Brian Russell News

Tennessee Shakespeare Company, the Mid-South's professional, classical theatre, will perform William Shakespeare's elegant romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing from December 8-18, directed by founder and Producing Artistic Director Dan McCleary.

Tennessee Shakespeare Company, the Mid-South's professional, classical theatre, will perform William Shakespeare's elegant romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing from December 8-18, directed by founder and Producing Artistic Director Dan McCleary.

Five Chicago actor-musicians made their Theatre at the Center debut in this production. Christine Mild as Rhetta Cupp, Shaun Whitley as Jim, Matt Holzfeind as Jackson, Matt Edmonds as L.M. and Cody Siragusa as Eddie are joined by Veronica Garza, who returns to the TATC stage to play Rhetta's sister Prudie Cupp. Directed by Brian Russell with musical direction by William Underwood, Pump Boys and Dinettes will continue through October 16.  Check out some songs from the show below!

When an already unstable cast of actors begins to suffer the slings and arrows of falling in love (as well as falling down stairs) the possibility of a successful performance plummets, but the likelihood of audience delight skyrockets. That's what audiences can expect when Nashville Repertory Theatre opens the second show of its 2016-17 season: Michael Frayn's Noises Off.

Five Chicago actor-musicians make their Theatre at the Center debut in the musical Pump Boys and Dinettes.  Christine Mild as Rhetta Cupp, Shaun Whitley as Jim, Matt Holzfeind as Jackson, Matt Edmonds as L.M. and Cody Siragusa as Eddie are joined by Veronica Garza, who returns to the TATC stage to play Rhetta's sister Prudie Cupp.   The director is Brian Russell and William Underwood is Music Director. 

Five Chicago actor-musicians make their Theatre at the Center debut in the musical Pump Boys and Dinettes.  Christine Mild as Rhetta Cupp, Shaun Whitley as Jim, Matt Holzfeind as Jackson, Matt Edmonds as L.M. and Cody Siragusa as Eddie are joined by Veronica Garza, who returns to the TATC stage to play Rhetta's sister Prudie Cupp.   The director is Brian Russell and William Underwood is Music Director. 

Berkshire Theatre Group and Artistic Director/CEO, Kate Maguire presents Tennessee Williams' classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof featuring Michael Raymond-James as Brick. Michael Raymond-James starred in NBC's recent series, Game of Silence and is best known for his featured roles in True Blood and Once Upon a Time. His films include Black Snake Moan with Justin Timberlake and Jack Reacher with Tom Cruise. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof runs from June 22 through July 16, at The Fitzpatrick Main Stage in Stockbridge, MA.

Opening night quickly approaches at Nashville's historic Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre - which this year celebrates its 50th season - for Neil Simon's Rumors, first produced on the iconic and completely magical floating stage in 1991.

Investigation Discovery (ID), America's leading mystery and suspense network and the #1 network for women 25-54 in cable season-to-date, today announced a powerful new slate of world premiere programming for the 2016-17 upfront season

Nashville Opera presents Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall located at 505 Deaderick Street in Downtown Nashville: Thursday, April 7th at 7 PM and Saturday, April 9th at 8 PM. John Hoomes, Nashville Opera's Chief Executive Officer and Artistic Director, directs the production with Maestro Dean Williamson conducting the Nashville Opera Orchestra. Amy Tate Williams, accompanist and chorusmaster, leads the 24-member Nashville Opera Ensemble. John Hoomes will present the popular Opera Insights discussion one-hour prior to curtain on the Orchestra Level and admission is free to all ticket holders.

Theatre at the Center, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana, one of Chicagoland's leading regional theatres, announces today that as of January 1, William Pullinsi will step down after over a decade as Artistic Director to dedicate his time to pursuing other opportunities while remaining Artistic Director Emeritus. Jeff Award-winner Linda Fortunato will assume the role of Artistic Director. During Pullinsi's time at Theatre at the Center he brought to the stage World Premiere musicals including Knute Rockne, All American and The Beverly Hillbillies; and Regional and Chicago Premieres including Ring of Fire, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, A Christmas Memory, Making God Laugh, Miracle on South Division Street, Fox on the Fairway, Do I Hear a Waltz, Leading Ladies, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, What a Glorious Feeling and Nice Work if You Can Get It (which he will be directing during TATC's 2016 season).

Turkeys are on-sale at your local supermarket, so there's no better way to know Thanksgiving is just around the corner - yep, less than two weeks away! - which means that local theater companies will be unleashing their holiday season productions with enough productions of A Christmas Story (both the musical and the play), It's A Wonderful Life and Ebenezer Scrooge-led shows that you could shake a stick at!

Halloween's all done in, there are still three weeks ahead before we officially give thanks, and Christmas - and all its accompanying frenzy and frivolity - is about seven weeks away! So what's there to do for all the theatrical types jonesing for a trip to make believe? Plenty! Theater companies all over middle Tennessee are showing off their best and brightest, with a number of eagerly anticipated shows opening this weekend and/or continuing from their earlier opening nights and next Tuesday there's a sparkling new Broadway musical swinging through Music City to entertain you…

This October, America's leading true-crime network, Investigation Discovery (ID) delivers a spine-tingling slate full of real-life drama.

Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Avenue, presents RING OF FIRE: THE MUSIC OF JOHNNY CASH, now playing an extended run through November 1. The musical tribute has received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike and has broken sales records for Mercury Theater Chicago. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

One of the Midwest's leading, professional equity theaters, Theatre at the Center, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, is gearing up for an exciting 2016 season filled with a rich array of productions from Hitchcock remakes to Gershwin-filled musicals to Annie sequels. The season kicks off in February with the thrilling and fast-paced play Alfred Hitchcock's THE 39 STEPS. This Tony Award-winning comedic spoof of the Alfred Hitchcock 1935 film runs February 18 to March 20. The champagne flows and the gin fizzes May 5 through June 5 with the Chicago area premiere of George and Ira Gershwin's new musical hit NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, the hilarious musical comedy set in the Roaring Twenties. When two newly single men find themselves as roommates, all hell hilariously breaks loose in Neil Simon's classic THE ODD COUPLE, running July 14 to August 14. Catch all the unexpected action of six friends in small town North Carolina September 15 through October 16 with the popular Rock 'n' Roll, Blue Grass, Countrified musical revue, PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES. Annie's story didn't end where you thought it did. Find out what really happened with Daddy Warbucks' quest to remain with the newly-adopted Annie in the sequel to ANNIE, ANNIE WARBUCKS, running November 17 through December 18.

 Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Avenue, is thrilled to announce that RING OF FIRE: THE MUSIC OF JOHNNY CASH has been extended through November 1. The musical tribute has received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike and has broken sales records for Mercury Theater Chicago. "A good time with a great American artist!" exclaimed Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune. Hedy Weiss of the Chicago Sun-Times Highly Recommends the production saying it's "A show ablaze with fire and unmitigated fun!"

In Emmy-nominee Sheldon Bull's world-premiere plays MALLORCA, male bonding takes its toll on four guys when a cryptic message from one of them leads the others on a hilarious chase from Manhattan to a seaside escape.

Abingdon Theatre Company -- which has produced 85 new plays since 1994 -- concludes its 22nd Season with the world premiere of MALLORCA by two-time Emmy nominee Sheldon Bull ('Newhart'), with previews set to begin tonight, May 29, prior to an official press opening on June 7, in Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex's Dorothy Strelsin Theatre (312 West 36th Street). Donald Brenner (March Madness) directs this award-winning comedy set in New York City and Spain.

Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Avenue, is pleased to announce the extension of RING OF FIRE: THE MUSIC OF JOHNNY CASH through August 30. The musical tribute has received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike and has broken sales records for Mercury Theater Chicago. "A good time with a great American artist!" exclaimed Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune. He also praised Kent M. Lewis' portrayal of Johnny Cash saying, "Lewis does not wear the cloak of the Man in Black; he inhabits him" and Hedy Weiss of the Chicago Sun-Times Highly Recommends the production saying it's "A show ablaze with fire and unmitigated fun!"