Nate Eppler News

Tennessee Repertory Theatre will present its production of the hilarious farce Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps.

Derek Whittaker stars in the title role in the latest incarnation of The Foreigner, Larry Shue's classic stage comedy, opening at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre March 24, running through April 30. The production is helmed by director Dietz Osborne.

Tennessee Repertory Theatre will present its production of the hilarious farce Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps.

That Melodie Madden Adams, the actress and singer in question, gave a wonderful performance is unquestionable - and not unexpected - and her ease in becoming Margaret is a very good example of actress and character being perfectly in-sync: 'I have an insane love for anything vintage,' she explains, making the role perfect for her. In fact, when she's not onstage (she'll start rehearsals very soon for her role as Lenny in Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart at Boiler Room Theatre), she's busily attending to the affairs of her online company, www.pinkcupcakevintage.com. And she thinks 'one of the most underestimated talents in this town is Billy Ditty.'

A slice of Broadway comes to Franklin for the fifth annual Broadway at Bethlehem benefit on Saturday, February 12, with the talents of Tennessee Rep/Broadwayworld.com favorite Martha Wilkinson, international performers Holly Shepherd and Jennifer Richmond, as well as popular Nashville-area artists Daron Bruce, Amanda Lamb and B.J. Rowell at the Bethlehem UMC Performing Arts Center, 2419 Bethlehem Loop Road, Franklin.

If you were asked to name Nashville's Top Ten Favorite Musicals, what show would you name as number one? Perhaps surprisingly, when that question was posed to a group of Nashville theater folk, the number one-ranked show is Les Miserables (but perhaps it's not that surprising, since Victor Hugo's book was a huge hit in the American South upon its initial publication in this country), followed by A Chorus Line, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods claiming the remaining slots in the Top Five.

A slice of Broadway comes to Franklin for the fifth annual Broadway at Bethlehem benefit on Saturday, February 12, with the talents of Tennessee Rep/Broadwayworld.com favorite Martha Wilkinson, international performers Holly Shepherd and Jennifer Richmond, as well as popular Nashville-area artists Daron Bruce, Amanda Lamb and B.J. Rowell at the Bethlehem UMC Performing Arts Center, 2419 Bethlehem Loop Road, Franklin.

Nashville actors displayed an astonishing range in 2010, playing some of the most coveted roles in theater with imagination and creativity and exhibiting new stage personas for characters making their initial debuts in new, original works. It was a memorable year, to say the least, and Nashville men stepped up to the plate with vigor and conviction, showing greater promise for the new season now under way in 2011. These ten actors led the way for their peers during the season just past and we're proud to recognize their onstage achievements...

'There are no small parts, only small actors,' goes the old theatrical saw that's tossed about willy-nilly to encourage budding thespians to take on roles they suspect might be beneath them and their lofty stature. But, of course, there's much truth to be found in the axiom and you will certainly see it brought to life in the efforts of the members of many acting ensembles, particularly those considered among the best in Nashville's 2010 theater season:

Nashville theater audiences were treated to a wide range of dramatic offerings in 2010, with the revival of some of the best-known American plays of the past half-century, along with productions of some amazing original works by a group of talented homegrown playwrights, whose subjects ranged from what goes on in the intimate confines of the ladies' room to a murder mystery comedy with a film noir ambience. Clearly, if 2010 is any indication, the new 2011 season now under way is going to be filled with even more surprises and delights.

Amid threatening weather forecasts and a winter storm bearing down on the South, more than 150 hardy souls gathered to celebrate live theatre in Nashville and Middle Tennessee with the presentation of the BroadwayWorld.com Nashville Theatre Awards and First Night's Top Ten of Twenty-Ten on Sunday night, January 9. Street Theatre Company's new venue at 1933 Elm Hill Pike was the setting for the event that featured performances by Joann Coleman, Ben Van Diepen, Ann Street Kavanaugh, Laura Matula, Michael Kitts and Bakari Jamal King.

Despite portentous warnings of an approaching snowmageddon across the South, more than 150 members of the Nashville and Middle Tennessee theater community gathered at Street Theatre Company in Nashville Sunday night, January 9, for the announcement of the BroadwayWorld.com Nashville Theatre Award winners and the presentation of First Night's Top Ten of Twenty-Ten.

Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre offers up two home-grown productions for the holiday season, with Martha Wilkinson's It's A Wonderful Wife, running November 18 through December 31 on the mainstage of the venerable dinner theater, and John Chaffin's The Late, Late Show in residence on the Backstage at the Barn stage November 23-December 31.

Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre offers up two home-grown productions for the holiday season, with Martha Wilkinson's It's A Wonderful Wife, running November 18 through December 31 on the mainstage of the venerable dinner theater, and John Chaffin's The Late, Late Show in residence on the Backstage at the Barn stage November 23-December 31.

A cast of more than 125 performers took to the stage of the Troutt Theatre at Belmont University to fete the eight members of the 2010 Class of First Night Honorees in a production that featured the best of the best of Nashville theater and included a surprise appearance by Joseph Mahowald, winner of a 1989 First Night Award, now playing the role of Franklin Hart Jr. in the national tour of 9 to 5: The Musical, which opened in Nashville at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, September 21.

Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler have quickly gained a reputation as Nashville's most accomplished playwriting team and, thanks to their latest effort - the winkingly titled Rear Widow, now onstage at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre - the talented duo have scored their biggest success to date. Rear Widow is a fast-paced and completely entertaining salute to the film noir genre, brought winningly and charmingly to life by director Lauren Shouse and her superb cast of actors (which includes Martha Wilkinson, Jennifer Richmond and B.J. Rowell in addition to the two playwrights themselves).

When the show finally ended on Sunday night, September 19, and First Night revelers made it to their cars, they headed downtown to Hard Rock Cafe Nashville, located at the corner of Broadway and First, for the After-Party. Although the show ran long (as awards presentations tend to do) at four hours, a hale and hearty crowd of theater-types partied until the early morning hours of Monday, September 20 in the Reverb Room and on the rooftop balcony overlooking the glittery Nashville downtown and the Cumberland River with the soaring Nashville skyline in the background.

Tennessee Repertory Theatre has announced John Patrick Shanley as the recipient of its Ingram New Works Fellowship.

Limelight, in East Nashville, was transformed into a swanky Las Vegas casino and showroom when Street Theatre Company's It's Vegas, Baby! was brought back 'by popular demand' on Thursday, August 12. Local actors and playwrights Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler emceed the festivities for the successful fundraiser for the Nashville theatre company. The evening featured a 'floor show' featuring some of the company's most popular performers in a wide variety of numbers onstage.

Limelight, in East Nashville, will be transformed into a swanky Las Vegas casino and showroom at Street Theatre Company's It's Vegas, Baby! is brought back 'by popular demand' on Thursday, August 12 at 7 p.m.