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Nashville Theater Reviews

The latest reviews and critic recommendations from Nashville.

BWW Review: NUNCRACKERS Brings Christmas to The Keeton

BWW Review: NUNCRACKERS Brings Christmas to The Keeton

by Jeffrey Ellis — December 2, 2016

Those wacky sisters of Hoboken are back on the job and back in the theatre in Nuncrackers - writer Dan Goggins' latest installment of the continuing saga of a group of down-on-their-luck nuns from New Jersey who are still trying to beef up their rolls, score some longed-for electronic gadgets and la

BWW Review: Nashville Rep's Always Magical A CHRISTMAS STORY

BWW Review: Nashville Rep's Always Magical A CHRISTMAS STORY

by Jeffrey Ellis — November 30, 2016

Some grand holiday traditions are exactly what is needed in these turbulent times and nothing is more pleasing than the 2016 version of Nashville Repertory Theatre's live stage version of A Christmas Story, the theatrical treatment of the movie of the same name that somehow captures all the memories

BWW Review: 'Merry Christmas!' from Chaffin's Barn

BWW Review: 'Merry Christmas!' from Chaffin's Barn

by Jeffrey Ellis — November 29, 2016

While there are always rumors of closings and real estate transactions happening willy-nilly, Chaffin's Barn continues to thrive and to entertain and to give both audiences and theater folk an opportunity to get to know one another better and to be transported and transformed via the magic of live t

BWW Review: Belmont University's Soul-Stirring PARADE

BWW Review: Belmont University's Soul-Stirring PARADE

by Jeffrey Ellis — November 19, 2016

As challenging a work of theatrical artistry that you could possibly conceive of, Parade affords BUMT students a sublime opportunity in pursuit of excellence in a production that vociferously demands to be seen and experienced.

BWW Review: Chaffin's Barn Does RED, WHITE & TUNA Up Right

BWW Review: Chaffin's Barn Does RED, WHITE & TUNA Up Right

by Jeffrey Ellis — November 16, 2016

Just in time to lift your spirits in the wake of a bruising presidential election season, Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre - the iconic theatrical venue, which for 50 years has delighted Nashville audiences on the chow-and-bow circuit - provides ample laughs and plenty of guffaws (along with a bountifu

BWW Review: Lipscomb's Cinematic BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

BWW Review: Lipscomb's Cinematic BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

by Jeffrey Ellis — October 30, 2016

There is perhaps no theme more deeply resonant in Disney's Beauty and the Beast than its treatment of the redemptive power of love to change any trouble soul - and thanks to Mike Fernandez's cinematic take on the musical theater classic and the superb leading performances of Bekah Purifoy and Scott

BWW Review: Actors Bridge Ensemble's Whimsical, Magical FAILURE: A LOVE STORY

BWW Review: Actors Bridge Ensemble's Whimsical, Magical FAILURE: A LOVE STORY

by Jeffrey Ellis — October 29, 2016

Who knew that a whimsical, magical play - Philip Dawkins' evocatively written Failure: A Love Story, now onstage at Nashville's Darkhorse Theater in a thoroughly engaging production from Actors Bridge Ensemble in its 20th Anniversary Season - would speak so eloquently to that sense of pervasive loss

BWW Review: CFTA's YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN Will Have You Laughing All The Way Home

BWW Review: CFTA's YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN Will Have You Laughing All The Way Home

by Jeffrey Ellis — October 25, 2016

Patrick Kramer's commanding performance as Frederick Frankenstein (that's 'FRONKENsteen' for the uninitiated) in the Center for the Arts' production of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein is reason enough to buy a ticket (if you're lucky enough to score one - shows are playing to capacity crowds in Murfr

BWW Review: Nashville Rep's All-Star Cast Shines in NOISES OFF

BWW Review: Nashville Rep's All-Star Cast Shines in NOISES OFF

by Jeffrey Ellis — October 17, 2016

There comes a moment in Act Two (or maybe it's Act One - on second thought, maybe it's the second Act One, although it could be the third…) of Michael Frayn's Noises Off, now onstage at TPAC's Andrew Johnson Theatre, in which Martha Wilkinson comes onstage, hits her mark, cuts her eyes at another

BWW Review: ACT 1's Outdated ARSENIC AND OLD LACE

BWW Review: ACT 1's Outdated ARSENIC AND OLD LACE

by Jeffrey Ellis — October 16, 2016

Joseph Kesselring's Arsenic and Old Lace, a genteel and sometimes beguiling 'suspense comedy,' is a favorite among the nation's various and sundry community theater companies.

BWW Review: Pewitt's Star Turn Electrifies Keeton Theatre's ANNIE GET YOUR GUN

BWW Review: Pewitt's Star Turn Electrifies Keeton Theatre's ANNIE GET YOUR GUN

by Jeffrey Ellis — October 7, 2016

There's something about Tonya Pewitt, a certain, almost indefinable, something that makes her an ideal musical theater leading lady (perhaps, we admit, that's a dated term in these politically correct times – we are, after all, in the 21st century and the election of the first woman president of t

BWW Review: Vickie Bailey Directs CFTA's SUITE SURRENDER

BWW Review: Vickie Bailey Directs CFTA's SUITE SURRENDER

by Jeffrey Ellis — September 23, 2016

One thing in theater seems certain: Give an accomplished and veteran director the reins to a show and you can be guaranteed they will approach the work decisively and imaginatively - no matter how weak or how strong a particular play's script may be…

BWW Review: Nashville Ballet's Lushly Romantic CINDERELLA Opens the New Season

BWW Review: Nashville Ballet's Lushly Romantic CINDERELLA Opens the New Season

by Jeffrey Ellis — September 17, 2016

From the very first moment - when principal guest conductor Nathan Fifield raises his baton and the musicians of the Nashville Symphony play the very first notes of Prokofiev's lush score - it becomes apparent that Nashville Ballet's Cinderella is going to be something very special.

BWW Review: Nashville Rep's THE LAST FIVE YEARS

BWW Review: Nashville Rep's THE LAST FIVE YEARS

by Jeffrey Ellis — September 16, 2016

Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years is one of the most popular contemporary musicals currently en vogue, particularly among newer (read: younger) generations of theater devotees and those older musical theater lovers “in the know.

BWW Review: Center for the Arts' Emotionally-Charged 1776

BWW Review: Center for the Arts' Emotionally-Charged 1776

by Jeffrey Ellis — July 26, 2016

Perhaps it's a case of perfect timing - or maybe it's simply the fact that a revival of a much-beloved Tony Award-winning best musical is enough to attract a strong ensemble of men to the project - but make no mistake about it, Murfreesboro's Center for the Arts succeeds where so many companies have

IF/THEN's Stunning Performances Intrigue Nashville Audiences

IF/THEN's Stunning Performances Intrigue Nashville Audiences

by Jeffrey Ellis — June 8, 2016

Who would have ever thought a musical about urban planning could be as effective and engaging, and as thoroughly compelling (if somewhat confusing and confounding, by turns) as If/Then, the latest work from the Pulitzer Prize-winning (for next to normal) duo of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey?

BWW Review: Arts Center of Cannon County's ALWAYS, PATSY CLINE

BWW Review: Arts Center of Cannon County's ALWAYS, PATSY CLINE

by Jeffrey Ellis — June 6, 2016

Savannah Gannon makes a startling - and, no doubt, star-making - debut as country music superstar Patsy Cline in the Matt Smith-directed production of Ted Swindley's play with music Always, Patsy Cline, now onstage at Woodbury's Arts Center of Cannon County through June 18.

BWW Review: CFTA's 42nd STREET Taps Your Troubles Away

BWW Review: CFTA's 42nd STREET Taps Your Troubles Away

by Jeffrey Ellis — May 26, 2016

If there is a Broadway musical that more gleefully and accurately encapsulates the magic and mayhem of creating a brand spanking new blockbuster at the height of the Great Depression than 42nd Street, I want to see it post-haste!

BWW Review: Verge Theater Company's Beautifully Acted SKINLESS

BWW Review: Verge Theater Company's Beautifully Acted SKINLESS

by Jeffrey Ellis — May 24, 2016

Johnna Adams is a consummate storyteller: employing fantasy and fiction, conjecture and supposition, she weaves together a tale that is at once intensely intriguing and enormously off-putting, using her skill as a writer to transport her audience to an otherworldly place that exists only in her imag

BWW Review: Street Theatre Company's ASSASSINS Assuredly Intrigues Audiences

BWW Review: Street Theatre Company's ASSASSINS Assuredly Intrigues Audiences

by Jeffrey Ellis — May 23, 2016

Stephen Sondheim's Assassins - his musical treatment of the history of presidential assassinations in America - remains one of the most compelling and intriguing works to be found in the musical theater canon, focusing on a veritable rogue's gallery of historic figures whose infamy lives on decades

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Tellico Community Playhouse (9/03-9/20)
Gunhild Carling at City Winery Nashville in Nashville Gunhild Carling at City Winery Nashville
City Winery Nashville (11/01-11/01)
The Shark is Broken in Nashville The Shark is Broken
The Circuit Playhouse (5/07-5/30)
Five Finger Death Punch, Cody Jinks & Eva Under Fire in Nashville Five Finger Death Punch, Cody Jinks & Eva Under Fire
FirstBank Amphitheater (10/08-10/08)
Mean Girls the Musical in Nashville Mean Girls the Musical
Playhouse on the Square (8/21-9/13)
Come From Away in Nashville Come From Away
Chattanooga Theatre Centre (9/01-9/30)
The 49th Annual Art Auction in Nashville The 49th Annual Art Auction
Playhouse on the Square (4/24-4/24)
The Great Gatsby in Nashville The Great Gatsby
Orpheum Theatre (12/01-12/06)
Ain't Too Proud in Nashville Ain't Too Proud
Playhouse on the Square (3/26-4/18)
Disney's The Little Mermaid in Nashville Disney's The Little Mermaid
Ramsey Theatre Company (6/26-6/27)