Maddi Keaton News

High-spirited, energetic and enormously entertaining, Circle Players' Newsies is a certified hit - thanks in large part to the focused direction of Jim Manning, the athletic and challenging choreography of Tosha Pendergrast and the superb musical direction of DaJuana Hammonds - performed by an impressive cadre of actors young and old, a blend of familiar faces and Nashville stage newcomers, who infuse the show with all the spunk necessary to bring the turn-of-the-century newsboys and a smattering of historic figures to life.

Directed by Debbie Shannon and Jay Shannon, the musical stars Hunter Thaw as Charlie Brown; Elizabeth Krebs as Lucy; Charlotte Myhre as Sally; Haydin Oechsle as Linus; 2018 First Night Most Promising Actor Danielle Threet as Snoopy; Jared Taylor as Shroeder; 2018 First Night Most Promising Actor Maddi Keaton as Frieda/Woodstock; Halley Andrews as Peppermint Patti; and Rachel Baskin as Marcie.

More than two dozen young actors in Tennessee were named to the Class of 2018 Most Promising Actors during festivities at Midwinter's First Night, the event produced to recognize outstanding productions and personalities of the previous year's theatrical season.

Ernie Nolan, executive artistic director of Nashville Children's Theatre, and Norma Luther, who took over ownership of Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre and spearheaded its renaissance in 2017, last night claimed top honors as "Theaterati of the Year" at Midwinter's First Night at Music Valley Event Center.

The 2017 awards honor productions which opened between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017. Nominations were completely reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended October 31, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors.

The way Chris Keaton sees it, his decision to take on his first theatrical role as an adult was, essentially, a no-brainer. After all, what proud and devoted father would pass up the opportunity to spend a month or more of evenings with his daughter to join her in the pursuit of a new onstage persona in an original musical?