L.T. Kirk News

Nashville theater mavens and the fans of internet-borne musicals (it's a sub-genre of some group, look it up!) are fairly a-dither in anticipation of this week's opening night for ACT 1's production of A Fann-Made, Permission-Granted, Unofficial Production of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (yep, that's the unwieldy name, thanks to the fine print, legal kinda stuff at the bottom of the page), as it takes over Darkhorse Theatre for six performances (Friday and Saturday nights only) November 18-December 3.

Nashville audiences will be treated to a stage adaptation of one of the internet's biggest pop-culture phenomenon as ACT 1 presents a Fann-made, Permission Granted, Unofficial production of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, running November 18-December 3 at The Darkhorse Theatre.

There is so much energy, enthusiasm and heart found in Street Theatre Company's Hairspray that it's certain to keep your spirits buoyed for a long time after leaving the theater. Brought to the stage by a competent creative team and a huge cast of committed performers, the Scott Wittman-Marc Shaiman musical - featuring a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan based on John Waters' wholly original film - Hairspray is great big fun, featuring some lovable characters and one of the most infectious musical theatre scores around.

Make no mistake about it: Street Theatre Company's Chess in Concert is filled to overflowing with an embarrassment of riches. If for no other reason, you should see the concert (onstage through Sunday, February 27) for Laura Matula's bravura performance as Florence Vassy - the American chess champion's second who falls into a torrid affair with his Russian counterpart - which is as stunning as any star turn you will see by any woman in musical theater anywhere. (There. I've said it and I mean it with all my heart: Laura Matula has a spectacularly expressive voice and her dramatic performance in this role is richly shaded and nuanced. In short, she should be a very big star!)

ACT 1, one of Nashville's oldest community theatre groups, staged the Gilbert & Sullivan classic The Mikado as the first production of its 20th anniversary season. Running August 7-22, The Mikado was directed by Bob Fish, with music direction by Lee Druce, the cast featured Francine Berk, Whitney Rose Cone, Steven Luboniecki, Valerie Navarre, James Rudolph, Daniel Sadler, Vicki White, John Wilson, L.T. Kirk, Amber Boyer, Megan Hunt, Jamie Janiszewski, Brenda Jones, Tricia Musser, Becca Nelson, Andrew Drumheller, Jamie Helms, Josh Matthews, Danny Proctor and Daniel Vincent. The show was produced by Donald Powell, Jennifer Rybolt and Sue Stinemetz.

History tells us that London was caught up in some sort of Japanese fervor in 1885 when Gilbert and Sullivan debuted their newest comic opera, The Mikado or The Town of Titipu at the Savoy Theatre. And now, 124 years later, Nashville theatre-goers may find themselves in a similar state, thanks to a superior production of the entertaining work, which bows as the first show in the 20th anniversary season from ACT 1, one of Tennessee's best community theatre groups.