Denice Hicks News

Actors Bridge Ensemble's acclaimed production of Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves and Cumberland County Playhouse's rendition of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street were named as the top shows of the year during Midwinter's First Night, the annual tribute to theater in Tennessee, held at Nashville's The Larry Keeton Theatre last Sunday night, January 13. Photographer Rae Lynn Whetzel-Stickney captured many of the night's biggest moments with her camera, which are shared on BroadwayWorld Nashville today.

Actors Bridge Ensemble's critically acclaimed production of Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves and Cumberland County Playhouse's stunning mounting of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street were named as the top shows of the year during Midwinter's First Night, the annual tribute to theater in Tennessee, held at Nashville's The Larry Keeton Theatre Sunday night, January 13.

NASHVILLE STORY GARDEN an incubator of original theatre, film and new media projects will be presenting SHE/HER/HERS: 5 One-Act World Premiere plays featuring female leads on THURSDAY, JANUARY 17th at THE CORDELLE (45 Lindsley Ave, Downtown). The evening will also be accompanied with performances by singer/actor MEGAN MURPHY CHAMBERS, making SHE/HER/HERS a special night celebrating the community and artistry of women in Music City.

In anticipation of the gala 30th anniversary celebration of The First Night Awards, Tennessee's best and brightest in live theater were revealed tonight as First Night's Top Ten of 2018 - reviewer and critic Jeffrey Ellis' annual recognition for theater in the Volunteer State - were announced during a Facebook Live presentation from Nashville.

Bradley Brown has been named managing editor of the Nashville Shakespeare Festival and will be responsible for the administrative and operational management of NSF and will oversee the its marketing, development and accounting.

In her welcoming note to audiences at the 2018 version of Nashville Shakespeare Festival's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream - the 30th anniversary of the company's annual Shakespeare in the Park festivities at Centennial Park (which now is without question the place to be on a midsummer's night in Music City, all other artistic offerings that abound notwithstanding) - executive artistic director Denice Hicks takes a fanciful look ahead to 2048, and suggests that she'll either be in the audience or, quite possibly, in the cast of whatever show happens to be onstage some 30 years hence. Let me just make this prediction by way of critical pronouncement: Denice Hicks, then 88, will once again be playing the ethereal Puck in NSF's then-current Midsummer and I, who will be a spry 91-year-old at the time (or possibly a critical hologram), will be in the audience once again to marvel at her ageless skills and timeless artistry.

Helen Olaketi Mariah Shute-Pettaway, a 2011 First Night Honoree and one of Nashville's most revered actresses, will take on the iconic role of Regina Giddens in the ACT 1 production of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes. Directed by 2014 First Night Honoree Jeffrey Ellis, senior contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com, The Little Foxes runs at Darkhorse Theatre May 4-19.

All of Nashville is a stage - or will be at some point - as Nashville Shakespeare Festival's celebration of its 30th anniversary continues at venues both expected and unexpected during the coming months.

Wonderfully complex - and somehow unexpected and altogether authentic - performances from Sam Ashdown as Hamlet and Cheryl White as his mother Gertrude are enough reason to experience Nashville Shakespeare Festival's production of Hamlet (now onstage at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre through Sunday, followed by January 31-February 3 performances at Middle Tennessee State University's Tucker Theatre). But add to their stellar turns, an ensemble comprised of some of the best actors ever to set foot on a local stage, under the self-assured direction of the esteemed Denice Hicks (the company's artistic director), and it practically becomes a requirement for any theater lover within the sound of my voice.

Design categories, road shows, theatrical events and the 12 people whose achievements in 2017 are particularly noteworthy were revealed tonight as part two of First Night's Top Ten of 2018 - critic Jeffrey Ellis' annual review of the best in Tennessee theater was presented during a live Facebook broadcast with two of the hosts of Midwinter's First Night (Ashley Wolfe and J. Robert Lindsay) announcing the work recognized among the best of 2017.

With Nashville Shakespeare Festival's annual Winter Shakespeare production set to open Thursday night Denice Hicks' staging of Hamlet, starring Sam Ashdown actress Cheryl White, who plays Gertrude, found time between rehearsals to talk about the production.

Nashville Shakespeare Festival invites lovers of theater and The Bard to herald the arrival of 2018 and to celebrate the company's 30th Anniversary Season with a sneak peek of the upcoming production of Hamlet during their fifth annual Winter Shakespeare Open House at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre on Sunday, December 31, from 1 to 4 p.m.

Middle Tennessee State University's Theatre Department teams up with Nashville Shakespeare Festival for the upcoming production of Skakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by NSF artistic associate and MTSU adjunct professor of theatre Santiago Sosa. Midsummer runs November 9-12 at MTSU's Tucker Theatre.

Nashville Shakespeare Festival (NSF) continues its tradition of Shakespeare in the Park with The Winter's Tale and Antony & Cleopatra, running from Thursday, August 10 through Sunday, September 17 at Centennial Park's band shell.

Ann Cook Calhoun, an internationally renowned Shakespeare scholar and a powerful force for making the Bard's plays accessible to everyone, died August 13 in Nashville after a short illness. She was 82. Calhoun was a professor of English, emerita, at Vanderbilt University who held leadership roles in Shakespeare organizations around the world.

One of Music City's longest running summer theater traditions continues tonight with the debut of 2017's Shakespeare in the Park, Nashville Shakespeare Festival's annual gift to a generation of theater audiences. This year's edition of Shakespeare in the Park will feature two of the Bard's best known works - The Winter's Tale, which opens tonight, and Antony & Cleopatra, which opens next Thursday night at the Centennial Park Band Shell.

Nashville Shakespeare Festival (NSF) continues its tradition of Shakespeare in the Park with The Winter's Tale and Antony & Cleopatra, running from Today, August 10 through Sunday, September 17 at Centennial Park's band shell.

Nashville Shakespeare Festival presents its latest version of The Winter's Tale, directed by NSF artistic associate and apprentice company director Santiago Sosa, the 2017 season opening production of Shakespeare in the Park this Thursday, August 10, at Centennial Park's band shell.

It's the most wonderful time of the year for Nashville's theater community: 2017 Sideshow Fringe Festival opened last Thursday night with #ThrowbackThursdayLive! and a weekend jam-packed with offering for the most adventurous of theater-goers and as the action gears back up for another full calendar of events week, we pick back up with more FRINGE-y 5 interviews. Today, our spotlight focuses on Diego Gomez, an actor/writer/musician who is an integral part of 2017 Sidewhow Fringe Festival as writer of The Backpack, an original script performed last weekend, and as an actor in this week's Marian, Or (The True Story of Robin Hood).

Nashville Shakespeare Festival (NSF) continues its tradition of Shakespeare in the Park with The Winter's Tale and Antony & Cleopatra, running from Thursday, August 10 through Sunday, September 17 at Centennial Park's band shell.