Jeffrey Ellis News

Sometimes, even imperceptibly and when you least expect it, you may find yourself in search of something that helps to take you away from the rigors of the real world, to transport you to a long-dreamed-of land of fantasy which exists in your heart of hearts. Perhaps that journey is spurred on by a passing thought, a barely realized memory of something lost long ago to the past, or you hear a snippet of a song, a melody that instantly makes your heart fill with emotion, and you are swept away…

Make no mistake about it: SIX, the Tony Award-winning musical about six women historically tethered to one another by a common – but not “a commoner” – ex-husband, is raucously funny one moment, remarkably heartfelt the next, with plenty of history punctuating the moments in between. SIX, the high-spirited and energetic take on the lives of Henry VIII’s half-dozen wives, is also totally unlike any musical theater offering that has come before it.

Engaging in conversation with Irma Herrera – even if it’s via Zoom in the middle of a busy day during which a remodeling project on her San Francisco home is under way, with the sounds of construction in the background as proof – is one of the most delightful ways to spend a scant hour on a sunny afternoon: talking about the importance of showing respect to another human being by pronouncing their name as they do, and discussing the intersectionality of immigrant’s rights, human rights, women’s rights, LGBTQIA rights, worker’s rights and the rights of the poor.

Moses Pendleton, the founder and artistic director of MOMIX – the celebrated dance company that inaugurates Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s 2022-23 International Dance Series this weekend – readily admits that he’s had a lifelong affinity for Lewis Carroll and his fanciful tale of a young girl whose unexpected journey to Wonderland provides the inspiration for the company’s Alice! which will transport audiences from the James K. Polk Theatre on their own wondrously captivating journey.

Micah-Shane Brewer today has been promoted to the role of artistic director for Nashville Repertory Theatre. The fifth artistic director in the company’s 38-year history, Brewer previously has served as producer for the company.

There’s really nothing better for what ails you – particularly on a cold, wet and dreary Sunday afternoon – than a stroll down memory lane, thanks to a tuneful trip to the 1950s and ‘60s with The Marvelous Wonderettes, a nostalgic and enormously entertaining musical revue by Roger Bean.

Mesmerizing and captivating are just two of the words that might best describe Hadestown, the Tony Award-winning best musical of the truncated 2019-20 Broadway season, which is now commanding ovations of rapturous applause from adoring fans at Nashville’s Tennessee Performing Arts Center during an eight-performance run through Sunday, November 6.

Lauren Shouse’s directorial resume is quite the impressive one and over the years she’s helmed productions for Nashville Repertory Theatre that have been justifiably acclaimed both by audiences and critics alike. But despite the notoriety that seems to always accompany a “Lauren Shouse-directed production,” perhaps none is more deserved than the accolades that follow in the wake of The Cake, the latest entry on her already stellar list of shows.

The National Tour of Aladdin recently launched at Proctor's in Schenectady, NY. Read the reviews for Aladdin here!

The National Tour of Tina - the Tina Turner Musical launched in Washington, D.C. Read all of the reviews here!

Six more queens are hitting the road! The 'Boleyn Tour' of SIX launched at The Smith Center in Las Vegas on September 20. Read all of the reviews for the Boleyn Tour of Six the Musical!

Tomorrow – October 11, 2022 – marks yet another momentous day in the history of Boiler Room Theatre, the late and lamented theater company that originally brought professional theater to The Factory at Franklin. 120 Seats in a Boiler Room: The Creation of a Courageous Professional Theater, the latest book by BRT co-founder Lewis Kempfer (who is an award-winning author in addition to his multi-hyphenate theater titles as director-producer-actor-designer), will be released by Amazon.

Since his death in 2021, Stephen Sondheim and his canon of work have justifiably been on the hearts and minds of theater people from around the world, with revivals, retrospectives and remembrances filling the calendars of an amazing range of companies paying homage to the master of contemporary musical theater. Just in time for a new season of productions highlighting the Nashville theater calendar, Belmont University Musical Theatre has chosen the aptly named musical revue Sondheim on Sondheim to launch a two-show semester that honors the genius of the master while showcasing the talents of its roster of musical theater majors who continue to add luster to the program’s reputation.

With a stellar cast under the direction of Cammy Harris, Watershed Public Theatre’s version of Little Women The Musical ends its two-weekend run at Columbia State Community College’s Cherry Theatre on Sunday, October 9, with an endearing production that proves once more the timelessness of Alcott’s source material and the relevance of her memorable characters and provides an ideal diversion from the rigors of the real world of the 21st century.

Studio Tenn – the Franklin-based professional theater company – launches its 2022-23 season in collaboration with Tennessee Performing Arts Center for a concert staging of Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, playing for just two nights at TPAC’s James K. Polk Theatre September 30 and October 1. Under the direction of Studio Tenn artistic director Patrick Cassidy (who shares duties with co-director and choreographer Gerry McIntyre), Aida features a starry cast of actors with Broadway pedigrees (Jackie Burns and Rex Smith), along with some of Music City’s most beloved stage veterans (Bakari Jamal King and Mark Cabus) and featuring the stunning triumph of a young woman who audiences have watched grow up on Nashville stages (Maya Riley) in the title role.

In 2010, the Clarksville-based Roxy Regional Theatre staged a production of Stephen Sondheim and James LaPine’s “exquisitely off-kilter and melodiously rapturous musical Into the Woods” which remains firmly ensconced in my memory for its many attributes, not the least of which were the actors (Sarah Levine, Rachael Fogle, Josh Bernaski, Gregory Pember, Jackie Ostick and current artistic director Ryan Bowie) who brought the show so vividly to life and whose performances remain among some of the best we’ve seen at the venue in its 40 years. In fact, we often cite that 2010 Into the Woods (after another fondly remembered production some 15 years even before that) as a turning point, of sorts, in the history of The Roxy.

Pretty Woman The Musical – the latest offering in the 2022-23 Broadway at TPAC Series – is one of those shows that almost defies explanation and proves even more difficult to review. (Case in point: I’ve rewritten that sentence 758 times in the past 22 hours and it’s still not “singing,” is it?) Pretty Woman The Musical is a pleasant enough diversion, entertaining even, but there is little in the show’s first act to convince most people that the 1990 rom com, which starred Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, needed to be transformed into a glitzy and glittering Broadway musical (a term we use loosely in this case), with Olivia Valli and Adam Pascal in the leading roles.

Nothing engages the theaterati in Nashville and the surrounding provinces as the production of an eagerly anticipated new play no one’s done before in these parts, but about which we’ve read glowing reviews. The very promise of something new to energize the cultural zeitgeist – particularly under the aegis of Nashville Story Garden (a creative collective whose work always generates major buzz); something new and unseen from across the pond which will provide a showcase for the remarkable talents of some of the region’s most respected actors – is virtually guaranteed to be a “must-see” for a theater-going public more accustomed to titles with which they are already quite often overly familiar.

As with most intelligent and clever actors struggling to find paying work during difficult times, LeLand Gantt readily admits that he was inspired to create Rhapsody in Black, which has been described as “a powerful personal narrative on racism, identity, and self-image” to provide some work for himself, allowing him to “stay in town to do more tv and film.” Now, however, as acclaim for his one-man show continues to grow, he’s finding himself “out of town” – he's based in New York – to give theater-goers all over the country a chance to see his the result of his creativity on his personal journey to transcene racism in America.

Thanks to the rousing performances of director Micah-Shane Brewer’s talented company who have brought the show to vivid life for Nashville audiences, Rent provides a noteworthy opening to the company’s 38th season. Performed with commitment and sharp focus by a cast of young performers, this revival of Rent proves the show’s timelessness, the score’s resonance and the story’s relevance well into the 21st century.