Sara Bareilles' WAITRESS To Open Nashville Repertory Theatre's 40th Season in September

Nashville Repertory Theatre’s 40th Season will open with its staging of Waitress, the Tony Award-winning musical by Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson, running September 13-22 at the James K. Polk Theatre at Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

“We are thrilled about our 40th anniversary year and look forward to creating a memorable season for our audiences,” said Micah-Shane Brewer, artistic director of Nashville Rep. “Nashville Repertory Theatre has been entertaining and inspiring audiences for four decades by creating exceptional, professional theatre in the heart of Music City. Our 40th anniversary season is a curation of plays and musicals that speak to the act of creating - creating new beginnings, community, change, second chances, a better world, art, families, and even pies!”

The season will open with the Broadway smash musical Waitress. Featuring original music andlyrics by six-time Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles and a book by acclaimed screenwriter Jessie Nelson, Waitress is the story of Jenna, a server and expert pie maker, who is stuck in a small town and a loveless marriage. Faced with an unexpected pregnancy, Jenna fears she may have to abandon her dream of opening her own pie shop…until a baking contest in a nearby county and the town's handsome new doctor offer her a tempting recipe for happiness. Supported by her quirky crew of fellow waitresses and loyal customers, Jenna summons the secret ingredient she's been missing all along — courage.

Nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and cherished by audiences and critics alike, Waitress offers a special recipe for finding happiness in unexpected places. Directed by Lauren Shouse, Waitress will be “Opening Up” in TPAC’s Polk Theater September 13-22, 2024.

The second production of the season is a reimagined take on a timeless classic, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. This Pulitzer Prize winning play, one of the most popular of all time, tells the story of two young neighbors, George Gibbs and Emily Webb, whose childhood friendship blossoms into romance, and then culminates in marriage. Guided by an amiable stage manager, the occurrences of everyday life reveal universal truths and celebrations about love, family, and community. Our Town plays TPAC’s Andrew Johnson Theater October 25-November 3.

Back by popular demand, the return of Nashville Rep’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Will Close out 2024. The ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future will lead the miserly prosperous curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge on a journey of transformation and redemption. Through these encounters, Scrooge learns the true meaning of Christmas and the importance of kindness and generosity. A Christmas Carol returns to TPAC’s Polk Theater December 6-22.

The second half of the season begins with Memphis native Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop, a gripping re-imagination of what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s last night on earth could have been. On April 3, 1968, Dr. King returns to his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis after delivering his historic “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech to local sanitation workers. While waiting for room service, he is visited by a mysterious maid with whom he begins a humorous and flirtatious conversation that progresses into a soul-searching discussion about their mutual hopes and fears. As a lightning storm rages outside, the legacy of America’s most revered civil rights leader is laid bare to reveal his profound humanity. This beautiful and inventive play comes to TPAC’s Johnson Theater February 14-23, 2025.

The 40th anniversary mainstage season Will Close with Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s masterpiece Sunday in the Park with George, a musical celebration of the art of making art. Inspired by Georges Seurat’s famous painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” this Pulitzer Prize-winning musical peeks into the life of the artist and his journey of finding inspiration to create his greatest work. In the play, Seurat is struggling to make meaningful art while maintaining a relationship with his lover, Dot. Amid the scorn of the artistic community, Seurat's artistic ability thrives while his love diminishes. A century later, Seurat's descendant – also named George and also an artist – findshimself burnt out and in search of what artistic path to follow, but he finds the answer to his future in the past. Sunday in the Park with George merges past and present into a poignant and glorious exploration of what it takes, and what it costs, to be an artist. Audiences are invited to journey to the park in TPAC’s Polk Theater April 4-13, 2025.

Nashville Rep’s 40th anniversary season celebration  extends beyond the mainstage. It includes a mix of old and new events celebrating the legacy of Nashville’s premier theatre company. Returning events include: the 9th Annual Broadway Brunch on August 18, 2024, REPaloud Staged Readings, the Ingram New Works Project, the Young Voices Monologue Competition, and Broadway Masterclasses for high  school and college students. Brand new events include a black-tie 40th Anniversary Gala celebrating four decades of theatrical magic, an intimate cabaret series, and the first ever Young Stars Production, which is a fully staged, professional production performed by middle and high school students nurturing the next generation of theater artists.

“To celebrate four decades of service to our community, we’ve planned one of our biggest seasons ever: musicals, dramas, youth programs, special events, concerts, and much, much more,” says execkutive director Drew Ogle. “We are inviting all of Nashville to join us for this very special year.”

Season tickets for this special anniversary season go on sale in April, and single tickets will be available for all five  shows starting July 1, 2024. For more information about Nashville Rep’s season and events visit www.nashvillerep.org or to purchase tickets visit www.tpac.org.

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