Cinda McCain News

Voting is now underway for Nashville! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Nashville! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

When the last performers had sung the final song and the late honoree had been feted, the crowds at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre for the presentation of First Night, the Nashville Theatre Honors' 2011 Gala Concert, headed downtown to Cummins Station for the After-Party at The Listening Room Cafe.

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

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

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.

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

First-time director Anne-Geri Fann acquits herself admirably with her production of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana which, like so many of Williams' characters, is flawed and imperfect yet somehow compelling, provocative and imminently watchable. With a stunning triad of Nashville actors taking on the leading characters in the play - Cinda McCain, Jack Chambers and Robyn Berg - your rapt attention to the stage proceedings is demanded and the three never disappoint, delivering performances that are stunningly raw yet somehow refined, callous yet heartfelt.

Cinda McCain may have been born with the express purpose of bringing Tennessee Williams' wounded yet fiery Southern heroines to life. Unique among Nashville actresses, she's played Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie and Flora in 27 Wagons Full of Cotton - and now she is playing Maxine Fault in ACT 1's production of The Night of the Iguana at Nashville's Darkhorse Theater.

Audiences will find out what happens when a defrocked priest, a teenage tart and an ancient poet walk into a down-at-heels Mexican hotel in Tennessee Williams' classic play, The Night of the Iguana. Directed by Anne-Geri Fann, the play is the next offering in the 21st season of ACT 1, the Nashville theater company that focuses on classics, both past and contemporary - and works that will one day be considered classics.

Audiences will find out what happens when a defrocked priest, a teenage tart and an ancient poet walk into a down-at-heels Mexican hotel in Tennessee Williams' classic play, The Night of the Iguana. Directed by Anne-Geri Fann, the play is the next offering in the 21st season of ACT 1, the Nashville theater company that focuses on classics, both past and contemporary - and works that will one day be considered classics.

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of playwright Tennessee Williams, ACT 1 presents The Night of the Iguana March 4-19 at Nashville's Darkhorse Theatre. Directed by Anne-Geri Fann, the cast features Jack Chambers, Robyn Berg and Cinda McCain. For details, visit the company website at www.ACT1online.com.

'There are no small parts, only small actors,' goes the old theatrical saw that's tossed about willy-nilly to encourage budding thespians to take on roles they suspect might be beneath them and their lofty stature. But, of course, there's much truth to be found in the axiom and you will certainly see it brought to life in the efforts of the members of many acting ensembles, particularly those considered among the best in Nashville's 2010 theater season:

Amid threatening weather forecasts and a winter storm bearing down on the South, more than 150 hardy souls gathered to celebrate live theatre in Nashville and Middle Tennessee with the presentation of the BroadwayWorld.com Nashville Theatre Awards and First Night's Top Ten of Twenty-Ten on Sunday night, January 9. Street Theatre Company's new venue at 1933 Elm Hill Pike was the setting for the event that featured performances by Joann Coleman, Ben Van Diepen, Ann Street Kavanaugh, Laura Matula, Michael Kitts and Bakari Jamal King.

You really must give credit to Kaine Riggan: the man has recreated one of downtown Nashville's best-known nightspots into a beautifully appointed live theater venue, somehow doing a thriving business in an economy that, at best, may be described as 'dire.' Add to that noteworthy achievement the fact that his A Scattered, Smothered and Covered Christmas is a delightful holiday-season repast, a down-home good time that even the most cynical audience member can enjoy.

A cast of more than 125 performers took to the stage of the Troutt Theatre at Belmont University to fete the eight members of the 2010 Class of First Night Honorees in a production that featured the best of the best of Nashville theater and included a surprise appearance by Joseph Mahowald, winner of a 1989 First Night Award, now playing the role of Franklin Hart Jr. in the national tour of 9 to 5: The Musical, which opened in Nashville at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, September 21.

As Nashville's summer theater season continues to heat up, anticipation continues to grow for September's First Night Nashville Theatre Honors, the revival of the Music City theater gala that will benefit Reading is Fundamental (RIF) and sponsored by Macy's and BroadwayWorld.com. Set for Sunday, September 19, at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre, First Night 2010 will honor eight individuals for their sustained and continued commitment to theater in Nashville.

As Nashville's summer theater season continues to heat up, anticipation continues to grow for September's First Night Nashville Theatre Honors, the revival of the Music City theater gala that will benefit Reading is Fundamental (RIF) and sponsored by Macy's and BroadwayWorld.com. Set for Sunday, September 19, at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre, First Night 2010 will honor eight individuals for their sustained and continued commitment to theater in Nashville.

Cinda McCain is one of the most naturally gifted actors you'll find on a stage anywhere. Thankfully, though, most of her work has been performed in Nashville and over the years the Mississippi native has assembled a resume that's full of some of the best theatrical roles for women: Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (which won her the First Night Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play); Meg in Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart; Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - the list goes on and on. Most recently, however, she's found herself on soundstages, making film appearances alongside such notables as Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw in the upcoming Love Don't Let Me Down.