Matt Logan News

Studio Tenn returns to the roots of its Franklin, Tennessee, hometown with the reprise of The Battle of Franklin: A Tale of a House Divided," back by popular demand for a September 7-22 run at the Jamison Theatre in the Factory at Franklin.

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!

Among such actors is Douglas Waterbury-Tieman, a graduate of the Belmont University Musical Theatre program, now living in Inwood, New York City, with his wife Annabelle Fox (also a Belmont grad and a recent subject of this series), whom he met in school in Nashville.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there lived a place called Broadway, where you could find still find bills of one-act plays that, more often than not, offered titillation into then-current sexual practices and innovations. Zoom forward 40 years or so and opera has finally caught up with this oh-so-shocking (but-not-really) form of entertainment, with the local premiere of THREE WAY by Robert Paterson and David Cote, directed by John Hoomes.

GOOD MORNING, THEATERATI! Welcome to Friday, June 9, 2017 - we're awfully glad to have you here! It's a big weekend in Nashville, maybe the biggest ever, thanks to the perfect storm of events and celebrations all across the region. It's CMA Music Festival weekend, Bonnaroo is pulsating some miles down the road (taking most of the attendees through Music City on their way to Manchester) and the Nashville Predators take on a team from Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Final's sixth game on Sunday night at Bridgestone Arena.

Studio Tenn announced today that Jake Speck will leave his position as Managing Director in August, to assume the executive director position with A.D. Players, a professional theatre company in Houston, Texas.

GOOD MORNING, THEATERATI! Welcome to Thursday, May 18, 2017…It's #TheatreThursday! which begs the question: How do you propose to live life dramatically? And, while we're on the subject, what shows are on your agenda this weekend? Let us know what you plan to see and what led you to make your choice! We'll pass the word along to the powers-that-be!

GOOD MORNING, THEATERATI! The calendar (not that I have an actual calendar hanging on a wall or anything like that, mind you) tells us that today is May 9, 2017, which prompts us to ask the musical question: Why aren't you all better at marketing your shows?

Whether it's seeing Matt Logan as King Arthur galumphing around onstage, as if astride a horse with Garris Wimmer not far behind providing the necessary sound effects with two halves of one empty coconut shell, or watching Jake Speck, as a feckless wannabe Knight of the Round Table, crap his pants anytime he hears a threatening sound or encounters the menacing Black Knight (or anyone else who might say 'boo' to the goose who is Sir Robin), or any other manner of zany characters who find themselves right smack in the middle of the most ridiculous of situations - Monty Python's Spamalot, now in an altogether splendid production from Studio Tenn, will supply you with plenty of laughs and/or the fodder to keep you amusingly sated until the next time you need a good guffaw or two.

Good Morning, Theaterati! It's May Day: May 1, 2017, and we're asking the musical question…What if you have five members from two casts of Million Dollar Quartet together backstage after a performance of the show, might it more accurately be known as $1.25 Million Dollar Quartet?

Studio Tenn presents Monty Python's Spamalot at the Jamison Theater in The Factory at Franklin, May 4 - 21, 2017.

Meanwhile, you can cast your eyes toward today's photogenic cover models, the lovely and talented Cooper and his human, Nashville actress/designer Ashley Wolfe - both of them are pretty swell, in our estimation (even deserving of a Tony Award), and while we worry about them taking selfies while driving and while catching up on the theatrical news every morning, we are assured they were at a full stop when this photo was snapped. In fact, according to the human member of the duo she hadn't yet turned her key to the on position.

Studio Tenn promises to be 'back at it again with an all new line up of original works, literary masterpieces, powerful dramas and Broadway classics' for the 2017-18 season, which is revealed this week.

Startling, stunning and evocative performances by an ensemble of Nashville actors performing at the top of their game in an altogether effective and moving production of a contemporary classic: that's what audiences are likely recalling now - hours, days, weeks - after experiencing the latest artistic achievement from Studio Tenn. Following up the opening of their 2016-17 season -  a critically lauded revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita, which launched the annual Broadway series at Tennessee Performing Arts Center - Studio Tenn presents another Broadway-worthy reiteration in the form of Bernard Pomerance's The Elephant Man.

Studio Tenn and Tennessee Performing Arts Center's joint venture to produce Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita in Nashville resulted in the production claiming the top prize as "Outstanding Musical of The Year" at Sunday's Midwinter's First Night event at The Larry Keeton Theatre. Nashville Repertory Theatre's production of Nate Eppler's original play Good Monsters took the title of "Outstanding Play of The Year" in the annual ceremony that dates back to its origins in 1989.

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.

Charlotte Maltby will join the cast as Maria Rainer in the national tour of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music, which premieres in Nashville with a one-week, limited engagement February 14-19, 2017, at Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall.

As assured and confident as any long-running musical now - or ever, for that matter - on Broadway, the altogether worldly and completely engaging production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita, playing at Andrew Jackson Hall through September 18, gives Nashville audiences the kind of exceptional theater experience they've come to expect from Studio Tenn.

Tony Award winner Anthony Crivello will join the cast of Studio Tenn and Tennessee Performinig Arts Center's production of Evita this September, playing the role of Juan Peron. Playing opposite Crivello in the eponymous role of Eva Peron is Broadway diva Eden Espinosa.

Hear ye, hear ye…Music City Confidential is back! Which means, of course, that I've heard an awful lot of scuttlebutt since last week's column went live on the interwebs - or, more likely, that I am trying to avoid boring and mundane stuff like packing - I'll let you decide what my motivation truly is...