Alan Lee News

The Boiler Room Theatre (at The Factory at Franklin, 230 Franklin Rd, Bldg 6) brings the cult favorite stage show to Franklin for the first time.

Nashville's Blackbird Theater in August will mount a rare production of Magic - a play by the great, if largely forgotten, literary figure G.K. Chesterton - with performances at Shamblin Theatre on the David Lipscomb University campus, running August 12-27. Magic is described as 'a funny, fiercely dramatic, unabashedly romantic play that involves an aristocratic family whose conflicting beliefs and doubts about the supernatural are all challenged by the arrival of a mysterious conjurer.'

Wes Driver directs a thoroughly charming and beautifully acted revival of G.K. Chesterton's first play, Magic, now onstage at the Shamblin Theatre on the David Lipscomb University campus in a sumptuously appointed production from Blackbird Theatre Company. Featuring a stellar cast of Nashville stage professionals, Magic might best be described as a gentle drawing-room comedy from the post-Edwardian period (it debuted in 1913) that somehow remains relevant and intriguing almost 100 years after its premiere.

Nashville's Blackbird Theater in August will mount a rare production of Magic - a play by the great, if largely forgotten, literary figure G.K. Chesterton - with performances at Shamblin Theatre on the David Lipscomb University campus, running August 12-27. Magic is described as 'a funny, fiercely dramatic, unabashedly romantic play that involves an aristocratic family whose conflicting beliefs and doubts about the supernatural are all challenged by the arrival of a mysterious conjurer.'

Rehearsals are going frighteningly well. Even with the cast in their street clothes, rehearsing in a community room at an apartment complex, we've already been able to establish a haunting atmosphere and some strong character dynamics. When you produce a new or unknown work like Magic, there's always that fear that you'll be in the middle of rehearsals before discovering the play's really not that good. But that hasn't been the case at all.

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.

Let's face it: We all know people in our own lives who mirror pretty closely the denizens of the Armadillo Acres trailer park - the setting for The Great American Trailer Park Musical. Sure, maybe it's just from standing behind them at the Wal-Mart or trying to avoid their gaze when they're ordering 'them there fajitas' at Chez Mexicano or, perhaps, you're only a generation or two away from the gap-toothed, slack-jawed yokels yourself. But we know 'em here in Tennessee. Hell, they're probably knocking at the door right now, wanting directions to the mall.

Nashville's Blackbird Theater in August will mount a rare production of Magic - a play by the great, if largely forgotten, literary figure G.K. Chesterton - with performances at Shamblin Theatre on the David Lipscomb University campus, running August 12-27. Magic is described as 'a funny, fiercely dramatic, unabashedly romantic play that involves an aristocratic family whose conflicting beliefs and doubts about the supernatural are all challenged by the arrival of a mysterious conjurer.'

There's a new tenant at Armadillo Acres - and she's wreaking havoc all over Florida's most exclusive trailer park. When Pippi, the stripper on the run, comes between the Dr.Phil-loving agoraphobic Jeannie and her tollbooth collector husband, the storms begin to brew. Directed and choreographed by Bryan J. Wlas, with music direction by Nathan W. Brown, the musical stars Jama Bowen, Chris Egging, Emma Jordan, Alan Lee, Jenny Norris-Light, Paula Makar and Margie Mills.

Who among us doesn't love a suspenseful yet wickedly entertaining melodrama about an eight-year-old sociopath who lets nothing stand in the way of her lifelong quest to get exactly what she wants? Whether it's a penmanship medal, a crystal ball, a garnet from a necklace - or even to prevent a trip to the electric chair - young Rhoda Penmark, who is the very picture of sweetness and light and old-fashioned manners and deportment, has for more than 50 years mesmerized audiences, delighting them with her larcenous, murderous ways. Let's face it: Who among us hasn't had flashes of going all Rhoda Penmark on the people who are obstacles in our own lives?

Nashville's Blackbird Theater, fresh off its successful, critically lauded premiere season, is offering two rarely produced shows for audiences in the company's eagerly anticipated second season - G.K. Chesterton's Magic (running August 12-27) and Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning Pacific Overtures (February 9-19, 2012) - creating a buzz that other theater companies can only envy and hope to create for their own season announcments.

In recognition of the centennial of Williams' birth, I conducted a very unscientific survey among Nashville theater folk to determine which of his plays are the most popular and the best loved. Perhaps surprisingly, the top vote-getters in our informal survey were A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof and Summer and Smoke, shows that have been given memorable (so memorable, in fact, that people continue to talk about them) productions in Music City in the last century. Members of the Nashville theaterati have definite ideas where Williams' plays are concerned.

In what could well be the most talked-about theatrical event of the new year, Street Theatre Company presents Chess in Concert February 24-27, featuring some of Nashville's best known stage talents and including a chorus of more than 40 voices. And it seems, in talking to some of the artists most intimately involved in the creative process that will culminate in this weekend's five performances, that it is a process they'd definitely sign-up for again - and it's clear that Nashville audiences will be talking about it for a long time after the curtain rings down Sunday night.

Make no mistake about it: Street Theatre Company's Chess in Concert is filled to overflowing with an embarrassment of riches. If for no other reason, you should see the concert (onstage through Sunday, February 27) for Laura Matula's bravura performance as Florence Vassy - the American chess champion's second who falls into a torrid affair with his Russian counterpart - which is as stunning as any star turn you will see by any woman in musical theater anywhere. (There. I've said it and I mean it with all my heart: Laura Matula has a spectacularly expressive voice and her dramatic performance in this role is richly shaded and nuanced. In short, she should be a very big star!)

In what could well be the most talked-about theatrical event of the new year, Street Theatre Company presents Chess in Concert February 24-27, featuring some of Nashville's best known stage talents and including a chorus of more than 40 voices. And it seems, in talking to some of the artists most intimately involved in the creative process that will culminate in this weekend's five performances, that it is a process they'd definitely sign-up for again - and it's clear that Nashville audiences will be talking about it for a long time after the curtain rings down Sunday night.

In what could well be the most talked-about theatrical event of the new year, Street Theatre Company presents Chess in Concert February 24-27, featuring some of Nashville's best known stage talents and including a chorus of more than 40 voices. And it seems, in talking to some of the artists most intimately involved in the creative process that will culminate in this weekend's five performances, that it is a process they'd definitely sign-up for again - and it's clear that Nashville audiences will be talking about it for a long time after the curtain rings down Sunday night.

Funny Girl, the classic 1964 Broadway musical that helped cement Barbra Streisand's place in theatrical history, will be the first show featured in Keeping Scores, a new series of Broadway musicals in concert, to be presented at Franklin's Boiler Room Theatre. Concerts in the series will be directed by Scott Logsdon (writer/director of the recent staged reading of An American Country Christmas Carol at the Boiler Room) with music direction by Jamey Green, a co-founder of BRT, and will be produced by Sondra Morton, director of operations for the professional theater located at The Factory in Franklin.

Dedicated to her craft, she is an endearing blend of serious actress and sweet young woman. During her time on the Nashville stage, she's played a wide range of roles for a variety of companies, including Circle Players' production of Noises Off, Towne Centre Theatre's Moon Over Buffalo and Steel Magnolias, and Blackbird Theatre Company's Twilight of the Gods. And in each of those roles, she's epitomized 'versatility' with an exceptional performance every time she steps onto the stage.

For more information on any of the listings, visit www.wexfordopera.com, www.wexfordopera.com/news/blog, or www.wexfordoperahouse.ie.

The Repertory East Playhouse will open its 2011 Season with Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, by Terrence McNally and sponsored by Mission View Public Schools. 'This is an amazing piece of theatre, and a challenge for us. We are all very excited for this production.' says Artistic Director Ovington Michael Owston.