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Jeffrey Ellis - Page 139

Jeffrey Ellis

Jeffrey Ellis is a Nashville-based writer, editor and critic, who's been covering the performing arts in Tennessee for more than 35 years. In 1989, Ellis and his partner launched Dare, Tennessee's Lesbian and Gay Newsweekly which later became known as Query. Ellis is the recipient of the Tennessee Theatre Association's Distinguished Service Award for his coverage of theater in the Volunteer State and was the founding editor/publisher of Stages, the Tennessee Onstage Monthly.  He is a past fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center and is the founder/executive producer of The First Night Honors - the history of which can be traced to 1989 and the first presentation of The First Night Awards - which honor outstanding theater artisans from Tennessee in recognition of their lifetime achievements and also includes The First Night Star Awards and the Most Promising Actors recognition. Midwinter's First Night honors outstanding productions and performances throughout the state. An accomplished director, Ellis helmed productions of La Cage Aux Folles, The Last Night of Ballyhoo and An American Daughter, all in their Nashville premieres, as well as award-winning productions of Damn Yankees, Company, Gypsy and The Rocky Horror Show. Ellis was recognized by The Tennessean as best director of a musical for both Company and Rocky Horror. Since 2015, Ellis has been increasingly in demand as a director by a variety of Tennessee theater companies and he has helmed productions of Picnic (Circle Players), The Last Five Years (VWA Theatricals), The Miss Firecracker Contest, Cabaret, My Fair Lady, Daddy's Dyin'...Who's Got the Will?, South Pacific, Winter Wonderettes and The Wizard of Oz (The Larry Keeton Theatre), The Little Foxes (ACT 1), The Boys in the Band (Jeffey Ellis Presents), Singin' in the Rain (Arts Center of Cannon County) and The Secret Garden (Center for the Arts, Murfreesboro) and, in 2020, the 70th anniversary season production of La Cage Aux Folles for Circle Players. Later this year, he will be directing Beautiful: The Carole King Musical for Center for the Arts.

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EVITA, starring Patti LuPone

Favorite Stories



BWW Reviews: Tennessee Women's Theater Project's SECRETS OF A SOCCER MOM

BWW Reviews: Tennessee Women's Theater Project's SECRETS OF A SOCCER MOM

March 10, 2010

Thanks to Kathleen Clark's genuinely funny Secrets of a Soccer Mom, now onstage in an entertaining production from Maryanna Clarke and Tennessee Women's Theater Project, you get a glimpse at the 'real' reality of the lives of soccer moms, as opposed to the reality you may have been led to expect.

BWW Reviews: MAMMA MIA! at TPAC

BWW Reviews: MAMMA MIA! at TPAC

March 4, 2010

Featuring the powerhouse vocals of an immensely talented cast, set against the visual artistry of Mark Thompson's production design, it becomes clearer with each performance that Phyllida Lloyd's direction remains relevant and fresh and that Anthony Van Laast's choreography is as clever and imaginat

BWW Reviews: BLITHE SPIRIT at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre

BWW Reviews: BLITHE SPIRIT at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre

March 2, 2010

It's a completely winning production from top to bottom: Osborne's direction is sure-handed and confident, his players' readings of their roles pitch-perfect and the technical elements and design aesthetic for the piece are delightfully on-target.

FLY, GIRL! Closes at Darkhorse Theatre, 2/27

February 27, 2010

In celebration of Black History Month, SistaStyle Productions presents the world premiere of Mary McCallum's Fly, Girl!, a fictionalized look at the life of aviatrix Bessie Coleman.

SWING! Closes at Senior Center for the Arts 2/27

February 27, 2010

Swing!, the Broadway musical that celebrates the music and dance phenomenon will play its final show at The Senior Center for the Arts' Nashville Dinner Theatre on February 28.

BWW Interviews: Melissa Bedinger Hade, A Life in the Theatre

BWW Interviews: Melissa Bedinger Hade, A Life in the Theatre

February 25, 2010

Now working on the role of 'Martha' in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, one of those roles every actress longs for, her resume also includes First Night Award-winning turns as Sally Bowles in Cabaret and as Madame de Tourvel in Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

BWW Reviews: FLY, GIRL! from Nashville's SistaStyle Productions

BWW Reviews: FLY, GIRL! from Nashville's SistaStyle Productions

February 21, 2010

Actress-playwright-producer Mary McCallum gives an extraordinarily strong and vibrant performance as aviatrix Bessie Coleman in her self-written new historical drama, Fly, Girl!, now in its premiere production at Darkhorse Theatre, courtesy of SistaStyle Productions.

CAKE OR DEATH to Have World Premiere Engagement at Encore Theatre 3/4-3/14

CAKE OR DEATH to Have World Premiere Engagement at Encore Theatre 3/4-3/14

February 21, 2010

Nashville playwrights Elizabeth Hayes and Anne-Geri Fann have written Cake or Death, 'a modern-day farce that is a witty, rollicking, Hitchcockian, roller-coaster of a ride and fun to the last crumb,' and slated for its world premiere production at Encore Theatre Company in Mount Juliet March 4-14.

'Moon Over Buffalo' at Towne Centre Theatre

'Moon Over Buffalo' at Towne Centre Theatre

February 19, 2010

So what's the problem with Moon Over Buffalo? Oh yeah, despite all the good stuff, Ken Ludwig's script is also leaden, filled with cliches and one-dimensional characters, with enough convoluted situations to render the play stupefying.

Amun Ra Opens 'The Bluest Eye' for 2/25-3/14 Run

Amun Ra Opens 'The Bluest Eye' for 2/25-3/14 Run

February 16, 2010

Diamond's play tells a story of a group of black girls known to Claudia MacTreer (played by ART regular Alicia Haymer in a starring role) in the fall of 1941, 'the year the marigolds didn't bloom.

BWW Reviews: 'SWING!' at Senior Center for the Arts

BWW Reviews: 'SWING!' at Senior Center for the Arts

February 15, 2010

As good as Swing! is - and it is very good despite some dangerously frightening near-misses and a rather frenetic pace - one thing bothers me: Why did Adams-Johnson, borrowing a journalistic reference, bury her lead in the middle of the second act? Every journalism student learns in News Writing 101

REVIEW: 'American Originals' from Nashville Ballet

REVIEW: 'American Originals' from Nashville Ballet

February 13, 2010

With each passing year and with each new offering, Vasterling and the other powers-that-be at Nashville Ballet gain new admirers for their troupe, whose skills are confidently and expertly highlighted by the choices made in regard to the company's repertoire.




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