Kate Adams News

Pop/rock musical, Gay Bride of Frankenstein which recently closed a successful out of town run is back in NYC for an industry concert reading at Joe's Pub on Tuesday, January 25 at 7:00 pm. The one night only concert reading stars Louis Hobson, who has played the role of Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine in Next to Normal since the musical's pre-Broadway engagement at Arena Stage in 2008. The concert will also feature the following cast members from the out of town run: Ashley Kate Adams (reprising her role from NYMF), Megan Kane, Wade Elkins, Derek Carley, Joshua Moore, Bradley Gale, Britt Mack and Maggie Politi. Directed by Igor Goldin and musically directed by Patrick Dorow. The book was written by Dane Leeman and Billy Butler and the music and lyrics were written by Billy Butler.

Donelson's Larry Keeton Theatre will present the turn-of-the-century classic Meet Me in St. Louis, November 5-21, directed and choreographed by Kate Adams-Johnson, with music direction by Ginger Newman. The show, based on the beloved 1944 MGM movie, contains many of the popular songs from its film counterpart including 'The Trolley Song', 'The Boy Next Door', 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' and 'Meet Me In St. Louis.'

Truth be told, 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' is one of my all-time favorite holiday songs - sweetly sentimental, blending holiday hope with a certain melancholic sensibility that is perfect for the season. Thankfully, Casey Gilbert's rendition of the song (long associated with the unparalleled Judy Garland) in The Keeton Theatre's production of Meet Me in St. Louis is beautifully sung and Kate Adams-Johnson directs that particular scene with a seasoned hand and an imaginative, visual aesthetic.

Donelson's Larry Keeton Theatre will present the turn-of-the-century classic Meet Me in St. Louis, November 5-21, directed and choreographed by Kate Adams-Johnson, with music direction by Ginger Newman. The show, based on the beloved 1944 MGM movie, contains many of the popular songs from its film counterpart including 'The Trolley Song', 'The Boy Next Door', 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' and 'Meet Me In St. Louis.'

Donelson's Larry Keeton Theatre will present the turn-of-the-century classic Meet Me in St. Louis, November 5-21, directed and choreographed by Kate Adams-Johnson, with music direction by Ginger Newman. The show, based on the beloved 1944 MGM movie, contains many of the popular songs from its film counterpart including 'The Trolley Song', 'The Boy Next Door', 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' and 'Meet Me In St. Louis.'

Final casting has been announced for the professional world premiere of the New York Musical Theater Festival hit, Gay Bride of Frankenstein, which will play Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth, NH October 15 - 31, 2010.

Casting has been announced for the professional world premiere of the New York Musical Theater Festival hit, Gay Bride of Frankenstein, which will play Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth NH October 15 - 31, 2010.

Final casting has been announced for the professional world premiere of the New York Musical Theater Festival hit, Gay Bride of Frankenstein, which will play Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth, NH October 15 - 31, 2010.

Casting has been announced for the professional world premiere of the New York Musical Theater Festival hit, Gay Bride of Frankenstein, which will play Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth NH October 15 - 31, 2010.

Final casting has been announced for the professional world premiere of the New York Musical Theater Festival hit, Gay Bride of Frankenstein, which will play Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth, NH October 15 - 31, 2010.

With a cast of 125 performers, a seven-member band, the show's running crew and a smattering of other people holding forth, the backstage scene at last Sunday night's First Night Nashville Theatre Honors was a virtual stage show in itself with all the hustle and bustle amid the hushed tones associated with the backstage area of a huge theatrical production.

Photographer Stacy Battles, one of Nashville's best known celebrity photographers, was on hand to shoot the red carpet arrivals that heralded the return of First Night, after an absence of some 14 years. First Night is presented by Jeffrey Ellis, who covers Nashville theater for BroadwayWorld.com, and who is the founder of the awards celebration that was first held on September 17, 1989.

Casting has been announced for the professional world premiere of the New York Musical Theater Festival hit, Gay Bride of Frankenstein, which will play Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth NH October 15 - 31, 2010.

Members of the Nashville theatre and dance community - including many performing companies and individual artists - will take part in ARTS for Nashville-Flood Relief Fundraiser, to be held Saturday, May 22 at 7 p.m. at the Larry Keeton Theatre in Donelson. They will join forces to raise money for those people affected by the recent catastrophic flooding in Middle Tennessee. Proceeds from Saturday night's event will go to the Nashville Salvation Army's Local Flood Relief Direct Services. In addition, the Keeton Theatre will be collecting food items for Second Harvest Food Bank. Tickets for the show are $20 and are available online at www.ticketsnashville.com.

Members of the Nashville theatre and dance community - including many performing companies and individual artists - will take part in ARTS for Nashville-Flood Relief Fundraiser, to be held Saturday, May 22 at 7 p.m. at the Larry Keeton Theatre in Donelson. They will join forces to raise money for those people affected by the recent catastrophic flooding in Middle Tennessee. Proceeds from Saturday night's event will go to the Nashville Salvation Army's Local Flood Relief Direct Services. In addition, the Keeton Theatre will be collecting food items for Second Harvest Food Bank. Tickets for the show are $20 and are available online at www.ticketsnashville.com.

A revival of Circle Players' 2008 production, which was staged at the company's then-home at the Z. Alexander Looby Theatre, this 'new and improved' mounting (a collaboration between Circle and SCA) is astounding in its sheer chutzpah. Who'd have ever thought a community theatre could take on such a daunting task and be so imminently successful in doing so? Frankly, it boggles the mind.

But the week before the show, cast members from the production of Titanic, the Musical took part in the opening ceremonies for the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The cast performed the opening number from the show which introduces many of the people who were on the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic and ends with the stirring anthem 'Godspeed, Titanic.'

The fundraiser 'Over the Rainbow Cabaret' was held recently and raised over $7000.00 for the underfunded arts program at the Pollock Elementary School in urban Philadelphia.

Swing!, the Broadway musical that celebrates the music and dance phenomenon will play its final show at The Senior Center for the Arts' Nashville Dinner Theatre on February 28.

As good as Swing! is - and it is very good despite some dangerously frightening near-misses and a rather frenetic pace - one thing bothers me: Why did Adams-Johnson, borrowing a journalistic reference, bury her lead in the middle of the second act? Every journalism student learns in News Writing 101 that you never want to bury your lead; you want the most pertinent bit of information in your first paragraph. In the case of Swing!, you're offered tantalizing glimpses of the story's lead as soon as the curtain opens, but the show doesn't deliver the goods until well into the show's second hour.