Jeffrey Ellis - Page 92

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.

This weekend will be a homecoming of sorts for award-winning writer Laura Harrington, as she returns to the Nashville for the first time since 1996, in support of her new book Alice Bliss and a reunion with some of the city's best-known and best-loved theater artists who worked with her on the creation and production of The Perfect 36, an original musical staged by Mac Pirkle and Tennessee Repertory Theatre to celebrate the Volunteer State's Bicentennial.

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-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 Elliott Winston Robinson.

Today's spotlight falls upon Whitney Vaughn, who this season has gained quite the following-and added some impressive reviews to her book-with her performances as Tracy Turnblad in separate productions of Hairspray from Lipscomb University Theatre and Circle Players. A student, an actor, a legislative intern and a future attorney, Whitney Vaughn is a bundle of energy, always on the move and always with a bright smile on her face.

Ralph Pape's Say Goodnight, Gracie tells the story of life, dreams, high school reunions and Devil Dogs. It is New York City, 1976, and we meet five members of the first Television Generation: Jerry, a struggling actor, his girlfriend Ginny, a secretary, Steve, a prankish would-be poet and television writer, Bobby, a musician who has been scraping by with dates in small clubs in suburban New Jersey, and his girlfriend, Catherine, a beautiful and rather kinky airline stewardess.

Director Richard W. Browder (who plays Bernard) directs a cast that includes Asa Ambrister, Patrick Goedicke, George W. Manus Jr., Thomas Prunier, Ryan Vogel, Zach Parker, Peter Depp (from the Sundance Channel's Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys) and Blair Thompson (who took to his dressing room and refused to answer our questions-well, not really, but it sounds more interesting than "he missed the deadline, apparently.")

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 beautiful, talented and very busy Paula Makar, photographed by Kelly Dickson, when she visited the Gregory Agency (http://www.thegregoryagency.com/) in Wichita, Kansas..

Neil Simon's God's Favorite is the next production from Hendersonville's Actors Point Theatre Company, running June 15-24 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.

The Boys in the Band-Mart Crowley's trenchant comedy about the gay community, circa 1968-is revived at Murfreesboro's Out Front on Main Inc. as part of its celebration of Pride Month in the university town, running June 7-17 at the theater, located at 1511 E. Main Street.

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 Alan Lee, photographed by Rick Malkin.

So, when it was announced that the almost obscenely talented duo of Holly Allen and Cathy Street would be reviving their performances for a summer 2012 run, I knew that I, fueled by a nostalgic bent and wistful sentimentality of a sort, should give it another once-over, as much for the winning portrayals from Allen and Street, as for the opportunity to doff my fedora (as a man with a hat-head, I've often worn a fedora, just not to the theater-I have a hard and fast set of the rules that keep me on the fashion straight-and-narrow, as it were) to director Lauren Shouse, a woman of honor and skill who will be leaving Nashville by summer's end to pursue education of a higher sort at Northwestern University.

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 Chad David Webb, photographed by Jeremy Ryan.

Valenti (playing Rose Alvarez, Albert's girl Friday/girlfriend) and Fair (as his overbearing mother, Mae Peterson) pretty much dominate the action as they deliver perfectly-timed, expertly crafted performances as the two women in feckless Albert's life, ensuring that a good time will be had by all in the fast-moving, quick-paced and altogether entertaining show. Directed and choreographed by Bryan J. Wlas (who celebrated a birthday during the show's first weekend of shows) with musical direction by Nathan W. Brown, Bye Bye Birdie offers a delightfully nostalgic look back at the beginnings of rock-star idolatry and the evolving manners and social mores of the early 1960s.

There comes a moment late in Act Two when Tevye, the beleaguered dairyman at the center of Fiddler on the Roof, remembers his daughters in childhood and laments the loss of his beloved "Chavaleh" to marriage to a gentile, which completely encapsulates the joy and the sadness that permeates this classic work of the musical theater. Derek Whittaker, playing the role of a lifetime as he leads the cast of Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre's new production of the Jerry Bock/Sheldon Harnick/Joseph Stein musical, is at his best in this scene, artfully blending his finely honed comic sensibilities with a genuine pathos that creates a heart-tugging moment that is genuinely effective.

With a cast led by Broadway veterans Jessica Grove (who ideally captures the spirit and charm of Maria in her thoroughly captivating performance) and Ben Davis (tall and commanding as the naval captain torn by conflicting loyalties and social upheaval), Logan presents The Sound of Music you would expect from him, although in no way can you call it predictable or expected. To the contrary, Logan excels at delivering the unexpected and while The Sound of Music is probably the one show you would expect to be played out in the traditional, often-seen manner you've encountered in numerous other productions, he manages to surprise and delight you with his vision, his concept and his daring.

Today's spotlight falls upon Emily Webb, who opened last night as Sister Sophia in Studio Tenn's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music at The Franklin Theatre, where it runs through June 17. Find out more about Emily (who has been working as a session singer in Nashville since the very young age of 12!) as she tackles today's Friday Five and learn what makes this busy mom/career woman/actress tick…

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 Patrick Kramer.

Bye Bye Birdie-conjuring up memories of Elvis Presley and the fan fervor that greeted a lot of musical acts in the 1950s and '60s-takes center stage at Dickson's Renaissance Center in June as the Renaissance Players present the musical theater classic tonight, June 1 through June 17.