Jeffrey Ellis - Page 122

With almost 400 people in the audience, the leading lights of Tennessee theater were heralded with the presentation of the 2015 First Night Honors Gala, Sunday night at the iconic and historic Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre in Nashville. Hosted by Geoff Davin, Stephanie Jones-Benton and Erica Patterson, the event featured musical numbers by more than 100 performers in tribute to the Class of 2015 Honorees.

With almost 400 people in the audience, the leading lights of Tennessee theater were heralded with the presentation of the 2015 First Night Honors Gala, Sunday night at the iconic and historic Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre in Nashville. Hosted by Geoff Davin, Stephanie Jones-Benton and Erica Patterson, the event featured musical numbers by more than 100 performers in tribute to the Class of 2015 Honorees.

Young Emory is an effeminate 11-year-old boy who lives on a farm with his chain smoking Nanna and his only friend, a depressed chicken about to be processed in Milk Milk Lemonade, a new show described as 'a bitterly funny exploration of gender, sexuality, life, death and the human body,' opening tonight, September 19, at the PIT Loft Theatre, 154 West 29th Street.

An exciting and incisive script, enacted by an ensemble of Nashville's finest actors under the direction of a confident, focused woman who knows how to make compelling theater come to life with style and aplomb…that's what we've come to expect from Nashville Repertory Theatre over the past thirty-some years. And make no mistake about it: the company's 2015-16 season opener delivers all of that and more with Gina Gionfriddo's Rapture, Blister, Burn, now onstage at TPAC's Andrew Johnson Theatre through September 19.

Geoff Davin, Stephanie Jones-Benton and Erica Patterson will serve as co-hosts as the leading lights of Tennessee theater are heralded with the presentation of the 2015 First Night Honors Gala, to be held Sunday, September 20, at Nashville's iconic and historic Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre. The event will feature musical numbers by more than 150 performers in tribute to the Class of 2015 Honorees.

Arsenic and Old Lace, Joseph Kesselring's iconic stage comedy cum murder mystery that plays on the pop culture aspects of life in 1940s Brooklyn, has been around so long - and produced so often - that you might, at first blush, consider it just another title from theater's storied past, one that seems dated and rather unpretentiously charming, yet uncompelling.

Chambers Stevens is a bona fide Hollywood multi-hyphenate - actor-comedian-acting coach-author - who somehow has encapsulated all of that and more in his new one-man show It's Who You Know, premiering at St. Louis' Gaslight Theatre, 358 N. Boyle, September  10-12. Tickets are $30 and are available online at www.ItsWhoYouKnowOnTour.com.

Young Emory is an effeminate 11-year-old boy who lives on a farm with his chain smoking Nanna and his only friend, a depressed chicken about to be processed in Milk Milk Lemonade, a new show described as "a bitterly funny exploration of gender, sexuality, life, death and the human body," opening Saturday, September 19, at the PIT Loft Theatre, 154 West 29th Street.

To know Rachel Beth Jackson is to love her: With a heart as big as all outdoors, she's kind, thoughtful and considerate - attributes that will continue to serve her well as she pursues her lifelong dream of becoming a professional actress. A 2013 First Night Most Promising Actor, she first came to our attention in performances in her hometown of Dickson with The Renaissance Players, the community theatre group that has helped young actors pursue their creative dreams for year

Today's spotlight falls on Payton McCarthy, a student at Murfreesboro's Siegel High School, whose astonishing performance in his school's production of Pippin last spring won awards – and acclaim – from audiences and critics alike. Get to know him now and be on the lookout for him on local stages before he becomes a great big star.

One of Broadway's favorite leading men - Kyle Dean Massey, co-star of the hit ABC series Nashville - will conduct a master class in Music City on Wednesday, September 2. Presented by VWA Theatricals, which made its local debut with the critically acclaimed The Last Five Years in August, and The First Night Honors, the master class will be conducted from 6 to 10 p.m. at Van Wye Vocal Studio, 30 Music Square West, Suite 201.

2015 First Night Honoree Kaul Bluestone claimed her place in the First Night record books in the 20th Century: She was the 1996 Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play for her role in Circle Players' production of Dancing at Lughnasa...and she has starred in two critically acclaimed plays directed by First Night founder and executive producer Jeffrey Ellis in the 21st Century: The Last Night of Ballyhoo and Picnic, both for Circle Players.

Directors and producers in the Nashville region are seeking actors for upcoming productions of Mary Poppins, Bat Boy, August: Osage County, First Baptist of Ivy Gap - and new productions from Actors Bridge Ensemble and Blackbird Theater. We've gathered the details together here to make your planning easier. So now you have no excuse!

Hosted by 2014 MPA Emily Eytchison (a graduate of Nashville's David Lipscomb University) and 2013 MPA Cade Smith (an alumnus of Trevecca Nazarene University), the 90-minute show will feature members of this year's class of promising young actors performing a wide variety of musical numbers and dramatic/comedic monologues for their audience.

VWA Theatricals has found its Cathy and Jamie for the upcoming production of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years: Delaney Amatrudo and Luke Denison. Amatrudo and Denison will lead the cast for the musical, which opens tonight and runs through August 22 at Nashville's iconic Darkhorse Theater. Amatrudo currently studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and Denison is a recent graduate of Indiana University.

Directors and producers in the Nashville region are seeking actors for upcoming productions of Mary Poppins, Bat Boy, August: Osage County and First Baptist of Ivy Gap - and producers are seeking cast members for The Music Man at the Keeton Theatre. We've gathered the details together here to make your planning easier. So now you have no excuse!

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Nashville's Actors Bridge Ensemble has revealed some new course offerings for this fall, including Level One in the Meisner Technqiue taught by Vali Forrister, producing artistic director and co-founder of the critically lauded company - and includes a buzzed-about Star Wars Study Group, led by David Ian Lee.

Chambers Stevens is a bona fide Hollywood multi-hyphenate – actor-comedian-acting coach-author – who somehow has encapsulated all of that and more in his new one-man show It's Who You Know, premiering at the Missoula Zoo Town Fringe Festival August 21 and 22 at the Crystal Theatre.

The journey from the 21st Century back to Hollywood's glamourous golden age is an inspiring one when your "tour guides" are the legendary Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire - portrayed by Darien Crago and Jeremy Benton in Westchester Broadway Theatre's production of Lynnette Barkley and Christopher McGovern's Backwards in High Heels: The Ginger Musical, running August 13-September 20.