Jamie London News

Taking on a stage role that was indelibly created onscreen by Erich Von Stroheim has got to be a daunting experience, but Nashville actor Randal Cooper takes on the theatrical challenge in The Larry Keeton Theatre's production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, onstage in Donelson through March 5.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

2014 First Night Honoree - and one of Nashville's most acclaimed actresses, cabaret artists and music directors - Ginger Newman is "ready for [her] close-up," as Norma Desmond in The Larry Keeton Theatre puts the finishing touches on their upcoming production of Andrew Lloyd Weber's Sunset Boulevard.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

2014 First Night Honoree – and one of Nashville's most acclaimed actresses, cabaret artists and music directors – Ginger Newman is “ready for [her] close-up,” as Norma Desmond in The Larry Keeton Theatre puts the finishing touches on their upcoming production of Andrew Lloyd Weber's Sunset Boulevard.

Thus, we are happy to present one of our most popular features: The Nashville Theater Calendar, a comprehensive - maybe even exhaustive (lord knows we're exhausted from putting it together, gathering all the info from all over the interwebs!) - listing of theatrical openings for the 2015/16 season. We'll update the calendar every Monday, clearing out the shows that have closed and adding additional information on the shows still to come

Thus, we are happy to present one of our most popular features: The Nashville Theater Calendar, a comprehensive - maybe even exhaustive (lord knows we're exhausted from putting it together, gathering all the info from all over the interwebs!) - listing of theatrical openings for the 2016 season. We'll update the calendar every Monday, clearing out the shows that have closed and adding additional information on the shows still to come.

Directors and producers in the Nashville region are seeking actors for upcoming productions of The Larry Keeton Theatre's upcoming production of Sunset Boulevard, Pull-Tight Theatre's production of Osborne and Eppler's Southern Fried Funeral  and Robertson County Players' The Man Who Came to Dinner - and there are upcoming national auditions for the tour of Newsies, set for Nashville on December 11. 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 in the Nashville region are seeking actors for upcoming productions of The Larry Keeton Theatre's upcoming production of Sunset Boulevard, Murfreesboro's Center for the Arts' Dreamgirls, Arts Center of Cannon County's Memphis the Musical and ACT 1's production of Will Enos' The Flu Season. We've gathered the details together here to make your planning easier. So now you have no excuse: go follow your dream!

If you were to ask me to list my five favorite musicals (or even my top ten), there is a very good chance I would not include Meredith Willson's The Music Man among my chosen favorites. But then I see another production of that particular Willson tribute to Americana that features a fast-talking salesman and a beautiful young librarian named Marian and I am suddenly reminded that I absolutely adore The Music Man and all 76 of its trombones - and I feel remiss in not listing it among the shows I love.

With almost 400 people in the audience, the leading lights of Tennessee theater were heralded with the presentation of the 2015 First Night Honors Gala, Sunday night at the iconic and historic Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre in Nashville. Hosted by Geoff Davin, Stephanie Jones-Benton and Erica Patterson, the event featured musical numbers by more than 100 performers in tribute to the Class of 2015 Honorees.

VWA Theatricals has found its Cathy and Jamie for the upcoming production of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years: Delaney Amatrudo and Luke Denison. Amatrudo and Denison will lead the cast for the musical, which runs August 13-22 at Nashville's iconic Darkhorse Theater. Amatrudo currently studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and Denison is a recent graduate of Indiana University.

Directors and producers in the Nashville region are seeking actors for upcoming productions of August: Osage County, Nunsense, The Last Five Years, Heathers the Musical, Smoke/Spirit and The Music Man. We've gathered the details together here to make your planning easier. So now you have no excuse!

Is there anything more magical or more transformative than live theater? Honestly, I can't think of anything which can take you from the depths of despair to the fanciful heights of imagination so quickly - and there certainly is no art form in which things can change so capriciously or quicker, either for good or bad.

Its Vacation Bible School vibe aside, Godspell - the Stephen Schwartz musical from 1971 that grew from a class project at Carnegie Mellon University that most recently was revived on Broadway in 2011 - relates the parables of Jesus Christ in a sprightly, colorful way that can be entertaining and elucidating. Now onstage at The Larry Keeton Theatre, Nashville's theater home for classic musical comedies, Godspell features a winning cast led by Wesley King and Elliott Robinson under the direction of musical theater veterans Jamie London and Ginger Newman.

Godspell features the talents of Wesley King as Jesus, Elliott Robinson in the dual role of John-Judas. Playing themselves as "disciples" are Keeton Theatre regulars Tonya Pewitt, Stella London, Christina Redden, Santyana Harris, plus two newcomers to the Keeton Theatre family: Lisa Graham and Rachel Wilson.

One needn't be clairvoyant to sense that Delaney Amatrudo is destined for stardom; that's been evident, at the very least, since she was a middle schooler. For Nashville area audiences who have been lucky enough to see her live and onstage, it's very obvious that she possesses that ethereal quality which makes her stand out in any crowd, that is especially noticeable when she is onstage, and which burns brightly regardless of the situation.

Our second spotlight of the week focuses on Abigail Davis Haggard, one of Music City's busiest actresses, who opens tonight in the Keeton Theatre's seasonal production of A Christmas Carol, the Musical, directed by Jamie London and music directed by Ginger Newman.