David Compton

BWW Review: Nashville Rep's Holiday Tradition of A CHRISTMAS STORY Comes to a Fitting Close

When the final curtain falls on A Christmas Story at TPAC's Andrew Johnson Theatre on December 22, the cast and crew of Nashville Repertory Theatre's production will pack up all the leg lamps and all the tinsel, Gary Hoff's gorgeous set will go into mothballs, the costumes will be stored away with the rest of the company's vast collection and a ten-year-old Nashville holiday tradition will come to an end.

BWW Review: Nashville Rep's Annual A CHRISTMAS STORY Ushers in the Holiday Season

Nashville audiences love their traditions whether they be of a theatrical bent or of a more personal nature so it should be noted that the holiday season in Music City is now upon us with the arrival of one of the most beloved theater traditions: Nashville Repertory Theatre's annual staging of A Christmas Story (the tale of young Ralphie, his long-suffering mother, his old man and his younger brother Randy), which offers up a timeless tale of Christmas in the heartland that is overflowing with nostalgia and a whole lot of heart.

Thank You, Places...Nashville Children's Theatre's Company Stage Manager DAN BREWER

Today, we very proudly shine the spotlight on PSM Daniel Brewer, the dean of production stage managers in this region, and the resident stage manager at Nashville Children's Theatre. In 2011, he was among that year's First Night Honorees in recognition of his truly exceptional career and for the grace and skill with which he does his job. In fact, we wouldn't be at all surprise to find his headshot next to the very definition of "stage manager" in reference books.

GOOD MORNING, THEATERATI! It's Tuesday, May 30, 2017 - and we hope you've sufficiently recovered from Memorial Day Weekend so that you're able to face the rest of the week with the necessary intent to achieve all that's possible in a world where white pants and white shoes are acceptable (it's summer, after all…well, unofficially, from a social standpoint)! All of this prompts us to ask the musical question: What did you do this holiday weekend? Social media was fairly abuzz with all manner of outings and adventures perpetrated by the theaterati, including both Amy Prough Stumpfl and Nancy Allen attending a performance of Hamilton in Chicago, where Belmont University Musical Theatre alumni Candace Quarrels and Chris Lee are starring!

GOOD MORNING, THEATERATI! It's May 17, 2017, and summer - or a reasonable facsimile thereof - has arrived in Nashville, with temperatures already climbing toward the 90s! When prompts the musical question: What's on your agenda for the summer of 2017? Anything we should know about and, more importantly, write about?

Among such people is Jason Glick, a charming and talented man who came to town back in the 1990s, made a name for himself on a variety of local stages - Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, Nashville Shakespeare Festival and Circle Players readily come to mind - and then decided to leave town, enroll in law school and who now, in the circuitous way that creative people wend their way through life, he's happily married, the dad to two boys and pursuing his art in Portland, Oregon.

Today our special series Onstage at The Barn: Memories from The First 45 Years continues with actress Nancy Allen, who first set foot on that magical levitating stage in a production of The Robber Bridegroom, directed by Rene Dunshee Copeland, which remains brilliantly etched in the minds of Nashville theatre-goers who were on-hand for the production.

?David Compton, brilliant and beloved actor, director, designer, teacher and friend, died in the morning hours of May 4, 2016. He died peacefully surrounded by loved ones.

?David Compton, brilliant and beloved actor, director, designer, teacher and friend, died in the morning hours of May 4, 2016. He died peacefully surrounded by loved ones.

David Compton – one of the region's most accomplished and acclaimed and most beloved actors and directors – died early Wednesday morning, May 4, after a four-year battle with heart disease and cancer. He leaves his wife, Amanda Card Compton (whom he married on Tuesday, May 3, just hours before his death); his mother, Jo Compton of Badin, North Carolina; his sister Becky Compton Taylor; his brother Jim Compton; and countless other friends and family who are mourning his passing.

SAVE THE DATE: The 2012 First Night Honorees, Most Promising Actors and the First Night Star Award winners will be revealed on Monday, July 23, at the First Night Preview Party...details to follow.

Broadway veterans Jessica Grove and Ben Davis will star as Maria Rainer and Captain Georg Von Trapp in Studio Tenn Theatre Company's upcoming production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music, playing at the historic Franklin Theatre May 31-June 17.

Superior Donuts runs March 17-31 at TPAC's Johnson Theater (with preview performances March 15 -16). Superior Donuts tells the story of how an unlikely friendship can emerge in the most unexpected places as a downtrodden donut shop owner hires a street-savvy, aspiring young writer with hustle and bright ideas. Filled with humor and humanity, Superior Donuts stirs up the challenges of embracing the past, the untold dangers of hope, and the redemptive power of friendship while analyzing the American dream...and how living in America can affect it.

Superior Donuts runs March 17-31 at TPAC's Johnson Theater (with preview performances March 15 -16).Superior Donuts tells the story of how an unlikely friendship can emerge in the most unexpected places as a downtrodden donut shop owner hires a street-savvy, aspiring young writer with hustle and bright ideas. Filled with humor and humanity,Superior Donuts stirs up the challenges of embracing the past, the untold dangers of hope, and the redemptive power of friendship while analyzing the American dream... and how living in America can affect it.

Street Theatre Company's ALTAR BOYZ - aka Michael Holder, Taylor Casey, Bakari King, Humberto Figueroa and Alan Smith - made a special video appearance at First Night 2011, opening the show with their introduction of host David Compton.

With almost 150 performers taking to the stage of Belmont University's Troutt Theatre on Sunday night, September 4, members of the theater community throughout Tennessee joined together to fete the six members of the 2011 Class of First Night Honorees.

Tennessee's glittering theaterati gathered in Nashville for the 2011 edition of First Night, the Nashville Theatre Honors, paying tribute to six of the leading lights of the theater community -- PAM ATHA, DAN BREWER, GARY C. HOFF, DANNY PROCTOR, LAYNE SASSER and HELEN OLAKETI SHUTE-PETTAWAY -- on Sunday, September 4, the culmination of a nine-day long celebration of live theater in the Volunteer State. Hosted by two-time First Night Award winner David Compton, the Honors Gala featured staged musical and dramatic tributes to the six honorees, starring some of the best-known names in Tennessee theater.

First Night: The Honors Gala is set for Sunday, September 4, at the Troutt Theatre at Belmont University, which kicks off at 5:30 p.m. with the Red Carpet Event, hosted by Jennifer Richmond and Trey Palmer, with fashion commentary by Cary Street, Joshua Waldrep and Lisa Garner Harrison. Impresario Johnny Delarocco (aka John Pyka) will produce a special Red Carpet performance by his company just for First Night.

Teaser for Blackbird Theater's production of Magic by G.K. Chesterton. August 12-13, 19-20, 25-27. Starring Amanda Card McCoy and David Compton. Ticket information at BlackbirdNashville.com.

Nashville's Blackbird Theater Company offers a second sneak-peek at its upcoming production of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, featuring David Compton and Denice Hicks. Directed by Ted Swindley, this second production of Blackbird's inaugural season also features Amanda Card-McCoy, Jeff Boyet, Wes Driver, Britt Byrd and Scott Rice. Arcadia plays the Shamblin Theatre at David Lipscomb University February 25-March 12. For further information about Blackbird, visit the company website at www.blackbirdnashville.com.