Robyn Berg

Celebrating an opening night is always exciting, if exhausting, nerve-wracking and exhilarating, but when it's the very first production of a new theater company you've co-founded, odds are it's even more so. Just ask Emily Faith who is directing the premiere production of A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Dallas-based Lily & Joan theater company she co-founded in 2018 with Erika Larsen.

Last fall, when we started this series - COLLEGIATE THEATRICS - we were talking to college students across the country about what lay ahead of them during the academic year and now we find ourselves at graduation time for the class of 2015, today represented by the beautiful, ethereal and brilliant Lacy Hartselle. Mere hours after her graduation from Nashville's Lipscomb University on Saturday, she reflected on our five questions to give us an intimate look into how her life was changed during her college career.

Among those young actors is Lipscomb University's Jonah Jackson, a native of Shelbyville, Tennessee, and a candidate for a bachelor of fine arts with an acting major. A 2014 First Night Most Promising Actor, among his many credits are Lord Farquaad in Shrek: the Musical (Lipscomb University and Circle Players), Roscoe Dexter in Singin' in the Rain (Springhouse Theatre) and A-Rab in West Side Story (Lipscomb University). Just over the horizon for 2015, he has the roles of General Genghis Khan Schmitz in Seussical and Gerry in Dancing at Lughnasa on tap.

It's been a busy year in Nashville theater in 2012, with audiences treated to a whole slate of theatrical offerings spanning multiple genres-from productions of time-honored classics to new and original contemporary works, from dramas to comedies, from straight plays to musicals-and giving local theater-goers more opportunities than ever before to be challenged by the onstage magic created by some of Tennessee's most talented and gifted artists.

Another week, another roundup! Today, we bring you a list of the most-read stories in our regional markets for the week of September 21. Browse over to your favorite far-away city/country to see what's making news, check out what productions are playing around the country and overseas and get to know new performers! Enjoy this virtual trek around the globe and stay tuned for next week's recap of regional not-to-be-missed news!

The Servant of Two Masters, Carlo Goldoni's classic 1743 comedy-which provides the inspiration for Richard Bean's 2012 Tony Award-winning farce One Man, Two Guvnors-will be presented by Lipscomb University's theatre department, running September 21-23 and 27-29 at 7 p.m. each evening (with a matinee on Sunday, September 30 at 2:30 p.m.) at the university's Flatt Amphitheatre, adjacent to the Bennett Campus Center.

Dressed to the nines-despite forecasts of thunderstorms and a tornado watch that hung over the region-theater people from throughout Tennessee gathered at Belmont University's Bill and Carole Troutt Theatre on Sunday night for the 2013 First Night Honors. Hosted by Holly Shepherd and Joel Diggs, the gala evening honored eight leading lights of Tennessee theater as they were recognized as members of the First Night Class of 2013 Honorees.

Just when you thought it was safe to go to the theater once again, we welcome you to the debut installment of Music City Confidential, all the news that's fit to print (or not-depending on your perspective) from Nashville's ever-growing, ever-fascinating (okay, so we obviously don't have enough to occupy ourselves) live theater industry (we're trying that out-does it work? Let us know, theaterati!) Here amid the florid prose and flowery praise, you'll find all the stories that don't quite fit elsewhere, some of 'em kind of gossipy, some of 'em stone-cold serious, some of 'em just lists of names you need to know. You'll also find photos from our new "Intermission@" series, details about the latest cast parties and various and sundry minutiae-the veritable flotsam and jetsam-from backstage, onstage, offstage and beyond…

Robyn Berg directs the sold-out Nashville production of Dustin Lance Black's 8, a play chronicling the historic trial in the federal constitutional challenge to California's Proposition 8, presented by Rhubarb Theater Company on Monday, May 7, at Darkhorse Theater.

Robyn Berg directs the upcoming Nashville production of Dustin Lance Black's 8, a play chronicling the historic trial in the federal constitutional challenge to California's Proposition 8, presented by Rhubarb Theater Company on Monday, May 7, at Darkhorse Theater.

The Nashville Shakespeare Festival will present Julius Caesar, a complex political story with themes of corrupted power, betrayal and tragic consequences, at Belmont University's Troutt Theater Jan. 10-29, 2012.

With taut, focused direction by Beki Baker and what is arguably the finest cast of actors to be assembled on a Nashville stage in recent memory, Nashville Shakespeare Festival heats winter up to a fever pitch with its remarkable production of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare's timeless-and very timely-tragedy rife with unbridled ambition, conspiratorial plotting, revenge and deception.

Crist is a promising writer - although her works for the theater would benefit greatly from some workshopping of the material before audiences are asked to buy tickets - and a warm-hearted, genuine woman who, quite frankly, I adore. But I don't adore being made to feel ignorant or unsophisticated because we don't like the same things.

Trish Crist, the award-winning playwright of What, follows up to that critically acclaimed play with Who, presented by Rhubarb Theater Company November 4-12 at Darkhorse Theater. 'The fast-moving collection of stories are all set in Nashville and the play is a smart sequel to What, which was named Best Original Play of 2009 by the Nashville Scene,' Crist explains.

The Nashville Shakespeare Festival will present Julius Caesar, a complex political story with themes of corrupted power, betrayal and tragic consequences, at Belmont University's Troutt Theater Jan. 10-29, 2012.

Trish Crist, the award-winning playwright of What, follows up to that critically acclaimed play with Who, presented by Rhubarb Theater Company November 4-12 at Darkhorse Theater. 'The fast-moving collection of stories are all set in Nashville and the play is a smart sequel to What, which was named Best Original Play of 2009 by the Nashville Scene,' Crist explains.

Tennessee Repertory Theatre recently announced plans for REPaloud, the popular play reading series which highlights contemporary plays.

Lipscomb University Theatre brings Nashville audiences the never-before-seen-locally Leading Ladies, a gender-bending take-off that pays homage to Shakespeare's own gender-bending Twelfth Night, for the opening production of its 2011-12 season. Directed by Robyn Berg and featuring a focused cast of Lipscomb's most capable theatre students, Leading Ladies is onstage at the Shamblin Theatre through October 2, taking audiences on a raucous, riotous and nostalgic trip to a small town in Pennsylvania, circa 1952.

Could Robyn Berg lay claim to the title of the hardest working woman in show business? She could certainly stake a claim given her burgeoning Nashville theater resume. Since her arrival in town - just two years ago - she's directed Lipscomb University's critically acclaimed production of Death of a Salesman while also teaching at the university, starred in productions from Rhubarb Theater Company, played Hannah Jelks in ACT 1's production of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana, starred in Actors Bridge Ensemble's production of John Patrick Shanley's Sailor's Song, and has proven herself a vital - and much sought-after - member of the local theatrical scene.