ROY PROCTOR
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST

Keep an eye on Russell Rowland, the 25-year-old Richmond native who is playing sharpshooter Frank Butler to golden-baritone perfection in Barksdale Theatre's smash hit "Annie Get Your Gun."

Don't assume, however, that folks in Fredericksburg haven't been keeping an eye - and two ears - on tall, lanky Russell for some time now.

Russell grew up in Midlothian, became an Eagle Scout and graduated from Midlothian High School, where he drew praise for his prowess on the viola.

A freshman year at Utah's Dixie College on a theater scholarship taught him that he "wanted a real-world education and could learn from working with my peers."

In addition to seven national tours with Theatre IV, a six-month gig in a sound-and-light spectacle in Pennsylvania and a stint in "The Lost Colony," he settled into a succession of roles at Fredericksburg's dinner-plus-show emporium, Riverside Theater.

Among his Riverside roles: Frank Butler in "Annie Get Your Gun."

That didn't give him the inside track with Barksdale director Bruce Miller, however.

"I've worked with Russell since he was a child actor," says Bruce, who didn't see Russell do Frank in Fredericksburg. "And I couldn't help, during the first auditions, but worry that he was too young for the role.

"But after auditioning about 20 of Richmond's finest, many of whom were closer to 40 than 20, I decided that Russell was the one with the singing, acting and dancing chops to pull it off. Thank goodness I made the right decision. He's fantastic in the show, and he's a great fellow, too."

Russell isn't repeating his Riverside performance here.

The Fredericksburg production played out on a large proscenium stage and used the original 1946 script. Bruce based his "Annie Get Your Gun" largely on the script heavily revised by Peter Stone for Bernadette Peters' recent Broadway revival.

"Frank gets a lot more funny lines in the revised script, which I like," Russell says, "and the costuming is very different. I'm very Wyatt Earp at Barksdale. I was much more showbiz at Riverside.

"The Riverside show was much more spectacle. Barksdale's has spectacle in it, but it's more refined and has a lot more reality infused in it. It was done more broadly in Fredericksburg."

Barksdale is giving Russell his first workout on a thrust stage with the audience sitting on three sides of the playing area.

"I love it," Russell says. "I like the live music at Barksdale, too. At Riverside, we used recorded music."

Russell is living with his parents in Midlothian, but home cooking may not be enough to hold him here after "Annie Get Your Gun" closes Aug. 10.

This fall, he's playing Sir Lancelot in "Camelot" at Riverside.

Meanwhile, he's wondering what to do with the stuff he left behind in Seattle, where he moved 18 months ago.

"I moved to Seattle to start a new life, and I still love that city," he says.

All the while, he's trying to promote "Touching Hearts," a Christian CD with everything from "How Great Thou Art" to soft pop that he recorded late last year.

"It's a great CD to play in the car on the way to church," says Russell, a devoted Mormon. "It soothes you. It unstresses you. It gets you in the mood."

Whatever route Russell's career takes, he's committed to a showbiz career.

"I don't think I could do anything else," he tells Rialto.

Richmond Rialto welcomes theatrical questions, information, ideas, even back talk. Send your input to Roy Proctor, Richmond Times-Dispatch, P.O. Box 85333, Richmond, VA 23293-0001. Call (804) 649-6733, fax (804) 649-6836 or e-mail rproctor@timesdispatch.com

Published: 7/20/2003