The latest reviews and critic recommendations from Nashville.
Memory plays are a challenge for any playwright - ask Tennessee Williams, whose The Glass Menagerie is not only the quintessential memory play, but is also a theatrical masterpiece - and that may, perhaps, explain the shortcomings found in Studio Tenn's The Battle of Franklin: A Tale of a House Divi
If not for the fact that she is already one on Broadway, it could be said that Rachel Potter's performance in Mamma Mia! - which opened last night at Nashville's historic Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre - was, without doubt or without danger of fulsome exaggeration a "starmaking turn.
Sometimes even the loveliest and most appealing of musical theater scores can be forgotten, virtually erased from your memory.
Director Chris McLaurin makes a particularly auspicious debut at the helm of his rollicking - and beautifully sung and winningly staged - production of Gilbert and Sullivan's classic The Pirates of Penzance, now playing at Murfreesboro's Center for the Arts through August 27.
Katharine Boettcher's glorious soprano is finally given the showcase it so richly deserves in the beautifully sung production of Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon's The Secret Garden, the oftentimes stirring and altogether bewitching story of a young orphaned girl forced to live with her mysterious uncle
Strong and energetic - some even show-stopping - performances from a youthful, fresh-faced cast, choreography that will have you dancing in the aisles and sprightly direction that moves the plot along at an astonishing pace…if you aren't already a fan of Bring It On the Musical, then Circle Player
Theater's power to transform and transport is astonishing and the capability of artists to create a sense of time and place, with words and music and theatrical wizardry to lend a tangible feeling to the experience can leave you breathless.
Nothing seems to spark so much debate among the theaterati than the announcement of an upcoming production of a show considered overdone, old-fashioned or somehow hackneyed and quasi-provincial.
Nashville audiences have become rather familiar with the work of Lauren Gunderson, the most produced living American playwright of the 2016-17 season, primarily due to works presented by Tennessee Women's Theater Project.
Despite its provocative title and abundant profanity (or maybe even because of it), Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Motherf**ker With the Hat is actually filled with a lot of humanity and heart, enough that you'll find it difficult to shake off the story and its characters long after the final scene has p
Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva's miraculous transformation into music legend Billie Holiday may well be the performance of 2017, theater-wise, in a city where we revere and venerate our favorite vocalists.
Once again, Cori Laemmel and Laura Matula - along with their team of creative collaborators and their always surprising and courageous troupe of young actors at The Theater Bug - have achieved much with their latest original musical.
Ryan Bowie revives his amazing performance as the 'international song stylist' Hedwig Schmidt in the latest incarnation of Hedwig and The Angry Inch, now onstage at Clarksville's Roxy Regional Theatre through July 15.
Performed amid a gorgeous, bucolic setting, the latest offering from Nashville's KB Productions - a retelling of Theresa Rebeck's Greek tragedy cum American family drama The Water's Edge - is performed upon what may be the most detailed, stunningly conceived and beautifully realized set ever seen on
Nashville audiences have long been noted for their generosity in rewarding performances with a standing ovation - to the point that they have become rather commonplace - but never before have we witnessed a 'standing O' at the end of a particularly raucous, thoroughly inspiring and resolutely entert
Musical theater lends itself to the "high concept" approach, to be certain, even if it doesn't always add to the overall success of a production.
'Over-the-top' and 'larger-than-life' are but two of the descriptive phrases that may be used in reference to both director Jason Lewis and his latest theatrical project Reefer Madness the Musical - and, in both instances, they are equally justified.
Back in the day, theatrically speaking, there was something you could always count on in Nashville: some of the very best (if not the best) summer musicals could be found at one venue - Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre.
Shawn Knight's stunning and transformative performance as the 600-pound protagonist in Samuel D.
The Nashville Ballet has a special way of producing unique works you've never seen before.
Carole King is an American treasure: a singer/songwriter of much renown, she possesses the showbiz bona fides that place her among the highest echelons of creative endeavor and for more than 50 years, she has provided the soundtrack for the lives of so many of us that you can't help but be caught up
You might be surprised by this, but A Second Helping, the musical now onstage through the weekend at Cumberland County Playhouse' Adventure Theatre, has more in common with The Godfather, Part II than you might expect.
Ross Griffin's dramatically flamboyant portrayal of Jerry Lee Lewis in Cumberland County Playhouse's magnificent production of the Tony Award-winning Million Dollar Quartet would be reason enough to buy a ticket to see the fast-moving, tune-filled salute to one of music's most legendary nights that
Make no mistake about it, Michael Frayn's Noises Off, is a rollicking, hilarious roller coaster ride of mirth and merriment – the quintessential British farce, replete with slamming doors, mistaken identities, sexual escapades and all the other necessary ingredients needed to create a memorable ni
Funny and familiar, James Sherman's Beau Jest might well be considered perfect dinner theater fare: spread across two hours, the comedy is easily digested and the players - this time, the estimable ensemble assembled by director Martha Wilkinson for the latest incarnation at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Th
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Moon Over Buffalo Tellico Community Playhouse (9/03-9/20) |
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Gunhild Carling at City Winery Nashville City Winery Nashville (11/01-11/01) |
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The Shark is Broken The Circuit Playhouse (5/07-5/30) |
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Five Finger Death Punch, Cody Jinks & Eva Under Fire FirstBank Amphitheater (10/08-10/08) |
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Mean Girls the Musical Playhouse on the Square (8/21-9/13) |
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Come From Away Chattanooga Theatre Centre (9/01-9/30) |
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The 49th Annual Art Auction Playhouse on the Square (4/24-4/24) |
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The Great Gatsby Orpheum Theatre (12/01-12/06) |
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Ain't Too Proud Playhouse on the Square (3/26-4/18) |
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Disney's The Little Mermaid Ramsey Theatre Company (6/26-6/27) |
