Jeffrey Ellis - Page 91

Playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb knows how to deliver such a dramatic jolt and he does so in his play boom, the season-ending production from Sideshow, the "project" of Actors Bridge Ensemble that has brought something new and exciting to Nashville theater-pushing the envelope through a series of innovative theatrical initiatives that are far removed from the staid old comedies and dramas we tend to see so often on local stages.

What better way to kick off Sunday-and to celebrate Father's Day!-than with the latest installment of Music City Confidential! Here's where you'll find all the news that's fit to print (or not-depending on your perspective) from Nashville's ever-growing, ever-fascinating live theater industry. Amid the florid prose and flowery praise, you'll find all the stories that don't quite fit anywhere else, some of 'em kind of gossipy, some of 'em stone-cold serious, some of 'em just lists of names you need to know. You'll also find photos from our new "Intermission@" series, details about the latest cast parties and various and sundry minutiae-the veritable flotsam and jetsam-from backstage, onstage, offstage and beyond…

Shows are opening and closing all over Tennessee this summer and theater companies are offering up all manner of fun and games, which means there's all sorts of foolishness going on backstage during intermission. Among the best attended and best reviewed productions of 2012 is Boiler Room Theatre's next to normal (which closes tonight, June 16), directed by Jamey Green and featuring a cast that includes Megan Murphy Chambers, Mike Baum, Kevin Mead, Paige Brouillette, Jordan Ravellette and Ben Van Diepen.

Who's who in Tennessee theater? Sometimes, without a program in your hand, it's difficult to know who's playing whom-hence, our newest feature: Hey, Jef, Here's My Headshot...featuring some of the Volunteer State's best-known-or soon-to-be-known all over the freakin' world-thespians. And have you ever wondered who the amazing photographers are who make them look so damn good? We're gonna tell ya…Today's actor/subject/model is the handsome and talented Robin Daugherty, photographed by Brandon Reece.

Set in 1976, Ralph Pape's Say Goodnight, Gracie deftly blends wistful nostalgia with tinges of regret that always tend to surface when you're faced with a high school reunion. And smoking pot; smoking pot makes anything seem more complex and redolent with hidden meaning and deeper regret than when you're thinking about them straight. I say this from personal experience. I did not, however, inhale.

Today the spotlight falls upon the lovely JJ Rodgers, who this past season appeared in A Christmas Carol at Hendersonville's Actors Point Theatre and Elvis Has Left the Building at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, quickly becoming one of Nashville's most sought-after actors (she's already taken Memphis by storm while working at Tennessee Shakespeare Company there). Currently, she's appearing in Mel O'Drama Theatre's touring production of The Altos-A Little Lower Than The Sopranos, an interactive murder-mystery comedy/drama show that is being performed throughout the region. Go to http://www.melodramatheater.org for details!

Who's who in Tennessee theater? Sometimes, without a program in your hand, it's difficult to know who's playing whom-hence, our newest feature: Hey, Jef, Here's My Headshot...featuring some of the Volunteer State's best-known-or soon-to-be-known all over the freakin' world-thespians. And have you ever wondered who the amazing photographers are who make them look so damn good? We're gonna tell ya…Today's actor/subject/model is the handsome, talented and very busy Howard Snyder, photographed by Rebecca Schaefer.

Oozing charm and brimming over with sex appeal and an overabundance of stage presence, Under the Streetlamp-the quartet (Michael Ingersoll, Michael Cunio, Shonn Wiley and Christopher Kale Jones) that somehow manages to capture the sounds of multiple generations in their polished act, one that has delighted PBS pledge drive supporters for some time now-took to the stage of the Polk Theatre for a concert of pop music standards, a tuneful blend they quite appropriately call "The American Radio Songbook."

Neil Simon's God's Favorite is the next production from Hendersonville's Actors Point Theatre Company, running tonight, June 15 through jUne 24 at the company's new venue at GodsWhy (across from Glenbrook shopping center). God's Favorite is Simon's retelling of the biblical story of Job with a modern-day setting and characters based in Long Island, New York.

Who's who in Tennessee theater? Sometimes, without a program in your hand, it's difficult to know who's playing whom-hence, our newest feature: Hey, Jef, Here's My Headshot...featuring some of the Volunteer State's best-known-or soon-to-be-known all over the freakin' world-thespians. And have you ever wondered who the amazing photographers are who make them look damn good? We're gonna tell ya…Today's actor/subject/model is the beautiful and talented Karissa Wheeler, photographed by 3 Kings Photography.

Just when you thought it was safe to go to the theater once again, we welcome you to the debut installment of Music City Confidential, all the news that's fit to print (or not-depending on your perspective) from Nashville's ever-growing, ever-fascinating (okay, so we obviously don't have enough to occupy ourselves) live theater industry (we're trying that out-does it work? Let us know, theaterati!) Here amid the florid prose and flowery praise, you'll find all the stories that don't quite fit elsewhere, some of 'em kind of gossipy, some of 'em stone-cold serious, some of 'em just lists of names you need to know. You'll also find photos from our new "Intermission@" series, details about the latest cast parties and various and sundry minutiae-the veritable flotsam and jetsam-from backstage, onstage, offstage and beyond…

Timing just seems right for the four men who make up Under the Streetlamp-the quartet that's taking American stages by storm this summer-to share their mantra that "retro never sounded so now!" with the legions of fans of "The American Radio Songbook of the '50's, '60's and '70's" while bringing a whole new audience over to their side of the musical dial. The four-Christopher Kale Jones, Shonn Wiley and the two Michaels: Cunio and Ingersoll-will be singing to the faithful when their first national tour brings them to Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center for a June 14 performance (curtain's at 7:30 p.m.) at the James K. Polk Theatre.

This family-friendly musical is based on the beloved children's story The Trip by Ezra Jack Keats, who wrote and illustrated more than two dozen children's books during his lifetime, including the Caldecott Medal award-winning The Snowy Day. The child of struggling immigrant parents in the 1920s, Keats was known for populating his books with characters of different ethnicities, introducing multiculturalism into mainstream American children's literature.

Six-time Emmy Award-winning-and Oscar nominee for scoring Steven Spielberg's film adaptation of The Color Purple-composer Chris Boardman makes his debut as a playwright with So She Lived, his new play debuting at Nashville's Darkhorse Theatre this weekend for a two performance run June 15 and 16.

In the coming weeks, we'll give you a sneak peek to what happens backstage as we presents photographs taken during intermission at some of the hottest shows to be mounted during these hot summer months (which always leads to mischief). Today, we continue our series with photos from Daron Bruce (our lensman at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre's Fiddler on the Roof) and Matthew Hayes Hunter (who's clicking away backstage at Arts Center of Cannon County's Arsenic and Old Lace).

Something's afoot at various Nashville area and Tennessee theaters this summer with all sorts of fun and frivolity being served up for audiences. Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre offers its sparkling revival of Fiddler On The Roof, starring Derek Whittaker and Debbie Kraski, while at Dickson's Renaissance Center, the Renaissance Players presents its new production of Bye Bye Birdie, starring Carl Blunt, Michelle Valenti, Marilyn Fair and Brad Burns. Meanwhile, up in Clarksville-at The Roxy Regional Theatre-audiences are enjoying 101 Dalmatians Jr. The Musical, featuring favorite Ryan Bowie in the role of a lifetime: Cruella DeVille.

Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's boom (the most produced play in America 2009-2010) debuts Thursday, June 14 as the final production from the emerging artists of the Actor's Bridge's Sideshow Ensemble, bringing to Nashville what theatre audiences all over the country have been raving about.

Who's who in Tennessee theater? Sometimes, without a program in your hand, it's difficult to know who's playing whom-hence, our newest feature: Hey, Jef, Here's My Headshot...featuring some of the Volunteer State's best-known-or soon-to-be-known all over the freakin' world-thespians. And have you ever wondered who the amazing photographers are who make them look damn good? We're gonna tell ya…Today's actor/subject/model is the handsome and talented Greg Frey.

Silly, fun and farcical, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum is a delightful musical theater diversion, certain to entertain and delight. Brought to the stage in a Keeton Theatre production directed by Kate Adams, with music direction by Ginger Newman, the Stephen Sondheim- Burt Shevelove-Larry Gelbart confection packs as much of a laugh-filled wallop in 2012 as it did when it first premiered on Broadway almost 50 years ago, proving that a well-written and conceived show just never grows old.

There's not a lot to be proud of in Crowley's epochal play that made history as the first piece for mainstream theater to look at homosexuality with a clear, if assuredly off-putting, gaze. The playwright took off the rose-colored glasses that his character Emory would likely have worn to present a no-holds-barred examination of the modern homosexual's manners and sexual mores that now come across as a shocking blend of witheringly disdainful glances, the then-surprising and liberal use of expletives, and the evisceration of the modern gay man's voyeuristic and wanton interactions.