While there were plenty of productions to be excited about during the 2009 Nashville theatre season, as with any year the most memorable theatrical moments were due to the many fine individual performances seen on local stages. Featuring a blend of both veterans and newcomers, the 2009 season proved once again that Music City has an impressive retinue of actors to call upon. Whether it's in an emotionally draining drama, a laugh-out-loud comedy or a joyously inspiring musical, there are actors here who can deliver the goods, time after time.
Martha Wilkinson, one of Nashville's most popular actresses, will take on the role of Diane, which won Julie White the Tony Award for her performance on Broadway. Wilkinson is joined in the reading by her husband, David Compton, as well as Marin Miller and Patrick Waller. Lauren Shouse, Tennessee Rep's artistic associate, will direct.
With the holiday season just around the corner, Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre has a special gift all wrapped up for the Nashville theatre-going public with their production of Christmas Belles, opening November 19 and running through December 31. The hilarious Futrelle sisters and all the other denizens of fictional Fayro, Texas return in this holiday-themed sequel to the smash hit comedy, Dearly Beloved by the playwriting trio of Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten. Directed by Nate Eppler, the cast features some of Nashville's best-loved actors and promises to be one of the hottest tickets in town this season.
Somebody's stolen Santa's Christmas Magic and a crafty young girl and some of her special friends have joined forces to get it back in the Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre presentation of Sarah and the Secret of Santaland, a new play by J. Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler, based on a story by Davey Peppers. The world premiere production debuts on Tuesday, December 8, and continues through December 19 at the venerable Nashville venue, with doors opening at 10 a.m. and the show starting at 11 a.m.
Directed by the multi-talented Tim Fudge, who does double duty as music director of the piece, Sanders Family Christmas is an affectionately drawn tribute to simpler times that is sure to evoke memories of home and hearth - and if you're country-born, as am I, you'll find yourself missing family members who are no longer with you. That alone makes the show an ideal pick for this sentimental season of the year, but it's Fudge's direction and the commendable efforts of his very talented cast that make it one of the year's strongest productions.
Directed by Nate Eppler, Christmas Belles is staged in the round at Chaffin's Barn (as are all their shows), which works well for the play's hilariously overblown situations. Audiences have a birds-eye view of everything that's happening and that lends an even greater ring of authenticity to the hijinks unfolding onstage. By using every square foot of the Barn's playing area, Eppler involves the audience more intimately in the yuletide frivolities at the Tabernacle of the Lamb Church.
With the holiday season just around the corner, Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre has a special gift all wrapped up for the Nashville theatre-going public with their production of Christmas Belles, opening November 19 and running through December 31. The hilarious Futrelle sisters and all the other denizens of fictional Fayro, Texas return in this holiday-themed sequel to the smash hit comedy, Dearly Beloved by the playwriting trio of Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten. Directed by Nate Eppler, the cast features some of Nashville's best-loved actors and promises to be one of the hottest tickets in town this season.
With the holiday season just around the corner, Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre has a special gift all wrapped up for the Nashville theatre-going public with their production of Christmas Belles, opening November 19 and running through December 31. The hilarious Futrelle sisters and all the other denizens of fictional Fayro, Texas return in this holiday-themed sequel to the smash hit comedy, Dearly Beloved by the playwriting trio of Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten. Directed by Nate Eppler, the cast features some of Nashville's best-loved actors and promises to be one of the hottest tickets in town this season.
With Tennessee Repertory Theatre celebrating its 25th year as one of the nation's premier regional theatres, it's only appropriate that the season kicks off with a revival of Robert Harling's iconic Southern comedy Steel Magnolias, running October 3-24 at the Andrew Johnson Theatre at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.
Bringing together the rich characters and wry humor of celebrated Texas playwright Horton Foote (The Trip to Bountiful, The Young Man from Atlanta), Dividing the Estate 'deftly combines the claustrophobia of the Southern families from Tennessee Williams, the physical and psychological dysfunctions of Eugene O'Neill's families, and the humor and pathos of small town Southern life portrayed by Flannery O'Connor,' according to a press release from Tennessee Rep.
General auditions for Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre's 2010 season will be held on Saturday, November 21, according to Martha Wilkinson, artistic director for the venerable company. Among shows included in this first round of general auditions are: Rumors, Blithe Spirit, Frankly My Dear, The Butler Done It and Funny Money.
Directed by Tennessee Rep's singularly accomplished producing artistic director Rene Dunshee Copeland, this fine production is so much more than a mere revival of the company's 1989 production, although it once again stars Mary Jane Harvill in the role of M'Lynn. This staging is perhaps most newsworthy because it pairs Harvill onstage for the first time with her daughter, Marin Miller, who plays the doomed Shelby in Steel Magnolias. As the launch of this silver anniversary season, perhaps no one could come up with a more apropos project: Harvill was one of the founding actors of the company in the mid-1980s, while Miller has left her own sizable imprint on the company in more recent years. Copeland is to be commended for her decision to cast the mother-and-daughter team and for her lovingly felt and richly etched production.
With Tennessee Repertory Theatre celebrating its 25th year as one of the nation's premier regional theatres, it's only appropriate that the season kicks off with a revival of Robert Harling's iconic Southern comedy Steel Magnolias, running October 3-24 at the Andrew Johnson Theatre at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.
With Tennessee Repertory Theatre celebrating its 25th year as one of the nation's premier regional theatres, it's only appropriate that the season kicks off with a revival of Robert Harling's iconic Southern comedy Steel Magnolias, running October 3-24 at the Andrew Johnson Theatre at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.
Nate Eppler's original comedy Filthy Rich opens Tuesday, September 8, at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, directed by David Compton and starring a veritable who's who of Nashville comedy actors. Layne Sasser, Erin Parker, Dietz Osborne, and the playwright himself, Nate Eppler. Described as 'a bright farce full of crosses, double-crosses, false identities and fakery, Filthy Rich is hilarious, lunatic fun.'
According to Martha Wilkinson, artistic director for the historic theatre company now in its 43rd season, 'The late Mr. Lee was a cherished Barn patron, having been a season member since the theatre opened its doors in 1967. Mr. Lee was an avid supporter of all live theatre in the Nashville area, but Chaffin's Barn held a special place in his heart.'
Nate Eppler's original comedy Filthy Rich opens Tuesday, September 8, at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, directed by David Compton and starring a veritable who's who of Nashville comedy actors. Layne Sasser, Erin Parker, Dietz Osborne, and the playwright himself, Nate Eppler. Described as 'a bright farce full of crosses, double-crosses, false identities and fakery, Filthy Rich is hilarious, lunatic fun.'
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.
Tennessee Repertory Theatre will celebrate its 25th season of live, critically acclaimed theatre by welcoming a mix of familiar favorites and new faces.
Tennessee Repertory Theatre kicked off its 25th anniversary season celebration Wednesday night with Nashville Scenes, a look ahead to the company's upcoming season, held at The Acorn restaurant and co-sponsored by the Nashville Scene.
