Denice Hicks News

GOOD MORNING, THEATERATI: Welcome to Friday, June 2, 2017! The weekend is upon us (thank you, very much) and we cannot conceive of a better way to live life dramatically than by catching a first night performance of a show? It's opening night for several new shows and we send out warm wishes of "break a leg"...

Among such people is Jason Glick, a charming and talented man who came to town back in the 1990s, made a name for himself on a variety of local stages - Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, Nashville Shakespeare Festival and Circle Players readily come to mind - and then decided to leave town, enroll in law school and who now, in the circuitous way that creative people wend their way through life, he's happily married, the dad to two boys and pursuing his art in Portland, Oregon.

Carrie Brewer's fiery portrayal of the man who would ultimately become King Henry IV is certain to resonate with audiences for the compelling production of William Shakespeare's Richard II - onstage at Shamblin Theatre through April 23 in a joint production from Nashville Shakespeare Festival and Lipscomb University Theatre - especially in contrast to Caroline Amos' highly theatrical portrayal of the eponymous king whose indecision and lack of personal gravitas results in his ultimate demise.

Nashville Shakespeare Festival continues its 2017 season with Richard II, a co-production with Lipscomb University, which will run from Thursday, April 13, through Sunday, April 23. The rarely-produced play features an all-female cast and will be performed at Lipscomb University's Shamblin Theatre. Photographer Kenn Stilger captured Tuesday night's dress rehearsal in the accompanying photographs.

Spring is here! Why doesn't my heart go dancing? Well, Mr. Lorenz Hart, personally, we are too damn busy with creating the magic of live theater: We're directing a show (Daddy's Dyin'…Who's Got the Will? opens next week - April 20 - at The Larry Keeton Theatre in Donelson, thank you very much) and trying to make it out to see as much theater in Nashville as possible before old age takes its toll - it's tough out there for a theater critic!

The Nashville Shakespeare Festival continues its 2017 season with Richard II, a co-production with Lipscomb University, which will run from Thursday, April 13 - Sunday, April 23.

Romeo & Juliet is directed by Nashville Shakespeare Festival's lead teaching artist Santiago Sosa and features a live musical score by Natalie Bell. The fast-paced and youthful production explores the themes of young love and rash acts of violence amid entrenched generational conflict. The star-crossed lovers will be played by newcomers Mason Conrad and Morgan Davis. The cast also features, Nat McIntyre, David Wilkerson, Corrie Maxwell, Rene Millan, Denice Hicks and many more.

First Night's Top Ten of 2017 - critic Jeffrey Ellis' annual review of the best in Tennessee theater - were revealed tonight during a live Facebook broadcast at 7:30 p.m. (CST), with Actor's Bridge Ensemble and Studio Tenn/TPAC leading the nods in this year's listing of categories.

Romeo & Juliet is directed by Nashville Shakespeare Festival's lead teaching artist Santiago Sosa and features a live musical score by Natalie Bell. The fast-paced and youthful production explores the themes of young love and rash acts of violence amid entrenched generational conflict. The star-crossed lovers will be played by newcomers Mason Conrad and Morgan Davis. The cast also features, Nat McIntyre, David Wilkerson, Corrie Maxwell, Rene Millan, Denice Hicks and many more.

Two Broadway veterans join with a group of seven of Tennessee's most enduring, influential and outstanding theater artists to comprise the Class of 2016 First Night Honorees, who were revealed Monday night during the annual First Night preview party, hosted by First Night founder and executive producer Jeffrey Ellis.

Although the calendar tells us we're still in the spring season, things are quickly heating up in Nashville - theatrically speaking - and theater-goers have a plethora of shows coming up from which to choose, including some summer musicals that are sure to set feet a-tapping and a classic drama that's sure to provoke more thought and discussion than perhaps ever before.

David Compton – one of the region's most accomplished and acclaimed and most beloved actors and directors – died early Wednesday morning, May 4, after a four-year battle with heart disease and cancer. He leaves his wife, Amanda Card Compton (whom he married on Tuesday, May 3, just hours before his death); his mother, Jo Compton of Badin, North Carolina; his sister Becky Compton Taylor; his brother Jim Compton; and countless other friends and family who are mourning his passing.

Hear ye, hear ye…Music City Confidential is back! Which means, of course, that I've heard an awful lot of scuttlebutt since last week's column went live on the interwebs - or, more likely, that I am trying to avoid boring and mundane stuff like packing - I'll let you decide what my motivation truly is...

Since coming to Nashville two years ago, actor/director/teacher Santiago Sosa has found his new theater home to be 'very welcoming and warm' as he's been graciously accepted into the family of artists who make Music City their home. And now, with auditions for Nashville Shakespeare Festival's Apprentice Company on the horizon (April 28 and 29), he's anxious to himself welcome new folks into the ever-growing family of theater types who are bent on improving their skills, expanding their understanding of all things Shakespeare and adding to their own personal bags of theatrical tricks - all while establishing roots in Tennessee.

Nashville Shakespeare Festival will celebrate Shakespeare's birthday and the 400th anniversary of his death today, April 23, with the Bard's Birthday Bash at the Nashville Public Library Main Branch, located at 615 Church Street.

Nashville Shakespeare Festival will celebrate Shakespeare's birthday and the 400th anniversary of his death this Saturday, April 23, with the Bard's Birthday Bash at the Nashville Public Library Main Branch, located at 615 Church Street.

Directors and producers throughout Middle Tennessee are seeking actors for upcoming productions of The Little Mermaid (directed by Brittany Blaire Anderson for Circle Players) and Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, along with Nashville Shakespeare Festival's upcoming Shakespeare in the Park and Winter Shakespeare productions - and the folks from Disney are planning auditions coming up in April, so you know you want to put on your ears and welcome them to Music City... We've gathered the details together here to make your planning easier. So now you have no excuse: go follow your dream!

Directors and producers throughout Middle Tennessee are seeking actors for upcoming productions of Verge Theater Company's Skinless, Legally Blonde, the Musical (at Columbia's Center for the Arts) and The Little Mermaid (directed by Brittany Blaire Anderson for Circle Players) - and the folks from Disney are planning auditions coming up in April, so you know you want to put on your ears and welcome them to Music City... We've gathered the details together here to make your planning easier. So now you have no excuse: go follow your dream!

Theater-goers from our neck o' the woods have been quite spoiled already this year - and 2016 is barely three months old - and the hits, as they are wont to say, just keep on coming. In fact, there's so much great theater going on in the Nashville area right now, that you may be having a difficult time choosing among the bounteous offerings local companies are providing you.