Greg Frey

Hailed as a a?oenear-perfect movie musical,a?? Singin' in the Rain is nonetheless a challenge for companies mounting a full-scale version of it a?oelive and onstage.a?? It's not just about making it rain onstage during the show's eponymous song and dance number, but more about capturing the magic of bringing movies to life without all the technical wizardry of a film studio at one's behest.

For plenty of fast-paced action, along with some stellar performances by a fresh-faced cast of eager young theatrical triple threats and a coterie of Nashville stage favorites, one need look no further than Disney's Newsies, the latest onstage offering from Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, the iconic Music City venue that's been entertaining audiences for more than half a century. In its way, The Barn (as it is affectionately known in these parts) and its laudable history ensure that its treatment of the popular musical theater title lend the show's historical basis more than a little gravitas in the making of a stage spectacle.

Calling all dancing queens and kings! Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus' Mamma Mia!, the smash hit musical based on the songs of ABBA, is set to run at Aurora Theatre from March 8 - April 22, 2018. Mamma Mia! is one of the most successful musicals of all time, the eighth longest running show in Broadway history and one of only five musicals to have run for more than ten years on Broadway - grossing over $2 billion and bringing smiles to over 54 million worldwide. Aurora Theatre is proudly producing Atlanta's post-Broadway premiere of the feel-good show in the heart of downtown Lawrenceville!

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." With a glorious voice and stage presence to spare, Potter's Sophie seized control of the opening night audience from the very first moment she stepped onto the stage, never relinquishing control for one second, even when sharing the stage with the redoubtable Martha Wilkinson, the undisputed queen of musical theatre in Music City.

Here's an oft-proven truism, if not a fact, about theater in Nashville: If Martha Wilkinson is the star of a particular show - any show, whether it's Noises Off, Chicago, Little Shop of Horrors, Sister Act (well, you get my drift) - you can rest assured that she will (A) play the role to the hilt, (B) knock your socks off with her timing and delivery and (C) you'll believe that, no matter how many times you've seen a show, any show, it was as if you were seeing it for the first time.

In the coming days, leading up to opening night on Thursday, September 7, members of the cast take on our Mamma Mia 5 questions, to offer up some reasons for you to make sure you're in their audience through October 21. Today's edition features one of Nashville's most popular and in-demand actors, the talented Austin Olive.

Bradley Moore has always had a lot of theatrical projects going on since he settled in Music City a few years back. But ever since Norma Luther became the owner of Nashville's iconic Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre in early 2017 - and he became assistant artistic director - he's only gotten busier. With this summer's first musical hit (Sister Act) to his credit, his resume is growing yet again with the Barn's production of the ABBA megamusical Mamma Mia, which opens next Thursday at the eponymous red barn on Highway 100 in West Nashville.

In the coming days, leading up to opening night on Thursday, September 7, members of the cast take on our Mamma Mia 5 questions, to offer up some reasons for you to make sure you're in their audience through October 21. First up, today's edition features Jenna Pryor, Curtis Reed and Heather Hershow.

In the coming days, leading up to opening night on Thursday, September 7, members of the cast take on our Mamma Mia 5 questions, to offer up some reasons for you to make sure you're in their audience through October 21. First up, today's edition features Taylor Novak, Gracie McGraw and Anna Carroll.

In the coming days, leading up to opening night on Thursday, September 7, members of the cast take on our Mamma Mia 5 questions, to offer up some reasons for you to make sure you're in their audience through October 21. First up, today's edition features David Arnold, Greg Frey and Sarah Zanotti.

Dickson's Gaslight Dinner Theatre closes out its 16th Anniversary Season - and celebrates the holiday season - with Kim Beagle Graham's A Totally Awesome Christmas Carol, opening Friday.

Dickson's Gaslight Dinner Theatre's 16th anniversary season continues with the latest musical from Dan Goggins: Nunset Boulevard - The Hollywood Bowl Show. Everyone's favorite Little Sisters of Hoboken take the stage once again in the musical comedy. This time, they have been invited to Tinseltown to sing at the Hollywood Bowl.

Dickson's Gaslight Dinner Theatre continues its 16th Anniversary Season and 75th show with  JUDY! A Musical Tribute, which opened yesterday. JUDY! A Musical Tribute is a two-act revue that includes performances of famous Garland tunes. Compiled and created by stage veterans Linda Sue Simmons Runyeon and Joe Grizzel, this cabaret revue is a musical collection of songs, video and documentary, taking the audience "down memory lane" about the life of America's sweet heart, Judy Garland.

The regional premiere of Ken Ludwig's comedic take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of The Baskerville - Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery - continues the 16th anniversary season of Dickson's Gaslight Dinner Theatre as the company's 74th show debuts March 31, running through April 9

Shows are opening, shows are closing and Fiddler on the Roof is back onstage for Actors Pointe Theatre Company while Tom Sawyer takes a bow at Springhouse Theatre in Smyrna! Obviously, the 2016 theater season continues to reveal itself at a breakneck pace, giving audiences a veritable buffet of offerings from which to choose.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Ken Ludwig created one of theater's best-loved and critically acclaimed farces with Lend Me A Tenor, then updated the book of one of musical theater's most revered Gershwin titles (Girl Crazy) with the long-running and equally beloved Crazy For You. Since those two mega-hits, however, he's been less successful (although, inarguably, he's kept busy churning out scripts and cashing royalty checks) and perhaps no new script has proved that point more than Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery.

The regional premiere of Ken Ludwig's comedic take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of The Baskerville - Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery - continues the 16th anniversary season of Dickson's Gaslight Dinner Theatre as the company's 74th show debuts March 31, running through April 9

Today, in a preview of what's to come on the Scottish moors (where mayhem and hijinks reportedly ensue), Brett Cantrell and Evan Taylor Williams take their places in The Friday 5 spotlight, giving us some insight into their theatrical lives and sharing why they think Baskerville is a perfect show for you. But, be forewarned: the altogether too-brief run is close to selling out, so securing your reservations for the rollicking mystery should be at the top of your "to-do" list.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.