Jeffrey Ellis News

ACT 1-winner of the 2011 First Night Award for Outstanding Play-will kick off 2013 with its presentation of Neil Simon's Broadway Bound, the final chapter of the playwright's trilogy based on his own early years.

Eve Ensler's series of monologues about women and performed by women has played to packed houses across the country, and the Roxy Regional Theatre's production of The Vagina Monologues-beginning its 11th year on Friday, January 11, at 8 p.m.-is no exception.

First Night Award-winning Boiler Room Theatre, recognized as Tennessee's Outstanding Theatre Company in 2011, will stage a full production of Les Misérables with a limited run in August, 2013. The iconic musical will be presented as a special three-performance benefit for the non-profit Boiler Room Theatre August 8-10.

In this week's edition of 'Around BWW: Regional Highlights of the Week', we take you around the country - and beyond - with the most-read theater stories for the week of December 24! Scroll below to see what made news in your area!

It's been a busy year in Nashville theater in 2012, with audiences treated to a whole slate of theatrical offerings spanning multiple genres-from productions of time-honored classics to new and original contemporary works, from dramas to comedies, from straight plays to musicals-and giving local theater-goers more opportunities than ever before to be challenged by the onstage magic created by some of Tennessee's most talented and gifted artists.

BroadwayWorld brings you the Best of Nashville in the year 2012. Check out the Top Theatre Stories from each month during in the year 2012. We look forward to another exciting year of theatre in 2013!

It's Friday and time for another regional news recap! Today, we take you around the country - and beyond - with the most-read theater stories for the week of December 10! Scroll below to see what made news in your area!

Edna Lou Neblett Chaffin-perhaps better known to members of Nashville's theater community as "Puny"-one-half of the couple who created The Barn Dinner Theatre that ultimately became Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, died Monday, December 10, after a long illness.

GroundWorks Theatre and playwright/director Myra Stephens give a decidedly Southern accent to the holiday season as they present Daddy Went Home for Christmas from December 14-23 at Nashville's Darkhorse Theatre. Described by the playwright as "a parody of all things Southern," consider it a holiday-themed gift of love, dental issues and the death of a loved one.

Playhouse Nashville's popular Ten Minute Playhouse continues at Street Theatre tonight with staged readings six more new plays by Middle Tennessee writers including well-known Nashville playwrights from the Writer's Stage and the Tennessee Repertory Martha Ingram New Works Project.

Matt Chiorini directs Macbeth-one of the bard's best-known political tragedies-to kick off 2013 for Nashville Shakespeare Festival at Belmont University's Troutt Theater January 10-27. Eric D. Pasto-Crosby and Shannon Hoppe lead a cast of NSF veterans and newcomers in the much-anticipated production.

Nashville Children's Theatre this season-during the run of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown-has understandably selected Project Linus as its annual holiday season charity, inviting audiences to become involved in the process.

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Rocco Landesman announced recently that Nashville Ballet is one of 832 non-profit organizations nationwide-and only one of two organizations in Tennessee-to receive an NEA Art Works grant.

At BroadwayWorld we pride ourselves in showcasing theater content from all corners of the globe. Our regional contributors do an amazing job each day of bringing you the latest theater news in their cities and countries. Sit back and catch up on this week's regional reviews, features, interviews and more!

Playhouse Nashville's popular Ten Minute Playhouse-named one of the Top 11 Theatrical Events of 2011 by The First Night Honors-returns December 9 and 10 with a fresh slate of 12 new plays by Middle Tennessee writers. Local actors interested in participating in the staged readings at Street Theatre Company are invited to attend an open casting call and rehearsal on Saturday, December 8, at noon.

Carol Irvin, who has been a mainstay at Crossville's Cumberland County Playhouse for more than 20 years, is the latest recipient of The First Night Robe,presented on Saturday, November 17, prior to curtain of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Earlier in the same week, Bralyn Stokes received the robe at Rhubarb Theater's Birds in Church, and Michael Holder and Josh Waldrep claimed it at Street Theatre Company's Miss Saigon in Concert.

Sit back and enjoy a recap of this week's most-read stories in BroadwayWorld's regional markets! Browse over to your favorite far-away city/country to see what's making news, see what productions are playing around the country and overseas and get to know new performers!

World-class vocalist, First Night Award-nominated actress and Crossville native Mandy Barnett returns to the stage of her hometown's Cumberland County Playhouse for a very special Christmas concert Friday night, November 23 at 8 p.m.

Dickson's Renaissance Players usher in the holiday season with an encore production of the musical extravaganza, A Christmas Carol, The Musical, running November 30 - December 18 in the Anne Deason Performance Hall at The Renaissance Center.

Roxy Regional Theatre artistic director John McDonald returns to the role of Ebenezer Scrooge as the Clarksville professional theatre debuts its 2012 production of A Christmas Carol-and celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens-on Friday, November 23, running through December 22.