David Cummings News

Tara Winton directs, as Woodbury's Arts Center of Cannon County presents Peter and the Starcatcher by Rick Elice, based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, with music by Wayne Barker. Opening Friday night, June 2, it runs through June 11.

GOOD MORNING, THEATERATI! Welcome to the start of Memorial Day Weekend: It's Friday, May 26, 2017 and time to live life dramatically! It really sounds like we should be cutting a ribbon somewhere to herald the start of the long weekend that kicks off summer, but instead we sit here in front of a computer screen, remembering and reminiscing, in hopes of providing you with something to read while you sit by the pool, waiting for the SPF37 to kick in!

Feeling the urge to let your imagination run wild, your spirit to soar or to just leave the world in which you live and go on an adventure? Sounds like a trip to the theater is in order! Luckily, companies all over the Volunteer State have been hard at work, creating new productions to transform and to transport, shows that will entertain you this summer. That's where THE NASHVILLE THEATER CALENDAR comes in handy: Peruse our listings every week to find out what shows you should see!

Moon Over Buffalo is the story of an acting couple (David Cummings and Lauren Linn as George and Charlotte Hay) who are on tour in Buffalo, New York, in 1953 with a repertory consisting of Cyrano de Bergerac and Noel Coward's Private Lives.  Directed by Linda Dobbs (Ghost of a Chance), this backstage farce by the author of Lend Me a Tenor (Ken Ludwig) brought Carol Burnett back to Broadway and also starred Philip Bosco as her megalomaniac, often drunk husband and leading man. Fate has given these thespians one more shot at starring roles in The Scarlet Pimpernel epic and director Frank Capra himself is en route to Buffalo to catch their matinee performance.

First Night's Top Ten of 2017 - critic Jeffrey Ellis' annual review of the best in Tennessee theater - were revealed tonight during a live Facebook broadcast at 7:30 p.m. (CST), with Actor's Bridge Ensemble and Studio Tenn/TPAC leading the nods in this year's listing of categories.

Perhaps it's a case of perfect timing - or maybe it's simply the fact that a revival of a much-beloved Tony Award-winning best musical is enough to attract a strong ensemble of men to the project - but make no mistake about it, Murfreesboro's Center for the Arts succeeds where so many companies have fallen short in bringing a superbly mounted production of Sherman Edwards' and Peter Stone's 1776 to vibrant life onstage!

Once again, it's that time of year: a period of reflection and introspection that gives us all the perfect opportunity to express our gratitude for the things in our lives that have meant the most to us in 2015. We reached out to members of our theater community, to inquire about that which they are thankful for and we got some very heartfelt, considered romances that, leavened by the humor injected from some of our favorite people, gives us added insight into the psyche of the artistic and creative-minded people who make theatrical magic every day…

It's Halloween weekend and every dramatic personage and theatrical type we've ever encountered is caught up in the annual rush to find just the right costume for their holiday revelries (we confess we've never had the knack for coming up with Halloween get-ups - not since we went in drag to a party at the First Baptist Church as the age of 12…tongues were wagging, we are certain, but we lived to tell about it, so it couldn't have been that bad). In the meantime, there are all sorts of onstage happenings this weekend to keep you otherwise engaged should the difficulty of selecting your costume prove to be too much.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

There's the definite feeling of autumn in the air that makes you want to gut a pumpkin or at least have a pumpkin spice latte, chances are you are definitely going to need a sweater in the early morning hours, and it's past the perfect time for you to pick out a Halloween costume. Luckily, theater companies are well into their new seasons and there's plenty of shows to entertain you while you take time off from berating yourself for wearing that same tricked-out Star Wars costume you wore the past fwo-and-one-half years.

We're back! After an extended absence due to The Last Five Years (we directed it to boffo notices from our critical colleagues), The 2015 First Night Honors (which played to SRO crowds at Chaffin's Barn in September) and a sense of overwhelming malaise and ennui (we are ever so dramatic at times), BWW Nashville's Critic's Choice is back on the interwebs, offering you our insights and advice on the shows that are coming up and what you should try to find time to see - or to avoid at all costs, depending on our perspective.

Murfreesboro's Center for the Arts presents The Addams Family, A New Musical - the Broadway musical by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (Jersey Boys) and Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party) - October 16 through November 1.

Ohmigod…ohmigod, you guys…Elle Woods-the sharp-as-a-tack, pink-clad heroine of movies and musical theater-is brought to life in Woodbury in an exuberant, if technically flawed, production of Legally Blonde, The Musical, onstage at The Arts Center of Cannon County through July 21. Directed by Mary Ellen Smith and choreographed by Maggie Richardson, Legally Blonde features a fresh-faced, youthful cast who bring the show's characters to the stage with an exhilarating sense of purpose that succeeds even despite an overly ambitious set design that slows down the plot's pacing.

Lindsay Mapes takes on the role of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, The Musical, the next production at Woodbury's Arts Center of Cannon County. Directed by Mary Ellen Smith, the Tony Award-nominated musical runs tonight, July 6 through July 21.

Lindsay Mapes takes on the role of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, The Musical, the next production at Woodbury's Arts Center of Cannon County. Directed by Mary Ellen Smith, the Tony Award-nominated musical runs July 6-21.

Camelot's score-with music by Frederick Loewe and book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner-is performed by director Cyndie Verbeten's large ensemble and music director Fran Gebuhr's orchestra with respect for the literature of the piece and with an obvious affection for the characters and their stories, both individual and collective. As a result, the ACCC production is entertaining, made even more accessible by the cast's commitment, with the story made more relevant by the company's lively approach.

The Arts Center of Cannon County in Woodbury invites theater-goers to "rediscover the grandeur of one of history's greatest love stories" via Lerner and Loewe's timeless musical Camelot-starring John Blankenship, Katherine Sandoval Taylor and Kinsey Brewer-running through March 18.

The Arts Center of Cannon County in Woodbury invites theater-goers to "rediscover the grandeur of one of history's greatest love stories" via Lerner and Loewe's timeless musical Camelot-starring John Blankenship, Katherine Sandoval Taylor and Kinsey Brewer-opening March 9.

The Arts Center of Cannon County in Woodbury invites theater-goers to "rediscover the grandeur of one of history's greatest love stories" via Lerner and Loewe's timeless musical Camelot-starring John Blankenship, Katherine Sandoval Taylor and Kinsey Brewer-opening March 9.