Jeffrey Ellis - Page 52

As difficult as it is to fathom, some 27 years ago my first review of Les Miserables the internationally renowned musical based upon the iconic 1861 Victor Hugo novel about a reformed bread thief who is pursued over the decades by a relentless lawman in post-Revolutionary France was published, yet one thought remains consistent and steadfast. If faced with someone who claims to dislike musical theater, take them to see Les Mis (as the theatrical juggernaut is known throughout the world thanks to countless revivals, regional production, televised spectacles and one Oscar-winning film) for its epic storytelling, emotionally driven character studies and a lush and memorable score that is sure to win over the most hardened opponents of the art form.

It should come as absolutely no surprise that the current production onstage at Massey Performing Arts Center in Nashville, courtesy of the astonishing Belmont University Musical Theatre program, is possibly as good or even better than any show we've seen put on over the years by the venerated musical theater training school. In fact, BUMT has produced so many remarkable performers over the years that we may all rest assured that musical theater in America (if not the world) will continue to grow and prosper, thanks to the continued supply of new blood from Belmont.

With a sense of the sweeping epic about it and a darkly romantic story to tell The Hunchback of Notre Dame ( a new musical based on the Victor Hugo novel and songs from the Disney film ) offers an intriguing retelling of the story of Quasimodo, the hideously deformed and often reviled bellringer at Paris' Notre Dame cathedral, and Esmeralda, the fiery, passionate gypsy temptress with whom he becomes infatuated. Although set in the late 15th century, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, what with its themes of religious zealotry and bias and prejudice against an ethnic minority, remains eerily prescient and perhaps frighteningly contemporary given the tenor of the times in which we live.

Based on Hungarian playwright Miklos Lazlo's Parfumerie (which has also served as the inspiration for the movies The Shop Around the Corner, In the Good Ole Summertime and You've Got Mail), She Loves Me is, for most musical theater aficionados, one of those infrequently-produced theatrical gems venerated by fans with much-played cast albums in their collections and beloved by audiences lucky enough to actually see the show onstage.

Offering a thoroughly delightful and completely entertaining story about welcoming new challenges and living life to its fullest, Mr. Popper's Penguins the charming musical onstage at Nashville Children's Theatre through December 3 also offers its young audiences an intriguing history lesson about life during the Great Depression.

There is a new vision of heaven tap-dancing its way through my brain replete with beautiful showgirls and handsome chorus boys performing a show-stopping version of George and Ira Gershwin's I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise from An American in Paris, the sumptuous musical now onstage at Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall through Sunday, November 5 and, quite frankly, if that is not what paradise will look like should I arrive there after my untimely demise, I will simply refuse to stay. For if paradise isn't the gorgeous and glittery, utterly theatrical vision supplied by this altogether splendid production, I'll say to hell with it (and me, I suppose), because surely paradise is set to a lush and memorable Gershwin score. Anything else is simply a poor facsimile of the real thing. Est-ce que tu comprends?

Middle Tennessee State University's Theatre Department teams up with Nashville Shakespeare Festival for the upcoming production of Skakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by NSF artistic associate and MTSU adjunct professor of theatre Santiago Sosa. Midsummer runs November 9-12 at MTSU's Tucker Theatre.

And if there's any justice in the world of the performing arts, you can rest assured that Belmont University's Alex Drinnen one of the most accomplished and most often-cast young actors in Tennessee theater will be among the names of particular note. Today, he is in the spotlight as our latest scholar/actor to be profiled in our recurring features series Collegiate Theatrics.

For McGee Maddox the dancer/actor who plays Jerry Mulligan in the national tour of An American in Paris, which opens at Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall on Tuesday, October 31 it's knowing that every Tuesday means a new venue, a new city and a new backstage crew that keeps him focused and the role fresh even after 128 performances.

Circle Players' 2017-18 season continues with the Nashville premiere of the Tim Larson-directed production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the epic musical based upon Victor Hugo's tale of hope, love and passion, which runs October 27-November 12 at the Z. Alexander Looby Theatre in Nashville.

Todd Morgan has been named as the new managing director of Studio Tenn, Middle Tennessee's award-winning theater company based in Franklin.

What do you get when you introduce a daydreaming house painter to a dozen delightful penguins? A flipper-flapping musical tale that will make you believe in the power of ingenuity and determination, according to Nashville Children's Theatre's executive artistic director Ernie Nolan, who describes it as a show packed with puppetry, humor, and heart, Mr. Popper's Penguins is bound to put a smile on your face.

With this our latest regular feature we hope to rectify that and shine the spotlight on the individuals who make the shows run with the precision of a Swiss timepiece. Thank You, Places is our opportunity to edify the theater-goer by introducing you to some of the best production stage managers to be found on the planet. Today, we introduce you to PSM Jonah Darnell, who has been stage managing for about a year now with Cori Laemmel's critically acclaimed and parent-approved Theater Bug:

Among cast members of The Miracle Worker was Anna Elizabeth Micksch, who today is featured in our Collegiate Theatrics column. Born and raised in the greater Nashville/Franklin area, Anna became interested in theater at a very young age a love of art she credits to her father, who was designing a set for a play at St. Cecilia Academy.

As you sit on the grounds of the farm that once belonged to the Bell family, the annual dramatization of their haunting story Spirit will take you on an eerily captivating journey that began in 1804. That's when John Bell uprooted his family and moved to a beautiful area on the Red River, now known as Adams, unaware that the grounds were already occupied by the later-coined Bell Witch.

ACT 1 launches its 2017-18 season tonight, with the Brian Hill-directed Love, Loss and What I Wore the critically acclaimed play by Nora and Delia Ephron, based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman. Love, Loss and What I Wore opens at Darkhorse Theatre for a three-weekend run through October 21.

Lipscomb University Theatre opens its 2017-18 season with the Kari Smith-directed version of William Gibson's The Miracle Worker, the timeless and dramatically driven stage rendition of the life of Helen Keller and her relationship with her devoted teacher, Annie Sullivan. Sarah Johnson, a musical theatre major from Fort Wayne, Indiana, is cast as Helen and this week she sat down to consider our queries, provide us with some insight and to become the latest student featured in Collegiate Theatrics.

Kid Simple, by Jordan Harrison, premiered at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville in 2004 and revolves around the adventures of a young inventor by the name of Moll. She creates a machine for hearing sounds that cannot be heard by the human ear. Then an evil villain steals the machine, along with Moll's heart, and she goes on a quest to find the machine and preserve the everyday noises of our lives.

Tennessee Women's Theater Project launches its eleventh season at Nashville's Z. Alexander Looby Theater with the regional premiere of a play that addresses a timely dilemma: Nikkole Salter's Lines in the Dust, which probes the timely topics of integration, racial privilege and school zoning manipulation. Lines in the Dust runs October 6-22.

Cumberland County Playhouse presents an all-new musical version of Sleepy Hollow by Tony Award nominees Hunter Foster and Paul Gordon, running October 13-November 11 in Crossville.