Jeremy Maxwell News

Nashville audiences-and chattering, anticipatory theater critics-will be given the opportunity to weigh in with their own impressions of Pacific Overtures, thanks to an ambitious production from Blackbird Theater, the acclaimed company now in its sophomore season at David Lipscomb University's Shamblin Theatre.

Playwright Nate Eppler, Mas Nashville's FIVE, the Boiler Room Theatre, Lipscomb University's Hairspray, ACT 1's American Buffalo and the national touring company of Memphis, the Musical were the top winners at Sunday night's Midwinter's First Night at Nashville's Keeton Theatre, which also featured the presentation of the BroadwayWorld.com Nashville and Tennessee theatre awards.

Under the sure-handed direction of Morton, who has brought together an impressive cast of adult actors with two different casts of youngsters, the whole of Oliver! is remarkable, a thoroughly delightful evening of theater that allows those older thespians to show off their talents while showcasing the budding talents of her younger charges, who display stage presence and focus throughout the tune-filled musical. In fact, it is Morton's skilled and practiced eye in regards to casting that really sets this Oliver! apart from any of the others we've seen. Frankly, the woman knows what she's doing.

Oliver! - the Lionel Bart musical about London street urchin Oliver Twist and the scores of ruffians and ragamuffins who make up something of a family for the orphaned boy - opens at Franklin's Boiler Room Theatre on Friday night, running through December 23, offering regional audiences the opportunity to fall in love with the 1960 musical once more.

Boiler Room Theatre's newest production arrives just in time for the holidays. Oliver! tells the classic Charles Dickens tale where nothing is as thrilling on the stage as a well-crafted tale, and Oliver! is just such a show. This show engages with its pathos and drama, while delighting everyone with the musical numbers 'Food, Glorious Food,' 'I'd Do Anything,' 'Where is Love?,' 'Consider Yourself,' 'As Long As He Needs Me,' and 'Who Will Buy.' Dickens' characters are brought to life-perhaps larger than life-with all their facets glowing in this production.

With spirited campiness in abundance - and the sumptuous physical trappings provided by designers Anthony Popolo and Billy Ditty - The Rocky Horror Show takes over the Boiler Room Theatre for the month of October, giving audiences a rose-tinted view of a fantastical world full of transsexuals, transvestites and other-worldly aliens. In short, it's just another night over at the Frankenstein place.

Who among us doesn't love a suspenseful yet wickedly entertaining melodrama about an eight-year-old sociopath who lets nothing stand in the way of her lifelong quest to get exactly what she wants? Whether it's a penmanship medal, a crystal ball, a garnet from a necklace - or even to prevent a trip to the electric chair - young Rhoda Penmark, who is the very picture of sweetness and light and old-fashioned manners and deportment, has for more than 50 years mesmerized audiences, delighting them with her larcenous, murderous ways. Let's face it: Who among us hasn't had flashes of going all Rhoda Penmark on the people who are obstacles in our own lives?

Little Rhoda Penmark, sweet, charming and full of old-fashion grace, and she may have the 'prettiest mother,' and be loved by her devoted parents and admired by all her elders. However, if you delve deeper into Rhoda's psyche, you might find something darker and far more sinister. And when one of Rhoda's schoolmates is mysteriously drowned at a picnic, her mother Christine Penmark (played by Lisa Marie Wright) is alarmed. For the boy who was drowned won the penmanship medal that Rhoda (played by Lucy Turner) felt she deserved.

Little Rhoda Penmark is sweet, charming, full of old-fashioned graces, loved by her parents, admired by all her elders.

Little Rhoda Penmark may have the 'prettiest mother,' she might be sweet, charming, and full of old-fashioned graces, loved by her parents, admired by all her elders. Delve deeper into Rhoda's psyche, however, and you might find something darker and far more sinister. And when one of Rhoda's schoolmates is mysteriously drowned at a picnic, her mother Christine Penmark (played by Lisa Marie Wright) is alarmed. For the boy who was drowned won the penmanship medal that Rhoda (played by Lucy Turner) felt she deserved.

ACT 1 brings its successful 21st season to a close May 20-28, with Much Ado About Nothing, a Shakespearean comedy filled with wit, romance, and villainy. Brittany Carlton directs the show which is set in Messina, Italy.

ACT 1 brings its successful 21st season to a close May 20-28, with Much Ado About Nothing, a Shakespearean comedy filled with wit, romance, and villainy. Brittany Carlton directs the show which is set in Messina, Italy.

The Boiler Room Theatre (in The Factory at Franklin, 230 Franklin Road, Bldg Six, Franklin) continues its 10th Anniversary season with the autobiographical Neil Simon comedy that delighted audiences in this first of a wildly successful trilogy of plays including 'Biloxi Blues.'

The Boiler Room Theatre (BRT), Williamson County's resident professional theatre company, continues its 10th season with Neil Simon's comedy Brighton Beach Memoirs opening May 7, 2010 at the theatre, located in the historic Factory at Franklin (230 Franklin Rd., Building Six, Franklin) for a run through May 29, 2010.

The Boiler Room Theatre (in The Factory at Franklin, 230 Franklin Road, Bldg Six, Franklin) continues its 10th Anniversary season with the autobiographical Neil Simon comedy that delighted audiences in this first of a wildly successful trilogy of plays including 'Biloxi Blues.'