Jeffrey Ellis - Page 56

Feeling the urge to let your imagination run wild, your spirit to soar or to just leave the world in which you live and go on an adventure? Sounds like a trip to the theater is in order! Luckily, companies all over the Volunteer State have been hard at work, creating new productions to transform and to transport, shows that will entertain you this summer. That's where THE NASHVILLE THEATER CALENDAR comes in handy: Peruse our listings every week to find out what shows you should see!

Today, we very proudly shine the spotlight on PSM Daniel Brewer, the dean of production stage managers in this region, and the resident stage manager at Nashville Children's Theatre. In 2011, he was among that year's First Night Honorees in recognition of his truly exceptional career and for the grace and skill with which he does his job. In fact, we wouldn't be at all surprise to find his headshot next to the very definition of "stage manager" in reference books.

Though it may not have started out that way - and it was never a part of their plan - Kate Atkinson and Karen Harris, the two women who are responsible for bringing the new musical Part of the Plan to life onstage, may be proof positive that women, indeed, are getting the job done.

Here's an oft-proven truism, if not a fact, about theater in Nashville: If Martha Wilkinson is the star of a particular show - any show, whether it's Noises Off, Chicago, Little Shop of Horrors, Sister Act (well, you get my drift) - you can rest assured that she will (A) play the role to the hilt, (B) knock your socks off with her timing and delivery and (C) you'll believe that, no matter how many times you've seen a show, any show, it was as if you were seeing it for the first time.

With only days before the first preview performance of Part of the Plan (followed by a gala opening night on Sunday, September 10), the new musical drawing its score and inspiration from the catalog of troubadour Dan Fogelberg, the widely respected singer/songwriter who spent much of his early career in Nashville, attention should be paid to the motivating factors that led the producers to debut their show in Music City - with a look at the show's roots that are firmly planted in Tennessee.

In the coming days, leading up to opening night on Thursday, September 7, members of the cast take on our Mamma Mia 5 questions, to offer up some reasons for you to make sure you're in their audience through October 21. Today's edition features one of Nashville's most popular and in-demand actors, the talented Austin Olive.

Hairspray, Spamalot, The Little Mermaid and Steel Magnolias are among the shows headlining the 2018 season at Murfreesboro's Center for the Arts. Those four shows are joined by ten more in the list of productions unveiled at Saturday's gala reveal event at CFTA, hosted by Bethany True and George Downer.

Talk to actor/singer Harley Jay about his current project - the new musical Part of the Plan that draws from the catalogue of singer/songwriter and troubadour Dan Fogelberg - and you'll soon notice how enthusiastic he is about the show. In fact, if you don't leave that conversation feeling just as excited about POTP as he is, you may need to get yourself checked out.

Bradley Moore has always had a lot of theatrical projects going on since he settled in Music City a few years back. But ever since Norma Luther became the owner of Nashville's iconic Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre in early 2017 - and he became assistant artistic director - he's only gotten busier. With this summer's first musical hit (Sister Act) to his credit, his resume is growing yet again with the Barn's production of the ABBA megamusical Mamma Mia, which opens next Thursday at the eponymous red barn on Highway 100 in West Nashville.

He may have directed more than 100 shows in the near-half century that Darryl Deason has been bringing theater to life on stages all over Middle Tennessee. But it's clear when the 2015 First Night Honoree talks about his latest project - the Tony Award-winning Million Dollar Quartet - that this one is something special indeed.

Studio Tenn returns to the roots of its Franklin, Tennessee, hometown with the reprise of The Battle of Franklin: A Tale of a House Divided," back by popular demand for a September 7-22 run at the Jamison Theatre in the Factory at Franklin.

Today, we introduce you to PSM Benji Kern, who has worked with numerous theater companies around Nashville, one of Tennessee's finest, who is currently shepherding Studio Tenn's 2017 production of The Battle of Franklin, an original musical first mounted during 2016 by the company:

Part of the Plan - a new musical featuring 20 iconic songs from the catalogue of acclaimed singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg - celebrates its world premiere and its possible trek toward Broadway with a 19-performance run at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center. The production opens Thursday, September 8 and continues through September 24 at TPAC's James K. Polk Theatre, with a gala red carpet event heralding the show's official opening night on Sunday, September 10.

Feeling the urge to let your imagination run wild, your spirit to soar or to just leave the world in which you live and go on an adventure? Sounds like a trip to the theater is in order! Luckily, companies all over the Volunteer State have been hard at work, creating new productions to transform and to transport, shows that will entertain you this summer. That's where THE NASHVILLE THEATER CALENDAR comes in handy: Peruse our listings every week to find out what shows you should see!

In the coming days, leading up to opening night on Thursday, September 7, members of the cast take on our Mamma Mia 5 questions, to offer up some reasons for you to make sure you're in their audience through October 21. First up, today's edition features Jenna Pryor, Curtis Reed and Heather Hershow.

In the coming days, leading up to opening night on Thursday, September 7, members of the cast take on our Mamma Mia 5 questions, to offer up some reasons for you to make sure you're in their audience through October 21. First up, today's edition features Taylor Novak, Gracie McGraw and Anna Carroll.

Nashville Children's Theatre, the nation's oldest professional theatre for young audiences today announces full casting and creative teams for the 2017-2018 season, opening the theater's 87th season - its first with programming designed by new executive artistic director Ernie Nolan.

Ann Cook Calhoun, an internationally renowned Shakespeare scholar and a powerful force for making the Bard's plays accessible to everyone, died August 13 in Nashville after a short illness. She was 82. Calhoun was a professor of English, emerita, at Vanderbilt University who held leadership roles in Shakespeare organizations around the world.

In the coming days, leading up to opening night on Thursday, September 7, members of the cast take on our Mamma Mia 5 questions, to offer up some reasons for you to make sure you're in their audience through October 21. First up, today's edition features David Arnold, Greg Frey and Sarah Zanotti.

Currently starring as diva Lily Garland in the Proof Doubt Closer Theater production of On The Twentieth Century at Los Angeles' Pan-Andreas Theatre (5119 Melrose Avenue) through Sunday, Bernardi says her decision to mount her own rendition of the Cy Coleman-Betty Comden-Adolph Green musical should come as no surprise to people who know her - to be certain, those folks probably expected no less from her.