NASHVILLE INTERVIEWS

Born into one of Hollywood’s most beloved musical dynasties, with mother Shirley Jones, father Jack Cassidy, and brothers David and Shaun, Patrick Cassidy has long stood out as a star in his own right....

It All Comes Out in the Wash, is a warm, humorous, and skillfully written story staged by Backlight Productions, Theater Arts for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities....

Street Theatre Company’s mega-successful residency at Nashville’s The Barbershop Theatre continues with their latest production: a sold-out run of Fun Home, the Tony Award-winning musical by Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron, based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel of the same name. Opening Friday ...

Today our spotlight shines on Ella Claybrooks, a senior at Nashville School of the Arts, who won her Spotlight Award nomination for her performance as Alice in Bright Star. Ella will be attending The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) this fall, in pursuit of a BFA in Musical Theater....

Today our spotlight shines on Landon Wilson, a senior at Spring Hill’s Summit High School, who earned his Spotlight Award nomination for his performance as Ren McCormack in Footloose The Musical. Landon will be a student at Belmont University this fall, with plans to audition for its musical theat...

Today’s spotlight is focused on Alyssa Freeze, a senior at Coffee County High School, who garnered Spotlight Award attention for her performance as Janet Van De Graff in The Drowsy Chaperone. This fall, Alyssa begins her college career at Nashville’s Lipscomb University. ...

The two winners of the Outstanding Lead Performer Spotlight Awards in Nashville will travel later this summer to New York City to take part The Jimmy Awards and to compete for top honors, which recognizes the nation’s leading high school musical theater performers....

In today’s spotlight is Raleigh Risser, a senior at Williamson County’s Ravenwood High School, who garnered Spotlight Award attention for her role as Fiona in Shrek: The Musical. She will pursue her BFA in Musical Theater at Ithaca College. ...

Today we begin a six-part series of interviews with the Spotlight Awards’ nominees for Outstanding Lead Performer, shining the BroadwayWorld Nashville spotlight on the talented young actors who will compete for the opportunity to represent Nashville, Middle Tennessee and TPAC at The Jimmy Awards....

BroadwayWorld readers know the theater is blessed with talented people who not only perform on the stage but also manage operations behind the scenes. From tech crews, producers, directors, and writers, to publishers, instructors, and dramaturgs, these folks have their own “stage presence” that ...

In the world of theater, there exists a sisterhood of women who can count an appearance as an orphan (maybe even THE orphan) in a production of Annie as either their first onstage role or one of their most vivid onstage performances. But for Murfreesboro native Julia Nicole Hunter, who now stars as ...

Originally written and produced by Team Starkid (of A Very Potter Musical fame), The Trail to Oregon! parodies the video game The Oregon Trail, which follows a pioneer family on their journey westward to make a new life for themselves. Described as “hilarious and ‘edu-macational’ musical comed...

Indian Ink Theatre Company’s Justin Lewis promises that Mrs. Krishnan’s Party – which will be celebrated over four days at Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s Andrew Johnson Theatre March 6-9 – will lift your spirits and help you feel connected to a community of new friends who may have bee...

Closer stars Britt Byrd, Ross Canales, Jeremy James Carmichael and Angela Gimlin, who take on our Friday Five (+1) questions and tell us why they think you should come see their show. You know the drill: Read their answers, call and get tickets, then tell everyone you know to meet you there....

Calling Girl From The North Country a 'jukebox musical' is not only a misnomer, but it completely misses the point of Irish playwright/director Conor McPherson’s acclaimed Broadway musical that features a score by Bob Dylan, according to actress Jennifer Blood, who plays Elizabeth Laine in the nat...

Although Geoff Sobelle’s life currently focuses on food – or, more aptly, FOOD – he admits that he’s never considered himself a “foodie.” In fact, he’s never really used the term. “I have two toddlers at home,” he says. “So, we don’t go out to restaurants very much at all, and ...

We continue to celebrate the return of Collegiate Theatrics with an interview featuring one of our favorites from the theatre department at Middle Tennessee State University in nearby Murfreesboro: Logan Purcell, a native of Gallatin, Tennessee, who will be graduating in 2025. We know Logan from his...

Denice Hicks is a national treasure who's been hiding out in plain sight in Nashville, Tennessee, for more than a quarter century. One of the most sought-after actors and directors in town, she has appeared on virtually every stage and her exquisite talents have been enjoyed by audiences and fellow ...

News spread quickly among Nashville-area theaterati in January 2016: Denice Hicks would be taking the stage of Belmont University’s Troutt Theater to take on what could conceivably be her greatest theater challenge: Playing King Lear in the Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s production of the Shak...

Today, we continue to celebrate the return of Collegiate Theatrics featuring one of our favorites from the theatre department at Nashville’s Lipscomb University: Connor Adair, a native of Edmond, Oklahoma. Throughout his time on-campus, he’s become a stalwart company member of virtually every Li...

With the season of Thanksgiving at hand, we celebrate Denice Hicks with A Nashville Theater Tribute: Giving Thanks for Denice, a multi-part retrospective of some of our favorite stories and interviews with her from over the years. We begin our special season of giving thanks for her theatrical legac...

Today, we continue to celebrate the return of Collegiate Theatrics featuring one of our favorites from the theatre department at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville: Alex Vanburen, a native of Johnson City, Tennessee, who graduated from APSU last May. We first met Alex when they auditioned f...

Today, we herald the return of Collegiate Theatrics – our first interview with a university-level actor since before the pandemic – featuring one of our favorites from the theatre department at Middle Tennessee State University in nearby Murfreesboro: Emma Bastin, a native of Lebanon, Tennessee,...

Increasingly, it seems, all roads lead to Nashville – or at least everyone seems somehow to have a connection to our fair city. Case in point: Blaine Swen, the creator and director of The Improvised Shakespeare Company lives here – a fact unknown to me until I tracked him down to belabor him wit...

As plans were under way for the eleventh year of The Rocky Horror Show at Clarksville’s Roxy Regional Theatre, Emily Ruck, the company’s interim artistic director, had the idea to assemble an all-woman team to bring a new perspective and to reinvigorate the classic show: the director, musical di...