Lauren Shouse News

Scheduled for April 28 and 29, The Ten Minute Playhouse is the next entry in Playhouse Nashville's 2013 season in residence at Street Theatre Company located at 1933 Elm Hill Pike. Deadline for submissions by Tennessee playwrights is 7 p.m. on Sunday, April 7. Submissions may be sent as PDF attachments via email to TMPHSubmissions@gmail.com.

It's been a busy year in Nashville theater in 2012, with audiences treated to a whole slate of theatrical offerings spanning multiple genres-from productions of time-honored classics to new and original contemporary works, from dramas to comedies, from straight plays to musicals-and giving local theater-goers more opportunities than ever before to be challenged by the onstage magic created by some of Tennessee's most talented and gifted artists.

Eager to feed Music City's growing appetite for quality original theatrical material, Playhouse Nashville is now accepting submissions for the fourth incarnation of its popular showcase for Middle Tennessee artists, The Ten Minute Playhouse-named one of The First Night Award's Top 11 Theatrical Events of 2011.

Chris Bosen and Nate Eppler, the curators of The Ten Minute Playhouse-named one of the Top 11 Theatrical Events of 2011 by The First Night Honors-have been invited by Street Theatre Company to present new programming in-residence during the 2013 season.

So, when it was announced that the almost obscenely talented duo of Holly Allen and Cathy Street would be reviving their performances for a summer 2012 run, I knew that I, fueled by a nostalgic bent and wistful sentimentality of a sort, should give it another once-over, as much for the winning portrayals from Allen and Street, as for the opportunity to doff my fedora (as a man with a hat-head, I've often worn a fedora, just not to the theater-I have a hard and fast set of the rules that keep me on the fashion straight-and-narrow, as it were) to director Lauren Shouse, a woman of honor and skill who will be leaving Nashville by summer's end to pursue education of a higher sort at Northwestern University.

According to the weather forecasters, it's going to be a long, hot summer in Tennessee and if you're looking to cool off at the theatre, you could probably use some help in making the right selections, right? Here are our top five picks for the theater offerings that are sure to satisfy your hankering for good entertainment...ranging from the revival of a comedy hit from Street Theatre Company's 2009 season, new takes on two classic Broadway musicals, the 25th annual Shakespeare in the Park presentation of the internationally known Nashville Shakespeare Festival and the Broadway-bound debut of a new musical comedy based on a classic film comedy, directed by the legendary Jerry Lewis and featuring the music of Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics of Rupert Holmes...

As part of its 2012 "Street Corner Show" series, featuring shows that are returning by popular demand, Street Theatre Company is excited to bring back the two-woman comedic tour de force that is Parallel Lives, running Tuesday nights from tonight, May 22 through July 3 at Street Theatre.

Directed by Lauren Shouse, Street Theatre Company's production is unique in its casting: Cori and Tyson Laemmel play Cathy and Jamie for the final two weekends of the run, while Kacie Phillips and Ryan Greenawalt opened, to essentially unanimous and deserved acclaim, in the roles for the first two weekends. But here's an intriguing thought: How different would the show be if Cori Laemmel were paired with Ryan Greenawalt and Kacie Phillips played opposite Tyson Laemmel? It's staggering, isn't it?

Tennessee Repertory Theatre has announced its schedule for the Martha R. Ingram New Works Festival. The festival will be held May 30 - June 9 and will feature staged readings of new plays from four regional playwrights as well as nationally-renowned playwright Steven Dietz. Dietz is this year's recipient of the Ingram New Works Fellowship.

The Last Five Years, Jason Robert Brown's imaginative reminiscence/dissection of a crumbling, contemporary marriage, debuted at Street Theater Company last night (Friday, May 4), in a compelling production helmed by director Lauren Shouse and musical director Rollie Mains. Starring two relative newcomers to the Nashville stage-Kacie Phillips and Ryan Greenawalt-it's an engaging and intriguing 90-plus minutes of theater that is likely to leave you introspective and, somehow, oddly satisfied.

As part of its 2012 "Street Corner Show" series, featuring shows that are returning by popular demand, Street Theatre Company is excited to bring back the two-woman comedic tour de force that is Parallel Lives, running Tuesday nights from May 22 through July 3 at Street Theatre.

Plays and playwrights selected for this edition of the Ten Minute Playhouse are: Dropped Call by Garret Schneider, Lyla Builds a Spaceship by Darren Van Michael, Double Header by Brooke Bryant & Carolyn German, Unfortunate Introduction by James Skelley, Ecotone by Ritchie Simmons, Atheist's Surprise by Joe Giordano, Types by Sean Hills, Bobby Met His Father by Thomas Heine, ReinCarnival by Rachael Swann, World's Finest Team-Ups! by Bob Giordano, Mr. Baxter Learns a Lesson by Laura Cockarell and Cold Fish by Nate Eppler.

Despite their best efforts, director Lauren Shouse and her amazingly talented cast just can't give Tracy Lett's Superior Donuts the emotional heft-the literary gravitas-that the playwright so mightily struggles for in his sitcomesque script which pales in comparison to his supposed masterpiece, August: Osage County. Clearly, it's the success of that earlier, heavily-decorated and awarded, Pulitzer Prize-winning play that most theatre companies are invoking as they attempt to sell tickets to this decidedly lesser work, hoping to capitalize on its success in hoodwinking an unsuspecting audience.

Tennessee Repertory Theatre will present the Middle Tennessee premiere of Superior Donuts by Tracy Letts, who won the 2008 Tony Award for his play August: Osage County. Superior Donuts runs March 17 - 31 at TPAC's Johnson Theater (with preview performances March 15 - 16).

Superior Donuts runs March 17-31 at TPAC's Johnson Theater (with preview performances March 15 -16). Superior Donuts tells the story of how an unlikely friendship can emerge in the most unexpected places as a downtrodden donut shop owner hires a street-savvy, aspiring young writer with hustle and bright ideas. Filled with humor and humanity, Superior Donuts stirs up the challenges of embracing the past, the untold dangers of hope, and the redemptive power of friendship while analyzing the American dream...and how living in America can affect it.

Superior Donuts runs March 17-31 at TPAC's Johnson Theater (with preview performances March 15 -16).Superior Donuts tells the story of how an unlikely friendship can emerge in the most unexpected places as a downtrodden donut shop owner hires a street-savvy, aspiring young writer with hustle and bright ideas. Filled with humor and humanity,Superior Donuts stirs up the challenges of embracing the past, the untold dangers of hope, and the redemptive power of friendship while analyzing the American dream... and how living in America can affect it.

Fresh off of the success of presenting 30 new scripts and being named one of the Top 11 Theatrical Events of 2011 by The First Night Honors, New Works Nashville is now accepting submissions for the third edition of their wildly popular showcase for Middle Tennessee artists, The Ten Minute Playhouse.

Tennessee Repertory Theatre will present the Middle Tennessee premiere of Superior Donuts by Tracy Letts, who won the 2008 Tony Award for his play August: Osage County. Superior Donuts runs March 17 - 31 at TPAC's Johnson Theater (with preview performances March 15 - 16).