Jeffrey Ellis News

Bye Bye Birdie-conjuring up memories of Elvis Presley and the fan fervor that greeted a lot of musical acts in the 1950s and '60s-takes center stage at Dickson's Renaissance Center in June as the Renaissance Players present the musical theater classic June 1-17.

Jekyll and Hyde-the musical that established Frank Wildhorn as a major force in contemporary musical theater-will be given a concert mounting as the first offering from Murfreesboro's Stones River Theatre Company, the city's first and only professional theatre company.

Directed by Lauren Shouse, Street Theatre Company's production is unique in its casting: Cori and Tyson Laemmel play Cathy and Jamie for the final two weekends of the run, while Kacie Phillips and Ryan Greenawalt opened, to essentially unanimous and deserved acclaim, in the roles for the first two weekends. But here's an intriguing thought: How different would the show be if Cori Laemmel were paired with Ryan Greenawalt and Kacie Phillips played opposite Tyson Laemmel? It's staggering, isn't it?

Who's who in Tennessee theater? Sometimes, without a program in your hand, it's difficult to know who's playing whom-hence, our newest feature: Hey, Jef, Here's My Headshot...featuring some of the Volunteer State's best-known-or soon-to-be-known all over the freakin' world-thespians. And have you ever wondered who the amazing photographers are who make them look so damn good? We're gonna tell ya…Today's actor/subject/model is the beautiful, talented and very busy Beth Anne Musiker, photographed by Mark Mosrie.

Tennessee Repertory Theatre's 2011-2012 professional interns will present The Woman in Black, a ghost play adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the book by Susan Hill. The Woman in Black runs tonight, May 20 through May 22 at 7:00 pm at Tennessee Rep's Rehearsal Hall at NPT's Studio A, 161 Rains Avenue.

Let's face it: You have to give Paul Vasterling, the grand poobah (as both artistic director and CEO of Nashville Ballet, what other title suits him best?) of all things musical/dancical/theatrical in Music City, a whole bunch of credit for the imaginative-heretofore unexperienced-heights he has helped his company achieve and his city to claim as its own. The man has redefined the idea of collaboration while giving human form to the term "synergy" with his continuing efforts to push the creative envelope in a city filled with artistic types and their sometimes conflicting sensibilities.

Who's who in Tennessee theater? Sometimes, without a program in your hand, it's difficult to know who's playing whom-hence, our newest feature: Hey, Jef, Here's My Headshot...featuring some of the Volunteer State's best-known-or soon-to-be-known all over the freakin' world-thespians. And have you ever wondered who the amazing photographers are who make them look so damn good? We're gonna tell ya…Today's actor/subject/model is the beautiful, talented and very busy Kim Nygren.

Kim Bretton, easily one of the best actors to be found anywhere, makes an auspicious Nashville debut as a director-that places her firmly among the upper echelons of that particular field of endeavor-with her thoughtful and intriguing mounting of Donald Margulies' Time Stands Still for Actors Bridge Ensemble.

Bob Gunton, the musical theater star who was Tony Award-nominated for his turn as Broadway's original Juan Peron in Evita, returns to his Tennessee theatrical roots tonight in an original production that is sure to be one of the highlights of the 2012 season at Cumberland County Playhouse.

Boiler Room Theatre debuts its most eagerly anticipated production of the 2012 season next week with Next To Normal, the groundbreaking 2009 Tony Award-winning musical, starring Nashville stage favorite Megan Murphy Chambers as Diana, a suburban wife and mother who contends with her worsening bipolar disorder while her family struggles to take care of one another.

Camping With Henry and Tom-directed by Lynda Gibbs-focuses on a 1921 camping trip that Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and President Warren G. Harding took into the Maryland woods to escape civilization. Inspired by that actual event, Camping with Henry and Tom is an exploration of friendship, politics and leadership; a comedic and dramatic clash of three great historical figures, and what might have happened when they ventured off into the woods together.

Today's spotlight falls upon Cori Laemmel, who opens tonight in the reboot of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years opposite her real-life husband Tyson Laemmel (following the critically acclaimed version that starred Ryan Greenawalt and Kacie Phillips for the first two weeks of the run) at Street Theatre Company.

Who's who in Tennessee theater? Sometimes, without a program in your hand, it's difficult to know who's playing whom-hence, our newest feature: Hey, Jef, Here's My Headshot...featuring some of the Volunteer State's best-known-or soon-to-be-known all over the freakin' world-thespians. And have you ever wondered who the amazing photographers are who make them look so damn good? We're gonna tell ya…Today's actor/subject/model is the handsome, talented and very busy Will Butler, photographed by Mandy Whitley.

Who's who in Tennessee theater? Sometimes, without a program in your hand, it's difficult to know who's playing whom-hence, our newest feature: Hey, Jef, Here's My Headshot...featuring some of the Volunteer State's best-known-or soon-to-be-known all over the freakin' world-thespians. And have you ever wondered who the amazing photographers are who make them look so damn good? We're gonna tell ya…Today's actor/subject/model is the beautiful, talented and very busy Rachel Woods (who recently was named a Top Ten Finalist in the English Speaking Union's National Speaking Competition and is a 2011 BroadwayWorld Nashville Award winner), photographed by J Renee Photography.

Ben Davis isn't even in Nashville yet, and already he's eating like a native: "This morning," he confides in a telephone interview from his home in New York City, "in anticipation of your phone call and our upcoming trip to Nashville, my wife and I had sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast."

Comedian, author and Emmy Award-winning actor Leslie Jordan will have a homecoming of sorts tonight, May 15 when he returns to Chattanooga to headline Tuesday Night Live!, Chattanooga Theatre Centre's annual fundraising gala, with proceeds going to the Annual Fund.

Who's who in Tennessee theater? Sometimes, without a program in your hand, it's difficult to know who's playing whom-hence, our newest feature: Hey, Jef, Here's My Headshot...featuring some of the Volunteer State's best-known-or soon-to-be-known all over the freakin' world-thespians. And have you ever wondered who the amazing photographers are who make them look so damn good? We're gonna tell ya…Today's actor/subject/model is the beautiful, talented and very busy Lynn Yates, photographed by Nora Canfield (www.msdigphotography.com).

Set in post-World War II Chicago, the show features swing music for the mid-20th Century, award-winning magic and illusion, and high energy swing dance. Songs include "It Don't Mean A Thing," "In The Mood," "Jump Jive & Wail," "Blues In The Night" and many more hit songs from the mid-20th Century.

It makes no difference the region in which you were raised or now live, nor does the church in which you grew up or now worship and, seemingly, it doesn't matter what your ethnic heritage is: There is a commonality, a universality that binds us all together as a society. And while all of that is a given, it's driven home with the gentle humor and the good graces of Church Basement Ladies, the sweetly evocative and sometimes hilarious musical onstage at The Gaslight Dinner Theatre, in a warmly acted production directed by Nathan W. Brown.

Who's who in Tennessee theater? Sometimes, without a program in your hand, it's difficult to know who's playing whom-hence, our newest feature: Hey, Jef, Here's My Headshot...featuring some of the Volunteer State's best-known-or soon-to-be-known all over the freakin' world-thespians. And have you ever wondered who the amazing photographers are who make them look so damn good? We're gonna tell ya…Today's actor/subject/model is the beautiful, talented and very busy Katelyn Michelle Fiorini.