Connie Ray News

Love was in the air when the cast (old and new) and the fans of HANDS ON A HARDBODY gathered together for two special reunion concerts at 54 Below

This month, 54 BELOW will present some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond.

What did our critic think of SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN: HOMECOMING at Red Curtain Theatre?

It was in Fall 1995 that I first was introduced to the gospel singing Sanders Family of “up near Siler City, North Carolina,” in a production of Smoke on the Mountain at Nashville's venerable Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre. In 2023, the family returns again, as if by magic or perhaps accompanied by flights of angels, in a warmly nostalgic, sweetly sentimental and altogether lovely production from Studio Tenn -- playing through April 2 -- at the historic sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church in downtown Franklin, which stands in quite nicely for the First Baptist Church of Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, on a Saturday night in 1938.

54 BELOW, Broadway’s Supper Club and 2022 Tony Awards® Honoree for Excellence in the Theatre, will welcome the original cast of Hands on A Hardbody on June 6th at 7:00pm & 9:30pm, as they reunite for the musical’s 10th anniversary.

Hand Clapping, Heart Pumping, Soul Singing: MSMT & Portland Stage Present SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN

Artisan Center Theater has announced auditions for SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN, conceived by Alan Bailey, featuring book by Connie Ray, with musical arrangements by Mike Craver and Mark Hardwick.

Play-PerView will present Next Fall, Saturday, October 10th at 7:00pm EST.

On this day in 2013, the new musical Hands On A Hardbody opened on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.

Royal Family Productions will remount its acclaimed production of WOMEN ON FIRE: Stories from the Frontlines.

Royal Family Productions will remount its production of WOMEN ON FIRE: Stories from the Frontlines to accommodate the demand. WOMEN ON FIRE is written, curated, and co-directed by Royal Family artistic director Chris Henry from stories told to her by a group of anonymous women, with choreography and co-direction from Lorna Ventura.

'Smoke on the Mountain' is a entertaining and uplifting show about a 1938 traveling family roadshow bringing gospel music, bluegrass and more. South City Theatre brings this touring performance from church to church for just a few weeks. Even if you are not a religious person, you will find this show to be fun and delightful in character work and music.

On this day in 2013, the new musical Hands On A Hardbody opened on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.

Six years ago today, the uplifting musical Hands on a Hardbody, based on a documentary of the same name, opened on Broadway featuring Broadway favorites like Keala Settle, Jay Armstrong Johnson, and Alison Case! To celebrate the occasion, we're throwing it back to the show's opening night with the show's cast and their real life counterparts! Check out the footage below!

Emmy and Annie Award-winning voice actress Nancy Cartwright ('The Simpsons') will reprise her role as the voice of fan-favorite Rufus the Naked mole-rat in the upcoming live-action 'Kim Possible' Disney Channel Original Movie, premiering FRIDAY, FEB. 15 (8:00–9:32 p.m. EST/PST), on Disney Channel and DisneyNOW. The veteran actress voiced the role in Disney Channel's 'Kim Possible' animated series (2002-07). Cartwright has played the iconic Bart Simpson on the animated series 'The Simpsons' for over 30 years.

Growing up in a small Southern town with fewer than 1,000 people, the prevalent thoughts tend to be centered on how to get out of that stifling, archly conservative community, in order to search for the proverbial greener pastures and to find like-minded people who will make you feel more "at home" with yourself and in your own skin. While that may well be the honest-to-God true story of my youth, nonetheless it always startles me when my emotions are stirred up by a stage musical set in the years long before my birth, with a show that fairly reverberates with the heart and soul, memories and nostalgia usually associated with a trip back home.

Looking ahead, you'll find a number of new productions on tap for your entertainment pleasure, including a number of holiday season offerings to put you in the Christmas spirit, thanks to the efforts of theater companies all over Middle Tennessee. Here's our calendar for December 3, 2018, to help you plot your course through the first few weeks of 2019...

'Kim Possible,' a Disney Channel Original Movie based on the beloved animated series, will premiere FRIDAY, FEB. 15 (8:00-9:32 p.m. EST/PST), on Disney Channel and DisneyNOW. In this comedic action-adventure, a live-action transformation of the original series, newcomer Sadie Stanley stars as the iconic teen hero Kim Possible along with Sean Giambrone (ABC's 'The Goldbergs') as her best friend and sidekick, Ron Stoppable. Immediately following 'Kim Possible,' Disney Channel will present a first look at the new eight-part miniseries 'Fast Layne,' with an episode titled 'Mile 1: the Voice in the Shed.' 'Fast Layne' will move to its regular timeslot with a second installment, 'Mile 2: Paid to Drive,' on SUNDAY, FEB. 17 (8:00-8:30 p.m. EST/PST). Both episodes will be available on DisneyNOW.

Looking ahead, you'll find a number of new productions on tap for your entertainment pleasure, including a number of holiday season offerings to put you in the Christmas spirit, thanks to the efforts of theater companies all over Middle Tennessee. Here's our calendar for December 3, 2018, to help you plot your course through the beginning of a new year...

Here's hoping you had a splendid Thanksgiving holiday weekend and that you're settling in for another action-packed season of events and shows to make Christmas 2018 sparkle even more! Looking ahead, you'll find a number of new productions on tap for your entertainment pleasure, thanks to the efforts of theater companies all over Middle Tennessee. Here's our calendar for November 26, 2018, to help you plot your course through the end of the year...