LaToya Gardner News

Featuring a triumvirate of capable, confident and consummately talented actors-LaToya Gardner, Kevin Mead and Lisa Graham-in the show's leading roles, it is a beautifully sung, interestingly staged and tremendously affecting musical that succeeds even despite the limitations of director Ralph Gabriel's sometimes questionable choices.

Apparently, it is Elvis Week in Nashville (at least according to the fine folks at Loveless Cafe), so before we head out to the theater for a full weekend of show openings and the like, a trip to West Nashville for a slice of the Loveless' Elvis pie is in order (for the uninitiated, that's peanut butter, banana, bacon and homemade whipped cream-the four basic food groups, according to The King.), so before we slip into a diabetic coma, here's installment #7 of Music City Confidential, all the news that's fit to print from onstage, offstage, backstage and beyond…

Elton John's pop music influences will be readily apparent for audiences when they sit down at the Keeton Theatre for a performance of his Tony-Award-winning Broadway musical Aida, directed by Ralph Gabriel for Circle Players. Using Verdi's classic opera as a source, Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice have created an accessible musical inspired by Motown, dance music, reggae and gospel.

Welcome to the fifth installment of Music City Confidential, my column to collect the flotsam and jetsam, informationally speaking, of theatre in Tennessee. Sorry for the long delay since the last installment, but I've been theatering my butt off all over the Volunteer State in search of intriguing gossip and riveting news stories just for you, my gentle readers.

Elton John's pop music influences will be readily apparent for audiences when they sit down at the Keeton Theatre for a performance of his Tony-Award-winning Broadway musical Aida, directed by Ralph Gabriel for Circle Players. Using Verdi's classic opera as a source, Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice have created an accessible musical inspired by Motown, dance music, reggae and gospel.

Now, we're the last to try to stir up trouble or to further flame the fires of jealousy or envy, but we thought we'd share with you some photographs of some of those lovely ladies who could delight their audiences just by standing there-but whom inspire and encourage us all with their superb onstage talents. So, here's our recommendation, take a look at these photographs, then find out on which stages you can find these women this summer, then make a reservation and go to the theater…

If you can find a more joy-filled, inspirational musical than Regina Taylor's Crowns-a tribute to African-American women, their church-going traditions, their friends and families and their gorgeous chapeaux-I can't imagine what it could possibly be! Raising the roof of the historic Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Nashville to praise the Lord and recount the struggles and achievements of generations of proud African-American women resplendent in their fashion and finery, showing off their ingrained "hattitude" with dignity, pride and grace, Crowns works its way into your heart easily, ultimately taking its place in your soul with its universal tale of love, hope and devotion.

Playwright Nate Eppler, Mas Nashville's FIVE, the Boiler Room Theatre, Lipscomb University's Hairspray, ACT 1's American Buffalo and the national touring company of Memphis, the Musical were the top winners at Sunday night's Midwinter's First Night at Nashville's Keeton Theatre, which also featured the presentation of the BroadwayWorld.com Nashville and Tennessee theatre awards.

Celebrating their company's 61st season - which makes them the oldest community theater in Middle Tennessee - Nashville's Circle Players recognized outstanding achievement during the 2010-2011 season with the presentation of the Circle Awards on Sunday, June 19.

Director Eric Link leads a cast of accomplished local actresses in Lakewood Theatre Company's 31st season's production of The Dixie Swim Club, a comedy by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten. According to Link - who is vice president of Lakewood Theatre Company and is the recent winner of its Lakie Award for best lead actor of 2010 for his role in Jones/Hope/Wooten's Southern Hospitality - The Dixie Swim Club focuses on five Southern women (whose friendships began many years ago on their college swim team), who set aside a long weekend every August to recharge those relationships. Free from husbands, kids and jobs, they meet at the same beach cottage on North Carolina's Outer Banks to catch up, laugh and meddle in one another's lives. The Dixie Swim Club focuses on four of those weekends and spans a period of thirty-three years.

Director Eric Link leads a cast of accomplished local actresses in Lakewood Theatre Company's 31st season's production of The Dixie Swim Club, a comedy by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten. According to Link - who is vice president of Lakewood Theatre Company and is the recent winner of its Lakie Award for best lead actor of 2010 for his role in Jones/Hope/Wooten's Southern Hospitality - The Dixie Swim Club focuses on five Southern women (whose friendships began many years ago on their college swim team), who set aside a long weekend every August to recharge those relationships. Free from husbands, kids and jobs, they meet at the same beach cottage on North Carolina's Outer Banks to catch up, laugh and meddle in one another's lives. The Dixie Swim Club focuses on four of those weekends and spans a period of thirty-three years.

With the strong, focused direction of Clay Hillwig and the uniformly consistent and superb performances of an exceptional cast, Circle Players starts off 2011 with its impressively mounted revival of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. With a story that is as potent and as relevant today as it was at the time of the play's 1959 Broadway debut, A Raisin in the Sun follows the struggling but proud Younger family as they strive to make their lives better on Chicago's South Side.

Circle Players presents the production Friday, March 26, through Saturday, April 10, at the Z. Alexander Looby Theatre. The script closely follows Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

Circle Players presents the production Friday, March 26, through Saturday, April 10, at the Z. Alexander Looby Theatre. The script closely follows Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

Circle Players presents the production Friday, March 26, through Saturday, April 10, at the Z. Alexander Looby Theatre. The script closely follows Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

Perhaps the most remarkable element of Circle Players' Fame, the Musical is its talented cast--an amazing amalgam of age-appropriate actors assaying the roles in this now-iconic tale of the last four years of New York's High School of Performing Arts. Credit director Tim Larson's casting abilities for this feat which, combined with strong production values, inventive staging and laudable choreography by Kate Adams-Johnson, makes the show an excellent choice to open Circle's 60th anniversary season.