Going to the Big show

Later that day, my wife and I attended The Will Rogers Follies’ opening performance so I might complete my report on that major phase of the Center.

I won’t comment much on the show itself, since it will have closed by the time this article is posted. It’s a nice story about Rogers’ life overlaid on a mock Ziegfeld Follies conceit. Rogers was at the height of his success during the vaudeville era when Ziegfeld was the numero uno impresario. We saw Will Rogers Follies many years ago in New York with David Carradine in the title role. At the time, the show was modestly scandalized by the apparent “sale” of one of the roles (Ziegfeld’s Favorite) to the ingenue of the day in New York, one of Donald Trump’s Favorites who was a bit short-suited in the talent department. In the Newport News production, Larry Gatlin portrayed Rogers, as he did in New York in the early 1990s.

Only a few things were annoying. Mr. Gatlin has a very stylized singing voice and for the life of me, I could scarcely understand the lyrics when he sang. The score, by the late Cy Coleman and lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, is easy, lilting and not filled with patter song wordsmithing, but the words wowed and fluttered from the star’s pipes. Could this have been a flaw in The Ferguson’s sound system?

Probably not. The road show brought its own sound board and system and, according to The Ferguson’s tech guru, Kevin Pepperall, each incoming company is supplied with a small mountain of technical manuals about the hall. Too, ever since about 1970, actors have been fitted with body microphones which are supposed to make everything seem “natural” but which to this day cannot mask the metallic ring and twang inherent in that type of reinforcement system. Overall, the sound was about B-minus except for the pit musicians who were present without overwhelming the actors. I’d enjoy hearing a less aggressively miked show using the house’s system. Other criticisms were minor and again, technical. Follow spot operators seemed to be one rehearsal shy of familiar with dance numbers which was a distraction; playbill inserts were inaccurate. Small stuff.

Not so small stuff was the discipline of the audience who resorted to flash photography from somewhere in the orchestra section during the more colorful scenes. For all I know, there may have been wannabe album pirates there, too! Isn’t it delightful that after spending decades training otherwise decent folks when not to applaud during a performance, we now must make certain their ears are cleaned out so they can hear the stage manager’s warning concerning flash photos and sound recordings prior to the overture.

One other note. The floor of the orchestra section has a very gradual rake (downward slope) at the aisles and the arrangement of half-height stairs leading down to the stage is not quite predictable for a person of average stride. Handrails are installed at those points but I noticed more than a few patrons having footfall troubles along these short stretches.

On the very positive side, I was told the seat widths varied between 19” and 23” in the house and after considering this for a while, realized that this was not arbitrary but rather a uniquely designed array of sight lines for audience members. One isn’t looking between two heads toward the stage so much as scanning above a hedgerow of random hairdos. This makes for minimal sight line issues, even when bigger folks or large hair ends up in the row just ahead of yours.

At intermission and after the show, the Concert Hall seemed to clear out very quickly even though almost filled to capacity. There were few lines at the restrooms, and a copious amount of space in the lobby was available in the event of foul weather. The Center runs courtesy “stretch” golf carts to ferry patrons from satellite parking areas to the entrance and back, and parking, generally speaking, seems more than adequate for evening performances. Alas, for the morning patrons attending the Symphony concert, it’s anyone’s guess how early they showed up to park in the north side lot (Lot I) as students and other campus visitors were scouting out parking spaces at those times, too. A 750-car parking garage and lot on the southern perimeter of the Center is also available to theatergoers.