Class of 2015 First Night Honorees To Be Revealed 7/27

The First Night Honors' Class of 2015 will be revealed next Monday night, July 27, as Nashville Theater's Big Reveal: The First Night Preview Party gets under way at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre at 6 p.m., featuring entertainment by the casts of some of the summer's biggest musicals throughout Tennessee.

In addition to the 2015 First Night Honorees, the names of this year's First Night Star Award winners and the Most Promising Actors will be announced during the event, which will be co-hosted by Britt Byrd, Joy Tilley Perryman, Kim Thornton Nygren, Ashley Bishop Diggs and Joel Diggs. They will join First Night producer/choreographer Kate Adams and founder and executive producer Jeffrey Ellis in revealing the names of the theaterati who will be in the spotlight during this year's First Night gala in September.

Among productions represented during the cocktail party (a cash bar will be offered, along with complimentary hors d'oeuvres) are Circle Players' upcoming American Idiot, The Larry Keeton Theatre's production of Nunsense, VWA Theatricals' The Last Five Years, Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre's All Shook Up, Arts Center of Cannon County's Ghost the Musical and Bring It On the Musical, and Murfreesboro's Center for the Arts' West Side Story. In addition, Janet Holeman, who starred as Mother in Circle Players' Ragtime, will perform "Back to Before" from that critically lauded production.

Among performers slated to appear are Delaney Amatrudo, Luke Denison, Audrey Johnson, Brooke Leigh Davis, Corey Shadd, Crystal Kurek, Jessica Hunter, Matthew Hayes Hunter, Gerold Oliver, Allison Hall, Kyle Henry, Maryam Muhammad, Justin Boyd, Julia Nettles, Taylor Novak, Nathan Stultz, Connor Weaver, Andrew Hosale, Shane Kopischke, Sam Kell, Bryan Lelek, Steven Griffin and Mindy Tolbert.

The event is free and open to the public, beginning at 6 p.m. at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, 8204 Highway 100, Nashville.

ABOUT FIRST NIGHT: During its original incarnation (beginning in 1989), First Night Awards were presented in many different categories; styled after the Tony Awards, theater-goers annually cast their ballots for their favorites in various award categories. When First Night was revived in 2010, an effort was made to maintain the longtime feeling of First Night (described as a genuine sense of joie de vivre and community among a large, disparate - and sometimes dysfunctional - group of individuals) while creating an event more relevant in the 21st century. Ultimately, it was decided to model First Night on The Kennedy Center Honors, focusing on the achievements of a group of visionaries, or as they are now referred to: the leading lights of Tennessee theater.

Subsequently, an original First Night category of Most Promising Actor was updated with a group of young theater artists recognized each year, in anticipation of their future accomplishments, and in 2011, the First Night Star Award was established to recognize leaders of the theater community who are likely to be given the full First Night Honors treatment in years to come, in recognition of their achievements to date.

At the First Night Honors Gala each year, a cast upwards of 150 performers pay tribute to the honorees with a concert performance featuring a wide range of music, drama and comedy featuring performers from throughout the Volunteer State. In addition, Most Promising Actors are given their own special evening of performance, spotlighting their unique talents and capabilities.