Jeffrey Ellis - Page 145

Starring a whole slew of Barn regulars hamming it up, The Butler Done It is cliche-filled romp -- and while it covers no new ground, Chaffin, Wilkinson and company are clearly in on the joke and make certain to include their audience in the fun. That's an essential part of the show's hard-won success: Some of the situations are groan-inducing, some of the lines are cringe-worthy and the plot is, well, predictable. But Wilkinson's keen eye for what works onstage and what's really funny, coupled with the estimable efforts of her hard-working cast result in a pleasantly diverting night of theatre. They get it - and they make sure you (the audience member) get it too!

One of this season's most beautifully acted productions, Vincent in Brixton is moving and emotional, funny and evocative. Thanks to Feehely's wealth of experience and his discerning eye, it is a lively affair, completely engaging the audience in the tale being told onstage. By turns immensely entertaining and thoroughly inspiring, Vincent in Brixton is also heart-wrenching in its candor and honesty and the multi-layered performances of Feehely's talented cast only gives the play deeper meaning and resonance.

Keri Pisapia is one of those Nashville actors who has quietly made a name for herself in a wide range of roles and productions during her time on the Music City stage. After adding a number of shows to her burgeoning resume (including the role of Anne in La Cage Aux Folles, which I directed for Circle Players a long, long time ago), she left Nashville to pursue her career in New York City, only to find herself returning to her adopted hometown after her NYC sojourn.

What with all the star power of the assembled cast - featuring such theatre luminaries as Heather Headley, Alli Mauzey, Jodi Benson and Anthony Fedorov - it should come as something of a surprise that showHOPE's concert version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella was very nearly stolen out from under them by some homegrown Nashville talent. No matter how you look at it, Cinderella was a completely magical and enchanting success, but had it not been for Nashville's very own Nan Gurley, Bonnie Keen and Carolyn German as Cinderella's nefarious stepfamily, the show wouldn't have been anywhere near as good as it actually was.

Fedorov's castmates in the star-studded production - directed and designed by Matt Logan, a Nashville native, whose work in New York City included staging events much like this - include Tony Award-winner Heather Headley (Aida) as The Fairy Godmother, Tony nominee Jodi Benson (Crazy for You) as Queen Constatina, BeBe Winans as King Maximillian, Jake Speck (Jersey Boys on Broadway) as Lionel and Alli Mauzey (Hairspray, Wicked, Cry-Baby) in the title role. Fedorov will sing the role of Prince Christopher and backstage spies tell us his duets with Mauzey are certain to dazzle audiences.

Wright's play focuses on the time that Vincent Van Gogh spent in London and Brixton in the 1870s - a period before he drew his first sketch and one that changed him completely. The play depicts Van Gogh as a young man, someone full of life yet struggling to find his way and to walk the artist's path. Vincent develops a rapport with a widow twice his age, which blossoms into a full-blown love affair, only to be cruelly curtailed by the arrival of his fiercely puritan younger sister.

Heather Headley, Alli Mauzey, Jodi Benson and Anthony Federov will headline a special concert version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, set for Friday, May 14, at Nashville's Schermerhorn Symphony Center. They will be joined by a cast of Nashville theatre luminaries - and featuring BeBe Winans and Nashville native Jake Speck, currently on Broadway in Jersey Boys - Cinderella is the spring celebration of the locally based showHOPE organization, which hopes to bring both attention and awareness to its efforts across the globe.

The altogether charming and amazingly talented Mauzey claims an impressive theatrical resume, which includes her starmaking turn in Cry-Baby, the Broadway musical based on the John Waters film, that resulted in a 2008 Theatre World Award, as well as a Drama League Award nomination. She's also had roles in both Wicked and Hairspray - two of the musicals that have helped define the first decade of the new millennium in Broadway terms - playing Glinda in Wicked (a role she'll play again later this year in San Francisco) and Brenda in Hairspray.

Starring Nashville actress Nan Gurley as Sister Aloysius, with Steven Pounders as Father Flynn, Doubt will be directed by Mike Fernandez, Lipscomb's chair of theater. Shanley's June 3 appearance is part of an invitation-only preview of Doubt, which runs June 4-12. Shanley will present a talk-back session after the June 3 performance and will hold a book-signing after that at 9:30 p.m.

When I ran into Carolyn one afternoon a couple of weeks ago, she invited me to attend Songs in a Silken Sky, a cabaret performance by participants in Metro Parks Theater and Music Department's Young Performers Program. Presented at historic Two Rivers Mansion, the production 'offers these talented young vocalists a chance to learn and to perform a wide variety of music in a cabaret setting,' including songs by Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jason Robert Brown, Burt Bacharach, Stephen Schwartz and David Friedman.

Perhaps best known to the general public for her performance as Ariel in Disney's The Little Mermaid (the animated blockbuster that is credited with reaffirming the Disney brand as the ultimate in film animation), Benson has delighted legions of fans over the years with her ageless vocal abilities, even while delighting Broadway audiences who know her as far more than the voice of Ariel. In fact, she was nominated for a Tony Award for her critically acclaimed performance as Polly in Ken Ludwig's Crazy for You, the updated version of Girl Crazy, the 1930s musical that features a score of iconic songs by George and Ira Gershwin.

For Matt Logan, staging a special concert version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella is the culmination of a long-held dream of his to bring just such a production to his hometown of Nashville, perhaps best known as Music City USA. Now, with Nashville rebuilding after devastating floods in early May, the benefit performance for Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman's showHOPE organization is perhaps even more timely -- and it has certainly taken on a deeper meaning and a more compelling resonance.

During that time, the talented Ms. Street-Kavanaugh has performed in musicals, plays, commercials, movies and videos and she's done voice-overs, choreography, cabaret, cruise ships and concerts. Furthermore, she's directed and produced, and was nominated for an Irene Ryan national acting award, a First Night Award (for the original production of The Bop She Bops at Chaffin's Backstage at the Barn Theatre in which I compared her to a young Ann Margret) and she won a best actress award as Mama Rose in Circle Players' production of Gypsy.

Former NFL great Eddie George and Amun Ra Theatre founder and artistic director jeff obafemi carr -star in a special one-night-only production of Suzan Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's James K. Polk Theatre on Friday, May 21. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m., with the show followed by a special fundraising gala afterward.

Wright's play focuses on the time that Vincent Van Gogh spent in London and Brixton in the 1870s - a period before he drew his first sketch and one that changed him completely. The play depicts Van Gogh as a young man, someone full of life yet struggling to find his way and to walk the artist's path. Vincent develops a rapport with a widow twice his age, which blossoms into a full-blown love affair, only to be cruelly curtailed by the arrival of his fiercely puritan younger sister.