Juliana Asbill

What did our critic think of THE ADDAMS FAMILY at Heindle Center For The Performing Arts?

What did our critic think of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR at Thalia Mara Hall? As the lights dimmed and the music started in the auditorium of Thalia Mara Hall on Wednesday, February 28th, the air was charged and it felt like we were being invited into something sacred that was about to take place.

Celtic Woman returned to Jackson, Mississippi on its 20th anniversary tour and it is evident that the magic of the group has not faded with time!

What do you get when you take a fiercely determined young woman, her three vastly different but equally loyal sisters, an imagination that can create whole operatic tragedies in the space of an old attic?  Little Women the Musical, which made a stop at Thalia Mara Hall in Jackson, Mississippi on February 6th.  The second in the Broadway in Jackson season presented by Trustmark, the show brought to life a story beloved by generations and set it to music.  Presented by Big League Productions, Inc., the production itself ran the entire gamut of emotion in just a couple of hours.

My Fair Lady is still as iconic and beautiful as ever with the Lincoln Center Theatre Production’s tour!

Legally Blonde is fun, fashionable, and fabulous - and very pink!

The Candy Man came to Jackson on Sunday, March 13th, and brought a world of pure imagination with him. As part of Broadway in Jackson’s 2021-2022 season, presented by Trustmark, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s North American tour stopped at Thalia Mara Hall for one night only.

Jackson audiences were wowed on Wednesday night, December 22nd as Cirque Musica Holiday Spectacular took to the stage of Thalia Mara Hall. Daredevils, aerialists, and acrobats (oh, my!) shocked audience members with gravity-defying stunts.

Another jukebox musical, this one based on a romantic movie from the 80’s? You might be wondering if that is really a good idea.  Rest assured, the An Officer and a Gentleman the Musical tour does not disappoint in the slightest! 

Home, love, family…these are the things that the titular character of Anastasia the Musical longs to find on a grand adventure with a couple of con men as her only companions. Along the way, she’s also hoping to find out just whether or not she is the daughter of the last, late Russian czar, and if she isn’t, then just who is she?

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical began its performance on Wednesday night in Jackson, Mississippi with an empty stage, a grand piano, and a song that sets the tone for an incredible, emotional journey about to be undertaken. The touring production's stop at Thalia Mara Hall on March 11th was presented by Trustmark as part of the theatre's Broadway in Jackson series. 

Conductor John Jesensky talks about conducting the score of an incredibly popular movie series live, his love for performing live-to-film concerts, and what drives him to be the best conductor he can be.

“Are you blind when you're born? Can you see in the dark?” According to iconic lyrics by Richard Stilgoe for one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit shows, Jellicles are and Jellicle do! The national tour of the megamusical phenomenon, Cats, stopped at Thalia Mara Hall in Jackson, Mississippi as a part of the Broadway in Jackson series presented by Trustmark on February 13th and 14th to show audience members exactly what the lives of Jellicle cats look like, specifically on the night of the all-important Jellicle Ball.

Just how far would you take sisterly devotion? Would you be willing to take years in a loveless marriage, with a man who believes that the way to get a woman to do whatever he wants her to is to beat her, after already spending years being assaulted by your own father? That's exactly how Miss Celie spends much of her life, in hopes that her sister, Nettie, doesn't have to. Brought to Jackson's Thalia Mara Hall as part of their Jackson Live! Series, The Color Purple's national tour brought those questions, and many more, to mind on November 14th and 15th.

If there is one thing that the village of Anatevka has enough of, it is the love of their traditions.  The national tour of Fiddler on the Roof brought some of that tradition to Thalia Mara Hall in Jackson, Mississippi on October 22nd. The tour's stop in Jackson opened Thalia Mara's Broadway in Jackson series season presented by Trustmark.  The tour itself is presented by NETworks Presentations.

Finding Neverland's national tour landed in Jackson, Mississippi on Tuesday, June 11th with the promise of a glimpse into the creation of one of the most beloved Disney stories of all time - Peter Pan. And who better to weave that tale than the author himself, J.M. Barrie? Closing out the 2018-2019 Broadway in Jackson series presented by Trustmark, the musical captivated audience members at Thalia Mara Hall with adventures with pirates, indians, fairies, and even a crocodile.

With the opening number of the musical "Bright Star", the lead actress promises the audience that there's a good story to tell, and it's one that's inspired by true events. Throughout the course of the performance, the cast of this regional production at New Stage Theatre in Jackson more than delivers on that promise.

On Saturday, April 20th, the audience members at Thalia Mara Hall were treated to an inside look at an iconic moment in rock and roll history. 4 legends of rock and roll and rockabilly all wound up at Sun Records, and what followed was a jam session for the ages.

'Doe - A deer, a female deer.'  Well, we're definitely not lacking in deer here in Mississippi, but on Saturday, March 23rd, the term was put into a new context - a lesson on the major musical scale - courtesy of the cast of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music.

When the lights dimmed in the theatre on March 8th, the cast of Les Miserables began what can only be described as a musical marathon. With practiced precision, they began a performance where, for almost 3 hours, singing was the only form of communication, and the entire audience was transported back to the 19th century in France, where a man served 19 years in jail for stealing bread, spent years chased by a relentless police inspector, young love was found for one but crushed for another, and a revolution was fought for by a group of students and citizens who will risk their lives for what they believe is right.