Laura Matula News

Laura Matula is amazing, talented, fascinating, intriguing - and so much more. Seriously, there are so many words to describe her that you find yourself stymied by the multi-layered and multi-dimensional being that is she. That is until the celebrity biographers come a-calling or the producers start planning the film treatment of her astounding and compelling life story.

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!)

In what could well be the most talked-about theatrical event of the new year, Street Theatre Company presents Chess in Concert February 24-27, featuring some of Nashville's best known stage talents and including a chorus of more than 40 voices. And it seems, in talking to some of the artists most intimately involved in the creative process that will culminate in this weekend's five performances, that it is a process they'd definitely sign-up for again - and it's clear that Nashville audiences will be talking about it for a long time after the curtain rings down Sunday night.

In May of 2008 at the Royal Albert Hall, London, there were two spectacular, standing room only, performances of Chess in Concert, with story and lyrics by Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, The Lion King) and music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (Mamma Mia!), formerly of ABBA. Chess in Concert received its TV premiere in June 2009 and was subsequently shown in mainstream cinemas throughout the UK. Street Theatre Company is thrilled to announce that they are the first company in the U.S. to secure rights to this spectacular 'in concert' production that Tim Rice says he hopes 'will be the model of future productions.' The musical has a long history with multiple versions from concept album to British and finally American productions.

In what could well be the most talked-about theatrical event of the new year, Street Theatre Company presents Chess in Concert February 24-27, featuring some of Nashville's best known stage talents and including a chorus of more than 40 voices. And it seems, in talking to some of the artists most intimately involved in the creative process that will culminate in this weekend's five performances, that it is a process they'd definitely sign-up for again - and it's clear that Nashville audiences will be talking about it for a long time after the curtain rings down Sunday night.

Funny Girl, the classic 1964 Broadway musical that helped cement Barbra Streisand's place in theatrical history, will be the first show featured in Keeping Scores, a new series of Broadway musicals in concert, to be presented at Franklin's Boiler Room Theatre. Concerts in the series will be directed by Scott Logsdon (writer/director of the recent staged reading of An American Country Christmas Carol at the Boiler Room) with music direction by Jamey Green, a co-founder of BRT, and will be produced by Sondra Morton, director of operations for the professional theater located at The Factory in Franklin.

In honor of Valentine's Day (and in a blatant rip-off of BroadwayWorld.com's similar query to the denizens of the Great White Way), we posed that very question to some of our favorite theater community-dwellers in yet another not-so-scientific survey. So, if you're thinking about putting together a playlist of favorite love songs - or if you're searching for the perfect tunes to play in the background while you set the scene for a romantic evening with your own Valentine, here are some suggestions...

In May of 2008 at the Royal Albert Hall, London, there were two spectacular, standing room only, performances of Chess in Concert, with story and lyrics by Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, The Lion King) and music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (Mamma Mia!), formerly of ABBA. Chess in Concert received its TV premiere in June 2009 and was subsequently shown in mainstream cinemas throughout the UK. Street Theatre Company is thrilled to announce that they are the first company in the U.S. to secure rights to this spectacular 'in concert' production that Tim Rice says he hopes 'will be the model of future productions.' The musical has a long history with multiple versions from concept album to British and finally American productions.

Think about it: What if you were watching The King and I and when Anna and the King of Siam started to sing 'Shall We Dance' and they just stood there, it just wouldn't have much of an impact, would it? Or if all those budding chorus members in A Chorus Line just stood around and talked about dancing but never did even the most basic shuffle-ball-change...sounds pretty bleak, doesn't it? That's where choreographers come into the picture; they collaborate with the director, the music director and the cast members to create movement that elevates every musical comedy. Without them, the action remains stagebound and static. A choreographer allows your heart to soar along with the performers onstage, making musical comedy all the more compelling and transformative. These talented men and women created remarkable and memorable work in 2010 as First Night's Top Choreographers...

Nashville's divas proved their mettle and showed their immense talents in 2010 while assaying some of the most challenging and best loved roles in all of musical theater. Ranging from classic musical comedy heroines that any actress would love to play to newer, more contemporary characters, Music City's women were given the opportunity to showcase their multitude of talents on various stages while again proving they are capable of virtually anything - and everything. Here are our choices for the top ten musical performances by an actress in 2010...

If you find yourself venturing outside of New York, and you want to see some really good musical theater, what should you do? Allow me to suggest a visit to my neck o' the woods: A trip to Nashville might provide you with exactly what you seek. After all, in a city perhaps best known throughout the world as Music City USA, what else could you expect but some exceedingly well-cast, well-produced, well-played and well-sung musical theater? We're lousy with exceptional singers and musicians and, as a result, musical theater is alive and well - and thriving - in Nashville. And here's my list of the Best Musicals of 2010...

Amid threatening weather forecasts and a winter storm bearing down on the South, more than 150 hardy souls gathered to celebrate live theatre in Nashville and Middle Tennessee with the presentation of the BroadwayWorld.com Nashville Theatre Awards and First Night's Top Ten of Twenty-Ten on Sunday night, January 9. Street Theatre Company's new venue at 1933 Elm Hill Pike was the setting for the event that featured performances by Joann Coleman, Ben Van Diepen, Ann Street Kavanaugh, Laura Matula, Michael Kitts and Bakari Jamal King.

Despite portentous warnings of an approaching snowmageddon across the South, more than 150 members of the Nashville and Middle Tennessee theater community gathered at Street Theatre Company in Nashville Sunday night, January 9, for the announcement of the BroadwayWorld.com Nashville Theatre Award winners and the presentation of First Night's Top Ten of Twenty-Ten.

The Boiler Room Theatre (in The Factory at Franklin, 230 Franklin Road, Bldg Six, Franklin) continues its 10th Anniversary season with the game-changing musical that defined a generation and heralded the beginning of a new age of Broadway musicals.

Boiler Room Theatre, in the historic Factory at Franklin, opens its production of Jonathan Larson's Rent on Friday night, October 1, preceded by a gala celebration at South Gate Studios from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The Boiler Room Theatre (BRT), Williamson County's residentprofessional theatre company, continues its 10 th season with Jonathan Larson's musicalRent opening October 1, 2010 at the theatre, located in the historic Factory at Franklin, 230 Franklin Rd., Building Six, in Franklin, Tenn. for a run through October 31.

With the strains of 'Auld Lang Syne' mere moments away, minds are apt to be caught up in reflection, remembering the year now ending as a new one awaits just over the horizon. Certainly that's what I've been doing lately, looking back over the past year in Nashville theatre as I pencil in dates in my new 2010 (Here's a question to ponder: Is it 'two thousand ten' or 'twenty ten'...think about it and get back to me) calendar for the shows set to open in the months ahead.

Created by Jean Doumanian, Jeffrey Richards and Rick Steiner ('in association with Janet Pailet,' according to the program), The Great American Trailer Park Musical is about all the rednecks, hicks and white trash you've ever met - well, if you know anybody from the aforementioned groups - and the whole set-up is beyond hilarious and so inspired by the tasteless that you simply cannot go and not enjoy yourself. Unless, of course, you hope to hear every word and see every bit of onstage business.

Since returning to the world of theatre via BroadwayWorld.com about a month ago, after an almost seven year absence, I've had the invaluable opportunity of reconnecting with a number of old acquaintances and renewing long-dormant friendships and relationships with people connected to the theatre scene in Nashville and throughout Tennesseee.

Take one of east Nashville's hottest hot spots, mix in a couple hundred theatre enthusiasts, add a dollop of Vegas-style entertainment and a whole slew of gaming tables and you have the second annual fundraiser for Street Theatre Company: It's Vegas, Baby! Held Thursday, August 13, at Limelight, 201 Woodland Street, just across from LP Field, the event attracted a large sampling of Nashville's theatre community and socialites.