The award-winning, hit show Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical, has announced the complete cast and creative team for the Off-Broadway return this fall. Playhouse 46 at St. Luke’s will be transported into satirized versions of Hawkins, Indiana, and the Upside Down, with performances set to begin on Monday, September 12th.
by Stephi Wild -
Hudson Classical Theater Company continues its 19th season with a new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. Unlike their previous Jane Austen adaptations, this one takes place in the 1950’s in Newport, Rhode Island.
by Chloe Rabinowitz -
This month, FEINSTEIN’S/54 BELOW, Broadway’s Supper Club & Private Event Destination, will present some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond.
by Taylor Brethauer-Hamling -
We've been compiling videos from college seniors all around the country for our new daily showcase series. Although their performances were cancelled, the show must go on-- virtually!
by Nancy Grossman -
An energetic cast of nearly 40 performers and a 16-piece orchestra give the incomparable Cole Porter score of ANYTHING GOES its due. Leigh Barrett headlines as Reno Sweeney, and multiple IRNE Award-winners Elaine Grace and Dan Rodriguez direct/choreograph and music direct/conduct, respectively. The fabulous singing and dancing keep this ship afloat for its transatlantic journey.
by Jeffrey Ellis -
GOOD MORNING, THEATERATI! According to my iPhone today is Monday, 22 May 2017 - the weekend, busy as it was, is over and we're left hankering for a few days off in order to relax and rejuvenate…which makes us ponder this musical question: What are your plans for next weekend? In our mind, of course, our mama is warning us that such queries are symptomatic of us 'wishing [our] life away,' as she would always admonish us to live in the now instead of trying to leap-frog over the next five days. So sayeth my beloved mama: 'Live life dramatically.' Therefore, a nap might have to suffice…
by Jeffrey Ellis -
2015 First Night Honoree Kaul Bluestone claimed her place in the First Night record books in the 20th Century: She was the 1996 Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play for her role in Circle Players' production of Dancing at Lughnasa...and she has starred in two critically acclaimed plays directed by First Night founder and executive producer Jeffrey Ellis in the 21st Century: The Last Night of Ballyhoo and Picnic, both for Circle Players.
by Jeffrey Ellis -
Hosted by 2014 MPA Emily Eytchison (a graduate of Nashville's David Lipscomb University) and 2013 MPA Cade Smith (an alumnus of Trevecca Nazarene University), the 90-minute show will feature members of this year's class of promising young actors performing a wide variety of musical numbers and dramatic/comedic monologues for their audience.
by Jeffrey Ellis -
2015 First Night Honoree Martha Wilkinson holds the record for the most First Night Awards with nine. A frequent performer on the First Night stage -- including particularly show-stopping numbers such as her rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone,' while clad in a white ballgown and backed up by a chorus of Nashville theater's leading men -- she's one of Tennessee's favorites for certain. She was first recognized by the First Night Awards in 1989, when she won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role in Circle Players' production of Pippin.
by Jeffrey Ellis -
More than 150 people gathered at Nashville's venerable Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre Monday night for the announcement of honorees and award winners for the 2015 First Night Honors. Preview Party celebrants were treated to a bountiful buffet of entertainment as cast members from several musicals currently on the boards or upcoming on Middle Tennessee stages performed numbers from their shows
by Jeffrey Ellis -
More than 150 people gathered at Nashville's venerable Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre Monday night for the announcement of honorees and award winners for the 2015 First Night Honors. Preview Party celebrants were treated to a bountiful buffet of entertainment as cast members from several musicals currently on the boards or upcoming on Middle Tennessee stages performed numbers from their shows.
by Jeffrey Ellis -
Nine individuals who have taken leading roles in making live theater in Tennessee better and more magical have been named as members of the Class of 2015 Honorees for The First Night Honors, the annual celebration of all things theatrical held in Nashville every September.
by Jeffrey Ellis -
Nine individuals who have taken leading roles in making live theater in Tennessee better and more magical have been named as members of the Class of 2015 Honorees for The First Night Honors, the annual celebration of all things theatrical held in Nashville every September.
by Jeffrey Ellis -
Elvis Presley – aka “The King,” Tupelo's most famous favorite son and Memphis' most revered musical icon – sure had a lot of music in his catalogue of hits, and it seems that almost all of it is included in the score of All Shook Up, the jukebox musical now onstage at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre through August 30. There are so many songs, in fact, that opening night may have run longer than anticipated, yet those songs are so entertainingly performed and the show is so full of heart that you can't help but stick around until the end.
by Jeffrey Ellis -
Rehearsals are drawing to a close as the bright lights of opening night begin to heat up at Nashville's Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, where the cast and crew of the company's big summer musical, All Shook Up, get ready for their big debut on Thursday. With a cast of Nashville theater veterans – joined by some of the region's brightest up-and-comers – it promises to be a grand theatrical affair. We've been sharing some of the backstage gossip for the past couple of weeks and as our preview coverage concludes, we share a special “by the numbers” look at the show, courtesy of Christen Heilman Runyon…
by Jeffrey Ellis -
Rehearsals got under way last week for Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre's big musical for the summer of 2015: All Shook Up. With a cast of Nashville theater veterans - joined by some of the region's brightest up-and-comers - you can rest assured that the rehearsal process will be just as much fun as the show itself. Throughout the next couple of weeks we'll be sharing 'diaries' from members of the cast and crew in anticipation of opening night on July 23.
by Jeffrey Ellis -
Rehearsals got under way this week for Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre's big musical for the summer of 2015: All Shook Up. With a cast of Nashville theater veterans -- joined by some of the region's brightest up-and-comers -- you can rest assured that the rehearsal process will be just as much fun as the show itself. Throughout the next couple of weeks we'll be sharing 'diaries' from members of the cast and crew in anticipation of opening night on July 23. Today, 2015 First Night Most Promising Actor Harley Seger (a rising senior at Christ Presbyterian Academy) and 2014 First Night Honoree Daron Bruce bring us up to speed...
by Jeffrey Ellis -
Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre - Nashville's venerable entertainment center, which for 49 years has been the theater home to thousands of actors, directors, technicians and artists - has announced the creative team and cast for this summer's eagerly anticipated production of All Shook Up, slated to run July 23-August 30.
by Jeffrey Ellis -
Cookeville High School's production of West Side Story claimed top honors - the award for Best Show of 2014/15 - last Saturday at the second annual Nashville High School Musical Theatre Awards, presented at Lipscomb University's Collins Alumni Auditorium and hosted by Melinda Doolittle.
by Jeffrey Ellis -
If writer P.L. Travers, the notoriously protective creator of Mary Poppins, was even half so prickly as we have been led to believe she was - thanks in large part to the screenplay for Saving Mr. Banks, the film retelling of her experiences with Walt Disney, et al, over the film adaptation of her beloved work - it's very easy to imagine how she might cringe at the thought of high school students taking on the musical theater version of her timeless story. However, if she knew in advance that it was being produced by Nashville's Christ Presbyterian Academy, under the direction of an artist as exacting as Paula Flautt, we rather think Miss Travers would be pleased -and without reservation.
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