First Night Award winning playwrights Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler's Southern Fried Funeral will be featured among productions celebrating the Golden Anniversary of Crossville's Cumberland County Playhouse in 2015.
Inspired by BroadwayWorld.com's Friday Six, welcome to BroadwayWorld Nashville's freshest installment of The Friday Five: five questions designed to help you learn more about the talented people you'll find onstage throughout the Volunteer state. This week's spotlight falls on Cumberland County Playhouse's legendary Jason Ross.
In July, Cumberland County Playhouse and the Scopes Trial Festival in Dayton co-produced Front Page News, a new, historically accurate 'play with music' about the famous Scopes 'Monkey Trial.' Following that success, director Jim Crabtree turns to the fictional drama inspired by those events, Inherit The Wind. The play is based on elements of the Scopes trial, but also inspired by the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s. Crabtree's hymn-filled production strives to promote respect for all views. 'Working on Front Page News was a revelation,' says Crabtree. 'The more I learned the actual surrounding the Scopes Trial, the more respect I gained for the real people of Dayton. This knowledge informs our Inherit The Wind.'
MainStreet Dayton and The Scopes Festival bring Cumberland County Playhouse's productions of Smoke on the Mountain and A Sanders Family Christmas to the historic Scopes Trial Courtroom of Rhea County Courthouse this September and November. Smoke on the Mountain (rated G, sponsored by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store), now in its 21st year at the Playhouse, and touring the Southeast, plays in Dayton on September 28 at 3:00 PM EDT, with A Sanders Family Christmas (rated G), in its 16thCCP season, visiting on Nov. 30, also at 3:00 PM.
Beginning September 12, Cumberland County Playhouse promises audiences a devilishly good time as they present Damn Yankees, the Tony Award-winning musical that's all about America's favorite pastime, baseball! Middle-aged Joe Boyd (Jim Crabtree) will do anything to see his beloved Washington Senators win the pennant-even sell his soul to the Devil. So when charming Mr. Applegate (Jason Ross) offers him the chance to dethrone the Yankees and lead his team to the pennant, Joe can't resist the temptation. But when transformed into the baseball sensation of the year, young Joe Hardy (Blake Graham) must decide if the life he gave up is more important than youth and fame. Only with the help of the Devil's sultry seductress Lola (Leila Nelson) does Hardy have a chance at redemption.
RABBIT HOLE, a David Lindsay-Abaire opus, presents a story about a wife, Becca, and her family, struggling to get past the loss of Danny, Becca's son, who was killed when he was hit by a car. Red Turnip Theater does not "squeeze blood" from this play, but it definitely paints the turnip red. Red Turnip Theater brings an intimate take on this acclaimed play. Despite some not-so-good things written below, RABBIT HOLE, surely, is an experience!
“Live From E!,” the fast-paced, roundtable series that delivers a unique take on the most talked about entertainment and pop culture news through a lively panel-driven conversation, is expanding to three nights a week, it was announced today by Cyndi McClellan, President, Network Strategy & E! News, E!.
Cumberland County Playhouse and its producing partner The SCOPES FESTIVAL, in Dayton, TN, have added three more performances of FRONT PAGE NEWS, the newly adapted, historically accurate play with music, opening Friday July 18 in the historic "monkey trial" courtroom in Dayton's Rhea County Courthouse. Additional shows of the new work are on Saturday, July 26 at 2:30 and 7:30pm, and the final show on Sunday, July 27 at 2:30 pm (All times are EDT). "Tickets for opening weekend are going fast, with a few good seats still open, especially on Saturday night at 7:30" says MainStreet Dayton director Anna Tromanhouser of the Festival Committee. "But call now!"
Beginning July 18, everything's coming up roses as the Playhouse brings one of the greatest American musicals of all time to life…Gypsy! From the unforgettable first notes of its legendary overture to the final white hot spotlight, Gypsy is considered by many to be 'the best musical ever,' as it tells the story of the archetypal stage mother, Rose and her daughters June and Louise. Set during the 1920s fading vaudeville circuit, Gypsy portrays the rise of famed burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee and casts an affectionate eye on show business as she journeys across the country with her mother and sister during a time when Vaudeville was dying… and burlesque was born. Bold, brassy, yet remarkably charming, Rose puts today's Dance Moms to shame as she steamrolls everyone in her way to turn her daughters into child stars. When the younger, more talented daughter defects, Rose sinks all her hopes (and claws) into the elder.
Commercial video production company !Gung Ho Films lends a hand to Red Turnip Theater to helm the official trailer of the latter's second season opener, David Lindsay-Abaire's 2007 Pulitzer Prize winning play RABBIT HOLE. Directed by Enzo Marcos, the teaser film introduces the play's main cast Michael Williams, Agot Isidro, Sheila Francisco, and Che Ramos-Cosio.
Beginning July 18, everything's coming up roses as the Playhouse brings one of the greatest American musicals of all time to life…Gypsy! From the unforgettable first notes of its legendary overture to the final white hot spotlight, Gypsy is considered by many to be 'the best musical ever,' as it tells the story of the archetypal stage mother, Rose and her daughters June and Louise. Set during the 1920s fading vaudeville circuit, Gypsy portrays the rise of famed burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee and casts an affectionate eye on show business as she journeys across the country with her mother and sister during a time when Vaudeville was dying… and burlesque was born. Bold, brassy, yet remarkably charming, Rose puts today's Dance Moms to shame as she steamrolls everyone in her way to turn her daughters into child stars. When the younger, more talented daughter defects, Rose sinks all her hopes (and claws) into the elder.
The ever-popular Smoke on the Mountain returns to Tennessee's Family Theater today, May 30th. Now in its twenty-first consecutive year at Cumberland County Playhouse, Smoke continues to play to sold-out crowds and delight audiences again and again.
The ever-popular Smoke on the Mountain returns to Tennessee's Family Theater on May 30th. Now in its twenty-first consecutive year at Cumberland County Playhouse, Smoke continues to play to sold-out crowds and delight audiences again and again.
Cumberland County Playhouse starts May off with a bang as they present Irving Berlin's beloved musical Annie Get Your Gun, starring Tennessee's Miss America Kellye Cash as sharpshooter Annie Oakley. Set to one of Berlin's most famous scores, the show contains such classics as 'There's No Business Like Show Business', 'Doin' What Comes Naturally', 'You Can't Get a Man With a Gun', 'They Say It's Wonderful', 'My Defenses Are Down' and 'Anything You Can Do'.
Cumberland County Playhouse starts May off with a bang as they present Irving Berlin's beloved musical Annie Get Your Gun, starring Tennessee's Miss America Kellye Cash as sharpshooter Annie Oakley. Set to one of Berlin's most famous scores, the show contains such classics as "There's No Business Like Show Business", "Doin' What Comes Naturally", "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun", "They Say It's Wonderful", "My Defenses Are Down" and "Anything You Can Do".
Beginning tonight, March 28, Cumberland County Playhouse will present a thrilling new adaptation of one of the most widely read books in the world, The Diary of Anne Frank. This unforgettable story dramatizes the true events of a teenaged Jewish girl, her family and others in danger - including a boy near her age - as they hide from the Nazi occupiers of wartime Amsterdam in the 1940's. Adapted by Wendy Kesselman from the original version by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, the Playhouse production returns to Anne's original diary, sharing her thoughts and dreams of growing up, and the adventure of life amid the dangers of war and the fear of capture.
Beginning March 28, Cumberland County Playhouse will present a thrilling new adaptation of one of the most widely read books in the world, The Diary of Anne Frank. This unforgettable story dramatizes the true events of a teenaged Jewish girl, her family and others in danger - including a boy near her age - as they hide from the Nazi occupiers of wartime Amsterdam in the 1940's. Adapted by Wendy Kesselman from the original version by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, the Playhouse production returns to Anne's original diary, sharing her thoughts and dreams of growing up, and the adventure of life amid the dangers of war and the fear of capture.
It's the most requested title - and the most popular production - in Playhouse history, and February 28 through May 22, Cumberland County Playhouse brings The Foreigner back to the Mainstage! Since its 1983 premiere, The Foreigner has earned two Obie Awards and two Outer Critics Circle Awards as Best New American Play and Best Off-Broadway Production. In Larry Shue's hilarious farce, painfully shy Charlie Baker (Jason Ross) visits a fishing lodge in Georgia with his friend Froggy LeSeuer (Michael Ruff), a British demolitions expert who runs training sessions at a nearby army base. Terrified of actually having to converse with strangers once Froggy departs, Charlie adopts the persona of a foreigner who doesn't understand English. When the other residents of the lodge begin to speak freely around him, he not only becomes privy to secrets both frivolous and dangerous, he also discovers an adventurous extrovert within himself.
The winners of the Writers Guild of America awards will be revealed in dual ceremonies today, Feb. 1, in Los Angeles and New York City. Today, the nominees for television, film, video games, and more were announced. Check them out below!
Voting is now underway for Nashville! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.
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