Jeffrey Ellis - Page 138

Nashville's divas proved their mettle and showed their immense talents in 2010 while assaying some of the most challenging and best loved roles in all of musical theater. Ranging from classic musical comedy heroines that any actress would love to play to newer, more contemporary characters, Music City's women were given the opportunity to showcase their multitude of talents on various stages while again proving they are capable of virtually anything - and everything. Here are our choices for the top ten musical performances by an actress in 2010...

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:

Not all of the Top Ten Lists announced at Winter's First Night on Sunday, January 9, were serious, high-toned salutes to all that is special and spectacular about live theater in Nashville. Sure, most of them were heartfelt and memorable, but some were (how shall I put this?) off-kilter, tongue-in-cheek and just plain fun. And not all the lists were limited to only ten entries; in fact, some had many more than that. But, for your reading pleasure, we present them to you without any real explanation. You'll have to figure that all out for yourself!

If you find yourself venturing outside of New York, and you want to see some really good musical theater, what should you do? Allow me to suggest a visit to my neck o' the woods: A trip to Nashville might provide you with exactly what you seek. After all, in a city perhaps best known throughout the world as Music City USA, what else could you expect but some exceedingly well-cast, well-produced, well-played and well-sung musical theater? We're lousy with exceptional singers and musicians and, as a result, musical theater is alive and well - and thriving - in Nashville. And here's my list of the Best Musicals of 2010...

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.

Famous tales from childhood come to life onstage as Clarksville's Roxy Regional Theatre debuts John McDonald's Once Upon A Time, running January 15 through February 12.

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.

Nashville's Circle Players opens the 2011 half of its current season with a Clay Hillwig-directed revival of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, the classic story of a working-class black familystruggling to make it in Chicago after World War II. The play opens January 7 at the Larry Keeton Theatre in Donelson, running through January 23.

Lydia Bushfield's 1940s musical revue, I'll Be Seeing You, opens the 2011 season at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre this week, running January 6 through February 5. Directed by David Compton, the cast features Melodie Madden Adams, Nancy Allen and Jennifer Richmond as three World War II-era factory workers who discover their shared love of music during workday breaks from contributing to the war effort.

Thanks to a joint production of Nashville's Rhubarb Theater and Pendulum 3, Sedaris' twinbill for Christmas - The Santaland Diaries and Season's Greetings to Our Friends and Family, adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello - gave audiences just the right twist to the season, delivering laughs and evoking deeper thought, thanks to the superb performances of Bob Roberts, as Sedaris' onstage doppelganger, and Trish Crist as the Christmas letter-writing doyenne of the fictional Dunbar family. Directing each other in their halves of the show gave Roberts and Crist the opportunity to show us their dual roles in exemplary fashion.

Love is in bloom at Street Theatre Company in February with a special two week engagement of the hit musical, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change!, running February 3-13 at the theater, 1933 Elm Hill Pike.

You really must give credit to Kaine Riggan: the man has recreated one of downtown Nashville's best-known nightspots into a beautifully appointed live theater venue, somehow doing a thriving business in an economy that, at best, may be described as 'dire.' Add to that noteworthy achievement the fact that his A Scattered, Smothered and Covered Christmas is a delightful holiday-season repast, a down-home good time that even the most cynical audience member can enjoy.

The individuals and productions that made 2010 such a memorable year in Nashville theater will be recognized Sunday night, January 9, with the presentation of the BroadwayWorld.com Nashville Theatre Awards and the unveiling of First Night's Top 10 of 2010. Street Theatre Company, located at 1933 Elm Hill Pike in Nashville, will provide the setting for the event, which is hosted by Jeffrey Ellis, the executive producer of the First Night Nashville Theatre Honors, who covers Nashville theater for the world's largest theater website.

Famous tales from childhood come to life onstage as Clarksville's Roxy Regional Theatre debuts John McDonald's Once Upon A Time, running January 15 through February 12.

Nashville's Circle Players opens the 2011 half of its current season with a Clay Hillwig-directed revival of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, the classic story of a working-class black familystruggling to make it in Chicago after World War II. The play opens January 7 at the Larry Keeton Theatre in Donelson, running through January 23.

Lydia Bushfield's 1940s musical revue, I'll Be Seeing You, opens the 2011 season at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre this week, running January 6 through February 5. Directed by David Compton, the cast features Melodie Madden Adams, Nancy Allen and Jennifer Richmond as three World War II-era factory workers who discover their shared love of music during workday breaks from contributing to the war effort.

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.

Street Theatre Company presents its original production of classic O. Henry stories, written and adapted for the stage by Nashville playwright Scott Hutcheson (of the recently produced Alice in Wonderland, a Musical), and presented for a holiday season run December 10-18. This cast features 20 area teenagers and eight children, as well as Judy and Ken Jackson, two of Nashville's favorite adult actors.