Michael McFaden's CITY OF LIGHT Debuts With Pair of Readings 3/30-31March 27, 2012City of Light, a new and original light opera set in the Spiritualist community of Lily Dale, New Yor-written by Michael McFaden, set to the music of Gilbert and Sullivan-will make its bow to the public in two staged readings on March 30 and 31 at Nashville's Global Education Center.
BWW Interviews: Onstage at The Barn: Memories From the First 45 Years with Eric TichenorMarch 27, 2012In recognition of The Barn's 45 years of bringing the magic of live theater to the stage, we continue our special series of Onstage at The Barn: Memories from The First 45 Years, with actor extraordinaire Eric Tichenor, who made his debut at the Barn in the hit 1990 musical comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and who has provided Nashville theater audiences a whole slew of theater memories since…
BWW Reviews: Winning Cast Stars in Beautifully Sung CAMELOT at Arts Center of Cannon County March 25, 2012Camelot's score-with music by Frederick Loewe and book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner-is performed by director Cyndie Verbeten's large ensemble and music director Fran Gebuhr's orchestra with respect for the literature of the piece and with an obvious affection for the characters and their stories, both individual and collective. As a result, the ACCC production is entertaining, made even more accessible by the cast's commitment, with the story made more relevant by the company's lively approach.
BWW Reviews: Street Theater Company's AVENUE Q is 'Outrageously Fun and Engaging'March 24, 2012Outrageously funny, wonderfully engaging and, at times, even heartfelt and sentimental, Avenue Q serves up a full buffet for the discerning theater-goer lucky enough to find himself in the audience of Street Theatre Company's production of the multiple Tony Award-winning musical, directed with flash and sass by Martha Wilkinson and featuring a cast of amazingly adept actors-turned-puppeteers who bring the show to life.
Roxy Regional Theatre Offers Staged Reading of GROSS INDECENCY For 4-Show RunMarch 24, 2012Beginning March 21, the Roxy Regional Theatre will delve deeper into the life and times of the man who penned such classics as The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, with a limited run of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde in theotherspace, the Roxy's 50-seat black-box theatre located upstairs.
BWW Interviews: Onstage at The Barn: Memories From the 45 Years with Lisa Marie WrightMarch 23, 2012In recognition of The Barn's 45 years of bringing the magic of live theater to the stage, we continue our special series of Onstage at The Barn: Memories from The First 45 Years, with actress Lisa Marie Wright, who made her debut at the Barn in A Christmas Cactus in 1998, and most recently was onstage playing the Christine Penmark, the mom of the dastardly Rhoda Penmark in The Bad Seed at Street Theatre Company…
BWW Interviews: DELANEY AMATRUDO's Wicked Take On THE FRIDAY FIVEMarch 23, 2012Today, the spotlight falls upon Delaney Amatrudo, one of Nashville's most acclaimed young actors who finishes up her run as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at Page High School in Williamson County. Her resume boasts a collection of roles that would make anyone envious, including her starring stint in Circle Players' productions of 13 the Musical and Footloose. Last summer, she played Millie Owens in the First Night staged reading of William Inge's Picnic (which I directed, so I know how wicked good she is). Speaking of Wicked, the girl's been in training to play Elphaba since she was tyke!
BWW Interviews: RYAN BOWIE Gives His Heart to Answer THE FRIDAY FIVEMarch 23, 2012Today, the spotlight falls upon Ryan Bowie, who is a company member and director of fundraising and development at Clarksville's Roxy Regional Theatre, currently onstage in the staged reading of Moises Kaufman's Gross Indecency through Saturday night, March 24, and who will be opening in The Red Badge of Courage (running March 30-April 7) and in Spring Awakening (April 13-May 5). Obviously, Ryan pours his blood, sweat and tears into his work-but you've probably never realized just how true that assertion is.
BWW Interviews: Onstage at The Barn: Memories From the First 45 Years with Joanna HackmanMarch 21, 2012In recognition of The Barn's 45 years of bringing the magic of live theater to the stage, we continue our special series of Onstage at The Barn: Memories from The First 45 Years, with actress Joanna Hackman, who recently made her debut at the Barn in the hit comedy Boeing Boeing, and who will be leaving Nashville shortly to give the West Coast a shot at her (and those of her husband Daniel Hackman) talents…
Roxy Regional Theatre Offers Staged Reading of GROSS INDECENCY For 4-Show RunMarch 21, 2012Beginning March 21, the Roxy Regional Theatre will delve deeper into the life and times of the man who penned such classics as The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, with a limited run of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde in theotherspace, the Roxy's 50-seat black-box theatre located upstairs.
BWW Reviews: Tennessee Rep Serves Up Well-Acted SUPERIOR DONUTS at TPAC'S Johnson TheatreMarch 18, 2012Despite their best efforts, director Lauren Shouse and her amazingly talented cast just can't give Tracy Lett's Superior Donuts the emotional heft-the literary gravitas-that the playwright so mightily struggles for in his sitcomesque script which pales in comparison to his supposed masterpiece, August: Osage County. Clearly, it's the success of that earlier, heavily-decorated and awarded, Pulitzer Prize-winning play that most theatre companies are invoking as they attempt to sell tickets to this decidedly lesser work, hoping to capitalize on its success in hoodwinking an unsuspecting audience.
Copeland's New Version of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Closes at NCTMarch 18, 2012Debuting Nashville Children's Theatre-where it will continue through March 18-is producing artistic director Scot Copeland's original adaptation of The Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bete), described as "an exquisitely theatrical adaptation of the French fairy tale by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont.
Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre's ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING ClosesMarch 18, 2012From the same writing team that created Frankly, My Dear-Duke Ernsburger and Virginia Cate-comes the latest comedy opening at Nashville's Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre: Elvis Has Left the Building. Running through March 18, the comedy is directed by Martha Wilkinson, artistic director of the company that is celebrating its 45th season of bringing theater to Nashville audiences.
On a Roll With Neil Simon Plays, Director Johnny Peppers Ushers BRIGHTON BEACH To The Stage Thru 3/18March 18, 2012Make no mistake about it: Johnny Peppers loves directing shows by Broadway playwright Neil Simon, as evidenced by his two latest theatrical adventures. With Brighton Beach Memoirs performing to audience acclaim as part of Circle Players' 2011-12 season at The Keeton Theatre-coming right after the closing of Barefoot in the Park that was part of Franklin's Pull-Tight Players' season-Peppers has been immersed in the stage works of one of the theater's most prolific writers.
Woodbury's Arts Center of Cannon County's CAMELOT ClosesMarch 18, 2012The Arts Center of Cannon County in Woodbury invites theater-goers to "rediscover the grandeur of one of history's greatest love stories" via Lerner and Loewe's timeless musical Camelot-starring John Blankenship, Katherine Sandoval Taylor and Kinsey Brewer-running through March 18.
BWW Interviews: Will Butler, On Becoming Eugene Morris Jerome in Circle Players' BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRSMarch 18, 2012Will Butler is pretty jazzed up about playing Eugene Morris Jerome in Circle Players' upcoming production of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs which might be due, in part, to the fact that he's pretty certain he's got all the lines down pat. But the real reason he's excited is that Brighton Beach marks his return-it's kind of a comeback for the young actor-to the Nashville stage since his "senior capstone project" at Belmont University in 2010.
BWW Reviews: Belmont's HAIRSPRAY is a Shiny, Sparkling Musical Theater TriumphMarch 17, 2012This spring's sparkling, stellar production of Hairspray-the musical tale of one Tracy Turnblad, a "stout" girl who loves to dance and loves people no matter their shape, size, color or way of life-is as entertaining a production of the hit musical as you could ever hope to see. Led by a crazy talented bunch of youthful performers (if this were the 1930s, you can bet your bottom dollar they'd be requisitioning somebody's barn for a colorful musical spectacle) who perform their collective heart out for enthusiastic audiences, the production is satisfying on every level.
BWW Reviews: Circle Players' BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS Comes Vividly To Life Via Focused PerformancesMarch 16, 2012Directed with care and attention to detail by Johnny Peppers, who is quickly becoming the go-to guy for Simon shows in Nashville (just prior to the opening of Circle's Brighton Beach Memoirs, his production of Barefoot in the Park for Franklin's Pull-Tight Players closed), the play features young Will Butler as the play's nominal lead-and stand-in for Simon himself, upon whose life the richly drawn characters and situations are derived-Eugene Morris Jerome, a 15-year-old Polish American Jewish boy living in Brooklyn with his parents, his brother, his aunt and her two daughters.
BWW Interviews: BONNIE KEEN Tackles The Friday Five (And Lives to Tell About It)March 16, 2012Today, the spotlight falls upon Bonnie Keen, one of Nashville's most beloved entertainers, who this weekend lends her estimable talents to the staged reading of Christopher Davis and Frederick Richardson's Punchinello, a new family-friendly musical based upon the children's books of Max Lucado. The staged reading of Punchinello is set for Friday and Saturday nights, March 16 and 17, with a 7:30 p.m. curtain, in Wallace Chapel at Christ Church Nashville, 15354 Old Hickory Boulevard. (Tickets are $10, $5 for children under 12.)