Cathy Sanborn Street News

As part of its 2012 "Street Corner Show" series, featuring shows that are returning by popular demand, Street Theatre Company is excited to bring back the two-woman comedic tour de force that is Parallel Lives, running Tuesday nights from May 22 through July 3 at Street Theatre.

When the last performers had sung the final song and the late honoree had been feted, the crowds at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre for the presentation of First Night, the Nashville Theatre Honors' 2011 Gala Concert, headed downtown to Cummins Station for the After-Party at The Listening Room Cafe.

One of the new events added to the line-up for 2011 First Night, The Theatre Honors was The Women In Theatre Luncheon - which saluted the inaugural eight recipients of The First Night Star Award - held Tuesday, August 30, at The Listening Room Cafe in Cummins Station. Co-chaired by Corrie Miller and Neely O'Brien Green, the event was produced by Jeffrey Ellis, founder and executive producer of First Night.

Danny Proctor, Helen Shute-Pettaway, Layne Sasser, Pam Atha, Dan Brewer and Gary Hoff were introduced Monday night as the six members of the 2011 Class of First Night Honorees during the First Night Preview Party, hosted by founder and executive producer Jeffrey Ellis at The Listening Room Cafe in downtown Nashville.

First created by writer William March in his 1954 book The Bad Seed, then recreated by playwright Maxwell Anderson for his hugely successful Broadway play of the same name (which was filmed for the screen by Mervyn LeRoy, starring the Broadway duo of Patty McCormick and Nancy Kelly as Rhoda and her mother), the character of Rhoda Penmark has inspired (Tina Denmark in the musical Ruthless is clearly a doppelganger for Rhoda) and sent chills up the spines of audiences for more than 50 years - and now Nashville's Street Theatre Company plans a revival - with a contemporary twist - of the melodrama for presentation in June.

Make no mistake about it: Street Theatre Company's Chess in Concert is filled to overflowing with an embarrassment of riches. If for no other reason, you should see the concert (onstage through Sunday, February 27) for Laura Matula's bravura performance as Florence Vassy - the American chess champion's second who falls into a torrid affair with his Russian counterpart - which is as stunning as any star turn you will see by any woman in musical theater anywhere. (There. I've said it and I mean it with all my heart: Laura Matula has a spectacularly expressive voice and her dramatic performance in this role is richly shaded and nuanced. In short, she should be a very big star!)

Just in time for Valentine's Day, director Larry Tobias and music director Rollie Mains have ushered the clever little musical (with book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro and music by Jimmy Roberts) to the stage, featuring the delightful - and supremely on-target - talents of Bakari King, Tyson Laemmel, Megan Murphy Chambers and Cathy Sanborn Street. The talented quartet take audiences on a roller-coaster ride of sorts as they give us a look at the contemporary dating scene, which is apparently 'all heterosexual, all the time' - and which could be the revue's one element that dates the material to the 1990s.

Amid threatening weather forecasts and a winter storm bearing down on the South, more than 150 hardy souls gathered to celebrate live theatre in Nashville and Middle Tennessee with the presentation of the BroadwayWorld.com Nashville Theatre Awards and First Night's Top Ten of Twenty-Ten on Sunday night, January 9. Street Theatre Company's new venue at 1933 Elm Hill Pike was the setting for the event that featured performances by Joann Coleman, Ben Van Diepen, Ann Street Kavanaugh, Laura Matula, Michael Kitts and Bakari Jamal King.

While she obviously spends a lot of time working on the administrative requirements of running a theatre company in Nashville, she also finds time to display her many talents onstage. Most recently, she starred in the company's critically acclaimed (which means I really liked it) production of The Great American Trailer Park Musical. And somehow, in the aftermath of that show and amid all the hubbub of the holiday season, Cathy found time to sit down and respond to our questions. This week, then, she is in the spotlight for 'A Life in the Theatre.' Enjoy!

While there were plenty of productions to be excited about during the 2009 Nashville theatre season, as with any year the most memorable theatrical moments were due to the many fine individual performances seen on local stages. Featuring a blend of both veterans and newcomers, the 2009 season proved once again that Music City has an impressive retinue of actors to call upon. Whether it's in an emotionally draining drama, a laugh-out-loud comedy or a joyously inspiring musical, there are actors here who can deliver the goods, time after time.

With the strains of 'Auld Lang Syne' mere moments away, minds are apt to be caught up in reflection, remembering the year now ending as a new one awaits just over the horizon. Certainly that's what I've been doing lately, looking back over the past year in Nashville theatre as I pencil in dates in my new 2010 (Here's a question to ponder: Is it 'two thousand ten' or 'twenty ten'...think about it and get back to me) calendar for the shows set to open in the months ahead.

Created by Jean Doumanian, Jeffrey Richards and Rick Steiner ('in association with Janet Pailet,' according to the program), The Great American Trailer Park Musical is about all the rednecks, hicks and white trash you've ever met - well, if you know anybody from the aforementioned groups - and the whole set-up is beyond hilarious and so inspired by the tasteless that you simply cannot go and not enjoy yourself. Unless, of course, you hope to hear every word and see every bit of onstage business.

'This is a show about agoraphobia, adultery, '80s nostalgia, strippers, roadkill and hysterical pregnancy...it's everything a musical should be,' according to Cathy Sanborn Street, executive artistic director for the company. Directed by Larry Tobias, performances will be held at 'Armadillo Acres,' located at 1031 Elm Hill Pike, just off the Fessler's Lane exit of I-24. Curtain is at 8 p.m. for Friday and Saturday shows; at 5 p.m. for Sunday performances.

Orchard Street Productions invites the public to audition for the world premiere of My Catskills Summer, which will move on from Nashville to tour nationally before settling into New York for an extended run. Auditions will be held at Baymont Inn & Suites, 5612 Lenox Ave in Nashville. Casting calls for principal players and ensemble will begin at 10:00 a.m.

Fresh off a sold-out run in Wilmington, North Carolina, over the Labor Day holiday weekend, Street Theatre Company reprises its critically acclaimed production of Parallel Lives for three performances Upstairs at Bongo Java, Thursday through Sunday, September 10-13. Starring Holly Allen and Cathy Sanborn Street, Parallel Lives is based on the comedy act of Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy, and is directed by Lauren Shouse.

Street Theatre Company of Nashville, TN announces four encore performances of Parallel Lives: The Kathy and Mo Show, back by popular demand, Upstairs at Bongo Java (2007 Belmont Blvd), September 10-13, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

Fresh off a sold-out run in Wilmington, North Carolina, over the Labor Day holiday weekend, Street Theatre Company reprises its critically acclaimed production of Parallel Lives for three performances Upstairs at Bongo Java, Thursday through Sunday, September 10-13. Starring Holly Allen and Cathy Sanborn Street, Parallel Lives is based on the comedy act of Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy, and is directed by Lauren Shouse.

Street Theatre Company of Nashville, TN announces four encore performances of Parallel Lives: The Kathy and Mo Show, back by popular demand, Upstairs at Bongo Java (2007 Belmont Blvd), September 10-13, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

Fresh off a sold-out run in Wilmington, North Carolina, over the Labor Day holiday weekend, Street Theatre Company reprises its critically acclaimed production of Parallel Lives for three performances Upstairs at Bongo Java, Thursday through Sunday, September 10-13. Starring Holly Allen and Cathy Sanborn Street, Parallel Lives is based on the comedy act of Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy, and is directed by Lauren Shouse.

Street Theatre Company of Nashville, TN announces four encore performances of Parallel Lives: The Kathy and Mo Show, back by popular demand, Upstairs at Bongo Java (2007 Belmont Blvd), September 10-13, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.