Marie Wright News

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.

Lisa Marie Wright's impeccable timing and on-target comic performance-not to mention her cantilevered breastworks-are reason enough to book your favorite table at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre for Spreading It Around, a formulaic comedy about seniors spending their kids' inheritances that actually packs in a lot of laughs while pulling a minimum of punches in its two hours onstage.

For Tennessee theater audiences, this weekend presents a bounty of theatrical riches, with six shows opening: Blackbird Theatre's Red, Sideshow's Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake), Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre's Spreading it Around, Boiler Room Theatre's Parade, Tennessee Women's Theater Project's Shooting Star and Street Theatre Company's latest incarnation of Macabaret.

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…

SAVE THE DATE: The 2012 First Night Honorees, Most Promising Actors and the First Night Star Award winners will be revealed on Monday, July 23, at the First Night Preview Party...details to follow.

What better way to kick off Sunday-and to celebrate Father's Day!-than with the latest installment of Music City Confidential! Here's where you'll find all the news that's fit to print (or not-depending on your perspective) from Nashville's ever-growing, ever-fascinating live theater industry. Amid the florid prose and flowery praise, you'll find all the stories that don't quite fit anywhere else, some of 'em kind of gossipy, some of 'em stone-cold serious, some of 'em just lists of names you need to know. You'll also find photos from our new "Intermission@" series, details about the latest cast parties and various and sundry minutiae-the veritable flotsam and jetsam-from backstage, onstage, offstage and beyond…

In recognition of The Barn's 45 years of bringing the magic of live theater to the stage, we continue our special series of Onstage at The Barn: Memories from The First 45 Years, with actress Lisa Marie Wright, who made her debut at the Barn in A Christmas Cactus in 1998, and most recently was onstage playing the Christine Penmark, the mom of the dastardly Rhoda Penmark in The Bad Seed at Street Theatre Company…

In recognition of The Barn's 45 years of bringing the magic of live theater to the stage, we continue our special series of Onstage at The Barn: Memories from The First 45 Years, with actress Joy Tilley Perryman, who this past holiday season starred in It's A Country Christmas, Carol. Today, Joy shares her memories of her Barn experiences to the ones that we've been sharing for two weeks to celebrate the 45th anniversary…

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts kicks off its 2011-12 Programs for Young Audiences series with Theatreworks USA's Charlotte's Web based on the Newbery Medal-winning book by E.B. White.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts kicks off its 2011-12 Programs for Young Audiences series with Theatreworks USA's Charlotte's Web based on the Newbery Medal-winning book by E.B. White.

Hosted by Jennifer Richmond and Trey Palmer, First Night, the Nashville Theater Honors Gala was preceded by the Red Carpet Event just before the tribute concert on a rainy Sunday, September 4, at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre.

One of the new events added to the line-up for 2011 First Night, The Theatre Honors was The Women In Theatre Luncheon - which saluted the inaugural eight recipients of The First Night Star Award - held Tuesday, August 30, at The Listening Room Cafe in Cummins Station. Co-chaired by Corrie Miller and Neely O'Brien Green, the event was produced by Jeffrey Ellis, founder and executive producer of First Night.

With almost 150 performers taking to the stage of Belmont University's Troutt Theatre on Sunday night, September 4, members of the theater community throughout Tennessee joined together to fete the six members of the 2011 Class of First Night Honorees.

Six of the leading lights of the theater world in Tennessee will be recognized as members of the 2011 Class of First Night Honorees August 27-September 4 as First Night, the Nashville Theatre Honors hosts a series of theatrical events to celebrate their achievements and accomplishments.

First Night: The Honors Gala is set for Sunday, September 4, at the Troutt Theatre at Belmont University, which kicks off at 5:30 p.m. with the Red Carpet Event, hosted by Jennifer Richmond and Trey Palmer, with fashion commentary by Cary Street, Joshua Waldrep and Lisa Garner Harrison. Impresario Johnny Delarocco (aka John Pyka) will produce a special Red Carpet performance by his company just for First Night.

Six of the leading lights of the theater world in Tennessee will be recognized as members of the 2011 Class of First Night Honorees August 27-September 4 as First Night, the Nashville Theatre Honors hosts a series of theatrical events to celebrate their achievements and accomplishments.

With Griffin coming to Music City USA this week, you can be certain that Lisa Marie Wright will be asked to sign more autographs than normal, dodging the glare of television cameras and trying to elude the paparazzi. Luckily, she agreed to an interview with us from an undisclosed location where she whiles away her time eating bon-bons and reading movie magazines...either that, or she was at work, we forget...

Who among us doesn't love a suspenseful yet wickedly entertaining melodrama about an eight-year-old sociopath who lets nothing stand in the way of her lifelong quest to get exactly what she wants? Whether it's a penmanship medal, a crystal ball, a garnet from a necklace - or even to prevent a trip to the electric chair - young Rhoda Penmark, who is the very picture of sweetness and light and old-fashioned manners and deportment, has for more than 50 years mesmerized audiences, delighting them with her larcenous, murderous ways. Let's face it: Who among us hasn't had flashes of going all Rhoda Penmark on the people who are obstacles in our own lives?