Kari Smith News

Today, we continue to celebrate the return of Collegiate Theatrics featuring one of our favorites from the theatre department at Nashville’s Lipscomb University: Connor Adair, a native of Edmond, Oklahoma. Throughout his time on-campus, he’s become a stalwart company member of virtually every Lipscomb University Theatre production we’ve reviewed, most recently taking on a significant supporting role in their acclaimed production of Big Fish.

On its surface, there is so much about which to alternately fall in love with/wonder quizzically about in Big Fish, the musical with book by John August (based on his screenplay for the 2003 film version) and a score by Andrew Lippa, that there’s no wonder the show had trouble finding its audience on Broadway but now has proven tremendously popular among theaters all over the country.

Confidently directed by Beki Baker, in a stylish and rather sophisticated production led by two of Lipscomb Theatre’s finest – Victoria Griffin as Lizzy Bennet and Bryce Dunn as Mr. Darcy – Pride and Prejudice is clearly one of the most entertaining and quite joyful productions we’ve seen since the pandemic has loosened its grip on theater and allowed a return to near-normalcy stagewise.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 19th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Nashville Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 12th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Nashville Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 5th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Nashville Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

In October 2001, Mamma Mia! opened on Broadway, just weeks after the horrific events of 9/11, and most pundits had little inkling that the show – a jukebox musical comprised of ABBA hits and the story of a young girl trying to divine the identity of her father from among three of her mother’s suitors some 21 years earlier – would go on to become the ninth longest running musical in the history of the New York theatrical enclave. But Mamma Mia! was exactly what the theater-going public needed in the aftermath of an epoch-shattering and historic event: an enormously entertaining, fast-paced show set to an eminently hummable, danceable score of songs that could whisk them away to another time and place.

There is something about Hatty Ryan King a?" the young woman playing Alice Murphy in Lipscomb University Theatre's superb production of Bright Star (the recent Broadway musical by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell) now onstage at Collins Alumni Auditorium through November 10 a?" that sets her apart from her peers, that makes her seem destined for greatness and which ensures that every role she takes on is elevated by her unerring instincts, her palpable presence and her inestimable talent.

Lindsey Reynolds (who plays the title character) and Anna McRae (The Cheshire Cat) shared some of their own theatrical backgrounds and interests, as well as offering some compelling reasons for you to join them and their castmates at the show this weekend in today's edition of High School Drama.

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.

Like every high school senior before, Lipscomb Academy's Addison McFarlin and Keller Montgomery are trying to store away as many memories as possible during their final year of high school, while maintaining their GPAs, going to class and being a part of campus life. But Addison and Keller are actors, so their schedules are even fuller, particularly this week as they find themselves in the middle to Tech Week for Lipscomb Academy's fall musical Big Fish, directed by Kari Smith.

Looking ahead, you'll find a number of new productions on tap for your entertainment pleasure, thanks to the efforts of theater companies all over Middle Tennessee. Here's our calendar for November 5, 2018, to help you plot your course through the end of the year...

Patriq James' graceful portrayal of Jesus Christ in Lipscomb University Theatre's production of Godspell - now onstage in Collins Alumni Auditorium on the school's Nashville campus - shines like a beacon in the very center of the show, providing the very heart of every story told by director Scott Baker's 17-person cast. But if James provides the show's heart, it is perhaps the members of Baker's ensemble, which includes a deft blending of experienced student actors with an assortment of newcomers to their company, who provide its soul.

Lipscomb University Theatre has only just announced its 2018-19 season and Beki Baker, chair of the Lipscomb University theatre department, says student response already has shown “an overwhelming amount of excitement.”

First Night's Top Ten for 2018 - critic Jeffrey Ellis' annual review of the best in Tennessee theater were revealed last night during a live Facebook broadcast, with the hosts of Midwinter's First Night (Ashley Wolfe, J. Robert Lindsay, Tosha Pendergrast and Ben Pendergrast) announcing the productions and performances recognized among the best of 2017.

Based on Hungarian playwright Miklos Lazlo's Parfumerie (which has also served as the inspiration for the movies The Shop Around the Corner, In the Good Ole Summertime and You've Got Mail), She Loves Me is, for most musical theater aficionados, one of those infrequently-produced theatrical gems venerated by fans with much-played cast albums in their collections and beloved by audiences lucky enough to actually see the show onstage.

Among cast members of The Miracle Worker was Anna Elizabeth Micksch, who today is featured in our Collegiate Theatrics column. Born and raised in the greater Nashville/Franklin area, Anna became interested in theater at a very young age a love of art she credits to her father, who was designing a set for a play at St. Cecilia Academy.

Lipscomb University Theatre opens its 2017-18 season with the Kari Smith-directed version of William Gibson's The Miracle Worker, the timeless and dramatically driven stage rendition of the life of Helen Keller and her relationship with her devoted teacher, Annie Sullivan. Sarah Johnson, a musical theatre major from Fort Wayne, Indiana, is cast as Helen and this week she sat down to consider our queries, provide us with some insight and to become the latest student featured in Collegiate Theatrics.

GOOD MORNING, THEATERATI! It's Monday, May 15, 2017, which begs the question: What's on your theatrical agenda this week? There's plenty to see and do, so we simply won't allow any excuses: Get thee to a darkened auditorium, settle into your seats and allow yourself to be transported and, in the process, transformed - all thanks to the magic of live theater!

As Tony Award nominations were being revealed on Tuesday to honor productions and performances during the 2016-17 season, organizers of The 2017 Spotlight Awards - honoring the best in high school musical theater throughout Middle Tennessee -  were tallying scores and assembling all the names of nominees for the awards presentation to be held Saturday, May 13, at Andrew Johnson Hall at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center.