Jeffrey Ellis - Page 129

Saturday, April 30, will be a special day for the cast, crew and fans of Circle Players' upcoming production of the Jason Robert Brown musical 13, under the direction of Jamey London. The cast will have the opportunity to meet with Dan Elish, the New York-based co-author of the show's book, which has become a hit among teenage musical theater fans.

In the upcoming Keeping Scores' concert version of Funny Girl, set for April 29-May 1 at Boiler Room Theatre, director Scott Logsdon has cast 12 different, yet very funny and somehow uniquely qualified actresses to take on the iconic role of Fanny Brice. First brought to national, then international, acclaim by the legendary Barbra Streisand, the role of Fanny Brice is a coveted role among musical theater performers. Despite that, however, things offstage seem to be going swimmingly at rehearsals; meanwhile we attempt to ferret out any backstabbing and catfights - as well as introducing you to all the Funny Fannys, one-by-one. You've met Alex Maddox and Cori Laemmel already and today the spotlight falls on Corrie Miller, who is my favorite Fanny of them all. (Note to Alex and Cori: Just ignore that last statement; I was contractually required to tell Mrs. Miller that in order to get her to deem me worthy of an interview. Jeez, what a prima donna!)

Hank Williams is known the world over as the most influential singer/songwriter ever. Now, acclaimed performer/musician and Middle Tennessee native Jason Petty, along with his four piece band, is bringing the authentic and insightful story of Hank to life in Hank and My Honky Tonk Heroes for a special presentation at Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, April 21-May 21.

The theatrical legacy of playwright Lanford Wilson will commemorated at Murfreesboro's Out Front on Main with the company's production of Burn This, running April 14-May 1, with shows Thursdays-Sundays at 7:30 p.m.

C.S. Lewis' classic The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe will be presented by David Lipscomb University Theatre as its spring children's production, April 21-23. Audiences are urged to join members of DLU theatre to celebrate Easter weekend with C.S. Lewis' classic allegorical tale of the resurrection story set in the land of Narnia. This dramatization faithfully recreates the magic and mystery of Aslan, the gentle lion, his struggle with the White Witch, and the adventure of four children who inadvertently wander from an old wardrobe into the exciting, never-to-be-forgotten Narnia.

In the upcoming Keeping Scores' concert version of Funny Girl, set for April 29-May 1 at Boiler Room Theatre, director Scott Logsdon has cast 12 very different, very funny and somehow uniquely qualified women to take on the iconic role of Fanny Brice, first brought to national, then worldwide, acclaim by the inimitable Barbra Streisand. We're giving you a chance to get to know all of Nashville's Funny Fannys, one by one, so here's a chance to get to know Cori Laemmel (who's not quite the diva she'd have you believe, although she refused to answer our final question)...

Cori Laemmel has announced a new initiative for The Theater Bug, her educational and training program for younger people interested in pursuing the theater, called The Extreme Theatre Series: Theatre as an Extreme Sport, running April 30-May 1 and May 13-15. The two-part program features a unique plan to give young thespians a chance to become involved on a variety of levels, according to Laemmel.

Director Eric Link leads a cast of accomplished local actresses in Lakewood Theatre Company's 31st season's production of The Dixie Swim Club, a comedy by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten. According to Link - who is vice president of Lakewood Theatre Company and is the recent winner of its Lakie Award for best lead actor of 2010 for his role in Jones/Hope/Wooten's Southern Hospitality - The Dixie Swim Club focuses on five Southern women (whose friendships began many years ago on their college swim team), who set aside a long weekend every August to recharge those relationships. Free from husbands, kids and jobs, they meet at the same beach cottage on North Carolina's Outer Banks to catch up, laugh and meddle in one another's lives. The Dixie Swim Club focuses on four of those weekends and spans a period of thirty-three years.

Mike Reed plays Charlie, a terribly shy man who seeks peace and solitude in a rural backwoods hunting lodge in north Georgia in Larry Shue's The Foreigner running April 15-May 1 at The Arts Center of Cannon County in Woodbury. Directed by Mary Wilson, The Foreigner also features Arts Center favorites Tim Spry, Phil Mote, Emily Roberts, Pat Garrett, Justin Winton, and Becky Coutras.

Pay no attention to what Joshua Waldrep tells you when you ask him what he thinks about his voice. The man is a master of understatement (no, really, he is...well, sometimes) and for some untold reason doesn't realize that he has an absolutely gorgeous voice. Seriously. At last fall's First Night, the Nashville Theatre Honors, he very nearly stole the stage out from under the estimable (read 'lovely and talented') Linda Sue Simmons Runyeon and Jenny Norris-Light when he joined them for Les Miserables medley that featured the very handsome and talented Mr. Waldrep (after he'd already stopped the show with Darin Richardson in their duet of 'The Proposal' from Titanic) doing a rather stunning version of 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables.' Take it from me, the man has some very serious pipes on him.

In the upcoming concert version of Funny Girl, set for April 29-May 1 at Franklin's Boiler Room Theatre, director Scott Logsdon has cast 12 very different, very funny and somehow uniquely qualified women to take on the iconic role of Fanny Brice, first brought to national, then worldwide, acclaim by the inimitable Barbra Streisand. We're giving you a chance to get to know all of Nashville's Funny Fannys, one by one, starting with Alex Maddox...

Charlayne Woodard's Pretty Fire, described as 'one of the most positive shows of the black-American experience' opens tonight at Gallatin's Palace Theatre, playing April 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 10 at 2 p.m. Presented by Mel O'Drama Theater, the production features actors from The Destiny Theatre Experience and Sista Style (headed by Shawn Whitsell, who directs Pretty Fire, and Mary McCallum, respectively).

Coming between Lips Together, Teeth Apart and Love! Valour! Compassion! in the canon of Terrence McNally's works, A Perfect Ganesh - despite its Pulitzer Prize nomination - remains relatively unknown, seldom produced and somewhat unappreciated by theater audiences. But if you share an appreciation for McNally's unique and contemporary world-view, you would be well-advised to take in Rhubarb Theater Company's impassioned revival of the play, now onstage at Nashville's Darkhorse Theater through April 23.

John Bishop's The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 is a deliciously campy send-up of movies, mysteries and musicals - and now, thanks to a top-flight production from Brentwood's Towne Centre Theatre, local audiences can once again revel in the play's cleverly constructed, though thoroughly implausible, plot brought to life by an accomplished cast.

Trish Crist and Jaime Janiszewski should be artist's models: Crist, tall and titian-tressed, has a visage of timeless, classic beauty - she easily could have been the inspiration for all those towering statues of womanhood signifying liberty, freedom and all manner of other lofty aspirations. Janiszewski, softer and curvier, with an open face that always seems like it is about to break into an all-the-world-encompassing smile, could easily have posed for all of the world's great portrait painters of past and future centuries.

Charlayne Woodard's Pretty Fire, described as 'one of the most positive shows of the black-American experience' opens tonight at Gallatin's Palace Theatre, playing April 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 10 at 2 p.m. Presented by Mel O'Drama Theater, the production features actors from The Destiny Theatre Experience and Sista Style (headed by Shawn Whitsell, who directs Pretty Fire, and Mary McCallum, respectively).

Beginning Friday, April 8, the search is on for CMT's Next Superstar as five men and five women vie for the title in CMT's latest competition series, premiering this Friday at 9 p.m (EDT/PDT). Hosted by Thea Andrews (Top Chef Canada, ESPN, Entertainment Tonight), in each episode of the ten episode series, CMT will search to find America's next great country star and will open the door for undiscovered singer/songwriters who think they have what it takes to make it in the country music industry.

Paul Cook directs four of Nashville's favorites actors in the upcoming Rhubarb Theater Company production of Terrence McNally's A Perfect Ganesh, April 8-23, at The Darkhorse Theater.

David Compton returns to a role he first played almost a quarter-century ago and Rona Carter plays a man who is transformed into an ass in Nashville Children's Theatre's upcoming production of Robin Goodfellow, playwright Aurand Harris' unique take on Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream. Opening on Tuesday, April 19, Robin Goodfellow runs at NCT through May 15.

Circle Players' upcoming production of Jason Robert Brown's new musical 13 presents quite the challenge for everyone involved in bringing the show to the stage of the Larry Keeton Theatre for its upcoming Nashville run. It is a new musical that has never been performed in Nashville. What's more, there are no adults in this show. Every performer is between the ages of 11 and 17. It is a story about teens, but a story that promises to get laughs (and a few tears) out of all audience members, no matter what age.