Jeffrey Ellis - Page 158

Clarksville's Roxy Theatre will be one of some 100 theatres across the United States to produce a staged reading of The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later on Monday, October 12. The landmark event, which commemorates the 11th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard, the openly gay University of Wyoming student who was brutally beaten and killed ina homophobic hate crime.

Directed by Tennessee Rep's singularly accomplished producing artistic director Rene Dunshee Copeland, this fine production is so much more than a mere revival of the company's 1989 production, although it once again stars Mary Jane Harvill in the role of M'Lynn. This staging is perhaps most newsworthy because it pairs Harvill onstage for the first time with her daughter, Marin Miller, who plays the doomed Shelby in Steel Magnolias. As the launch of this silver anniversary season, perhaps no one could come up with a more apropos project: Harvill was one of the founding actors of the company in the mid-1980s, while Miller has left her own sizable imprint on the company in more recent years. Copeland is to be commended for her decision to cast the mother-and-daughter team and for her lovingly felt and richly etched production.

Those auditioning will be asked to read from the script. This is an original stage adaptation of the story and the role of Ebenezer Scrooge is not available for audition. All other roles are available. Women will portray all of the ghosts. Three young women speaking sequentially and moving in dance portray the Ghost of Christmas Past. Classical dance training is a plus for these roles. This is a non-musical version of the story.

With Tennessee Repertory Theatre celebrating its 25th year as one of the nation's premier regional theatres, it's only appropriate that the season kicks off with a revival of Robert Harling's iconic Southern comedy Steel Magnolias, running October 3-24 at the Andrew Johnson Theatre at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

Those auditioning will be asked to read from the script. This is an original stage adaptation of the story and the role of Ebenezer Scrooge is not available for audition. All other roles are available. Women will portray all of the ghosts. Three young women speaking sequentially and moving in dance portray the Ghost of Christmas Past. Classical dance training is a plus for these roles. This is a non-musical version of the story.

See How They Run is described as a 'hilarious 1940s slapstick farce that takes place in a quaint English vicarage.' The vicar's wife is a former actress--vicar plus stage diva can only equal hijinks and mayhem, of course--and she's joined by four men dressed like priests (two of whom are imposters). The vicar's wife is pretending to be married to one who not her real husband, there's a bishop clad in pajamas, a nosy neighbor hiding in the coat closet and a silent maid, all of whom are being interrogated by a British army sergeant who's looking for an escaped POW.

After a week spent camping out on the roof of Amun Ra Theatre, enduring thunderstorms and the whims of Mother Nature, jeff obafemi carr achieved his goal Monday afternoon with $30,000 raised to keep the theatre afloat for the remainder of 2009, entering the new year on a firm financial footing. Last week, carr climbed a ladder to the roof of the ART Playhouse at 2508 Clifton Avenue in north Nashville with the intention of remaining there until he met his goal: 'If you haven't heard already, I'm headed up to the roof of the theater I--along with many other volunteers and contributors--helped build last year. It is the first African-American theater facility in Nashville in over 100 years,' carr told supporters last week.

Clarksville's Roxy Theatre continues its production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the two-time Tony Award-winning musical that has left audiences across American 'breathless with laughter,' through October 10. Six youthful over-achievers aspire to become the next Spelling Bee Champion, all the while comically lamenting the woes of adolescence. Four volunteers from the audience participate as spelling bee contestants, and get pulled into various scenes and musical numbers.

Tennessee Repertory Theatre kicks off its season of workshops with two 'opportunities for the growth of your artistic minds and bodies.' Robert Kiefer and Carol Ponder will be the instructors for 'Tableaux: Artful Specificity,' while Pam Atha, Rod Reiner and Bruce Stegmann will teach a 'Musical Theatre Dance Series in Jazz and Tap.'

Michael Frayn's Noises Off is the next production of Circle Players' 2009-2010 season, running October 16 through November 1. Frayn's comedy is a play with a play, filled with door slams and physical gags as a dysfunctional cast and crew attempt to open a new theatre production to tour the British provinces.