaghin-Carlos as Belinda/Urchin in A Christmas Carol

Best Supporting Role in a Musical

*Brian Lyons-Burke as Roger DeBris in The Producers

Timothy King as Carmen Ghia in The Producers

Alexandra Chace as Phoebe D’Ysquith in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Best Supporting Role in a Play

Nicholas Temple as Lt. Jack Ross in A Few Good Men

*Michael J. Fisher as Victor Fleming in Moonlight and Magnolias

J.T. Spivy as Ben Hecht in Moonlight and Magnolias

Best Performance in a Musical

Steve Cairns as Max Bialystock in The Producers

*Ryan Phillips as Leo Bloom in The Producers

Chuck Dluhy as D’Ysquith Family in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Best Performance in a Play

Brendan Quinn as Lt. J.G. Daniel Kaffee in A Few Good Men

Emma Wesslund as Lt. Cmdr. Joanne (Jo) Galloway in A Few Good Men

*Griffin Voltmann as David O. Selznick in Moonlight and Magnolias

Best Musical Director

*Colin Taylor for The Producers

Christopher A. Tomasino for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Best Choreography

*Stefan Sittig for The Producers

Kelsey Yudice for A Christmas Carol

Stefan Sittig for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Best Director

*Kristina Friedgen for The Producers

Frank D. Shutts II for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Juli Tarabek Blacker for Moonlight and Magnolias

FLOODLIGHT Page 5

The September meeting of the Board of Governors was

remarkable for being unremarkable. COVID-19 had come to

dominate seemingly all business of the Board. Since March,

the Board has focused its energies on cancelling shows,

devising re-opening strategies, examining and re-examining

budgets, and finding ways to create something out of very

little. Simply put, it has been exhausting for everyone. At the

most recent meeting, we once again considered some topics

that were non-COVID related.

With the re-opening plan established, Mamma Mia postponed, and “Small Theater for Unusual Times” running,

September seemed like a good chance to glance at our regular theatre business. The formation of the Diversity,

Equality, and Inclusion Committee, under the leadership of Chanel Lancaster, has already started having a

positive impact on LTA. The governors agreed to look at all places where we communicate in writing with those

seeking to become involved at LTA – i.e., audition forms, class solicitations, calls for teachers, membership

recruitment – to make sure that our commitment to a positive and welcoming environment is clearly stated. Further,

the Board is looking to develop clear lines for reporting when behavior fails to meet expectations.

The Board is also staying abreast of a major change in LTA’s ticketing service. With Vendini going away, LTA

must decide if it should go with the company that bought Vendini – Audience View – or another vendor. Our

ticketing service is perhaps LTA’s most fundamental business tool and making the right decision will impact

almost everything we do. Many thanks to Box Office Manager Crissy Wilke, Business Manager Tina McCrea,

Treasurer David Hale, and Governor for Box Office Ira Forstater for devoting their time and energy to this

problem.

There is still ample COVID-19-related work to do, but September seemed like a good opportunity to step back and

express gratitude. The Board says thank you to Governor for Development Frank Shutts for finding new ways to

raise money in a time of declining revenue. The “Take A Seat” campaign has already resulted in many donations,

and new ideas are emerging all the time. (Stay tuned!) The Board also extends kudos to members of the LTA

Council, who have volunteered to serve as greeters at the “Small Theatre for Unusual Times” events.

Russell Wyland

LTA President

Your Board

of Governors

at Work

(continued from page 3)

For budding playwrights, Missing Link is accepting submissions for original one-act plays. You can review the

guidelines and submit your work here: https://betweenacts.submittable.com/submit .

Voiceover artists can see posts for auditions by joining this casting page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/

groups/3131708460185959/ .

For more information on Missing Link and Between Acts, visit:

https://www.missinglink.company/

https://www.missinglink.company/between-acts

https://www.facebook.com/Missing-Link-105977861169909/ .

The podcast will be available free on a multitude of podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Janice Rivera

LTA actor and sound designer

FLOODLIGHT Page 6

Governor’s Message

Development

Raising Funds during COVID-19

While we take the necessary break and scale down our usual sources of income, it is important that we continue to

support LTA financially so that when we tread upon the stage again, we come back stronger and wiser than

before. To that end, with ideas and support from my fellow governors, we have launched two fundraising

campaigns: "Take-A-Seat" and "We’ve Got You Covered!"

In the "Take-A-Seat" campaign, theater lovers are asked to purchase a silhouette

to take the empty seats created in our theatre because of social distancing.

Donors can either send a face picture of themselves, a friend, a family member, or

even their pet to put on the silhouette, or they can just ask that a name tag be

placed on it. Kit Sibley and Jean Schlichting are adding costume pieces to make

them more festive as they watch our "Small Theater for Usual Times"

performances. If you'd like to be a part of this program, please contact LTA

Business Manager Tina McCrea (tina@thelittletheatre.com) or me

(fds_2@hotmail.com).

In the "We've Got You Covered" campaign, LTA is selling three-

layer cloth face masks with adjustable ear loops and nose band

decorated with our logo. These high-quality masks have a built-in

pocket for a filter and a chin rest to assist in keeping the mask

secured. Masks are available in both child and adult sizes. More

information and an order form will be coming out shortly.

Frank D. Shutts II

Governor for Development

Volunteer Opportunity

The Little Theatre of Alexandria is asking for

volunteers to make washable face masks, which

we are then donating to charities around the city

that are supporting the COVID-19 relief efforts.

LTA will provide mask-making kits including

fabric, elastic, and instructions. If you would like

to participate, please contact Susan Boyd,

Governor for Artistic Support, at

susan.fashionpolice@gmail.com, so that we can

arrange contact-free pickup and drop-off of your

kits and finished masks.

FLOODLIGHT Page 7

“I like this place. And willingly could waste my time in it.”

(As You Like It, Act II, Scene 4)

During the spring and summer of this most unusual year, we have been working

on updating the plants in the LTA Shakespeare Garden that are related to a

specific Shakespeare play with plant markers that identify them. Additionally, we

have developed a flyer (which is in the wall rack in the garden) listing all of those

identified plants and a quote from the Shakespeare play to which they are related.

We are supported by Greenstreet Growers, LLC, who does most of the planting,

with maintenance of the garden being done by several volunteers.

Although this may appear to be a relatively simple project, it was made difficult

because in order to start, it was necessary to identify ALL plants in the garden,

and then research which ones have Shakespeare references. We have a reference

book to use for this purpose, as well as having all Shakespeare plants on an Excel

spreadsheet which allows for searching by various names. Our reference is

Botanical Shakespeare: An Illustrated Compendium by Gerit Quealy.

The Shakespeare quote at the top of this article is being proposed to be put on a

bronze plaque and installed in the garden. We are looking forward to this new

endeavor. The initial quote that we received for the cost of the plaque is very high, but we are pursuing the

project through the multi-level approval process. The Shakespeare Garden committee is composed of Heather

Sanderson (our resident Shakespeare expert), Robert Kraus, and me. When you get a chance, please visit the

Shakespeare Garden and waste your time in it.

Please be sure to mark your calendar for our next LTA Council meeting scheduled for Sunday, October 25th,

starting at 3:30 p.m. We will email notices to Council members about two weeks in advance as a reminder. If

you’d like to be a member of the Council of The Little Theatre of Alexandria, we would welcome you. Feel

free to contact me or any other member of the Executive Committee or Tina McCrea, the LTA Business

Manager.

Lloyd Bittinger

LTA Council Financial Officer and Chairperson, Shakespeare Garden Committee

Council

Corner

Did you know that in case of an emergency, LTA has three AEDs

(automated external defibrillators)?

They are located as follows:

1) in the lobby, near the Council (Green) Room

2) in the cast entrance hallway, near the backstage door

3) in the Alexandria Academy, on the first floor

In Case of Emergency

FLOODLIGHT Page 8

The Little Theatre of Alexandria

600 Wolfe Street

Alexandria, VA 22314

Box Office: 703-683-0496

Business Office: 703-683-5778 x2

Fax: 703-683-1378

www.thelittletheatre.com

Mark Your Calendars

10/2 – 10/18 Mixed Doubles

10/20, 22 Between Acts podcast

10/25 LTA Council meeting

10/30 Script Addicts staged

reading

11/6 – 11/22 The Belle of Amherst

BOARD OF GOVERNORS

The Board of Governors, under the direction of the President, is

responsible for managing the affairs and operations of The Little

Theatre of Alexandria.

The Governors for the 2020 – 2021 season are:

President.................................................................................Russell Wyland Governor for Artistic Support......................................................Susan Boyd Governor for Box Office..............................................................Ira Forstater Governor for Building............................................................Kenneth Brown Governor for Development.................................................Frank D. Shutts II Governor for Education......................................................Heather Sanderson Governor for Front of House......................................................Robert Kraus Governor for Membership.......................................................Brendan Quinn Governor for Production................................................................Alan Wray Governor for Public Relations.................................................Rachel Alberts Governor for Seasonal Planning..............................................Ashley Amidon Governor for Technical Support.................................................Ken Crowley

Additional officers are:

President Pro-Tem...............................................................Frank D. Shutts II Treasurer........................................................................................David Hale Board Secretary.....................................................................Lynn O’Connell Executive Secretary…………………………………………….Jamie Blake LTA Council Director………………………………………….Zell Murphy

membershipgovlta@gmail.com